All about the money ...

So, today we visited the Studio Glibli Museum, which was an incredible adventure but which should be the focus of its own blog post. Right now, though, it's time to talk about money.

The current exchange rate is ¥80 to the $AUD. That means that for every 1 dollar I exchange, I get 80 Japanese Yen.

Yen, like Australian dollars, comes in 2 main forms; notes and coins. Notes are made from paper (like Australian money used to be) and comes in denominations of 100000, 50000, 2000 (very rare) and 1000. Coins come in denominations ranging from 500, 100, 50, 10, 5 ... All the way down to 1 yen (which is practically useless, and not actually made from metal).

The last form of money, widely used in Japan, is IC Cards. Passmo and Suica are the most popular, although there are many other brands. These cards are primarily train and bus passes, but are also accepted as payment at conbini (convenience stores), vending machines and even some department stores.

I've attached pictures of all the main denominations (out at least the ones in my wallet, tonight).