New Japanese banknotes get feminist

[Maciamo]

Feminist Author on Banknote

In a sign that things are changing for women in Japan, a 19th-century feminist author has been chosen to have her face on the new 5000-yen (42 Euro) banknote. Ichiyo Higuchi, who wrote of the unhappy and restricted lives of young Japanese women of her era, will peer out of one of three new banknotes that will feature sophisticated anti-counterfeit measures. The first major change to Japan's paper money in nearly two decades has been forced on the government by a jump in forgery. High-quality fake bills are being made with personal computers, and police report a massive rise in the number of counterfeit banknotes being detected. The new bills will feature the latest in anti-forgery technology, including pearl ink, latent images and the same holograms and watermark bar codes used on Europe's euro - and one new piece of technology that the Bank of Japan is keeping top secret. Higuchi, who died in 1896 at the age of 24, is not the first woman to grace modern Japanese banknotes. The 2000-yen notes that were introduced in 2000 feature Murasaki Shikibu, the 11th-century court lady who wrote the classic Tale of Genji. Those notes, however, have proved unpopular since they cannot be used in vending machines and are sometimes mistaken for 1000-yen bills.

Source : Lonely Planet


Well, for my part, I like the 2000 banknotes, vending machine or not. I wonder why they have been able to replace all machines for the new 500yen coins, but not a single one for the 2000 banknotes. How is it going to be when they'll change all the 1000, 5000 and 10000yen at th same time ?

You can see the new bank notes here

I have attached the new 5000yen for you :