Money

In America if you pay for anything with a fifty or hundred dollar bill you are going to get that "look" from the store clerk, even if you are buying something for $100.00, everyone gets suspicious if you pay in large bills. Some places, like McDonald's, refuse to take any bill larger than a twenty, but things are different in Japan.

Once my wife and I were at the local convenience store and my son wanted a piece of candy that was maybe 100 yen (1 yen = 1 cent, so 100 yen is about a dollar) and all I had in my wallet was a ten thousand yen bill (about $100.00). I asked my wife if she had any change and she did not. I explained my dilemma to her - how was I going to use a ten thousand yen bill to pay for a 100 yen piece of candy? She said it wasn't a problem.

I went to the counter and paid with my large bill and the clerk didn't bat an eye, he just took the bill and gave me my change. I looked at my wife in amazement and she said that it is not a problem to pay with large bills in Japan.

But it goes both ways; in the US if you buy a 69 cent pack of gum and charge it on your credit card, no one is going to care because that is business as usual in America; try that in Japan and they'll give you that "paying with a Benjamin" look.

People in Japan always pay with cash, they only use credit cards for online purchases or emergencies and banks in Japan don't even offer debit cards; all you can get is an ATM card! Not only that, but banks in Japan still use passbooks. The only cool thing is that you can use your ATM card to withdraw cash and then insert your passbook (if you have it) into the ATM and it will record the transaction and give you the balance in your account. You can also choose the design of your passbook, which is kind of cool.

Guess who is rockin' a Mickey Mouse passbook? This guy.