Japanese military currency was first issued in 1942 by the Japanese government and used by countries under their rule at that time. The Japanese were not the first to issue military currency though.

During and after World War II, the United States issued military payment certificates to be legal tender for military and civilian personnel overseas.  Unlike allied military currency, these notes were backed by the U.S. dollar. One of the reasons for issuing MPC was that it helped to combat black market activities. When it was felt that too much MPC was in the local economy it would be demonitized and another series would take its place.

Some of the countries the produced military money are Austria, Germany, Italy, Japan, China, France, Great Britian, the Philippines and the United States of America.