500 Yen Japanese Immigration Commemorative

The coin pictured is a Japanese 500 yen commemorative issued in 2008 (Heisei 20) to mark the 100th anniversary of Japanese immigration to Brazil. The design shown here pairs a scene of two women, one gesturing upward, on one face with a sailing ship on the other -- imagery that recalls the long ocean voyage taken by the first Japanese emigrants and the hopeful new beginning that the centennial commemorates. Japanese inscriptions on the coin identify the anniversary and the denomination.

Struck in cupro-nickel and denominated at 500 yen, this is a legal-tender commemorative rather than a bullion or precious-metal piece. It was one of a wave of themed 500 yen coins Japan produced in the 2000s, distinguished from an ordinary circulating 500 yen coin by its special anniversary designs.

Because it carries a real face value and was made in base metal, the coin is collected chiefly for its commemorative theme and design -- the story of Japanese-Brazilian migration -- rather than for metal content.

The coin commemorates the centennial of Japanese emigration to Brazil, an event dated to 1908, when the first organized group of Japanese emigrants crossed the Pacific and Atlantic to begin new lives in Brazil. Over the following century that migration grew into one of the largest communities of Japanese descent outside Japan, and the 2008 centennial was marked in both countries with commemorations. Japan's coinage program honored the milestone with dedicated 500 yen commemorative issues.

The ship on the reverse and the figures on the obverse tie directly to this migration story -- the vessel evoking the emigrants' sea journey and the human figures representing the people who made it. The coin was struck for the anniversary year, Heisei 20 (2008), so its date is fixed to that single year rather than spanning a series.

Japan's modern 500 yen commemoratives were produced by the Japan Mint for anniversaries, expositions, and other national themes. This immigration issue sits within that broader tradition of base-metal commemorative coinage that remained spendable at face value while celebrating a specific historical event.

Identify this coin by its theme-specific designs: one face shows two female figures with one pointing or reaching upward, and the other shows a ship under sail, both surrounded by Japanese inscriptions referring to the 100th anniversary of immigration. The presence of both a human scene and a maritime scene, rather than the plain paulownia-and-value design of a standard circulating 500 yen coin, marks this as the commemorative issue.

Confirm the denomination and date: the coin reads 500 yen and is dated to the Japanese era year Heisei 20 (2008). It is struck in cupro-nickel, giving it a uniform silvery base-metal appearance, and is close in size and format to Japan's regular 500 yen coinage.

Because the designs and inscriptions are the defining features, matching the ship and the two-figure scene against catalog images of the 2008 Japan-Brazil immigration centennial coin is the surest way to verify both the type and the anniversary it marks.

As a base-metal (cupro-nickel) commemorative with a real 500 yen face value, this coin's worth is driven by collector interest in its theme and its condition, not by precious-metal content. Well-preserved, uncirculated examples -- especially those still in original mint packaging or presentation folders -- tend to bring more than handled or circulated pieces.

Modern Japanese 500 yen commemoratives are generally affordable collectibles, typically trading for a modest premium over face value, with stronger prices for high-grade or specially packaged examples and for buyers who specifically collect the Japan-Brazil immigration theme. Exact figures vary with the market and with condition, so no single price applies.

For a realistic valuation, note the coin's grade and packaging and compare against recent sales of the same 2008 immigration commemorative. Cross-border collector demand -- from both Japanese and Brazilian-Japanese communities -- can influence what individual examples fetch.