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Using Money When Visiting Japan

How can I get money while in Japan?

You can get cash in Japan from money changers, banks and ATM machines.  The money changers are fine, though they usually charge a percentage fee for their service and are normally found only at ports of entry such as airports.  Banks are ok as well, though the tellers likely will not speak much English and the exchange process is normally very complicated, involving documents you may not have and often requiring lots of time.  By far, the cheapest and easiest way to get cash in Japan is via Automated Teller Machines (ATM) which are easy to find and use.  Many foreign ATM cards will work with Japanese ATM machines, and most ATM machines will have an “English” button which can be used to perform your transaction in English.  This is particularly true with ATM machines found at the Japanese post office.  If you are having trouble finding a bank ATM which will accept your particular type of ATM card, then do locate a Post Office (large or small) and try again there.  You will likely find that the Post Office ATM will do the trick.  If you are still having trouble, then please make sure that you are not trying to withdraw too much money at once.  Though most Japanese ATMs will allow users to take out many thousands of dollars worth of yen at once, your bank back home might have a daily withdrawal limit which will seem rather small when dealing with yen.  A good upper-limit for most foreign bank withdrawals in Japan is 20,000 yen (aka 2 man yen) per day.  Please read below to learn about the yen, its use and most common denominations including the man unit.

Understanding yen and its denominations

Japanese money is based on the “yen” (pronounced “en”) unit of currency.  At the time of this writing one US dollar roughly equals 110 yen.  The most popular paper money which the Japanese carry on their person is the 1,000 yen note (called sen), 5,000 yen note and the 10,000 yen note (called man but pronounced mahn).  Most Japanese keep a couple of man notes as well as some sen notes in their purse or wallet at all times as this is normally sufficient to cover any and all daily expenses.  When getting money from a Japanese ATM machine you will need to designate a number such as 5,000 or 20,000 as the amount you wish to withdraw.  Japanese money also includes many types of coins including the 500 yen, 100 yen, 50 yen, 10 yen, 5 yen and the nearly worthless 1 yen coin.  Japanese are normally very patient and forgiving of foreigners who are unfamiliar with Japanese currency and will often point to the cash register display in an effort to help you understand the cost of an item.  In some cases, they may even reach out and kindly help you sort out the correct amount due.

A note about sales tax

In 2004 the Japanese government enacted a law requiring all retail establishments to display the price of goods with the tax included.  This means that the price you see on the shelf should be exactly what the item will cost at the register.  Some merchants display both the taxed price and pre-tax price on the same label.  If you see a label with two prices then the higher amount is the tax-included total.

-  Currency exchange calculator:
    http://www.xe.com/ucc/

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Last modified: 03/17/07