Older Series Japanese Banknotes

Hi there,

I have a whole lot of Japanese banknotes. Some are current but most are from older series. See the breakup below:

Series B (1950–53) \1,100
Series C (1957–69) \43,500
Series D (1984) \30,000
Series D (2000) \2,000
Series E (2004) \23,000
Total \99,600

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banknotes_of_the_Japanese_yen

I believe I can change any of these into modern Yen banknotes but unfortunately I arrive on a weekend (when banks are closed) and I will travel directly to Grand Hirafu (where there is no bank - the closest is in Kutchan I believe).

Can anyone advise me which series banknotes I should expect to be able to easily use to make payments? I would like to be able to pay cash for two Grand Hirafu / Hanazono 6 day lift passes \56,600.

Thanks.

All of them are still valid (as money law),
but actually other than "E" you will not be able to use for payment in most cases.

The reason is simple, even if the front staff of Grand Hirafu's hotel is Japanese or not,
they have "never seen" such old notes before in the past usual, also, they will not decide it as an imposter,
but because the only public institution to judge it(=fake or not) is a bank already you know,
so, it is not a reason why the hotel must receive it.

Use this ASAP.
https://www.grand-hirafu.jp/global/en/form/default/index/form/ctg/1

See also similar Q as basic payment.
https://www.japan-guide.com/forum/quereadisplay.html?0+159566

For usage within the resort, I agree with the other poster that you should contact the resort and ask.

But are you sure that those notes are "not modern"? The Wikipedia link you posted is just telling you that certain notes were first issued during B, then during C and so on. For example, the 10000 yen note that was first issued in 1984 is the same as the newest notes.

The 2000 yen notes, which were issued upon a historical event, were never accepted at many machines in the first place, but everyone knows that they're valid. Middle age people grew up and professionally worked using 1957-69 notes, so those would probably be accepted by many people too.

In fact, I would keep the 1950–53 notes if I were you. It's such a small amount, and they can be traded for a slightly higher price at coin shops. Meanwhile, locals might enjoy your 1984 notes because any young person knows they existed but may have never seen them, at least in years.

In any case, when asking the resort you should clarify that you are referring to the illustrations shown on Wikipedia. When people see numbers such as "1957-69", they'd think "Man, that's old!" but if they see the actual illustrations, they'd notice that the notes are familiar.

As far as I know the series D notes are still common/circulation. The older ones are items you could probably put on E-bay. I have, in the past, been gifted an old 100 yen note from someone as a New Year gift while out drinking - I have it somewhere.

The 2000 yen notes that were printed have their own interesting story, but most of the ones that reached circulation are those sent overseas and come back into the country from places like the USA or the UK (I got another one from a guest this week) and the banking system takes them out of circulation as soon as they get banked AFAIK. As a curious side point, I see many JR ticket machines take the 2000 yen note.