Do they prefer cash or card in Japan?

Though use of credit cards and e-currency has increased in recent years, Japan is still largely a cash-based society. The national currency of Japan is the Japanese Yen (¥). It's best to get some cash converted before you leave home so you have change handy to catch the train to your destination once you arrive.



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Cash-based country For years, Japan was primarily a cash economy. People preferred physical banknotes over cashless transactions. In fact, back in 2021 cashless payments were just 15.1% of total transactions and only rising slowly. Comparatively, in the UK this statistic was 27% in the same year.

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Overall, a budget traveler can expect to spend around $50 to $100 per day in Japan, while a mid-range traveler can expect to spend around $150 to $250 per day. It's important to plan ahead and research activities and costs to create a budget that works for you.

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The likelihood that credit cards are accepted decreases in small cities and towns, and thus it is advisable to keep cash at hand when visiting rural areas. Cash is often the only way to pay for small entrance fees at tourist sights, smaller restaurants and small shops. Many lockers also require coins.

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For example, if you are traveling from the U.S., wait to exchange your dollars for yen until you have arrived in Japan. However, you will get the most favorable rates for yen in Southeast Asian countries rather than in Japan.

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For our tours, we usually recommend $60 USD per person per day for spending money in Japan, and that'll cover meals, entertainment, and light souvenir shopping. If you're not on our tour, we recommend a little bit more per day to cover things like entrance fees.

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That's certainly a comfortable budget as long as you aren't expecting to eat many fancy meals or do a lot of drinking or clubbing. You can probably save some money with strategic use of transit passes (see summaries on Japan Guide or elsewhere). You should look into the Grutto Pass.

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You could maybe do it, but it would be a stretch. Look at it this way. $500 for 2 weeks, you're giving yourself $35 a day. If you spend the whole two weeks in Tokyo and never leave the city, you could probably do it.

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Total Spending Money in Japan So, for an 8-day trip, we recommend $640 dollars of spending money, which breaks down to about $80 dollars per person per day. Keep in mind that this does not include your airfare, hotels, land transportation, travel insurance, luggage transfers, or pocket Wi-Fi.

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$5000 is more than enough for one person for at comfortable two-week trip after an economy airfare from the USA and economy to mid-range hotel reservations are arranged in advance.

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Tipping in Japan is not expected, and attempts to leave a tip will almost certainly be turned down (a potentially awkward moment). In Japan, it's thought that by dining out or drinking at a bar, you are already paying the establishment for good service.

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