World Country Guide

Money

Note
Japan has a strong cash culture, and it is usual to see people carrying large amounts of cash with them because of the low crime rate. It is only recently that credit cards have begun to become more popular. However, travellers may still encounter difficulties with foreign credit cards.

Currency
Japanese Yen (). Notes are in denominations of 10,000, 5000 2000 and 1000. Coins are in denominations of 500, 100, 50, 10, 5 and 1.

Currency exchange
All money must be exchanged at an authorised bank or money changer.

Credit & debit cards
American Express, Diners Club, MasterCard and Visa other major credit cards are widely used. Check with your credit or debit card company for merchant acceptability. ATMs are widely available although many do not accept foreign credit or debit cards. They only operate during normal banking hours and weekend services can be restricted to Saturday morning. A wide selection of foreign credit and debit cards are accepted, however, at over 21,000 post office ATMs, which are generally open Mon-Fri 0700-2300, Sat-Sun 0900-1900. Citibank machines also accept foreign credit cards and are often open 24 hours.

Travellers cheques
These can be exchanged at most major banks, larger hotels and some duty free shops. To avoid additional exchange rate charges, travellers are advised to take travellers cheques in Japanese Yen or US dollars.

Currency restrictions
The import and export of local and foreign currency is unrestricted, subject to declaration of amounts equivalent to 1,000,000 or above.

Exchange rate indicators
The following figures are included as a guide to the movements of the Japanese Yen against Sterling and the US Dollar:

Date	May '04	Aug '04	Nov '04	Feb '05
1.00=	199.93	203.99	196.03	198.60
$1.00=	111.94	110.72	105.59	105.17

Banking hours
Mon-Fri 0900-1500.