I was an avid credit card user in America. I had two main cards and signed up for a third before I left for Japan. I always paid the minimum and used them solely for organizational purposes and rewards. I loved putting a majority of my purchases on my credit card so that I could sign into mint.com later and see all of my purchases separated into different spending categories. Previously, as a debit card user, I would constantly see my checking balance fluctuate and I came to love that the amount in my checking account would remain untouched except for once a month because of credit cards.

I was still in college and never had one area of spending that was significantly higher than others, so my main card was a generic cash-back credit card. Even though I received small checks once every couple of months, it was still liberating knowing my credit card company was essentially paying me to use their card. I had plans to get an airline-sponsored card so I could start racking up frequent flyer miles and travel the world cheap.

My plans changed when I got the job to come to Japan. I was told Japan was a cash-based society, and I had experienced that when I was there for seven weeks in 2007. I had used my debit card to get money at the ATM, but at the time I wasn’t a big credit card user, so it didn’t really effect me that I was using cash for everything.

After being in the country for four months, I am going through credit card withdrawal. I rarely carried cash while in America, but not having cash on me is impossible. I also notice myself constantly checking to see if I have enough cash so I don’t run into any awkward, cashless situations. Luckily, Japan is one of the safest societies in the world so I don’t have to worry about theft, but it has been a difficult adjustment.

One of the most frustrating, but interesting aspects of money here is their use of change. The change in America tends to be small and insignificant most of the time, but in Japan 100 and 500 yen coins are average in everyday life. (To quickly convert yen to dollars, knock off the two zeros; 100 yen = $1). Europe also uses coins with larger amounts than Americans are used to and I once lost $10 in change on a train because my 6’3″ frame couldn’t fit into a tiny, European seat.

Getting used to coins that are worth significant amounts will take some time, but it is also interesting getting used to 1 yen coins. These little buggers are rather insignificant in Japan and cannot be used at train stations or vending machines. The picture above is the large amount of these coins I’ve accumulated in a little less than a month.

Tangible money is one of the most blatantly interesting differences in culture, but until I can get rid of the three pounds of 1 yen coins on my dresser, I’m going to miss my plastic.

Photo: MShades

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