Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a daily column that runs on Page 1 of The Asahi Shimbun.
July 18, 2024 at 15:05 JST
The 2,000-yen ($12.80) banknote features a picture of the Shureimon gate in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture.
How common are those bills there?
When I organized a party in Okinawa some years ago, I asked the attendees to pay with 2,000-yen notes if they happened to have any on hand.
The outcome exceeded my expectations. The bills piled up fast.
Their circulation in Okinawa is said to have grown since then, so there may be even more going around now.
The situation in mainland Japan is entirely different. I don’t even remember the last time I held a 2,000-yen note.
During my recent visit to the Banknote and Postage Stamp Museum in Tokyo’s Oji district, visitors looking at the currency on display were trying to reassure one another, “We can still use it, can’t we?”
The 2,000-yen note was first issued on July 19, 2000. The design has never been revised since then, although the 10,000-yen, 5,000-yen and 1,000-yen bills, which were issued four years later, debuted new designs earlier this month.
It appears that the 2,000-yen note is on its way to becoming something we know exists, but have never used.
Even the new 10,000-, 5,000- and 1,000-yen notes may some day meet the same fate.
A self-checkout area was recently installed at a supermarket in my neighborhood. Looking over the long row of payment terminals there, I was surprised to see that only a few accepted cash.
I have young colleagues who say they rarely carry cash. I suppose a cash person such as myself is steadily heading toward obsolescence.
As society becomes increasingly cashless, I imagine that when it’s time for me to cross the river to the netherworld, the ferryman will be asking me, “PayPay or cash?”
Times change. Some people are in the forefront, others struggle to catch up.
I’m at the tail end. Strolling leisurely, I gaze at some new banknotes I finally scored.
—The Asahi Shimbun, July 18
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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.
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A 2,000-yen note (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
