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A major flaw of Japanese currency is the 10,000 yen bill ceiling of banknotes.
For daily life, having a system of bills which max out at 10,000 yen is not a problem. But for those special times when you want to buy something high-end like a computer or melons, your wallet suddenly swells to the size of a baseball. In country that largely shuns checks or debit cards, cash is still king – a thick, hard to fit in your back pocket king.
Rumors are swirling about financial reforms in the works by Shinzo Abe’s recently elected Liberal Democratic Party involving, among other things, the issuing of 50,000 yen bills.
Abe had been promoting several ideas to breathe life back into Japans flailing economy. These include the old lowering of the yen agendas that pundits have dubbed “Abenomics.”
As a general rule of politics, when people combine your name with your policies, it means they’re not thrilled with them. Nevertheless, Abe and his cabinet are unfazed by criticisms with deeper plans in the works under the guidance of former Yale University Prof Koichi Hamada.
These plans involve bringing the inflation rate to a 2% target by 2014 leading to what the government refers to as an “indefinite monetary easing” scheme.
This indefinite monetary easing scheme is believed to involve a restructuring of the relationship between the Bank of Japan and the government. Previously the government held tight control over the central bank’s actions with it sometimes being referred to as “nothing more than a printing machine.”
However, now it’s possible that steps are being taken to create a more cooperative system of monetary policy hoping to improve over the formerly used “quantitative easing” which has yielded unimpressive economic results.
With nothing set in stone, some still feel this move is likely considering Abe’s Minister of Financial Services (and former PM) Taro Aso, is roughly of the same mind.
As a result of all this power shifting and economics, one potential plan of consumer stimulus is the 50,000 yen banknote.
No more will we have to carry around briefcases of cash like a villain from a Lethal Weapon movie to make a major purchase. Finally large sums of cash may be able to fit discretely in our wallets and purses.
Still, the 50,000 yen question remains: Who would be on the bill?
Abe’s sometimes hardline leanings may suggest he’s a little full of himself and would try to put himself on the bill.
However, bills in Japan tend to feature noted historical people outside of the political sphere as well. Who’s the symbol of Japan these days?
Source: ZakZak via My Game News Flash (Japanese)
Read more stories on RocketNews24. -- Govt Website Gets 45 Million Yen Redesign -- Housewives: Why Carefully Managing Your Husband’s Money Leads To A Happier Home -- Feisty 94-Year-Old Runs for Office Using Money Saved for Funeral
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26 Comments
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smartacus
I wonder if it would suffer the same fate as the 2,000-yen note, which failed because vending and ticket machines were not adapted to handle them.
Scrote
A Y50000 note will be very handy for paying bribes. I wonder who might benefit from such bribe?
Scrote
A Y50000 note would be handy for buying melons.
Scrote
It's clear that large denomination notes will be used for criminal activity. Why would the LDP want to encourage that?
rowiko68
A complete and utter waste of money, if you ask me! In my view, the flaw is not the lack of a 50'000 yen note, but the fact that so many Japanese people still rely on cash for large purchases in this day and age. There are much more convenient and safer ways to pay!
Surf O'Holic
Cash is King! But the problem with yen is the many zeros. How about just knocking off a couple zeros.
wanderlust
That will make standing your bonus envelope upright to boast to co-workers more difficult.
TheInterstat
Ridiculous. Still, will be good finding one on the pavement when some dickhead inevitably drops one.
ratpack
I keep telling my family back home how ridiculous the prices of melons are in this country and they never believe me....but give me a break....I wouldn't really call them high end products that need a 50,000yen note to be used. Perhaps the guys who pay stupid amounts for the first tuna of the year can get more use out of this new bank note.
noriyosan73
Yes, that is the solution - backward thinking for the currency manipulators. Japan needs to reissue its money. It take a few years of posting double prices, but people eventually understand. (The Euro change over is an example. ) it possible? Yes, Mexico did it. Unfortunately, some businesses gave the unsuspecting people, especially tourists, old currency as change for new currency. 100 yen needs to be 1 new yen in modern money, 50000 yen is 50 yen. New heroes or leaders on the currency make the currency different, and helps stop counterfeiting. There is an infinite number of zeros under the present system. It is time for a change (double entendre is intended.)
HollisBrown
The problem is that the 10,000yen note is used so frequently in everyday situations (from buying a bento at a convenience store to jewelry at high end department stores). Once a shop receives a 10,000yen note - it is redundant. They cannot use it as change because there is nothing higher in circulation. I know the same can be said about every currency, but the 10,000yen note is too 'normal'. The ATM machines need to give out 4x5,000yen notes rather than 2x10,000yen. On withdrawing 19,000yen, why should I get 1x10,000yen and 9x1,000yen? Give me some 5,000yen notes and make the 10,000yen note less commonly used. If this happened, we wouldn't necessarily need a note of higher value than 10,000 - the situation would be at least twice as good as it currently is. If the government insists on introducing a higher value note, it could be a good thing - but only if the banks don't make it standard ATM issue. A 20,000yen note would seem more sensible to me.
davestrousers
Thank God Abe hasn't seen the episode of The Simpsons where Harry S. Truman has a trillion dollar bill printed with his own face on it. I think it would give him ideas.
BurakuminDes
How about first getting rid of those worthless monopoly-money coins that can't be used in machines - the 1 and 5 Yen? Heck - I find those pesky 1 yen things all over the place - kitchen, pockets, everywhere - and have recently started dispatching them to the recycling along with my beer cans!
ebisen
Well, you just confesses into doing something illegal :))
Seawolf
Yes, the Japanese way of using money is totally upside down now: Housewives and young people use a card for all kinds of small purchases, whether it be a cup of coffee or some stuff at the conbini, just because they think they have to collect bonus points with their card or it's "motainai", wasted. Makes me mad sometimes, because I am working behind the counter, and sometimes I can even see that they have lot's of cash, but they still want to use their card!
edojin
Such as move has been thought of before. The reasoning behind reluctance to do so in the past: If larger bills are introduced in the money chain then prices will increases rapidly.
tmarie
Preparing for inflation?!
Serrano
"when you want to buy something high-end like a computer or melons..."
This is miserable indeed.
"...your wallet suddenly swells to the size of a baseball"
A baseball, eh? Ever hear of credit cards?
buggerlugs
¥2000 note was such a success that and is trying to reinvent the failure with this stupid idea. Bet it'll be released. Some "average guy" on tv will tout its usefulness and every other person in Japan will refuse it because nowhere will accept it. I mean seriously, a conbini gets 3 people buying a can of coffee first thing in the morning and their float for the day is wiped out. Ridiculous!!
KnowBetter
Brainiac
I wonder if it would suffer the same fate as the 2,000-yen note, which failed because vending and ticket machines were not adapted to handle them.
buggerlugs
¥2000 note was such a success that and is trying to reinvent the failure with this stupid idea. Bet it'll be released. Some "average guy" on tv will tout its usefulness and every other person in Japan will refuse it because nowhere will accept it. I mean seriously, a conbini gets 3 people buying a can of coffee first thing in the morning and their float for the day is wiped out. Ridiculous!!
The 2000 yen note was issued July 19, 2000, to commemorate the 26th G8 Summit and the millennium. There was no other reason and it was a short of limited edition bills. If you have one or more in mint condition then I'd suggest you hold on to it.
nandarou
We don't need Y50000 banknote for sure. Look at Y2000 banknote. Where are they now? Making 50000yen bill is totally waste money, shouldn't make them.
badsey3
I would like to see a list of Bank of Japan (corporation) share-holders (55% Gov owned).
I would also like to see more media involvement with the Development Bank of Japan (DBJ) and Shoko Chukin Bank specifically when they decide to go "private"
http://www.dbj.jp/en/co/info/privatization.html
Without being open about the financials and the share-owners nobody should be supporting this monetary easing (QE -quantitative easing) = inflation request.
Elbuda Mexicano
How about just knocking one 0 off the current Yen to USD rate?? So instead of mucking around with 100 Yen to 1 USD, making it 10 Yen to 1 USD?? Would this mean our 10 yen coins are suddenly worth 1 USD??
JonathanJo
Surprisingly, the US had 500, 1000, 5000 and 10000 dollar bills in circulation until 1969. Must have been able to buy a whole melon farm with a few of them. See http://www.moneyfactory.com/uscurrency/largedenominations.html
Elbuda Mexicano
The US did have huge denominations but the DEA, FBI etc...quickly found out drug dealers , terrorists can pack more $$$ in less space so those dollar bills are history, now Japan must make sure crap countries like North Korea do not counterfeit Japanese money!!!
jeff198527
Japan should stick to paying for things in cash. Look at how indebted the US, Canada, Europe, and the UK in terms of credit card debt.