The Faces On Your Yen

Above, Japanese yen bills. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Have you been to Japan and took a good look at the Japanese currency (i.e., paper bills) and wondered who the faces on the bills are?

Well, you're now in luck as Gaijinpot.com has an article explaining who each person is whose face appears on the yen bills.

They begin with:

Back in 2004, facing a sharp spike in counterfeit activity due to advances in computer technology, Japan decided to give its three major bills, well… a face lift. Newly peppered with “holograms, watermarks, and special inks” to prevent copying, the new notes were also created to flush out all the “mattress money” citizens had in savings. To do this, new faces were necessary. 

We start with a bacteriologist whose statue can be seen near the National Science Museum within Ueno Park in Tokyo…

To read more, go here.