The debut of new currency with anticounterfeit technology appears to have prompted people turning out fake old bank notes to rush to use them, but it will probably take about a year before all the old money is taken out of circulation.
Around the New Year's holidays, about 820 bogus old 10,000 yen bills, made with color printers, were found at shrines and temples in 25 prefectures.
At Sumiyoshi Taisha Shrine in Osaka, 27 such notes were found at booths selling paper charms and other goods. The shrine was inundated by almost 2 million people from New Year's Eve to Jan. 2.