Hideyo Noguchi, a Japanese born American on Japan 1.000 yen banknote

The new Japan 1,000 yen bills feature microbiologist
Hideyo Noguchi (1876-1928), who dedicated his life to
researching infectious diseases. The Japanese-born
American bacteriologist discovered the cause and worked
toward a treatment of syphilis and yellow fever.

The newly designed bank notes went into circulation
Monday for the first time in 20 years, featuring
cutting-edge technology aimed at combating a rising tide
of counterfeits.

Bank of Japan officials said the BOJ distributed 2.3
trillion yen worth of new 10,000 yen, 5,000 yen and
1,000 yen bills to financial institutions Monday.

The new 5,000 yen bills carry a portrait of Ichiyo
Higuchi (1872-1896), a female novelist and poet. The new
10,000 yen bills continue to bear the portrait of
Fukuzawa Yukichi.

The new bills feature anticounterfeit technology,
including holograms and advanced bar-code patterns. They
also make use of some technologies originally introduced
in the 2,000 yen bill.

BOJ officials said they expect the number of forged
notes to approach 300 million this year, up from 76.13
million in 2001.