Residents of areas with links to the historical figures featured on new Japanese banknotes expressed excitement Wednesday as they got hold of the new bills on the very day they entered into circulation.
The ¥10,000, ¥5,000 and ¥1,000 notes have been redesigned for the first time in 20 years, with the new ¥10,000 bill adorned with a portrait of Eiichi Shibusawa, known as the father of Japan's capitalism.
In Saitama, a city north of Tokyo that is close to Shibusawa's hometown of Fukaya, a Saitama Resona Bank branch began cash exchange services using the new bills at 10 a.m.
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