Change

[robinyukiko]

Getting rid of spare change can take some serious planning. For a cash-based society, it's amazing how much cash is coins. In America, one might use a $1 bill for a soda. But in Japan, using the smallest ¥1000* bill results in a weighty wallet, jingling profusely

Comments

[spellbound44]

I never had a problem managing change in Japan. I carried it around with me in my change purse and used it whenever I needed to. 1 yen pieces I dropped in tip jars if I saw them, or just waited for opportunities when things were like 143 yen at the conbini and dumped them then.

I lost my coinpurse somewhere shortly after coming back to America. I miss it. Now I dump my coins in a little bucket and they sit there and collect and collect and collect until I decide to go buy myself a starbucks entirely with change.

In Japan it's a bit easier to spend change, though. Vending machines are everywhere, so that really gets the spending compulsion combined with habit + genuine thirst [I say habit because many people just have to have a drink in their hands or something to sip from, purely from habit] to toss 100 or 250 yen into a machine to get a tasty sippy. Here, there's rarely much I can buy for 1 or 2 dollars that's convenient for me to get to. Who wants to drive out to the nearest gas station to get a soda? After all, you bought a 2 liter or 12-pack last time you were at the grocery store. Many apartments in Japan have machines on the first floor, just outside. Here, there's only vending machines at places people gather, like schools, stations, etc. rather than every available alleyway and along the street at regular intervals.

In other words, you have no excuse. Buy more sippies! :P