New banknotes will be issued soon. These are the first new banknotes of the Reiwa era, but there have been various changes to banknotes before that. In many cases, the primary purpose is to prevent counterfeiting. This time, we focused in particular on the change in the “Yukichi, Inazo, and Soseki” banknotes from 1984 (Showa 59). (Hikida Satoshi, Archives Management Department)

The day Prince Shotoku disappeared

For today’s middle-aged and older generation, the “face on the banknote” used to refer to Prince Shotoku (Prince Umayado).

Prince Shotoku made his debut on the 100 yen bill in 1930 (Showa 5).

Even after the war, when the new yen was introduced, Prince Shotoku always appeared on the highest denomination banknotes: first the 1,000 yen note, then the 5,000 yen note, and finally the 10,000 yen note, and he became his “regular” image, so to speak.

Prince Shotoku’s image first appeared on the 100 yen note in 1930.

I’m sure there are still many people who remember this, but at the end of the Showa era, there was a time when the 10,000 yen and 5,000 yen notes featured the same person (Prince Shotoku).

The 10,000 yen and 5,000 yen bills of the same era were significantly larger than today’s bills.