


Determine the direction of the text by finding the character for the word "year" (see table below).
The dates below correspond with the 26th to the 64th year (last) of his reign.
All ten yen coins that were made before 1959 have reeded edges, this has since changed to the present day smooth edge.
Coins for this period will all begin with the Japanese symbol 昭和 (Showa).
The following are circulation dates in the reign of the current Emperor.
The Chinese Numerals Japanese is one such language which doesn't use Arabic numerals (0, 1, 2...).
Japanese uses a number-writing system that is shared with the Chinese language, and is generally referred to as the Chinese numerals.
As an example the coin on the right reads "昭和三十六年", which means "year 36 (三十六) of the reign of emperor Shōwa (昭和)", that is 1961.
The date lettering usually uses the following scheme: [Emperor name] [Year number] 年.
10-yen coins issued between 19 have reeded edges, while 10-yen coins issued from 1959 onward do not.
The following are circulation dates which cover Emperor Hirohito's reign.