Banknotes of the Japanese yen
The banknotes of the Japanese yen are part of the physical form of Japan's currency. The issuance of the yen banknotes began in 1872, two years after the currency was introduced. Throughout its history, the denominations have ranged from 0.05 yen to 10,000 yen.
Sanwa Bank
Sanwa was formed by the 1933 merger of three Osaka-based banks. The oldest of these banks, Kōnoike Bank, dated its operations back to 1656, when the Kōnoike family of Osaka established a money exchange business. The exchange was chartered to provide services for the Tokugawa shogunate in 1670. In 1877, it was awarded a national bank charter. By the 1930s, Kōnoike was unable to compete with larger banks tied to "zaibatsu" conglomerates, so it merged with the Sanjushi Bank and Yamaguchi Bank. It became the largest bank in Japan in terms of assets during the years prior to World War II.