The Finance Ministry on Tuesday unveiled ¥1,000 and ¥500 coins dedicated to Miyagi, Hiroshima and Gunma prefectures to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the local autonomy act, which stipulates how the nation's prefectures and municipalities are structured.
The ministry has been issuing coins dedicated to each of the 47 prefectures starting in fiscal 2008 to mark the year 2007, the 60th anniversary of the enforcement of the act.
Miyagi's coins bear the image of Date Masamune, a local strongman who lived until the mid-17th century, and a scene from the Tanabata summer festival.
The Hiroshima coins feature the Atomic Bomb Dome and the Shintoist Itsukushima Shrine, both World Heritage sites.
One of the Gunma coins is engraved with the Tomioka silk mill, which Japan aims to recommend for UNESCO recognition as a World Cultural Heritage site.
The ¥1,000 coins are made with silver and will sell for ¥6,000.
Orders for the coins won't be accepted until next year.
The ministry also announced the designs of the ¥10,000 gold coin and ¥1,000 silver coin to be given in fiscal 2015 to the buyers of government bonds to fund the reconstruction of areas ravaged by last year's earthquake and tsunami.
The coins bear the images of doves and the so-called miracle pine tree in Iwate Prefecture that was the only one of about 70,000 pines on a stretch of coast to survive the massive tsunami.
One gold coin will be given to those who buy and hold ¥10 million worth of the bonds for three years. Purchasers of ¥1 million worth of the bonds will get a silver coin.