How Japan’s newest yen note came from the Nepali mountains

Tokyo CNN —

Banks across Japan began stocking their ATMs on Wednesday with shiny new yen notes sourced from an unlikely location – vibrant yellow flowering paperbush shrubs that grow on craggy Himalayan mountains in Nepal.

Before entering the wallets of Japanese consumers, the yen notes had a long, complex journey involving months of labor and transport by land and air across thousands of kilometers.

And this process has offered a potential new source of income to communities in one of the world’s poorest countries, by providing cash for one of its richest.

Though Japan has pushed for more digital payments in recent years, cash still reigns king, and it trails behind other Asian countries like China that have gone almost completely cashless.

“I really think that Nepal contributed to Japan’s economy, as cash is fundamental to the Japanese economy,” said Tadashi Matsubara, president of Kanpou, the company that produces paper for the Japanese government.

“Without Nepal, Japan would not function.”

The yellow flowers of the paperbush shrub seen in Dolakha, Nepal, in December 2023.

The long journey

The path from shrub to bill begins at the foot of the Himalayas in Nepal, near towns that have long been famous not for their agriculture but as gateways to Mount Everest.

Here, every spring, hillsides erupt in yellow – the flowers of the mitsumata plant, also known as argeli or paperbush, native to the Himalayan range. Its bark has long, strong fibers that are perfect for making thin yet durable paper, according to the Kantou website.

It used to be grown domestically in Japan, but production has been slowly dwindling for years, said Matsubara. It’s hard work tied to the countryside, and people are increasingly moving from