Money in Japan

The currency used in Japan since 1870 has been the Yen. The Japanese yen is the third most popular currency in the world for international trading, behind the US Dollar and the Euro. Its value was pegged to the US dollar between 1949 and 1973, then it was allowed to float. The yen has been doing well against the US dollar in 2011 at a rate of around 75 yen to one US dollar.

Despite being a technological society, carrying and paying for purchases in cash banknotes is still a surprisingly popular part of Japanese culture. Many stores outside of major cities will not even accept Debit Cards or credit cards, as these are unpopular with Japanese. Foreign debit cards are not accepted in Japan at all, except at a few ATM machines.

ATM machines are much harder to find outside cities in Japan, and they are not 24 hour, but are usually turned off at night. The 7 Eleven chain in Japan, however, does have 24 hour ATMs that do take foreign cards. There is a small fee of around 100 yen for using an ATM machine, except at one's own bank. There are branches of foreign banks in Japan as well as domestic branches, and Japanese interest rates tend to be quite low.