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Every year, a group  of elderly people  march to the Consulate-General of Japan in Hong Kong to demand compensation for military yen.  They have been doing this since the end of the second world war, but nothing has been resolved. 
But what is military yen and why should we  care about this issue?
BACKGROUND
Introduction of military yen in Hong Kong 
After Hong Kong's surrender to Japan on December 25, 1941, Japanese authorities decreed the military yen would replace Hong Kong dollars as the official currency in the territory.  
The exchange rate was fixed at HK$2  to one military yen in January 1942 and people were forced to change Hong Kong currency for Japanese money. Later, the military yen was re-valued at HK$4  to a yen in July, 1942.
In June, 1943, military yen was made the sole legal tender in Hong Kong. Anyone found to be using Hong Kong dollars or other foreign currency were severely punished or even executed.
Life during Japanese occupation 
The issuing of military yen was nothing new to places which had been invaded by the Japanese. As early as 1904, during the Russo-Japanese war, the Japanese government  issued military yen in conquered territory.  
Issuing military yen allowed the Japanese to exploit and dominate the territories it controlled.  Every currency is backed by something of value, for example, gold. It is issued by a nation to represent its economy. At the time, the Hong Kong dollar was backed by the British pound. But military yen were not backed by anything. They were not tied to any economy and they could not be exchanged for Japanese yen. They were, in fact, worthless.  But Hongkongers were forced, virtually at gunpoint,  to surrender their dollars, gold, foreign currency, and stocks and shares certificates in exchange for military yen.
The huge fortune looted from Hong Kong was used to finance Japan's war. Much of the wealth was transported to Macau to buy raw materials: gold, foreign currencies and other resources which were shipped back to Japan. 
Instability in occupied Hong Kong led to runaway inflation, and people struggled with sky-rocketing prices of rice and other daily necessities.
Two Japanese banks, the Yokohama Specie Bank and the Bank of Taiwan, replaced the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank and two other British banks responsible for issuing the banknotes. British, American and Dutch bankers were imprisoned in a small hotel, and some were even executed. 
After the war 
After Japan announced its unconditional surrender on August 15, 1945, military yen banknotes were seized by British  authorities. 
On September 6, 1945, the Japanese Ministry of Finance announced that all military yen were void. Overnight, the military yen literally became useless pieces of paper. 
Many residents went bankrupt. Some resorted to begging, while others starved to death. Many families were destroyed,  and had to live off community assistance. They had lost everything.
ISSUES
This is an edited version of an archived report by Kyodo News International in 1999 entitled 'Court rejects HK residents' claims on military yen'
According to the Hong Kong Reparation Association, an organisation that heads the demand for military yen compensation, there are more than 500 million  military yen held by its members. 
On August 13, 1993, the association - seeking a refund -  took legal action against Japan. It sued the Japanese government for the money that was lost when the military yen was declared void. 
After a six-year court battle, a Tokyo district court finally  ruled against the plaintiff. It stated that although it acknowledged the suffering of Hong Kong people, the Japanese government did not have specific laws concerning military yen. Presiding Judge Seiichiro Nishioka said the Japanese government was not obliged to compensate for the losses, since the Finance Ministry ended the convertibility of the currency into ordinary yen in September 1945.  
Japan also used the Treaty of San Francisco to shrug off any further responsibility.  Under the treaty,  China's Kuomintang government agreed not to  push for compensation for Japanese war-time crimes against Chinese people. Yet at the time, Hong Kong was ruled by the British, not China.
The ruling also supported the claim by the Japanese government that a 1907 international treaty does not allow individuals to seek compensation from a state for war-time sufferings. 
The 17 plaintiffs, led by Ng Yat-hing, president of the Hong Kong Reparation Association, demanded the Japanese government pay compensation of nearly 770 million yen (HK$78.1 million today).  The plaintiffs' military yen, with a total face value of about 3 million yen, should be multiplied by about 200 to reach what would have been the current value. 
Ng told a press conference after the ruling that he and his  children will 'continue urging Japan, which robbed us of our property, to offer compensation, even if it may take 1,000 years or 10,000 years'. 
Ng inherited his military yen from his parents. He said the ruling 'clearly shows that Japan has no plan to exchange the military yen into cash'.
'If things remain unchanged, the Japanese government's fraudulent act of reneging on its debts will remain in history,' he said.
Japanese courts rejected a similar claim filed by a Taiwanese woman on her military yen in the early 1980s.
TODAY
The second world war was around 60 years ago, and the  military yen  does not seem to have affected the close economic ties between Japan and China, yet some people believe they are entitled to be compensated for money that was lost during that time. 
The Japanese government continues to deny any responsibility in this matter.  The military yen  will probably never be compensated, but no matter what, the march to the Consulate-General of Japan in Hong Kong will not end, and so  the media coverage will continue. Every year, on July 7, September 18 and December 13, scores of people march on the Japanese embassy to demand compensation.
Looking on the bright side, some Japanese are making an effort to learn about  the past, rather than finding ways to deny it. Seven years ago, a private Christian school from Japan, Omi Brotherhood Senior High School, began sending students on an annual visit to Hong Kong's St Stephen's College.  The college  was  used as a detention camp during the second world war.  It serves as a living record of war-time history.
Time line
1904 During the Russo-Japanese war, the Japanese government issues military yen to citizens of places that they have invaded
December 25, 1941 Hong Kong surrenders  and the Japanese occupation begins
January, 1942 Exchange rate for military yen is fixed at HK$2 for one military yen
July, 1942 the exchange rate was re-valued at  HK$4 to a military yen 
June, 1943 Military yen is made the sole legal tender in Hong Kong
August 15, 1945 Japan announces its unconditional surrender 
September 6, 1945 The Japanese Ministry of Finance announces that all military yen are void. Many Hong Kong people are bankrupt overnight 
September 8, 1951  Forty-eight nations, including  China, sign the Treaty of San Francisco
August 13, 1993 Hong Kong Reparation Association takes legal action against Japanese government, demanding compensation for military yen 
1999 Tokyo district court rules against the plaintiff demanding compensation, stating that the Japanese government  does not have specific laws concerning military yen
Present Every year, members of the Hong Kong Reparation Association march to the Consulate-General of Japan in Hong Kong on important dates in the Japanese invasion of China, such as the anniversary of the July 7 Lugouqiao Incident, September 18 Incident and the Nanking Massacre on December 13, to remind the world of the injustices caused by the military yen



A yen for justice