Quite a few people may wonder where the 2,000 yen banknotes have gone since their issue in 2000.
     ''I've hardly ever seen a 2,000 yen note over the past six years,'' said Kyoko Kanda, 24, an office worker in Tokyo.
     ''I keep one as a keepsake, but that's all I need. I don't want to keep them in my wallet because they are not convenient, for there are few vending machines or ATMs that will take them,'' she said.
     Kanda's opinion seems to represent the attitude of many other Japanese who avoid using the bills.
     Economists point out a vicious circle for the bills -- the inconvenience causes unpopularity, which in turn results in the Bank of Japan holding back from printing more of the so-called millennium banknotes.
     Six years ago, the BOJ issued the notes to commemorate the millennium year and the Group of Eight summit in Okinawa Prefecture in July 2000.
     The central bank has so far printed about 880 million 2,000 yen notes, but its print run sharply declined to 110 million for fiscal 2003 from 770 million for fiscal 2000.
     The BOJ estimates that 177 million 2,000 yen notes were in circulation as of July this year, which accounts for 1.6 percent of the circulation of all banknotes, down from a peak of 513 million notes in August 2004, which accounted for 4.7 percent of the whole.
     A BOJ spokeswoman attributed the lower demand and circulation to the debut of new banknotes, namely 1,000, 5,000, and 10,000 yen notes created in 2004, that lessened the novelty of the 2,000 yen notes.
     ''I think people prefer to hold on to the newer banknotes,'' she said, adding that the demand for 2,000 yen notes started to decline steadily from the year the three new notes were launched.
     However, economists reckon it is the inconvenience that causes the 2,000 yen notes to be unwanted.
     ''The emergence of the new paper money may be one cause, but the overall ineptness of the bills is the main cause,'' said Toshihiro Nagahama, senior economist at Dai-ichi Life Research Institute Inc.
     He said that not only are there a limited number of ATMs and vending machines that accept the bills, but the notes' color and design resemble that of 5000 yen bills, which often confuse users.
     Retailers also are cautious about the banknotes.
     ''We do receive some 2000 yen notes from our customers but we rarely disburse them as change,'' said a spokesman of supermarket chain Ito-Yokado Co. ''Although it's a matter of familiarity, it is still hard for a checker to distinguish the bills and calculate the change instantly,'' he said.
     He also said customers are often displeased to receive the bills due to the poor usability.
     ''Personally speaking, the delay in adapting vending machines and ATMs to accept the notes made those bills fail to catch on,'' he said. ''It seems that the number of ATMs handling the 2,000 yen bills is not enough.''
     A spokesman at supermarket operator Daimaru Peacock said people are not yet used to the bills even six years after their release. And this unfamiliarity keeps its supermarkets away from using the 2,000 yen bills proactively.
     Nagahama doubts the bills can survive.
     ''I think the 2,000 yen notes will eventually disappear. By the time the BOJ renews the bills, say maybe within 15 to 20 years, the bank may stop making them, given the current stagnant situation of the notes.''
     ''There are few merits in increasing their circulation and their raison d'etre is in question,'' he said.
     But a Finance Ministry official said that the ministry believes that almost all of the ATMs throughout the nation have become capable of accepting the 2,000 yen notes.
     Furthermore, the ministry has been discussing with the BOJ to further improve the usability, while the BOJ's Okinawa branch has been making progress there.
     Unlike the rest of Japan, the circulation has been increasing in Okinawa, thanks to efforts being made by the public and private sectors.
     Noting that Okinawa's landmark Shureimon Gate is depicted on the bills, the Okinawa branch has set up a task force to promote use of the 2,000 yen bills.
     The unit, whose members include the prefectural governor, the heads of banks and business leaders, has been calling on local hotels, supermarkets, and firms to use the millennium bills for change and salary payments.
     It also urges financial institutions and other firms to set up ATMs and vending machines capable of accepting and disbursing the 2,000 yen bills.
     As a result, the Okinawa branch's issue of 2,000 yen bills for fiscal 2005 came to about 232,000, up some 30-fold from the previous year's 8,000.
     ''I don't think the bills will become extinct for there seems to be certain amount of demand,'' said the Finance Ministry official, but he also noted that as a public organization, the ministry cannot urge private firms to use the bills.
     ''Basically, it's preferable that the 2,000 yen bills circulate spontaneously.''
==Kyodo