{Japan} Money in Japan

We highly recommend having some Japan yen before arriving in Japan but only enough to get you maybe a meal and some train tickets. Having 2,000yen per person would be a good start.

Instead of exchanging our money in the US, we came to Japan and withdrew money directly from ATMs. We found that the rates were much better when withdrawing from ATMs then it is to exchange it at currency exchange counters or banks. For example, the rate at exchange counters on the day we arrived was about 1 USD = 80 yen. There’s also an extra exchange commission charge on top of that exchange rate. However, the rate we got when withdrawing from the ATM was about 1 USD = 83 yen.

You won’t be able to withdraw money using your debit card from ANY bank. You need to find the ones that accept international cards (e.g. PLUS, VISA etc…). In our case, the ATMs located at 7-elevens and Citibank are the two that worked for us. Your own bank may also charge fees for withdrawing from an ATM abroad. Be sure to check with your bank to decide whether this is a good choice for you, personally.

We were only able to withdraw 30,000 yen per day at max. Any higher amount, we’d get an “invalid card” error. We’re not sure if this is our bank’s limit or if it applies to all international withdrawals?

TIPPING

No tipping required in Japan. You pay what you see. In some department stores, you may be entitled to a tax refund (~5%) if you spend more than 10,001 yen. Not all stores offer tax refunds. You’ll either see signs for tax refund counters or you can ask the sales people.

USEFUL PHRASES

Some useful japanese phrases that got us around:

1. Tax Refund | “Zei-kin no kan-pu” (税金の還付)
2. Exchange | “Ko-kan” (交換)
3. Cash | “Gen-kin” (現金)
4. Do you take credit cards? | “Ku-re-ji-to-ka-do-wa, tsu-kai-masu-ka?”
5. How much? | “i-ku-ra-desu-ka?”
6. I will take this (when wanting to purchase something) | “so-re-wo ku-da-sai”
7. Can you show me this | “ko-re-wo mi-se-te ku-da-sai”
8. No, thanks | “kek-ko-desu”
9. Check, please (when you’re ready to pay the bill) | “o-kan-jou o o-ne-gai-shi-masu” or “o-kai-kei o o-ne-gai-shi-masu”

INTERESTING PRODUCT

Speaking of money… we found some interesting products in Japan! Among our favorite is the erase-able pens! (It has been around for a while and is not found only in Japan, but it is the first time/first place that we’ve seen it!)

Frixion Eraseable Pens
Find this in any Stationery section of department stores. It costs about ~130yen when we bought it. Our friend, Sumit, told us about this product and we went hunting for it – we purchased a few and plan to purchase more before we head back home. Just remember… do not sign checks or any important documents with it!