I would like to take this chance to express my sincere gratitude for your cooperation and support with the activities of the Bank of Japan's Shizuoka Branch. Shizuoka Prefecture and the Bank have a special link to Ieyasu Tokugawa, who is gaining the spotlight in this year's NHK Taiga Drama (the annual year-long historical drama television series produced by NHK [Japan Broadcasting Corporation]).
He was the first Shogun of the Edo period (1603-1867) and established several official gold mints, or kinza. Kinza-machi in Aoi Ward, where the Bank's Shizuoka Branch is located, was for a time (1607-1612) the place where one of the kinza called Suruga kobanza was based, as is suggested by its Japanese name.