It was first issued on 19 July 2000 and is still issued today: it is one of the four kinds the bank currently puts out, alongside the 1,000, 5,000 and 10,000 yen notes. The two-thousand is the rarest Japanese denomination in daily use: the bank does issue it, but prints few, and it turns up far less often than the thousand.

On the face the bank names not a portrait but the Shureimon Gate, the entrance to Shuri Castle in Okinawa. For the back the bank names two picture scrolls: the Tale of Genji and the Diary of Murasaki Shikibu.

A note of the Bank of Japan. The most interesting security features are a watermark, which the bank makes by varying the thickness of the paper; extremely fine lines in the design — the bank says a colour copier and ordinary printing reproduce such a web poorly; and intaglio printing — the ink stands above the paper, and the note is known by touch.

UNC condition means the note has never circulated: no folds, no wear, no soiling, even corners — just as it left the press.

Banknotes from the VPcoins catalogue are collected by seasoned collectors and newcomers alike.