Here is some Japanese money. If you've never been to Japan before it may not
seem like real money to you and you're more likely to let it pass through your
hands more quickly--best to resist that temptation.
Note that there are slight differences
for the exchanges in New York, London, and Tokyo.
From the left, there is the aluminum one yen coin, which costs more to make than it's worth, then the 5, 10, 50, 100, and 500 yen coins. Vending machines accept all coins except the ones and fives, as well as 1000 yen bills. However, recently some machines may have disallowed use of the 500 yen coins due to some nefarious types using altered Korean coins to trick the machines. Pay phones take only 10 and 100 yen coins, or pre-paid phone cards.
And now here is something new. In 2000 for the Okinawa Summit this new 2000 yen note was introduced, along with a year 2000 special 500 yen coin.
But there isn't much acceptance yet for the new bill. Vending machines won't take it yet and the public doesn't feel any real need for it. This might be yet another boondoggle but only time will tell.
