The Bank of Japan began using a new automatic counterfeit-bill detector Friday at its head office in Tokyo to help it weed out forged currency.
It is the first time for the central bank to update counterfeit-bill detectors in nine years. The BOJ jointly developed the machines with private-sector manufacturers.
The number of bills the new detector is capable of checking is the same as the previous model, at 1,800 per minute. But since the new machine allows parts for detecting counterfeit notes to be replaced, it can respond to new types of forgery simply by having the parts changed, BOJ officials said.
The central bank plans to replace its 113 detectors with the new model at the head office and branch offices across the country in the next several years, the officials said.
