Priya is a made-up traveller from Leicester, and her first morning in Tokyo goes like this. Shinkansen ticket, bought by card. Coffee at a convenience store, tapped with her phone. A small shrine in a quiet backstreet, where a tiny box asks for a ¥100 coin and has no card reader whatsoever. She stands there with a wallet full of plastic and no coins. Japan is like that. Wonderfully modern, then suddenly entirely cash.
This is her story, and Priya is hypothetical. The yen rate used below, 200 yen to the pound, is invented to keep the sums clean.
How much cash, really?
The Japan National Tourism Organization says Visa, JCB and Mastercard are the most widely accepted overseas cards, usually taken at major hotels, department stores, big shopping centres and city restaurants, and that contactless works at most major convenience stores. It also says rural and remote areas often accept only cash, sometimes including hotels, and advises carrying some cash as a backup even in places that take cards (JNTO).
That matches what Priya discovers. Cards cover the big things. Cash fills the gaps: shrines and temples, small family restaurants, market stalls, rural buses, older guesthouses. An October 2026 ATM guide suggests roughly ¥10,000 to ¥20,000 for a short city stay and more for a week or for countryside travel. That’s one writer’s rule of thumb, and an affiliate-supported one, so adjust to your own habits. What’s not in doubt is that arriving with zero yen is a mistake.
Phone payments need a hedge. JNTO notes that overseas wallets such as Apple Pay, Google Pay and Alipay sometimes don’t work in Japan, and some local payment apps don’t work with non-Japanese phones. Test your own phone at a convenience store on day one, and keep a physical card in your pocket.
Getting yen from a convenience-store ATM
Many Japanese ATMs weren’t built for overseas cards. The reliable ones are the machines at 7-Eleven stores run by Seven Bank, which has an English interface and other languages. Seven Bank’s own page says the limit for each withdrawal on an overseas-issued card is ¥100,000 (¥30,000 for magnetic-stripe cards). One October 2026 guide lists other networks, such as Japan Post Bank and AEON Bank, at ¥50,000 per withdrawal. Networks and limits can change, so check the machine in front of you.
The Seven Bank page doesn’t list fees, saying only that some transactions carry a service charge per transaction. Your home bank might add its own charges. The screen shows the fee before you confirm, so you can cancel. Here’s why that matters with a fixed charge. Say a machine fee is ¥220 (illustrative):
| Withdrawal plan | Total cash | Fees | Fee as % of cash |
|---|---|---|---|
| One withdrawal of ¥100,000 | ¥100,000 | ¥220 | 0.22% |
| Five withdrawals of ¥20,000 | ¥100,000 | 5 x ¥220 = ¥1,100 | 1.1% |
At 200 yen to the pound (illustrative), ¥100,000 is £500, and the five-trip fee of ¥1,100 is £5.50. Small, but needless. The pair we track for Priya’s home currency is GBP to JPY, and our yen page lists it against other currencies. Rates refreshed hourly.
Bigger risk: the other question the screen may ask: charge you in yen or in your home currency? Seven Bank’s page says its currency-conversion offer applies only to Visa and Mastercard. If it appears, pick yen. The other option is dynamic currency conversion, and the ATM sets that rate. Suppose it adds 5% (a made-up figure). Then that £500 withdrawal costs £525. The extra £25 buys her nothing.
Suica, Pasmo and the coin problem
Priya wants to ride trains without queuing at ticket machines, so she gets an IC card. JNTO explains that cards like Suica and Pasmo work on trains and buses and in shops nationwide that show the logo. Physical cards need a refundable deposit, usually ¥500. Vending machines for buying them take only cash, and topping up at multi-function machines also needs cash. Mobile versions can link to a credit card, but the page warns that some phones won’t work. Tourist IC cards come with limited sales locations and validity, and the money loaded onto them is non-refundable.
Practical takeaway: put a note in her pocket for the first top-up, and don’t load more than she’ll spend. Leftover balances on a tourist card can’t simply be cashed out, according to the same source.
Coins are the other surprise. Small cash purchases and shrine offerings mean a steady trickle of coins, so a small coin purse earns its place in the bag. If she needs a ¥100 coin and has only a large note, buying a cheap item at a convenience store that takes cards for the rest of her spending is one way to break it.
Tax-free shopping changed on 1 November
This is the part most older guides get wrong, because the rule is new. Until 31 October 2026, eligible visitors bought tax-free items at tax-exclusive prices in the shop. From 1 November 2026 the system became a refund: you pay the full tax-inclusive price, show your passport so the sale is recorded electronically, take the goods out of Japan within 90 days, and complete a confirmation at the airport before you check baggage. At some airports you can do part of the process through Visit Japan Web. Purchases at one shop must reach ¥5,000 before tax per day, according to the Japan National Tourism Organization’s explainer and a summary of the rules. The standard consumption tax rate is 10%.
An illustration. Priya buys a camera accessory at ¥30,000 before tax. She pays 30,000 x 1.10 = ¥33,000 at the till. The tax in that price is ¥3,000, which at 200 yen to the pound is £15. If she completes the airport step, that ¥3,000 is what comes back. How the money is returned, and whether the shop or its refund provider takes a fee, depends on the shop and provider, and the sources I found don’t settle that. So ask before you buy, and keep receipts.
There’s a second cost to remember. Until the refund arrives, her card has carried the full price. If it’s a foreign-currency charge on a card with a fee, she’s paid that fee on the full ¥33,000, not ¥30,000. How and in what currency the refund comes back is a question for the shop or its refund provider, so it’s worth asking before paying.
Big cash and the border
Few visitors carry this much, but Japan’s customs rule is simple. Japan Customs says anyone carrying more than ¥1,000,000, or the equivalent, in cash, cheques, securities and similar means of payment into or out of Japan must submit a declaration, on paper at the airport or online through NACCS. At 200 yen to the pound (illustrative), ¥1,000,000 is £5,000. Anything near that should travel by bank transfer instead.
What Priya packs next time
- A little yen cash from a 7-Eleven ATM on day one, withdrawn in yen only.
- A card for the big spends, and a second card stored elsewhere.
- A coin purse, and one note for the IC card top-up.
- A look at the tax-free rules in the shop, before the till, not after.
She leaves Tokyo with a receipt folder, a pocketful of ¥1 coins she’ll never see again and a clear sense that Japan rewards the traveller who plans for the mixture. Fees, limits and rules change, and the tax-free scheme is brand new, so check current details with your bank and the shop.
Sources
- Cashless payments in Japan (Japan National Tourism Organization)
- Seven Bank ATM: to get cash in Japan with overseas cards (Seven Bank)
- Japan ATM withdrawal guide 2026 (Backpacking Is Life)
- Everything you need to know about Japan’s new tax-free shopping system (Japan National Tourism Organization)
- Changes are coming to Japan’s tax-free shopping (Japan National Tourism Organization)
- Japan is changing its tax-free shopping for tourists (Your Mileage May Vary)
- Declaration of carrying of means of payment (Japan Customs)
Checked: November 2026
