10 dollar note for Malaya

Japan
Shōwa era, AD 1941

Invasion money of the Second World War

There were many unusual issues of paper money during the Second World War (1939-45). Some were national issues to replace scarce coinage; others were for military use within armies, or for occupying forces in foreign lands. The Japanese Government prepared many notes for their forces to use in the Pacific region, in areas such as Burma (Myanmar), Malaya, the Netherlands East Indies (modern Indonesia) and parts of Oceania. Notes for each region carried different designs and an appropriate initial - in this case, M for Malaya. The invasion notes were used in Malaya from 1941 until the end of the war.

These and other wartime notes were often collected by those in the armed forces, and many families today have small collections of notes bearing witness to the areas where a relative served.

C.F. Schwan and J.E. Boling, World War II military currency (BNR Press, 1978)