were produced beforehand in 1903 (year 36 of Meiji) in anticipation of an upcoming war. During this time negotiations commenced between Japan and Russia regarding Russian troops in Manchuria. Seeing Russia as a rival, Japan offered to recognize Russian dominance in Manchuria in exchange for recognition of Korea being within the Japanese sphere of influence. Russia refused and demanded the establishment of a neutral buffer zone between Russia and Japan in Korea north of the 39th parallel. Japan officially issued a declaration of war on February 8, 1904 and attacked the Russian Far East Fleet at Port Arthur. Russo-Japanese War military bonds were issued upon declaration in denominations of 10 sen, 20 sen, 50 sen, 1 yen, 5 yen, and 10 yen. Their size ranges from 103mm x 62mm for sen to 130 mm x 92 mm for yen with a design similar to Meiji Tsūhō notes that were issued for civilians in Japan from 1872 to 1899. These Russo-Japanese War military bonds could be converted into silver during the war. Places of redemption were set up across Manchuria as the alloy could not be feasibly carried by the troops making local payments. This series was used abundantly in contrast with "Sino-Japanese Warbonds" as over 140 million yen in notes were issued during the war. The Japanese military also issued some of these notes in the Korean Empire as "special occupation currency".