In Japan cash is king until new notes are printed

Editor's note: Japan's rapidly aging population who are not being replaced have packed away by some estimates well over $350 billion in cash in their homes. These elderly have much of their savings out of the banks (hoarding and keeping the eagle-eye of tax officials off them) which means this enormous amount of cash has been taken out of circulation. Added to this many of these elderly for whatever reasons, do not trust the banks and prefer to use cash in all of their transactions. The Japanese once they have structured a pattern and habituated it becomes almost impossible to change, and so it is with cash savings. The BoJ wants access to this cash and so have decided to print new ¥10,000, ¥5,000 and ¥1,000 notes. The reason is given that the new bills will prevent counterfeiting but that isn't even a problem in Japan. The government of Japan is also threatening these Japanese savers that unless they volunteer their personal data including Japan's My Number (data tracking) system, they will be unable to exchange the old currency in savings for the new notes.
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Source: The Asahi Shinbun

New banknotes feature 3-D holograms to prevent fakes

By Ryoko Takahashi | May 3, 2023

A sample of the new banknotes with three-dimensional hologram technology 

(Ryoko Takahashi)

The Bank of Japan's three new banknotes feature three new faces as well as unprecedented currency technology to prevent counterfeiting.

The new 10,000-yen, 5,000-yen and 1,000-yen bills will be issued in the first half of fiscal 2024.

For the first time, the central bank displayed all three new banknotes together for the media.

The new 10,000-yen banknote features Eiichi Shibusawa, known as the father of Japan's capitalism.

The 5,000-yen bill shows a portrait of Umeko Tsuda, a pioneer in women's education who founded Tsuda University in Tokyo.

The 1,000-yen banknote features Shibasaburo Kitasato, a pioneer in serotherapy treatment.

The bills are the same size as the current banknotes.

A total of 3.03 billion new banknotes will be printed in fiscal 2023.

To deter counterfeiters, the new bills will feature three-dimensional holograms, the first on any currency in the world. The orientation of the portrait in the hologram changes if the banknote is tilted to the left or right.

The new bills also use high-dimension watermarks and special ink that becomes luminous under ultraviolet radiation.

The numbers written on the new banknotes are bigger and easier to read.

Please go to The Asahi Shinbun to continue reading.

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The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) located in Switzerland is the central bank of central banks. This is where global central bank policy originates including with Japan's BoJ:

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