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In October 1999, the government announced the issue of a new, ¥2,000 bill. Then-Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi had decided to release it to commemorate the G8 summit to be held in Okinawa in 2000, a millennium year.
Japan's central bank, the Bank of Japan (BoJ), issued its first bill (banknote) in 1885; 115 years later, the new ¥2,000 bill is the bank's 50th. It is not only the first new one in 42 years, but also the first to use a "2" in its denomination since 1945—making it a major topic of interest even before its issue.
Many hurdles had to be overcome, though, before the new bill could be released. The greatest was a lack of time. In the past, creation of a new bill required three or four years, yet there were only nine months to produce this one in time for the summit.
"The one, five, and ten thousand-yen bills now in use each took about three years from concept through design to issue. Finalizing the design and making the plates is the most time-consuming phase. This is because a great deal of time is required both to painstakingly engrave the intaglio plates by hand and to effectively implement the latest counterfeit deterrence technology in the design. Thus the creation of the ¥2,000 bill became a fight against time," explained Riichiro Kusaki, a deputy director at the Product Design and Engraving Division, Printing Bureau, Ministry of Finance.
Japan's currency is printed by the Printing Bureau on order from the BoJ. In addition to design and printing, the Printing Bureau also makes its own paper, ink, and other materials used in producing banknotes. Though the reasons for this include counterfeit deterrence and the Bureau's wealth of technology and know-how, from a global perspective, this situation is rather unusual. |
