pre-2004 yen notes

Are the old 10,000 yen notes (pre-2004, without the silver mark on the front and with a different back)still in use in Japan? We have some old bills from a previous trip and I am wondering if I need to exchange them for the newer issue currency or if I can just use them. (They are in good shape.)

li,

They are no longer in circulation, and I never see any, but they are still legal tender (as are all old notes). You may have problems using them in vending machines, but I don't think you should have any problems using them in shops.

: I am wondering if I need to exchange them for the newer issue currency or if I can just use them. (They are in good shape.)

While you are in Japan, you can use some at a person-to-person cash desk (in a large supermarket for example) and exchange some to new ones at a branch of an ordinary bank.
Not many vending machines accept 10,000-yen banknotes, old or new. Old ones may be rejected by some vending machines which are designed to accept new ones.

: Are the old 10,000 yen notes still in use in Japan?

The old 10,000-yen banknotes have been getting excluded from the market.
Bank of Japan, which is the central bank, has not put old ones into circulation since 2 April 2007.
But, I suppose they would not be invalidated in 5 years or so, considering the fact that 500-yen banknotes (which appeared in 1969) are still legally valid even 15 years after they got out of circulation in 1994.

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Thanks for the information!