The first two Japanese characters signify the Emperor's era: the Heisei era began in 1989 when Akihito became emperor of Japan after Hirohito died in January 1989. The rightmost character signifies "Year" in Japanese. The "7" is really a seven signifying the seventh year of the emperor's reign. The date of this coin would be 1988 (1988 is used for the calculation since 1989 is not zero, but the first year of the emperor's reign) + 7 = 1995.
The reason for the hole in these Japanese coins is that many years ago they were strung on a string and tied at the end. People would hang it around their neck and untie it when they were about to spend money.
The things that will destroy America are prosperity-at-any-price, peace-at-any-price, safety-first instead of duty-first, the love of soft living, and the get-rich-quick theory of life. – Theodore Roosevelt
The first two Japanese characters signify the Emperor's era: the Heisei era began in 1989 when Akihito became emperor of Japan after Hirohito died in January 1989. The rightmost character signifies "Year" in Japanese. The "7" is really a seven signifying the seventh year of the emperor's reign. The date of this coin would be 1988 (1988 is used for the calculation since 1989 is not zero, but the first year of the emperor's reign) + 7 = 1995.
The reason for the hole in these Japanese coins is that many years ago they were strung on a string and tied at the end. People would hang it around their neck and untie it when they were about to spend money.