Japanese money can be a little confusing if you aren’t familiar with it. First of all, the Japanese call it Okane (pronounced oh-kah-neh). I was always a bit confused when someone would say something small cost 10,000 yen. What is a yen, anyway? It turns out that a yen is the basic coin in the Japanese money system, kind of like the penny in America. So, it would be a little like paying 10,000 pennies for something that cost $100.
Once I understood that, it made a bit more sense. The Japanese have a 1 yen coin, a 5 yen coin, a 10 yen coin, a 50 yen coin, a 100 yen coin and a 500 yen coin. The 5 yen and the 50 yen coins have holes in the middle. I thought it was interesting that this dated back to the days when men would string their coins on a cord and wear them around their necks. Paper money in Japan usually comes in 1,000 and 10,000 yen denominations.
The rate of conversion varies depending on many factors. Today, in 2009, 1000 yen is about equal to $10.23 in the United States.
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Be sure to check the current exchange rates before you visit.
Some good tips I’ve learned: the vending machines found all over the cities in Japan will accept all Japanese coins except the 1 and 5 yen coins. They will also accept the 1000 yen paper bills. If you need to use a pay phone, they only accept 10 and 100 yen coins or prepaid phone cards.
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