2019-04-16 Tue

Japan is going to release new 1,000-yen, 5,000-yen and 10,000-yen banknotes with revised designs in 2024. The new 1,000-yen banknote is going to feature Hokusai's famous image of the Great Wave off Kanagawa by Mount Fuji on the obverse side. The reverse side will depict a portrait of the Nobel Prize-nominated bacteriologist Shibasaburo Kitasato.

The new 5,000-yen banknote will feature a portrait of Tsuda Umeko who worked dedicatedly to educate women from the beginning of 20th Century. The new 10,000-yen is going to honour the great industrialist and the father of Japanese capitalism, Eiichi Shibusawa. The reverse side of this note will feature Tokyo Station's historic red-brick facades. These are the highest denomination notes currently being circulated in Japan.

Security features like an extensive watermarking system and 3D holograms that appear to move while rotating the notes will be included on the new notes. The hologram technology will be used on a banknote for the first time in history.

Government officials stated that the new designs represent various aspects of Japan’s new era like industrial development, advancement of women and development of natural science. The existing banknotes, which were last redesigned in 2004, will continue to be legal tender even after the new notes are introduced. Officials also stated that the 2,000-yen bill will not be redesigned and a new 500-yen coin will be introduced in 2021.

Image Courtesy: Japanese Finance Ministry