今日、お釣りをもらった時に一瞬「?!」となりましたが、よく見たら20年ぶりにデザインが変わり
1日から流通が始まった新札でした。この新五千円札の樋口一葉、彼女が24歳という若さで病死したため彼女の顔にシワなどの特徴が少ないことから
肖像画制作が難航したそうです。20年前にも五千円札の候補にあがったものの描きにくかったために新渡戸稲造にその座を奪われたとか。描きにくいって言われても樋口さんも困るだろうよ、という感じですが。それにしても
偽造防止技術スゴイですね。
When I received some change today, I felt that there was something wrong. I realised that it was a
new bank note, available from November 1st. The design of bank notes hasn't been changed for 20 years. This new ¥5,000 note features the novelist Ichiyo Higuchi. She died when she was only 24, so her face doesn't have much wrinkles or distinctive character. Apparently, they even tried to feature her for the ¥5,000 note 20 years ago, but her face was very difficult to portrait and they chose educator Inazo Nitobe instead. Anyway, here she is! It seems like they improved their skills. The
security features of the new bank notes look amazing.