News: Japan rolls out new banknotes
TOKYO -- The Bank of Japan begins issuing new banknotes on Wednesday, redesigned with new historical figures and scenes and including the latest in anticounterfeit measures such as 3D holograms.
This is the first time since 2004 that Japan has updated the designs for its banknotes.
The new notes will be issued when the BOJ hands them over to financial institutions that withdraw cash from the central bank's accounts. This starts at 8 a.m., one hour earlier than usual banknote handovers. Availability at bank branches is expected to be limited initially.
The Finance Ministry and the BOJ redesign Japan's banknotes every 20 years or so to make them more difficult to counterfeit. Their reasons given this time include advances in printing technology and a movement toward universal design so as to make the bills easier to use for the visually impaired and foreigners.
The numbers indicating the denomination of the bills have been enlarged, and the notes are easier to identify by touch. Their overall dimensions are unchanged.
