QuestionWho manufactures Japanese banknotes?

Japanese banknotes -- called the Bank of Japan notes -- are manufactured by an incorporated administrative agency, the National Printing Bureau, which was formerly the Printing Bureau, Ministry of Finance. If you look on the front side of the note, you will find small lettering at the bottom that states "Manufactured by the National Printing Bureau" in Japanese.

All banknotes issued in Japan -- from the national bank notes of 1877 to the current Bank of Japan notes -- have been manufactured by the National Printing Bureau or its predecessor, from papermaking to printing. The Bank has the authority to issue banknotes, as stipulated by Article 46 of the Bank of Japan Act, as the sole issuer. The Bank receives the new banknotes manufactured by the National Printing Bureau, and issues them by putting them into circulation from its Head Office in Tokyo and branches across Japan as the Bank of Japan notes.