How to Deal with Coins/Change in Japan

Have you ever thrown your loose change in a bowl at the end of the day and watched it pile up? In the US I've heard people recommend this as a simple way to save up for a fun splurge, but in Japan it can become a dangerous game because you'll accumulate so much change so quickly and then once you've got it, it's really hard to use.

Japan has coins that go up to 500 yen in value, and it always takes a little adjusting to realize that your handful of coins could pretty easily total $5 to $10 (or more.) Lots of places are cash only establishments as well, so there are a lot more opportunities to end up with a handful of change. Of course, the best way to deal with change is to actively spend it, but what do you do if you just weren't thinking about it and let a small fortune accumulate?

A friend of mine recently discovered that a family member had amassed a collection of coins heavier than he could carry, so we did some research about what to do. The bad news is, that unlike in the US, there are no machines like Coinstar that will do all the work and take a small fee, (Update: a commenter tells me that Pocket Change now offers these machines! I've never used one, and I'm not sure what fee they take so I can't vouch for them, but it's good to know) and banks also don't give out coin rolls for you to sort your own coins and turn them in for bills.  So here are the options we found:

Banks

Japan Post has a machine that will sort coins, but you have to have a bank account with them. There are some stories of people getting around the account requirement, but we were not able to.

Some local banks may be willing to accept the coins for a fee, but it seems to be up to the discretion of the person you talk to. We didn't succeed here either.

Some ATMs will accept coin deposits, but only up to 20 coins, otherwise the machines start to jam. 

Shinsei bank, the most foreigner friendly bank, does not accept coins in person or in ATMs.

Vending Machines

If you only have a small collection of change you can buy a bunch of drinks from a vending machine. They will accept all coins except for 1 and 5 yen.

Pasmo/Suica Cards

You can add value to your train card using coins. Pasmo/Suica cards can be used in convenience stores and some shops inside train stations, and to pay for most taxis, as well as paying for actual train travel. This is the best way we found to deal with with large amounts of coins. Unfortunately, they don't accept 1 or 5 yen coins.

The machines require that you add a minimum of 1000 yen, and they only accept 20 of each type of coin per transaction, except a maximum of 2 500-yen coins. So you couldn't just drop in 100 10-yen coins. But you could add 8 100-yen coins and 20 10-yen coins for a 1000 yen value, or 8 100-yen coins, 20 50-yen coins, and 20 10-yen coins for a 2000 yen value, etc. If you try and add more than 20 of a single coin it will just give you a polite message and start spitting the coins back out.

For this method I recommend sorting the coins first (preferably while watching TV so you don't go crazy) to make the process go more easily, and switching machines between transactions. I never had any problems with the machines jamming, but I was careful not to overload a single one with tons and tons of coins.

This method is slow and annoying, but we found it to work the best for our needs (no Japan Post account, and no desire to open one, and a very large amount of money.) If you've got some time and a little patience I think it's the best option.

1 and 5 Yen Coins

These coins are hard to get rid of! If you're not attached to the actual value I recommend donating them. Likely they don't add up to that much. McDonalds runs a charity and has coin collection boxes at the counter. If your bag of coins is larger than the box they are still happy to accept them. This is what my friend ended up doing, but any place you can find taking donations should accept them. Otherwise you probably need to use the Japan Post machine or slowly rotate them into the cash you're spending.

For the Long Term - Prevent Coins from Building Up

I know this is obvious, but the best way to deal with change is to spend it. It's really common for people to have coin purses, even men, because it's just so practical. If you need to, buy one. And instead of just laying down a bill when you pay for something try and use as many coins as you can. Even if you don't have the exact change you can probably give more coins than you'll end up getting back. Bonus: you get to practice lots of simple arithmetic in your head.

Pasmo/Suica Machines 

Believe it or not, this isn't all of them! We're estimating a $400 value!!

Snow Adventures

Yesterday Tokyo (and lots of Japan) was hit by a really big snowstorm.  Now, if you're from the Northeast or the Midwest maybe it wouldn't seem like such a big deal, but to someone from the south, and to everyone in Tokyo it was massive.  I've read reports that central Tokyo got 30 cm of snow which is a foot!  I didn't really believe it, but after stomping around on our roof this morning I'm more convinced.

So how did John and I spend our snow day?  Sitting on the couch watching the snow fall and drinking hot chocolate?  Making soup and having a netflix marathon?  Building a snowman in our neighborhood?  Oh no, we were much more foolish than that.  John had read about a liquor store about an hour outside of Tokyo that he wanted to visit.  Have I mentioned that John has become quite the bourbon enthusiast of late?  And we had been planning to go out to it.  We woke up to the falling snow and almost canceled our plans, but John checked the trains and they still seemed to be running on schedule.  We thought it might be nice to see the snow out in the country and take some pretty pictures, so we bundled up (not nearly enough) and headed off.  We made it out to where we were headed in Kanagawa prefecture with no trouble, and then had a freezing cold fifteen minute walk in the gusty snow.  The store itself was a little bit of a letdown, though we did get a nice bottle of champagne on sale.  So we rushed back to the station hoping for, but unable to find, a taxi on the snowy streets.  That's when things got interesting.

We needed to take a local train 3 stops to get on a rapid and then ride back into Tokyo where we could switch to the line that we lived on, but the trains were delayed.  We waited about 15 minutes for our train to show up, but finally it did.  When we got to our connection for the rapid train things really went wrong.  We waited on the snowy platform and finally our late train arrived and we packed onto it, but the doors remained open and the snow kept blowing in.  After standing there for about 20 minutes an announcement was made and everyone began rushing off the train.  We followed the crowd onto another train and waited there, damp and shivering, for what felt like forever.  Thankfully they closed most of the doors, but left a few open for people to keep boarding.  Eventually they made an announcement that we were about to leave, and then nothing happened.  The next announcement informed us that a switch on the tracks was frozen and they were having trouble fixing it.  After another ten or fifteen minutes of waiting we were directed to a third train.  It seemed like everyone in the whole station was directed to this train, and it was more crowded than any train I've ever been on - the yamanote at rush hour is nothing compared to this!  Finally the train departed, and it seemed like everyone was looking up to figure out what line we were on and where we were going.  It seemed like we were only supposed to go four stops and then no one knew what would happen, but when we got there they announced the train would be going farther, and then later announced it would be going all the way to Tokyo.  At that point the whole jam-packed train let our a huge sigh of relief.  It took over two hours, but finally we made it home! 

Today I read that many trains across the country were just canceled and people were stranded in hotels and internet cafes  in lots of rural areas.  We were so lucky to make it home!   First thing I took a hot bath to defrost, and then we ate some dinner.  That's right, we never had lunch during this ordeal and breakfast was only a cup of coffee and some blueberries - not a breakfast of champions!  Then we celebrated being home with our bottle of champagne - even making Bourbon 75s (French 75s with bourbon instead of gin).  Today the sun is out and the snow is starting to melt, but we've learned our lesson, we're staying inside and keeping warm.

Snowy View

Tennis Court Snowmen

Snowy Rooftop

Bourbon 75s

Amazing Train Discovery!

I learned the most amazing thing about the trains this week from Raku!  Did you know there are signs that tell you which train car to get in, in order to make the fastest transfer to another line?  I can't get over how efficient it is.  As far as I know this applies to Tokyo Metro and JR, but may not be true of some of the other companies.

Signs like this appear on the walls and columns on the train platforms.  Until three days ago I didn't give them a second glance.

But all you do is find the station where you will transfer on the left, and then across the row it will show which car is closest for each possible transfer. (The number to the left of the station name tells how many minutes away that station is from you)

For example, if you're catching the Marunouchi line at Kasumigaseki you should ride in cars 1-3.  In some cases it will show different cars depending on which direction you'll be headed on the line you're transferring to.  The chart also shows which cars are near elevators, bathrooms, the station master, and sometimes specific exits.  Amazing!

And if you're wondering how to find the correct car there are little signs near the tracks telling you car numbers.

This is what the Tokyo Metro signs look like, I believe the JR looks a little different.

Now I know why some areas of the platform are so crowded when others are nearly deserted.