Get more for your yen with a 2000 yen bill

Asahi Shinbun is reporting that at certain shops in Hokkaido, you can buy close to 3000 yen worth of goods if you use the rare 2000 yen bill.

Some of you may remember that back in the year 2000, a 2000 yen bill was released in Japan. The creating of the 2000 yen bill was simply a gimmick for the Summit that was held in Kyuusyu and Okinawa that year, and after printing about 800 million bills, printing was completely stopped in 2003. As of 2006 there were only about 160 million in circulation, according to The Bank of Japan. As you can imagine, vending machines were not adapted to support this new tender, so the bills never caught on and were forgotten as little more than a collectors item.

I know I saw one in 2000, I think. But I certainly didn’t end up keeping it. Any readers have any?

Now,  the G8 Summer is going to be held this summer in Hokkaido, so they’re bringing back the 2000 yen bill!

At pharmacies and random okonomiyaki stores in Sapporo you can exchange 2000 yen for a 2000 yen bill, and then spend them at other shops for bonus points. Bonus points? For example, apparently at one Chinese restaurant there, you can buy three 700-900 yen dishes and a drink with only one 2000 yen bill. Savings!

What fun what fun.

Any readers living in Hokkaido who can report on this incredible phenomenon first hand?

- Harvey

Source - Asahi Shinbun