Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
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¥5 bronze colour, hole in the middle, value in Chinese character
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¥10 copper colour
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¥50 silver colour, hole in the middle
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¥100 silver colour
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¥500 large with silver colour
Yen banknotes come in the following denominations:
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¥1000
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¥2000 (rare)
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¥5000
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¥10,000
WARNING: JAPAN IS A CASH SOCIETY!
Be warned that cold hard yen (¥) is the way to pay in Japan. While credit cards are becoming more common,
cash is still much more widely used, and travellers cheques are rarely accepted. Do not assume that you can pay
for things with a credit card; always carry sufficient cash. The only places where you can count on paying with
plastic are department stores and large hotels.
For those without credit cards, it would be a good idea to bring some travellers cheques as a back-up. As in
most other countries, the US dollar is still the currency of choice in terms of exchanging cash and cashing trav-
ellers cheques.
ATMs
Automated teller machines are almost as common as vending machines in Japan. Unfortu-
nately, most of these do not accept foreign-issued cards. Even if they display Visa and
MasterCard logos, most accept only Japan-issued versions of these cards.
Fortunately, Japanese postal ATMs accept cards that belong to the following interna-
tional networks: Visa, Plus, MasterCard, Maestro, Cirrus American Express and Diners
Club. Check the sticker(s) on the back of your card to see which network(s) your card be-
longs to. You'll find postal ATMs in almost all post offices, and you'll find post offices in
even the smallest Japanese village.
