What about the 2000 yen note?

Konnichiha,

I promise this is my last question about yen. Is there or isn't there a 2000 yen note? Does is circulate? Will people/stores take it if it exists? I've read several conflicting things about his note. I can't wait to get there. Arigatou gozaimasu

Is there or isn't there a 2000 yen note?

Yes, there is.

Does is circulate? Will people/stores take it if it exists?

Yes. It's just a regular note that is somewhat rare as it is of an unpopular denomination.

here's a website with pictures of bills currently in use:

http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/ttp/sg/04-UsefulInfor/MediumIndex/...

If your American then your familiar with the $2.00 bill, the 2000 yen note seems to be just as rare. I had a few of them when I first moved to Japan (From foreign exchange) no store refused them, I don't even see why they would, they're legal tender.

My friend had a couple and she was fine. There's nothing 'bad' about that (i.e stores won't take them) it's just that they're not seen as much as the 1,000 or the 5,000 note.

‚ª‚ñ‚΂Á‚Ä�I (Ganbatte)

my friend gave me one when they first came out - i have never seen another one since.

I got about 3 of them from my part time job once... If y ou REALLY want them the bank has them i'm guessing.

Oh, i spent my 2000 yen bills.

2000 yen notes were made in the celebration of the year 2000, and are so rare that a lot of people keep them to themselves once they get hold of them. I have two in my drawer ;p

Also note that other than the examples on the link provided by Yllwsmrf, there are other notes that are a few decades old and can still be used with no problem.

Btw, I'm curious about what "several conflicting things about his note" Nico had read.

Maybe she heard about how they aren't accepted in vending machines. That seems to be their biggest drawback.

"Btw, I'm curious about what "several conflicting things about his note" Nico had read."

Some sources said 1)nobody will accept them, 2)They can not be used in vending machines, 3)they were printed only for collectors. It seems that only number2, the vending machine one is the only true one.

con-bun-waa

I've only seen 2000 yen notes when people have obtained them from foreign currency exchange overseas.

I recall that one JR or subway ticket vending machine in Tokyo would not accept them.

I asked the regional bank next door if they have them and they said that they always have them on hand but they are only given out if requested.

Thanks for the feedback, Nicolassan, and as you assumed 1) and 3) are completely false.

About vending machines, it took a while for most machines to be moderated so that they can accept the 2000 yen notes that didn't exist until the year 2000. But I notice that nowadays, a lot of machines do accept them.

But then there are quite a few machines that don't accept any bills except for the 1000 yen bill, in the first place.

Are they really that rare? I ordered Japanese money at our bank, and included are 10 x 2000 yen bills.

Jimmyvh, according to my experience of living in Japan for the whole 8 years since the note was released, that is really unbelievable. What did you do? Ask for notes worth a billion yen? Just kidding.

Yea you better hold on to those. Next year they'll probably be worth almost 20,000 yen!

Yes, they are that rare. The reason is that basically they aren't circulated normally because ATMs don't give them out and stores never give them as change. This means that if anyone does use one it ends up back at the bank very quickly. Since 2000 I have held personally about 6 2,000 yen notes- the last 2 I have kept and I think I got one of them in 2003 and the next one in 2006- I haven't seen another one since.

10s, 5s and 1s on the other hand I see every day.

Occasionaly i've gotten a couple of them when I withdrew money from ATMs in Tokyo...

I recently returned from a month long business trip to Japan. Before I left I obtained Yen from a local AAA store in the Philadelphia area. The Yen packet cost $126.00 and totaled 11,900 Yen:
1 - 5,000
2 - 2,000
2 - 1,000
plus 900 Yen coins

I was surprised at the response I received from both Americans and Japanese that I had 2000 Yen notes and how easy is was to obtain them. Being an infrequent traveller to Japan I had no idea just how rare this note is.

Serendipitous? Definitely!

there was a tv show last year about the 2000yen note. they interviewed a guy who only used 2000yen notes as he thought they were the most beautiful. as a cash based society he had quite a stack of them too.