Issuance of Japan's new banknotes begins tomorrow, the 3rd. The Mainichi Tsuhan Mainichi-kan Palaceside Building store on the first basement floor, which carries specialties from Fukaya, Saitama Prefecture -- the birthplace of Eiichi Shibusawa, whose portrait appears on the new 10,000 yen bill -- has set up a commemorative goods corner in the shop and is selling Shibusawa-related merchandise.
Mainichi-kan, operated by Mainichi Advertising Inc., has long carried fresh-picked vegetables sourced from the Okabe roadside station in Fukaya. The Shibusawa lineup includes a face towel shaped like the new 10,000 yen note (1,200 yen), handkerchiefs (715 yen), bookmarks (770 yen) and mini chocolates (1,188 yen).
The most popular item is a six-piece pack of "banknote senbei" rice crackers (540 yen), containing two crackers each in three designs modeled on the new bills: Shibusawa's 10,000 yen note, Umeko Tsuda's 5,000 yen note and Shibasaburo Kitasato's 1,000 yen note.