High-tech cash: Japan launches banknotes with hologram portraits

Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida looks at new banknotes with Bank of Japan (BOJ) Governor Kazuo Ueda, on the day of the new notes of 10,000 yen, 5,000 yen and 1,000 yen went into circulation, at the BOJ headquarters in Tokyo, Japan July 3, 2024. REUTERS/Issei Kato/Pool TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

Irene Wang and Kantaro Komiya

Japan began circulating its first new banknotes in 20 years on Wednesday, featuring three-dimensional portraits of the founders of financial and female education institutions in an attempt to frustrate counterfeiters.

The notes use printed patterns to generate holograms of the portraits facing different directions, depending on the angle of view, employing a technology that Japan's National Printing Bureau says is the world's first for paper money.