Japan Money

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Spending it

Preferred Form

Cash is still king in Japan, although the use of credit cards is pretty widespread in major cities for purchases in department stores and hotels. The Japanese are used to a very low crime rate and often carry wads of cash for the almost sacred ritual of cash payment. Foreign travellers can safely copy the cash habit, but should still take the usual precautions.

Changing Your Money

You can change cash or travellers cheques at an 'Authorised Foreign Exchange Bank' or at major post offices and some of the large hotels and stores but few other places. US dollars are preferred; trying to exchange Taiwanese or Korean currency is a fruitless task. The majority of ATMs do not accept foreign-issued bank cards, although post office ATMs are an exception. Look out for the Cirrus or Plus logos or check with your bank before departure.

Tipping

There is little tipping or bargaining in Japan. If you want to show your gratitude to someone, give them a gift rather than a tip.

Money Tips

Japan is probably the most expensive country in the world for travel, but there are ways of keeping the outlays to a just-about bearable level. A skeleton daily budget, assuming you stay in the cheapest hostels, eat modestly and travel short distances, would work out to 60.00. Add about 10.00 for extras like snacks, drinks, admission fees and entertainment. Staying in business or deluxe hotels and eating in pricey restaurants can easily have the ticker tipping 200.00. Long-distance travel is a real budget buster in Japan - if you intend to travel around to different places, it's well worth investing in a Japan Rail Pass. At the other end of the spectrum, high rollers will have no problems off-loading their cash. Japan specialises in establishments catering to the ostentatious flattery of business accounts - the higher the bill, the greater the prestige of the guests.

Currency Notes

Banknotes come in denominations of 1000, 2000, 5000 and 10,000 yen (the 2000 yen notes are very rarely seen).

Currency Coins

Coins come in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 50, 100 and 500 yen. The 1 coin is an aluminium lightweight coin, the 5 and 50 coins have a punched hole in the middle (the former is coloured bronze and the latter silver). Note that some vending machines do not accept older 500coins (a South Korean coin of much less value was often used in its place to rip off vending machines).