BarnacleBob
01-04-2004, 10:45 PM
Featureless female face
shortchanges banknote printers
January 4, 2004
A woman is throwing Japan's moneymakers into disarray because they're not used to drawing anybody so beautiful to use on the country's banknotes, according to Shukan Shincho (1/1-8).
Printing on Japan's new banknotes started on Dec. 19, with one exception -- the 5,000 yen bill that will bear the image of 19th century poet Ichiyo Higuchi.
In fact, new 1,000 notes featuring bacteriologist Hideyo Noguchi and 10,000 yen bills adorned with the image of industrialist Eikichi Yuzawa have progressed into the final stages of the printing process, but not even the plates have been finished for Higuchi's 5,000 yen bills -- and it's all because she's a woman!
"Firstly, we get an artist to use paints and brushes to come up with a portrait that we use as the basis for printing. After that, the craftsman in charge of sculpting etches the likeness onto a brass plate. But, when it comes to making the plates actually used to print the notes, you must etch 10 lines for every millimeter of space and your working in micron units, so it's a terribly painstaking task," a Bank of Japan insider tells Shukan Shincho.
Japan last changed its banknotes in 1984. It took three years and four months from the time their designs were announced to the public until they actually got onto the streets.
Originally, this time that period was supposed to be cut to under two years. Others have made it on time, so why the delay with Higuchi?
Lack of wrinkles and no distinguishing marks on her face, according to one newspaper report.
Not so, according to a retired mint official.
"Empress Jingu (a legendary leader of an ancient Japan) is the only other woman ever to have appeared on a Japanese banknote and that was back in the early Meiji Era (1868-1912). Since then, all the money has only ever had pictures of men who accomplished great deeds. And they all had distinguishing features, like wrinkles, a beard or wore glasses, which served as a symbol of them," the old boy tells Shukan Shincho. "Mint craftsman are bamboozled over how they can draw Higuchi's smooth, featureless face without making it easy for counterfeiters to copy her."
http://mdn.mainichi.co.jp/waiwai/0401/040104higuchi.html
shortchanges banknote printers
January 4, 2004
A woman is throwing Japan's moneymakers into disarray because they're not used to drawing anybody so beautiful to use on the country's banknotes, according to Shukan Shincho (1/1-8).
Printing on Japan's new banknotes started on Dec. 19, with one exception -- the 5,000 yen bill that will bear the image of 19th century poet Ichiyo Higuchi.
In fact, new 1,000 notes featuring bacteriologist Hideyo Noguchi and 10,000 yen bills adorned with the image of industrialist Eikichi Yuzawa have progressed into the final stages of the printing process, but not even the plates have been finished for Higuchi's 5,000 yen bills -- and it's all because she's a woman!
"Firstly, we get an artist to use paints and brushes to come up with a portrait that we use as the basis for printing. After that, the craftsman in charge of sculpting etches the likeness onto a brass plate. But, when it comes to making the plates actually used to print the notes, you must etch 10 lines for every millimeter of space and your working in micron units, so it's a terribly painstaking task," a Bank of Japan insider tells Shukan Shincho.
Japan last changed its banknotes in 1984. It took three years and four months from the time their designs were announced to the public until they actually got onto the streets.
Originally, this time that period was supposed to be cut to under two years. Others have made it on time, so why the delay with Higuchi?
Lack of wrinkles and no distinguishing marks on her face, according to one newspaper report.
Not so, according to a retired mint official.
"Empress Jingu (a legendary leader of an ancient Japan) is the only other woman ever to have appeared on a Japanese banknote and that was back in the early Meiji Era (1868-1912). Since then, all the money has only ever had pictures of men who accomplished great deeds. And they all had distinguishing features, like wrinkles, a beard or wore glasses, which served as a symbol of them," the old boy tells Shukan Shincho. "Mint craftsman are bamboozled over how they can draw Higuchi's smooth, featureless face without making it easy for counterfeiters to copy her."
http://mdn.mainichi.co.jp/waiwai/0401/040104higuchi.html