New Japanese Banknotes to Be Issued from July 2024

Japan will issue new banknotes from July 3, 2024, in the first redesign for 20 years.

The ¥10,000 bill features the portrait of entrepreneur Shibusawa Eiichi, known as the “father of capitalism” in Japan, who was involved in the creation of hundreds of private companies. This is the first change to Japan’s largest-denomination banknote since thinker and educator Fukuzawa Yukichi became the face of the bill in 1984.

Tsuda Umeko, a pioneer in women’s education, replaces author Higuchi Ichiyō on the ¥5,000 bill. Bacteriologist Kitasato Shibasaburō is set to appear on the ¥1,000 bill in place of the medical researcher Noguchi Hideyo.

The reverse side of bills also have new imagery, with the ¥10,000 note showing the Tokyo Station building, the ¥5,000 note wisteria flowers, and the ¥1,000 note Katsushika Hokusai’s iconic The Great Wave off Kanagawa.

The banknotes feature as an anti-counterfeiting measure the world’s first three-dimensional holograms that make the portraits on bills appear to rotate when tilted. Tactile marks allow the visually impaired to identify the denominations.

From the time that they are issued, the new banknotes will be available from financial institutions and ATMs. Currently issued banknotes will continue to be legal tender.

The lineup of new banknotes. (© Jiji)

(Originally published in Japanese. Banner photo © Reuters.)