Do people need to exchange Japanese banknotes once the new notes are issued in May 2023? No, that's not true: People can continuously use their old notes.
The claim appeared on TikTok (archived here) on April 27th 2023. The man in the video is introduced as Professor Toshio Nishi of Stanford University, Hoover Institution. One of the on-screen titles is saying, "New notes - Reason from Yukichi Fukuzawa (Old 10,000 yen note) to Eiichi Shibusawa (New 10,000 yen note.)"
Further on in the video, he is saying what would happen after the new banknotes will be issued:
You have to exchange your "notes under the mattress" to new notes because they will be useless in a few years. Government will say "don't worry, it's free to exchange notes."
Once you exchange the money, the Japanese government will keep track of your address and individual number card.
After a year, they will come back and demand you to pay tax.
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Wed May 3 12:20:44 2023 UTC)
To make it clear it is not only 10,000 yen notes, but also 5,000 and 1,000 yen notes that will have new designs. See the picture from the National Printing Bureau website:
According to the Ministry of Finance of Japan, the main reason to issue new bills is to prevent counterfeit money from circulating.
Nearly 20 years have passed since the current banknotes were issued in 2004, and during that time private printing technology has made significant progress. Banknote design based on the concept of universal design is a global trend for the benefit of the visually impaired and foreigners. Based on the above, in order to make banknotes more difficult to counterfeit and easier for everyone to use, we decided to reprint three denominations: 10,000 yen notes, 5,000 yen notes, and 1,000 yen notes.
According to the Bank of Japan, people can still use old notes.
Banknotes that are no longer issued and are inconvenient to circulate (for example 10,000-yen notes with a portrait of Prince Shotoku) can be exchanged for banknotes currently issued at the Bank of Japan's headquarters and branches. Once issued, banknotes do not lose their validity unless special measures are taken based on laws and regulations.
This is for example the oldest banknote from 1885 that people can still use.
