Banknotes of the Japanese yen
The banknotes of the Japanese yen are part of the physical form of Japan's currency. The issuance of the yen banknotes began in 1872, two years after the currency was introduced. Throughout its history, the denominations have ranged from 0.05 yen to 10,000 yen.
Postal savings system
Japan Post Bank, part of the post office was the world's largest savings bank with 198 trillion yen (US$1.7 trillion) of deposits as of 2006, much from conservative, risk-averse citizens. The government was criticized for using these funds to engage in uneconomical infrastructure projects—what in America would be called pork barrel spending. The state-owned Japan Post Bank business unit of Japan Post was formed in 2007, as part of a ten-year privatization programme, intended to achieve fully private ownership of the postal system by 2017.