Printing of New Banknotes Progresses toward July 2024 Debut

The Yomiuri Shimbun

13:53 JST, June 29, 2023

The planned issuance of three denominations of new banknotes, including a ¥10,000 bill featuring noted industrialist Eiichi Shibusawa, will begin in the first half of July next year, the Finance Ministry said Wednesday.

The new ¥5,000 note will bear a portrait of Umeko Tsuda, an advocate of women’s education who founded Tsuda University, while bacteriologist Shibasaburo Kitasato will be the face of the new ¥1,000 bill in the country’s first banknote renewal in 20 years.

Incorporating the latest anti-counterfeit technology, the bills are currently being printed at the National Printing Bureau’s Tokyo plant in Kita Ward, Tokyo. As many as 4.53 billion new notes are expected to be in stock by March next year.