2000 Yen

The 2000 yen note was issued to commemorate the G8 Summit held in Okinawa in July 2000 — the first time Japan hosted the summit, and the first time Okinawa featured on Japanese currency. It was also the first Japanese note to carry a hologram strip. The denomination itself was unusual; Japan had no modern tradition of 2000-unit notes, and vending machines, ATMs, and cash registers across the country were slow or simply unable to handle it.

Public uptake never recovered from that infrastructure mismatch. Within a few years the note had effectively vanished from daily use, though the Bank of Japan continued — and still continues — to issue it in small quantities. Most circulate only in Okinawa, where local affinity for the note remains somewhat stronger than elsewhere.