Japanese money and shopping

Japanese money and shopping

えん　円　(en) – the official currency of japan, the yen (¥)

おかね　お金　(okane) – money

there are currently four types of bills in circulation: ¥1,000, ¥2,000 (but these are very rare), ¥5,000, and ¥10,000.

there are currently six types of coins in circulation: ¥1, ¥5, ¥10, ¥50, ¥100, and ¥500.

all the bills and coins differ in size!

although many stores in japan take credit cards, cash is the most common method of payment.

places to shop

• おみせ　お店　(omise) – store
• デパート　(depaato) – department store
• スーパー　(suupaa) – supermarket
• ショッピングモール　(shoppingumaaru) – shopping mall
• ほんや　本屋　(ho•n•ya) – bookstore

buying things

• かいものをする　買い物をする　(kaimonoosuru) – to shop [lit. to do shopping]
• いくら　幾ら　(ikura) – how much
• たかい　高い　(takai) – expensive
• やすい　安い　(yasui) – cheap

some useful shopping expressions

• これはいくらですか。　= How much is this?
• それは．．．円です。　= This is … yen.
• ．．．をください。　= Please give me…
  • used for concrete items (i.e. when buying or ordering an item)
  • ．．．をおねがいします。　= Please give me…
  • however, the above is used for favors and requests rather than concrete items.

Read more:
Japanese Clothes and Accessories Vocabulary
1000 Most Common Japanese Words – Part 1