Quote Originally Posted by Maciamo
It is quite rare (a bit like the 2US$ bills or 1US$ coiins). I only see them once every 6 months or so.

Btw, it's over a week that the new banknotes have been released and I haven't seen one yet ! The Japanese central bank or the Japanese people not in the same hurry to change the old banknotes as with the Euro in 2002, when people rushed to the nearest ATM at midnight to see them. There were even people queueing, and all ATM's had the new "euro" banknotes. Quite different in Japan. At this rythm, it will take 6 months for everybody to see them.
Yes, there was quite a rush to get the new €uro notes. There was even some broad advanced exchange of €uro coins to keep it down somewhat.
Apparently, the Japanese are more pragmatically here and don't care that much whose face is on the bill, as long as they can pay with it.