Tokyo Essentials

• Tokyo Japan Q&A
• Map Of Tokyo
• Flights To Tokyo
• Tokyo Train Map
• Tokyo Sightseeing
• Travel Japan
• Tokyo Facts

YOUR Tokyo

• Tokyo Video
• Tokyo Fun
• Take Our Poll
• Tokyo Shopping

Tokyo Extras

• Japanese Festivals
• Japanese Calendar
• Tokyo Museums
• Tokyo History

Food and Drink

• Tokyo Food
• Tokyo Izakaya

Day Trips & More

• Japan Travel Information
• Sightseeing Kyoto
• Nara Japan

Ever Wondered How To...

• Build A Travel Website

Like us? Help us out by giving us a thumbs up with your favorite bookmarking site!

Like us? Help us out by giving us a thumbs up with your favorite bookmarking site!

Tokyo Money

When you're in Tokyo money in it's hard cash form is an essential item to have in your pocket.

One thing you can be pretty sure of here is that you're safe to carry your wad with you. Common sense rules still apply - goes without saying right? - but issues of stealing and the like are still relatively rare occurences in this society.

Welcome To The Yen

The currency of Japan is the Japanese yen. In the Western or romanized system of symbols, the sign for the yen is ¥. The yen itself was first established in 1872 by the Meiji Governmnent in a bid to standardize the Japanese currency in line with Western practices.

It can be difficult at first to get your head around Tokyo Prices. To get you started here are the denominations you'll be dealing with while you're in Tokyo:

• Coins - ¥1, ¥5, ¥10, ¥50, ¥100, and ¥500
• Notes - ¥1,000, ¥2,000, ¥5,000, and ¥10,000

Once you get used to it, however, Tokyo money is quite easy to handle. The thing I found hardest at first was getting used to thinking in terms of thousands. If only I'd been earning in pounds sterling when I earned my first million : )

One other things. Watch out for the 1 and 10 yen coins. Make sure you don't collect too many or you'll end up with a wallet that weighs a ton weight!

back to top

Accessing Your Cash

As strange as it may sound, you need to plan in advance when and where you will get hold of your Tokyo money.

If you are coming from a society that is largely card and credit driven, Tokyo banks and the Japanese banking system can be quite a shock if you're unprepared.

What do I mean? In my first 12 months here, I happened to fall sick at Oshogatsu - New Year - one of the major festivals on the Japanese calendar. It never even occurred to me that I may not be able to withdraw money from my bank - but that's exactly what happened.

My bank, ATMs, everything, were closed for 3 days straight. At the time I was sharing an apartment with a friend. We ended up ransacking our coin jar and I just had enough cash to get the medication I needed. You should have seen the look on the receptionist's face though when we went to pay with our bag of coins! Not impressed were the words that sprung to mind.

Facts About The Yen

The word 'yen' is a result of the Portuguese influence on the Japanese language. The true Japanese word is 'en' and this is how you will hear people say the word when in Japan.

The word itself means 'round' and was chosen to reflect the shape of the the coin when the new currency was introduced in 1872. For an idea of what the coin is worth today, see our Tokyo prices page.

The 'y' was added by the Portuguese to several words that started with 'e' in Japanese, (the place name Ebisu became Yebisu), to make the words easier to understand within the context of a Western phonetic system. Yes - for some reason I seem to acquire these quirky pieces of knowledge!

On a final note about Tokyo money, be aware that if, you want to bring in, or send out, more than ¥1,000,000 in Japanese currency, you will need to complete a customs declaration.