Issuance of Bank of Japan Notes and the 500-yen Coin in New Forms

Ⅰ. About the New Bank of Japan Notes

The Ministry of Finance has decided to manufacture a new series of the Bank of Japan notes and a new 500 yen coin, with a view to strengthening the ability to prevent counterfeiting etc. as follows and has initiated the necessary preparations.

1. Main features

• (1) New Security Features etc.

  • • High-definition watermark

    High-definition watermark patterns will be added to the current watermark.

  • • Holograms using state-of-the-art technology

    Holographic stripes will be incorporated for the first time into the 10,000 yen and 5,000 yen notes, and a holographic patch into the 1,000 yen note. *1

    *1 Using cutting-edge technology adopted for the first time in banknotes, the 3D portrait images rotate when tilted.

  • Meanwhile, serial numbers will be changed from a maximum of 9 digits to 10 digits.

• (2) Universal design (for ease of differentiation among denominations etc.)
  The Ministry of Finance plans to:

  • • Tactile marks will be upgraded and placed in a different position depending on the denomination.

  • • The numerals for each denomination will be larger and placed on both sides of the banknotes.

  • • The position of the holograms and watermarks will vary depending on the denomination.

  • • etc.

• (3) Designs

  Denomination	Front (Portrait)	Back
  10,000 yen note	Eiichi Shibusawa	Tokyo Station Marunouchi Building
  5,000 yen note	Umeko Tsuda	Japanese wisteria flowers (fuji)
  1,000 yen note	Shibasaburō Kitasato	Fugaku sanjūrokkei (Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji) *2

  Reference: Current series of banknotes

  Denomination	Front (Portrait)	Back
  10,000 yen note	Yukichi Fukuzawa	Statue of Phoenix
  5,000 yen note	Ichiyō Higuchi	"Kakitsubata-zu" (painting of irises)
  1,000 yen note	Hideyo Noguchi	Mount Fuji and cherry blossoms

  *2 "Kanagawa-oki nami ura" (Under the Great Wave off Kanagawa) from the series Fugaku sanjūrokkei (Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji), a Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock print by Katsushika Hokusai.

• (4) Sizes

  The height and width of the new banknotes for each denomination will be the same as those of the current series of banknotes.

  Denomination	Size
  10,000 yen note	Height: 76 mm	Width: 160 mm
  5,000 yen note	Height: 76 mm	Width: 156 mm
  1,000 yen note	Height: 76 mm	Width: 150 mm

2. Date of issue

Scheduled for the first half of fiscal 2024 (April-September 2024).

Ⅱ. About the New 500 yen Coin

The Ministry of Finance has decided to manufacture a new 500 yen coin by changing the materials etc. of the current 500 yen coin with a view to strengthening the ability to prevent counterfeiting as follows and has initiated the necessary preparations.

1. Main features

• (1) New Security Features

  • • Application of new technology, bicolor clad, to the materials (two-color, three-layer structure).

  • • Application of “helical ridges with two different pitches” to the edge of the coin. *1

  • • Micro lettering and numbers will be inscribed on the inside rim of the front of the coin.

    *1 Two different pitches are applied to the helical ridges. It is the first time worldwide for this technology to be used to manufacture ordinary coins (coins for mass production).

• (2) Materials and Specifications

  	New 500 yen coin	Reference: Current 500 yen coin
  Material	Nickel-brass, cupronickel and copper (bicolor clad coin) *2	Nickel-brass
  Quality	Copper 75.0%, Zinc 12.5%, Nickel 12.5%	Copper 72.0%, Zinc 20.0%, Nickel 8.0%
  Weight	7.1 g	7.0 g
  Style	Refer to the attached “Reference 3”	―
  Edge	Helical ridges with two different pitches *2	Helical ridges
  Diameter	Same as the one on the right	26.5 mm

  *2 Refer to the attached “Reference 4.”

2. Date of issue

Scheduled for the first half of fiscal 2021 (April-September 2021).

<Attention>

(Reference 1)

Portraits etc. of the New Bank of Japan Notes

1. New 10,000 yen note

Front (portrait): Eiichi Shibusawa (1840 – 1931)
A business leader and entrepreneur in early modern Japan who was involved in the founding of around 500 businesses and economic organizations, including the First National Bank, the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce (now the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry), and the Tokyo Stock Exchange. His dedication to improving society extended to education, social welfare, and private-sector diplomacy.

Back: Tokyo Station Marunouchi Building
Opened in 1914, the red-brick station is one of the historic landmarks of the Meiji and Taisho periods and was designated as an Important Cultural Property of Japan in 2003. The building was designed by Kingo Tatsuno, a prominent figure in modern Japanese architecture. The building was reconstructed in 1947 after being badly damaged during World War II, and then restored to its original three-story structure in 2012.

2. New 5,000 yen note

Front (portrait): Umeko Tsuda (1864 – 1929)
The pioneer of higher education for women in modern Japan, who founded one of the first private women's colleges in Japan, Joshi Eigaku Juku (now Tsuda University) in 1900. She was among the first female students sent to the U.S. as part of the government's overseas study program. They travelled to the U.S. in 1871, with a diplomatic delegation known as the Iwakura mission.

Back: Japanese wisteria flowers (fuji)
Popular among people in Japan since ancient times, these flowers appear frequently in classic Japanese literature such as the Kojiki, records of ancient Japan, and Man'yōshū, a collection of Japanese poetry.

3. New 1,000 yen note

Front (portrait): Shibasaburō Kitasato (1853-1931)
A pioneering microbiologist who developed the serum therapy for tetanus after he succeeded in growing the world's first pure culture of the bacteria. He is also known for discovering the plague bacillus. He established the Institute for Infectious Diseases in 1892 and founded the Kitasato Institute in 1914, dedicating himself to the education of future doctors and researchers.

Back: "Kanagawa-oki nami ura" (Under the Great Wave off Kanagawa) from the series Fugaku sanjūrokkei (Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji)
One of the most famous Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock prints (around 1831). This celebrated work of Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) has inspired artists around the world.

(Reference 2)

Provisional Designs of the New Bank of Japan Notes

1. New 10,000 yen note

Front

Back

(Note) Details of the designs, including holograms, will be decided upon consideration. Features of the new banknotes will be announced in a Ministry of Finance Notification following the appropriate procedures.

2. New 5,000 yen note

Front

Back

(Note) Details of the designs, including holograms, will be decided upon consideration. Features of the new banknotes will be announced in a Ministry of Finance Notification following the appropriate procedures.

3. New 1,000 yen note

Front

Back

(Note) Details of the designs, including holograms, will be decided upon consideration. Features of the new banknotes will be announced in a Ministry of Finance Notification following the appropriate procedures.

(Reference 3)

Provisional Designs of the New 500 yen Coin

(Note) The images have been created given that the coin will be issued after the enforcement of the “Cabinet Order to change the name of the era.” Details of the design will be decided upon consideration.

Features of the new coin will be announced in a Cabinet Order following the appropriate procedures.

(Reference 4)

Main Anti-counterfeiting Technologies Used to Manufacture the New 500-yen Coin

1. Bicolor clad (Two-color, three-layer structure)

＜Images＞

2. Helical ridges with two different pitches

＜Images＞