Meiji Japan Note

In 1881 the Meiji government's Imperial Printing Bureau issued the 改造紙幣, the first banknotes engraved on Japanese soil to a European standard. The Italian master Edoardo Chiossone cut the copper plates by hand, laying intaglio cross-hatching and engine-turned guilloche beneath phoenix and dragon motifs drawn from Japanese tradition.

The result is 和洋折衷 made tangible: Latin lettering and Western intaglio discipline sit beside kanji denominations and red 篆書 seal chops. The palette is earthen — copper-plate sepia line work over a deep engraving-brown ground, with warm paper fields carrying value.

1881 年，明治政府的印刷局发行了「改造紙幣」——首批在日本本土、以欧洲标准雕刻的纸币。 受聘的意大利雕版大师 Edoardo Chiossone 亲手凿刻铜版，在凤凰与龙的纹样之下铺陈细密的 铜版网纹与回纹饰边，把西洋铜版凹版工艺第一次完整地移植到日本货币之上。

这是「和洋折衷」的实体化：拉丁字母与西式凹版的严谨，和汉字面额、朱红篆书印章并置。 整体色调沉稳而温暖——铜版的赭褐线条压在深沉的雕刻棕底色上，浅色纸面色块承载币值， 既不冷峻也不极简，是现代日本货币的温热起点。