I was able to exchange a 1998 500-yen coin... and two of them at that!!

I'm so moved...!
I can't believe this actually happens...😭
I couldn't help but check multiple times to make sure I wasn't dreaming.

I posted an article like this the other day.

I have a collection I started when I was in elementary school.
It's collecting 500-yen coins from 1996 onwards, one by one.
I intended for it to be just a small hobby, but before I knew it, 15 years had passed.

In the midst of that, there were only three years I just couldn't get my hands on no matter what.😭😭

They were...

However, last month, a miracle finally happened.
After I had put out a call on note two years ago...

A university student in Kansai contacted me saying, "I have a 1997 one," and exchanged it with me!
Two days after receiving the message, I was already heading to Kyoto lol

I was trembling with excitement, thinking, "Can things like this really happen?!"
But at the same time, I also thought, "It probably won't happen a second time..."

■ A miracle that descended again just one month later

It happened just the following month.

That's right,
It's true...!
I received a message!
From someone who has a 1998 500-yen coin...!

I couldn't believe my eyes🫢
My heart was pounding.

That person said they were having trouble because the 1998 500-yen coin they happened to get wouldn't work in vending machines (W-wait, happened to get!? I'm so jealous...😭).

They said they happened to search and found my note article at that time.
I am so incredibly grateful for this!!

That person lives in Kumamoto Prefecture.
I visited Kumamoto Prefecture a year ago.

Unable to sit still, I immediately booked a round-trip flight to Kumamoto and a place to stay.
The very next day, I was already on a plane✈️

The person I met at the airport like this was a mother with three small children.
The children were full of energy, speaking to me a lot in the Kumamoto dialect, saying things like "~bai" 🥺

It really warmed my heart 💕

I am deeply grateful to the family who took the time out of their busy schedule to come to the airport.
Thank you very much 🙇

If you ever come to Tokyo, I'll show you around...!

🐻　　🐻　　🐻

■ And then, surprisingly... one more person!?

All's well that ends well. ...Or so I thought, but then came a surprising turn of events.

Right after I finished the moving exchange in Kumamoto—
I received a new DM on my smartphone.

...Huh?
I did a double-take. No, a triple-take.

To my surprise,
another person had reached out to me!!

I hadn't been able to find a 1998 500-yen coin even after searching for over 15 years.
After I put out a call on note,
to think that two people would reach out to help me—!

They were very polite and expressed concern that they lived far away.
It was true, even though it was within the Tokyo metropolitan area, it was on the west side of Tokyo.

But for me.
I went on a day trip to Kyoto for a 1997 coin.
I went all the way to Kumamoto for a 1998 coin, so this was a piece of cake.

The place where we met was a little over two hours from my home.
It's the same as going to Kumamoto lol

The person I met was a man who likes anime and games.
He was so busy, yet he even guided me to an arcade 😆

Come to think of it, I hadn't been to an arcade in a long time.
I felt like Rip Van Winkle, shocked by the evolution of crane game machines and the beauty of the visuals in arcade games.

I'd like to try visiting little by little...♪

I was able to hear so many valuable stories, and I was excited the whole time!

This person also said they happened to come across it by chance, but since it wouldn't go into a change machine or similar, they were troubled and looked it up.
......I didn't realize it was still possible to come across one by chance these days(°_°)

It hit me.

I see...!
When people end up with money they can't use, they look it up online, don't they.

That means there might still be a possibility for the 1999 500-yen coin that hasn't been found yet??

What I received along with the 500-yen coin

For the sake of a single coin worth only 500 yen,
traveling to Tokyo, Kumamoto, and Kyoto.

Even I am surprised
that there can be such an inefficient and slightly strange purpose for a trip.

Two years ago, when I posted it thinking it might be interesting to make it into a notearticle—I never imagined this back then.

Now that cashless payments have become the norm,
the very act of 'handing over' to someone or 'receiving' from someone is decreasing.

That is perhaps why the encounters surrounding a single 500-yen coin have remained in my heart so deeply.
It is because I was able to receive the warmthof people I surely would never have met otherwise, after they contacted me and we met in person.

…No, it's not over yet.
Just one more.
If I find the 1999 500-yen coin, I will have a complete set of 500-yen coins from 1996 onwards.

If someday, someone, somewhere says to me, 'I have one,'
I will go to meet them.
Just to receive a single coin.

Therefore, please let me continue to share this.

If you have a 1999 500-yen coin...

※Postscript 25.4.25

When I boasted to an acquaintance that I had been to Osaka and Kumamoto,
they apparently spread the word about it...

I found the 1999 500-yen coin!!!!

An acquaintance of mine actually had them.

This is definitely thanks to the story about my super whirlwind trip to Kumamoto and Osaka.
I can't believe I found them so easily...!!!

Alright, if that's the case, here is the next step!

If you have a 1995 500-yen coin,
please exchange it with me!!

【Thank you for reading until the end!!】
Please take a look at another article!!

◯ My previous super whirlwind trip to Kumamoto!

◯ Because the names are similar!!