Counterfeit money in Japan

 Today I would like to talk about counterfeit money in Japan.

In Japan, incidents of counterfeit money are very rare and almost never happen.
The reason for this is that the amount of counterfeit money in circulation is low compared to other countries, and the printing technology is so advanced that it is difficult to counterfeit.
Even so, there have been several incidents of counterfeit money in Japan in the past.

In Japan, important incidents are given a code number.
Here are some of the incidents, along with their code numbers.

① Case number "CHI-5" (チ-5号事件)
In 1951 (six years after the war ended), fake 1,000 yen notes were found in various places, including Osaka, Aichi, Tokyo and Yamanashi prefectures.
The police in Yamanashi prefecture investigated the case and arrested 24 people.
They were making the counterfeit money in an entire village.
The leader was a former naval lieutenant, and his group included a former army lieutenant colonel, a gardener, an elementary school principal, a printing company worker, and a fire brigade member.
The group bought offset printing machines, ink, and paper, and made the counterfeit money in the basement of a farmhouse.
It is said that they made 12,000 counterfeit bills.

②Case number "CHI-37" (チ-37号事件)
The "CHI-37" incident, which occurred in 1961, has still not been solved. It is said to be the most sophisticated counterfeit money in the history of Japanese counterfeit money, and is also called the "masterpiece" of counterfeit money. A total of 343 fake 1,000 yen notes were found.
The Japanese government mobilized many police officers, interviewed 150,000 people nationwide, and also investigated 20,000 printing machines.
The Japanese police issued a warning to the public, describing the characteristics of the counterfeit notes. The warning included details such as "the numbering is slightly slanted downwards" and "the eyes of the portrait are slightly slanted downwards".
However, when the news got out, the criminals issued a revised version of the counterfeit notes, making them even more like the real thing.
This incident damaged the credibility of Japanese banknotes, and so the Japanese government decided to issue new banknotes (in 1963).

③Case number "WA-D-53" (和D-53号事件)
This incident occurred in 1993. Unlike previous counterfeiting cases, this was a case of counterfeiting using magnetic ink to fool vending machines and money-changing machines.
One day, two fake 10,000 yen notes were found in a ticket machine at JR Kyoto Station. A total of 506 10,000 yen notes printed with magnetic ink were later found. This case remains unsolved.

There were also other cases of fake money made using home inkjet printers and photocopiers, but the criminals were quickly arrested.

Model 1000yen notes Ⅳ (National Museum of Modern Art,Tokyo)

 

In Japan, when we talk about counterfeit money, it is probably more famous as an art form than as a crime.
In 1963, the artist Gempei Akasegawa printed 1,000 yen notes with a single color on the front, and presented them as a work of art.
These counterfeit notes were also used as invitations to Gempei Akasegawa's solo exhibition, and were delivered to the relevant people using special envelopes for sending cash (registered mail).
After that, Gempei Akasegawa was arrested. He was also investigated as a suspect in the "CHI-37" counterfeiting case that was happening at the same time, and it was reported widely in the newspapers.
This trial attracted a lot of attention.
The police thought of Gempei Akasegawa as a "thought criminal" and tried to convict him. On the other hand, many Japanese artists defended him, and the debate continued.
According to those who attended the trial, the court was like a museum, with numerous works of art on display as evidence and reference materials.

As a result of the trial, Gempei Akasegawa was sentenced to three months in prison, with a one-year suspended sentence, and the original plates for the counterfeit money were confiscated. Gempei Akasegawa said that the confiscation of the original plates was the most shocking part of the trial.
Currently, these fake banknotes are recognized for their artistic value and are stored in the National Museum of Modern Art in Japan and the British Museum in the UK.

The great Japanese zero yen note (National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo)

In the anime "Bakemonogatari", a banknote with the words "Akasegawa" suddenly appeared. Most Japanese people today are unaware of the "Gempei Akasegawa" counterfeiting incident. There were many viewers who did not understand what this meant.

bakemonogatari #4 (Mayoi Mai Mai #2 / around 6'00)

It's counterfeit money.