Japan Finance Minister Announces Kyoto and Shimane Commemorative Coin Designs
Japan Finance Minister Fukushiro Nukaga announced in a press conference Tuesday the themes and designs for the Kyoto and Shimane Prefectures ¥1,000 and ¥500 commemorative coins.

The Kyoto design features a scene from "The Tale of Genji," the literary romantic classic set in Kyoto and written by Murasaki Shikibu in the eleventh century. The Shimane design depicts an oval-shaped coin minted in the 16th century at the Iwami GinZan silver mine in Shimane.
The coins follow the July 1 ¥1,000 Hokkaido Commemorative release and are a part of the 8-year series of 94 coins honoring the 60th anniversary of the Local Autonomy Law, which in part, established each of Japan’s 47 prefectures.


