Japan will introduce new banknotes for the first time in 20 years on Wednesday.

The country will put into circulation three new banknotes that use cutting-edge technology to prevent counterfeiting.

The face of the new 10,000-yen note, currently about 62 dollars, is Shibusawa Eiichi, a businessman known as the father of the modern Japanese economy.

The new 5,000-yen note features Tsuda Umeko, who was among the first Japanese women to go abroad for education. She studied at schools in the United States.

The new 1,000-yen note has a portrait of Kitasato Shibasaburo, a bacteriologist who developed a cure for tetanus.

The design makeover is the first since 2004. The banknotes incorporate a new kind of hologram to make them difficult to counterfeit, and numbers are printed in a large font to make them easier to read.

The new banknotes are expected to become available as early as Wednesday morning after the Bank of Japan delivers them to financial institutions around 8 a.m.

The government and the BOJ plan to print 7.48 billion new banknotes by March next year.

There are some differences in preparations for the introduction of the new notes among industries as cashless payments have become increasingly popular.

A survey by the finance ministry found that more than 90 percent of bank ATMs, or automated teller machines, will be able to handle the new notes when they appear, and around 80 to 90 percent of cash registers at major convenience stores and supermarkets will be ready.

But only about 20 to 30 percent of drink vending machines are expected to complete the adjustments in time.