My 20 Cents…
Today as I was going to pay for my lunch, the register looked at my money and with a sour face told me:
“今度そいうのはやめてね”
“Kondou soiunowa yametene”
Which in English means:
“Please refrain from doing this in the future” (in the nicest English possible)
The lunch at my dormitory cafeteria cost JPY300,- (around USD3,-) and I was paying him with one 100 Yen coin, one 50 Yen coin, one 10 Yen coin, and twenty eight 5 Yen coins.
After that exchange, the register took my money as if he is doing me a big favour and then gave me a meal ticket.
I sat down with my plate in front of me and was quite saddened by the discrimination my 5 Yen coins have to face.
After a while, the same old register man came to me, this time with a rather apologetic face and handed me a newspaper with an article about a law on “the limit of using coins”. He became very polite and friendly as he explained the use of such a “small change” cause inconveniences as hardly anyone would accept it, and by law actually any vendor has the right to refuse payment of more than twenty coins of the same kind, in accordance to the Seventh Paragraph of The unit of currency issuance and other laws of money.
Is this a common sense? Or am I the only one left out?
What about your country? Do they have similar Law(s)?
I would appreciate your thoughts on this, and any of your kind comments and argument.
- Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
- dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
- Kirainet.com – A geek in Japan (Subscribe)
| Related Posts: |
|
Coming Soon in Japan: Free drink vending machines!! Police arrest man for stealing 26 yen (22 cents) of electricity |
Full RSS Feed
At least in Japan they have the courtesy to explain why, and to actually be polite about it. If you did it in America, the worker at McDonalds would spit in your food over such a heinous social crime.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
in my experience in the USA,
I tried to pay a coffee at Dunkin Donuts with a 100Dollars bill.. haha, yeah I know.. I was being a jerk.. but blame the money exchanger ey??
and you know what? the lady at the cashier ignored me.. lol
Rate this comment:
0 
0
Yeah, that’s pretty true about the States. Many places won’t accept a $100 note.
However, in Japan, they’ll always accept it (10,000 yen note). Actually, I have one experience that it wasn’t accepted: I tried to pay a cab fare (710 yen) and the driver didn’t have change for a 10,000. He just let me go. Free cab ride. In Japan, it’s the cab drivers responsibility to have change.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
That and the fact that the 10,0000 yen bill is used a lot in Japan. How many subway ticket vending machines in the US, for example, will accept a 100 dollar bill?
Rate this comment:
0 
0
lol, 100 usd isn’t worth anything, stupid yanks with their little money
Rate this comment:
0 
0
Troll harder anon.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
“In Japan, it’s the cab drivers responsibility to have change.”
It’s not true, Philip. When you ride a cab, you should have small bills and preferably coins. Perhaps the cab driver that you encountered did not want to spend his time trying to take the fare from you. He would avoid foreigners after he let you go.
If it were a Japanese costumer, he/she would have asked the driver whether he would be able to accept 10,000-yen bill before he/she got into the cab.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
Aki,
But a believe you are wrong on this one (at least in Tokyo). Perhaps it’s not a law or written rule, however, I’ve been on cabs hundreds of times in Tokyo and I’ve never had a situation where the cab driver didn’t have change. (Except of course that one time)
Also, I was with my girlfriend, a Japanese, and she paid. She didn’t asked beforehand if the cab driver would accepts 10,000yen note.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
Often in America depending on the time of day, if they just opened the register, it’s been a slow day, etc., there isn’t enough money in the register to make change and still have enough left should any other customers come in. The people that were rude about this were just rude in general; it’s not an “American thing”.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
what i like about japan is you can just shove all your coins in the ATM machines cos they accept deposits.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
So why don’t they just abolish the 5 yen coins all together?? Too many currencies have too many coins in crappy little denominations that just take up space in your wallet (pound, euro, yen, etc..). Thank god for the Reminbi, as far as I can remember pretty much any denomination that wasn’t an infinitesimal value (i.e. no point even keeping), was a paper note.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
In Hong Kong, yes, we have law similar to this, you can’t pay some amount by 10/20/50 cents coin.
That staff is nice enough to give you an explanation.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
Just checked Hong Kong Law, you cannot pay amount over HK$100 by 1 / 2 / 5 dollars coin.
For 10 / 20 / 50 cents, each transaction is limited to HK$2.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
I’ve heard of it occuring in some other european countries, but growing up in the US, I’ve heard of situations where stores refuse to take cash and only take credit cards.
Just as it seems odd having low value coins, the US (as well as having coins of near equiv. value to the 1 and 5 yen coins) has the $2 bill. (some people in the US have never seen it, and there are stories of people being arrested because the person taking the money is positive the bills are fake)
Rate this comment:
0 
0
I am far lazier than you. When I get stuck with 5 or 1 yen coins from conbini they go in whatever donation tray is out. When there is none I end up taking them home and throwing them into a box and more often than not I end up throwing them away. I probably throw away 1 or 200 yen a year in change. It’s a small price to pay for not having to deal with small change. I wish Japan would just up and get rid of 5 and 1 yen coins.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
What? You sir need to dump those coins into a shrine box and pray for good fortune.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
I agree with this anonymous guy. That’s really stupid of you for throwing away good money that the shrine or an nonprofit organization could use. Try giving to the Red Cross or some organization that could really use it.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
In the US they have to right to refuse service for any reason except blatant discrimination.
As for a coin limit none that I’m aware of.
I once went to burger king and paid for a $5 meal in nothing but change. They had to have the manager handle the transaction and they had to distribute the rest to another register but they took it.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
A bit off-topic, but…
I took a can of coins (about 10,000 yen’s worth of tens, fives, and ones) to the bank the other day to have changed to bills.
Even though I was the only customer there, I waited almost 40 minutes and ended up having to pay a 980 yen service charge. I didn’t protest— by then I just wanted to get the hell out of there. Now I always grab a handful of change before leaving the house so it doesn’t build up so much.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
I had the exact same situation as you Xylo, but I didn’t pay a single cent.
I use Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ, and it appears that some of their machines (I think it was the moto-UFJ-branch machines) allow you to basically dump in a large amount of change in a tray. I went ahead and did that. I had to extract some “extra” change a few times, and it took 4 or 5 tries, but I did end up with an extra 5000 yen or so in my account.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
“今度そいうのはやめてね” isn’t really a polite form, it is actually rather blunt. Yamete is an imperative, a demand and not a request, something you’d say to scold someone. I’d translate it as “don’t do that next time.”
However, I am puzzled about the legalities of refusing masses of coins. The reason Japanese coins have holes in them is because they were often strung on a cord with the ends tied together, making a circular loop. A standard monetary unit was the “kan,” one thousand coins strung together. Of course this is an ancient monetary scheme, before the common use of paper money, but old traditions die hard. I have heard of people giving or receiving loops of strung coins even recently.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
The ね at the end softens it though…it’s more like “Don’t do that next time, OK?”.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
Thanks for the comments
yes I know..
that is why in my translation I put (in the nicest english possible) to highlight a sense of sarcasm if you know what I mean:)
Rate this comment:
0 
0
そいうの
→
そういうの
Rate this comment:
0 
0
It’s still pretty blunt, but since it was at a dorm cafeteria it’s not really as surprising if it had been at a real restaurant.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
So you are poor ? If so then good luck and pay by any means you can.
But if you are not poor then using twenty eight 5 Yen coins in one transaction is not normal.
So assuming that you are not poor then the guy at the register was right and you were wrong.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
whats wrong with having coins? what makes having many coins poor?
Rate this comment:
0 
0
I think the argument here is not trying to find who is wrong and who is right..
as a customer I feel that money is money.. however small.. if they don’t appreciate it, they should abolish those annoying small change..
but again.. if you look back at my post, I never was angry at the man.. in fact I am actually happy( although I did not write it) he tried to explained it to me… and never was I thinking for a bit that the register was wrong.. I just “felt saddened for my 5 Yen coins..” why are they produced if so many people dont really want to use them right?
Rate this comment:
0 
0
In Singapore, the Currency Act postulates that the retailer should accept up to $2 worth of 5 cents coins (about 3 yen each). However, adherence is highly debatable. My personal opinion is that you have not been discriminated.
I understand how it feels to have so much coins in your wallet. Just a holiday trip to Japan, I have amassed hundreds of 1 and 5 yen coins. I was so tempted to use my one yen coin… Perhaps that’s why Pachinko is so popular.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
How do you even get more than 20 coins of one sort? Whenever you pay for stuff, either pay the exact amount, or make sure your change is in ¥100 coins and perhaps a ¥50 and some ¥10s.
Example:
You need to pay ¥768.
Haven’t got that in coins? Pay with a ¥1000 bill, and ¥68 in coins. Or if you don’t have ¥68, ¥18, or failing that ¥8, or ¥3.
This is actually pretty polite in most countries. I usually keep at least a few ¥100 coins for vending machines and such, but other than that I rarely have more than 15 coins total on me.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
in america i think they have to accept up to 3 dollars in pennies.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
I think we should all be thankful that there are patient Japanese people like that guy who are willing to take the time to explain things to foreigners who break rules. He would have totally been in the right to just be rude to you, or even not accept the coins. That he even took the time to get a newspaper article is a very nice gesture.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
So the old guy just happened to have a newspaper lying around with an article in it about a law restricting the use of coins. This seems to be a real issue with him.
Next time try a \5,000 note to pay for a \300 meal. Sometimes you just can’t win.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
A {backslash}5000 note?
Or you know, you could just use the ¥ character. Stop depending on your fonts to replace the noble backslash with the ¥, they are not the same.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
Geez, cut Bad Wolf some slack. I knew what he meant.
And way more than any stinky Y, let’s use 円！
Rate this comment:
0 
0
\\\\\\\\\
On my screen it shows up as a Yen mark, prick.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
Then check your font settings, it shows up as a backslash on both my Windows machine and my Mac. However, anonymous’ post does contain a ￥ sign.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
5,000 en note for a 300 en meal would be no problem. I have bought one item at the 100 en (105 after tax) shop and paid with a 10,000 bill and the clerk didn’t even blink. Same at the combini, one drink and pay with a 1man note and you will see no reaction. But if you try to buy something with a pocket full of change they roll their eyes.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
Often times vending machines will kick out a pile of 10 yen coins for change when making purchases. It’s quite common to get nine 10-yen coins back when buying a drink costing 110 yen from a vending machine using 200 yen. Or to get eight 100-yen coins and nine 10-yen coins making the same purchase with a 1000-yen note. This also happens with train ticket machines. Very few machines are kept stocked with enough 50-yen and 500-yen coins to give out as change.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
In the UK, they’d be happy to take anything in small change, so that their till gets a “change top-up” so to speak (more change to give to future customers). The big crime over here is paying with notes for a small item. I was refused the other week because I tried to pay £10 for a £2.50 meal. So it’s the other way around over here.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
This is the same experience I’ve had in Australia, both as a customer and while working in the customer service industry.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
Though, Australia got rid of it’s 1 cent coins a long long time ago, which I’ve always thought was a rational move. 1円 coins always make me think of Monopoly money…
But the coin designers in Australia must have thought people would be confused to find their change purses lighter than usual, because they designed the rest of the coins to be almost comically big and heavy.
But for real—when I was working in a small, one store business, I loved people paying with change. We were always running out due to all the people paying with notes all the time. If someone came by in the morning with a $50 bill it would make quite a dent in our change stores, and we’d have to turn people away, or give them discounts to make up for it.
I wonder if you could just get some cheap clear plastic tubes made with the diameter of each of the coins, and marked for easy counting. Just make it clear to the customer to sort the denominations before they get to the counter (I often wonder why wallets haven’t adapted to accommodate this, actually), and the transaction could proceed pretty smoothly…
Rate this comment:
0 
0
I had a similar expiraince when I tried to pay $50 for a $2.75 meal. They took my money, but I had to wait an hour before they could get enough change to give to me. Some things just don’t fit or shouldn’t be fitted into a register. It’s nothing more than a physical issue.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
Sweden has the same law :/
Rate this comment:
0 
0
For some reason I get stuck with all the small change my family generates, so I sympathize with you. But I also sympathize with the fellow at the cashier; it’s a headache having to deal with lots of small change, especially when there’s a long line. Nowadays I just save up the small stuff and put it in the charity donation box. If the people at the other end mind, I have no way of knowing.
And how sweet that the cashier approached you and explained his irritation later!
Rate this comment:
0 
0
From what I know, Germany has a similar law. My memory had told me that you can pay up to 5 Euros in coins, but after looking it up, it appears that I was wrong and that the limit is in fact “50 coins in total”, regardless of value.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
“やめてね” is really strong and never very polite. He was pretty blunt, especially for someone in Japan in a customer service job. But it was nice of the other guy to explain it to you afterwards.
But… if any country, I’ll tell you that what you did was totally annoying. I work at a cafe in Japan if anyone did that to me, I’d be really irritated. It’s so annoying to get loads of 5 and 1 coins in any country. Only very cheap people actually do that. Take it to a bank next time, or put it in a donation box.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
Exactly. If you can’t see why trying to shell out 28 5 yen coins at a lunch counter might inconvenience people you might just be a redneck.
Common sense: use it.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
everyone summed up my feelings pretty well here. I don’t think there’s nothing wrong with the cashier to be irritated by this. The important thing is you have to realize the effort he put in to deal with the situation. Sure, he was a little blunt, but he did accept the payment and added the little ね, to soften his language and he even informed you of the situation. Some assholes could be like, “ah, f-ing foreigners. So selfish. We don’t serve your kind here.”
Why should you care when you’re the customer? In Japan, some rules of etiquette are necessary even for customers. If you don’t like it, deal with it. If you can’t deal with it, don’t live in that country. Adaptation is necessary in every culture.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
I had a machine at my bank that I could throw coins into and get bills back. It also would change my １万円 into 5 ２千円 bills, which are my favorite. I was the happiest man alive when I found that machine. And one time I had it give me a shizload of 500円玉. It was fantastic.
Anyone ever seen the 100円 bills? http://blog.kenjoy.jp/archives/2005/09/post_4.html Yay for quirky money!
Rate this comment:
0 
0
Damn, I guess that jar of 1 yenners isn’t such a good idea then….
Rate this comment:
0 
0
Somehow a bit funny… but i can see it’s maybe annoying to the cashiers.
Slows down long waiting lines too i guess, to count a ton of little coins…
On my very first Japan trip, i used to go to the Hotel “Bank” every morning with a bag full of exchange money from the day before when i went shopping and had em make paper bills from it.
Was free without a charge too, at the Hilton in Shinjuku.
That was now almost 10 years ago.
If i wouldn’t have done that, my wallet would prolly have died lol.
But i admit back then i had no idea of the value of the coins i always got in exchange… so before i would bother to long at a cashiers desk to count money and figure the value of it, just puting down a 10k Yen note is a lot easier.
(specialy back then my japanese was… non existant hehe, english all the way)
Rate this comment:
0 
0
I VOTE THIS ENTRY STORY OF THE YEAR!
And please next time if you have that many 5 yen coins gimme a call! I am willing to take’em all, and give you 105% of their value!
Rate this comment:
0 
0
kaishin are you serious?
I have hundreds of 5 Yen coins..
lol
thanks for the kind comments everyone!
Rate this comment:
0 
0
Well I have a soft spot for 5 yen coins. So much that I called my blog “Goendama”.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
I’m not surprise that the cashier doesn’t like it. I’ve been declined of my purchase before when I used a whole bunch of pennies and cents. Nowadays I just keep all my pennies, 5 and 10 cents in a big jar and just go to a super market and pour it in a coin exchanger when it get full. The machine count the coins really fast(2 mins for over 1000 coins) and they only take 5% fee
Rate this comment:
0 
0
It’s nothing to do with law, custom, or even history.
It’s to do with common sense.
Using so many small coins to purchase an already inexpensive meal is simply clownish and retarded.
Which is exactly the kind of thing one would expect from the quality (rather: lack thereof) of westerners living in the not so united J of P.
Respectfully,
Colonel Colon
Rate this comment:
0 
0
I wish people here would really use their intellectual mind to choose words that are more polite..
all I ask is your view and opinion..
nobody like to be called retarded..
cordially
Anton
Rate this comment:
0 
0
Cough. That was my intellectual mind my dear chap. As well as my requested view and opinion.
Anyways, C. Colon didn’t call you retarded; he was simply referring to the act, in which you were presumably just a bit player.
Yours, C. Colon and sidekick B. Burglar
Rate this comment:
0 
0
It’s called common courtesy, are you really that daft?
Rate this comment:
0 
0
all I ask is for your kind comments..
and I am here not to try to hurt anyone..
but why the word daft?
it really shows your level of intellectual..
Rate this comment:
0 
0
err daft is being polite or would you rather be a retard? or mentally challenged?
Rate this comment:
0 
0
We also have coin exchangers in some UK supermarkets. In return for a 4% commission the machine allows you to choose either a voucher to use in the shop or donate the money to charities – great idea.
We used to have a half penny coin they phased out around 20 years ago – everyone dreaded them as the handling charges to count & carry them cost more than their face value.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
Yes, there is a law like that here in Canada also.
According to the Bank of Canada website:
(2) A payment in coins referred to in subsection (1) is a legal tender for no more than the following amounts for the following denominations of coins:
(a) forty dollars if the denomination is two dollars or greater but does not exceed ten dollars;
(b) twenty-five dollars if the denomination is one dollar;
(c) ten dollars if the denomination is ten cents or greater but less than one dollar;
(d) five dollars if the denomination is five cents; and
(e) twenty-five cents if the denomination is one cent.
And also:
Payment methods must be mutually acceptable to both parties (e.g. credit or debit card, cheque). Therefore, retailers do not break the law if they refuse bills.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
So, given that Canada has common coinage from $.01 to $2…, that is:
(a) 20 x $2 coins,
(b) 25 x $1 coins,
(c) 100 x $.10 coins (or fewer $.25 coins),
(d) 100 x $.05 coins,
(e) 25 x $.01 coins.
And I notice that it is all usable in a single transaction, so a purchase up to $80.25 in up to 270 coins.
Although I would like to know more on that section at the bottom, as if they can refuse bills than they can also refuse coins (ie. they are both ‘legal tender’).
Rate this comment:
0 
0
They probably can refuse coins if Canadian law is like US law. Coins and paper money are legal tender, but any private shop or merchant can refuse to take it. Bus companies, for example, can refuse to accept pennies as payment, and shops can refuse to take large bills for small transactions or even to take any currency at all and insist on credit cards only.
http://www.ustreas.gov/education/faq/currency/legal-tender.shtml#q1
As far as I can tell the only outfit that has to accept US legal tender is the US and State governments.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
Yes, both coins and bills are legal tender as it is issued by the government.
I would assume the the law is try to protect both the store owner and the customer. If either party are suspicious about the form payment then they can certainly deny it. Usually small stores don’t accept $50 or $100 bills because of they are afraid of getting fake bills or just maybe they unable to give back a lot of change to customer.
I guess I can understand why it would be a law to limit the amount of coins being accepted. If a person pay by coins and have them roll up, how can the store be certain that the customer has counted the right amount? Or how about if the coins are fake (example $1 or $2 coins here in Canada)?
Rate this comment:
0 
0
Having been broke and forced to count out pennies in order to buy a meal while traveling, I can sympathize with you. But I’ve also been on the other end, trying to count $3 worth of assorted dimes, pennies, and nickels for a single soft drink or snack. It’s time consuming and frustrating, especially if you are the only person working the cash registers that day and you already have a line of impatient, irritable customers. So I’d say it’s a matter of courtesy not to hand the cashier 20-odd little coins: but to make that a law? Ridiculous.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
There is a similar law in Italy too. But not as strict. IIRC it says that there is the right to refuse payments with unreasonable amounts of coin. This happens because people who really want to annoy used to pay with bag and bags of coins.
Having said that, I don’t like the idea of befused a payment for my metal coins. Does my money stink if it’s made of metal?
Really? Then I’ll keep it for myself.
Having said even that, at least metal coins have some intrinsic value in their metal. Pretty soon paper money is going to be worth not even the paper and ink used to print it.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
“Pretty soon paper money is going to be worth not even the paper and ink used to print it.”
Yeah, that’s what they said when Marco Polo brought back the first paper money from China 600 years ago….
Rate this comment:
0 
0
It’s actually happening in Iceland , Zimbabwe and a few other countries. Where do you live, LB?
In a better place than mine, I believe.. nonetheless keeping youself informed about the rest of the world wouldn’t be a such a bad thing.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
It would be interesting to see if the trend continues or spreads. Personally, I don’t see it spreading worldwide. The US has tried 1 dollar coins – no one wants them. Paper money is lightweight, compact and easy to sort. Could you imagine here in Japan having 1, 5, 10, 50, 100, 500, 1000, 2000, 5000 and 10,000 yen coins? Or buying lunch with a 10,000 yen coin and getting 9,370 yen in coins back? Your pocket or bag would weigh a ton in short order!
No, sorry, paper money is too convenient and too engraved in most people’s minds now. I could see going completely cashless before I could see going only to coins. At least going cashless makes things easier for people. And like lemmings, we always go for the easier way.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
I’m reminded of a guy that paid his taxes in pennies after being audited. He paid with 2 trash cans full of pennies It cost the IRS more to transport them to then what he had paid.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
It has not happened to me yet. They always take my money no matter what I throw at them. Although, it is my personal rule to not use so many one yen coins for a single purchase. As far as the five yen coins go I actually find them to be useful to round out an odd amount.
I also toss a lot of one yen coins in the donation boxes at the quick stops. This makes me feel a little good about myself that I helped some people out and it keeps my pockets free of a bunch of one yen coins.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
I take it Colonel Colon hasn’t dispensed with the need for his potty.
Common sense suggests that you can pay with whatever legal tender you like. If the cashier doesn’t like it due to laziness or ignorance – tough – just tell them to get on with it. God damn little Hitlers – whatever next ! “I ain’t taking your coins – they don’t look clean” or “no not taking that – it’s got a crease in it” Give me a break all you snooty elitist people – money is money – if you’ve got some be happy. If someone wants to give you some – be very happy. If you find some – be ecstatic.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
yeah, so I’m sure you’d be ecstatic if your employer decided to turn your weekly paychecks into a large piles of pennies, nickles and dimes.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
And common sense also suggests that in a free-market economy any merchant is free to demand payment in any currency they choose, refuse certain denominations, or accept credit cards only if they want. And you as a consumer have a right to take your business elsewhere if you don’t like their terms.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
And you as a consumer have a right to take your business elsewhere if you don’t like their terms.
Bingo.
I can imagine a situation where there is a queue for a store, and the person at the counter is refused for having too much change, after which half the line walks off. I’d feel rather silly if I was that cashier.
A well, refusal to take people’s money is not the only example of businesses not actually wanting to do business. The tram system in Melbourne, for example, doesn’t accept notes on it’s onboard ticket machines, which as I see it is promoting fare-evasion.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
think about the poor cashier. He’s not tenchou-kakka, he’s onobori-kun with a unko pay. I don’t think he actually wants to business but rather being paid (!!!) at the end of the month with a minimum effort.
Then again it would make my day watching the situation you described
Rate this comment:
0 
0
And common sense also suggests that in a free-market economy any merchant is free to demand payment in any currency they choose
This statement would allow Japanese merchants to demand payment in euro. Totally illegal.
I think you mean “any denomination they choose.” Though this is also not totally legal.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
How would it be illegal? If a private Japanese (or American or Aussie or whatever) merchant decided he wanted to list all his prices in Euro, and accept payment only in Euro, what law is he breaking? It is his right to accept whatever he wants as currency – Euro, USD, Yen, Pounds Sterling, pull-tabs or mouse droppings. As long as his customers are willing to pay him in that, so that both parties to the transaction are agreeing to those terms, where is the problem?
Now, if he tried to pay his Japanese taxes in Euro, then he would have a problem, as the Euro is not legal tender within Japan. Still, if he gets Euros, and converts them into Yen, and pays his taxes and bills in Yen, what law has been broken?
Rate this comment:
0 
0
In most nations a merchant may accept foreign currency, but it is generally illegal to refuse acceptance of the home currency. As far as I know this is the case in all OECD nations. You’re correct that the merchant may accept whatever he/she wants, but the currency of the central bank of that nation must always be accepted.
As above, a merchant in Japan only has the legal right to refuse coins when there are more than 20 of the same kind. A merchant would be breaking the law by refusing to accept 19 one yen coins for a 19 yen transaction.
I’m not saying I agree or disagree with these laws, they just are.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
So Ken, if a supermarket gives coupons redeemable for a soft drink in exchange for the customer bringing in a certain number of cans for recycling, and that coupon is neither redeemable for cash nor purchasable with cash (in other words, you only get the coupon for giving them XX cans, and can only use that coupon to get a softdrink at that same store, and nothing else), are they breaking the law? Because I’ve seen stores do that, but from what you say they’re lawbreakers for doing it…
Rate this comment:
0 
0
No, that’s not what I’m saying at all.
The case you bring up is exactly what I’m saying is fine – I’m agreeing with you on that point. The issue is whether the product itself can be purchased with local currency, not whether the coupon can be purchased. Obviously there must be some grey area here in the cases of certain promotions and contests.
The point is that the currency of the country in question cannot be refused. For one example, you cannot open a shop in the United States and only accept Turkish Lire. If you operate a business in the United States, you must accept US money if someone wants to pay with it. If you want to accept something else, that’s fine – I’m agreeing with you on that point. But you cannot disallow people from paying in the local currency.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
I dunno Ken, I’m not convinced. I’d want to see a law that specifically bans private individuals from refusing payment for goods and services in the local legal tender, and while I have done some digging, I can’t find anything like that yet.
What I can find is this, from the US:
USC 31/5103: “United States coins and currency (including Federal reserve notes and circulating notes of Federal reserve banks and national banks) are legal tender for all debts, public charges, taxes, and dues. Foreign gold or silver coins are not legal tender for debts.”
Public charges, taxes and dues are not relevant, and I agree with the fact that you must pay taxes etc. in the local currency. That leaves “debts”. Now, if you owe me money and give me USD (in the US), I would say I cannot refuse to accept USD in payment. However, if I say “I will give you this cup in exchange for your shirt” and you counteroffer with a $10 bill, I can refuse as no debt has been incurred. I’ve seen any number of organized swap events, and it has always been clear that money (aka legal tender) is not accepted. You could try to pay with cash, and you’d be told to leave and I seriously doubt there is anything you could do about it.
Actually, come to think of it, I can recall court cases filed over “payment in kind” where one party agreed to do accept some service (like lawn mowing) as payment for something, and the party that agreed to perform the service later reneged and offered cash. I also recall that courts (at least in the US) have generally sided with the plaintiff in that the contract specified that the debtor party agreed to perform a service, and that payment must be in that service (for example, the debtor must pay someone else to mow the plaintiff’s lawn if they cannot do it themselves).
Sorry, but unless you can pull out a law that specifically states private individuals (and shops run by same) must always accept legal tender as payment and cannot refuse it under any circumstances, I’m going to stick with “It ain’t illegal to demand payment in bottle caps”. I’ve seen too many cases where legal tender was refused, and that refusal even legally upheld, to believe otherwise.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
I’d want to see a law that specifically bans private individuals…
Who said anything about private individuals? I’m talking about places of business. Have been from the start.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
Ken, at least where I am from “places of business” are private enterprises. Run by private individuals. Same rules apply.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
Makes cents to me.
No but really I think that’s kinda of stupid… there are some occasions where you’ll end up paying with a bunch of coins. It just happens.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
Apparently you may refuse to accept payments consisting of more than 50 coins in Europe.
Yes, I had to look that one up…
Rate this comment:
0 
0
(Here in America) I tried to buy a new game with $60 worth of rolled up change (mostly quarters) before and I was told that I had to go get cash money before I could pay for it. I ended up having to go to a CoinStar before I could buy the game.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
I do not think it is discrimination … he will probably do it the same to Japanese too, except that Japanese being part of a cultural homogeneous society, Japanese will probably not do it in the first place.
Taking away from this story, to avoid experiencing the upset again, may be I can suggest asking if it is okay to pay in many coins first. I suspect that the message would be “it’s okay, but … “, however, the same message may come across not in imperative soften by ‘ne’, but yamete kudasai or some sort.
Perhaps the best place to get rid of coins is the train ticket station.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
How sad when all over the world (or so it seems) that people have a stick so far up their butt that they don’t get that money is MONEY.
If the government continues to produce it, then people pretty much need to continue to take it (although laws very – a LOT). Don’t like the format, then bitch at the government not the poor bloke trying to buy something from YOUR STORE.
If the government is going to make and enforce stupid “max number of coins per transaction” laws (and I have never seen it enforced in Germany or America) then they need to make sure ANYONE can convert their coins into paper money for FREE (coinstar charges 8% in America, and most banks only want to TAKE money not provide any type of service – especially not any service for FREE).
//not that it really effects me, I went cashless years ago (only use credit/debit cards for almost everything).
Rate this comment:
0 
0
I think it’s against the law in Russia to deny payments in large amounts of coins, though I saw such denials.
And sometimes people pretends they had only large bills in their wallet to get a free ride on a bus ( you can not purchase a ticket, since driver/conductor has no change, but he can not refuse to give you a ride on this grounds )
Rate this comment:
0 
0
Using debit cards is the best way.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
This is japan! move on! I don’t know why people like you want support from us!!! if you like to be victim don’t post such a issue on the web. haha “if you want me to say sorry for you then I’ll say sorry haaha faggot
Rate this comment:
0 
0
I’m pretty sure Togu got his high level of education at Todai (toire daigaku, not to be confused with the other appreciated university)
Rate this comment:
0 
0
Yes.. thanks for backing me up inverse..
Rate this comment:
0 
0
I’m pretty sure that these laws are not just to prevent little old ladies from clogging up checkout lanes with all-penny payments, since they are already doing a fine job by asking dumb questions, demanding last week’s sale price, etc.
I’d bet these laws are there to prevent con men and gangsters from running extortion rackets by sending a bunch of thugs to go shopping with pennies and effectively shut down a store completely legally (until the manager pays them to go away) were it not for these laws.
A Japanese TV show did a dramatization of a yakuza gang that shut down a bank by having a bunch of thugs repeatedly open savings accounts with 1 yen, get back in line, then close the accounts, get back in line, then reopen accounts, all day keeping the bank staff busy futilely stamping things and making bankbooks etc, while real customers had to wait for them, and the managers’ slavish devotion to regulations meant they could keep doing it all day, every day, for weeks.
That said, these laws should really only be enforced on customers who are just being assholes, or just being stupid.
I would love it if this kind of rule also helped customers, and vending machines were not permitted to give back more than 4 10 yen coins in change, or WERE required to at least take 5 yen coins.
How many countries have TWO useless small coin denominations like Japan?
Rate this comment:
0 
0
well in my country (MEXICO) they dont accept mexican cents, for some dumb reason the dont accept them i think its a hassle for the store to use them. Because they give the cents as change but they dont accept it xdxd…
Rate this comment:
0 
0
Do you always pay for your lunch at the dormitory cafeteria with lots of small coins ? Or was this the first time ? Also was the guy at the cash register this time the same guy who had served you on many other days ?
Rate this comment:
0 
0
it was my first time,
and the person at the register is my dorm manager which happen to be my friend and drinking buddy
Rate this comment:
0 
0
OK. So he is trying to help you learn how to do things at that dormitory. He is helping you. Go with the flow.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
My dorm manager uses language like yours did. And he is entitled to. He is many years my senior in age, whilst I am a lowly (graduate) student. I would find it very uncomfortable if I he was to use overly polite language towards me. 「やまてね」 is perfectly acceptable, and polite in this situation! Of course, you (and me) should use keigo towards our dormitory managers, assuming he is much older than you are.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
The law makes sense since all that counting would slow business down, and might make others waiting in line leave.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
I am sure there is a similar law in Australia. I have read of similar (but more extreme) cases of protesters trying to get publicity and “make a point” about things such as government tax and turning up with wheelbarrows or garbage bags full of coins. They were specifically doing it to inconvenience the receivers of the money.
Considering cases such as this it is not surprising laws have been introduced in many countries.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
Here in the UK, if you tried to buy a £5 magazine in 20p coins, at best you’d get a funny look. Shop staff don’t want to count that many coins. It holds up the queue whilst they check the change you’ve given them, and it’s not particularly interesting to count coins anyway.
I should imagine this happens in Japan and the US too, but if you take all your lower denominations of currency to your bank or post office, they will exchange them for larger value coins.
Eg: take 600x 1 pence coins, be given 6x 1 Pound coins, or 12x 50 pence coins.
I can’t really think of anything you can buy for anything less than 50p anyway here, other than the odd chocolate bar.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
Well Thank you for all your comments so far guys!
it is very interesting to compare different country rule and culture
it really makes my day when I see 90 over comments in this simple post!
cheers!
Anton.jp
Rate this comment:
0 
0
In the US and Canada, it is generally considered poor taste and rude to pay in all pennies (1 cent coins), all nickels (5 cent coins) or all dimes (10 cent coins). If you have them in coin rolls, it’s less offensive. It takes a lot of time to count out small change and most retail workers will either refuse payment in that manner or give you a dirty look.
Canada, however, has one and two-dollar coins. The stigma of using change is a little smaller up here.
Still, the use of small change is often perceived as a sign of desperation or poverty as panhandlers and beggars often make transactions in large cups of change.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
Check this out _ ‘An Ohio man with a hatred of paper money slapped down $8,000 in coins at a car dealership to buy a Chevrolet pick-up – then paid the rest by cheque.’
You see – most businesses will accept whatever you give them – especially Chevy dealers.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7559881.stm
Rate this comment:
0 
0
HAHAHAHA
this is read of the week for me!!
I wonder if the car dealer would say “yametene”
Veoh.jp
Rate this comment:
0 
0
Uk/Canada/USA regardless of there is a law, usually accept the coins as cashiers generally think of it as part of their job. Only once in my lifetime have I seen large, non-deliberate amounts of coin refused, but oddly enough, the man was a court judge and sternly stated money is money and the cashier quickly took it.
I can understand if there is a large lineup that it would be very frustrating having to count the money, actually the few times I paid in coins most didn’t bother counting it if it looked like the right amount that was stated. If there wasn’t though, I personally think what he did would be considered rude.
If anything this experience has showed, it’s that I think people in Japan aren’t really any more respectful than people of the West, it’s just what constitutes as respect that varies.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
Twenty eight 5 yen coins? Sorry if I don’t exactly feel sorry for your plight. Sure they have to take the money, but don’t expect the teller to give you some kind of reward for coin counting. I mean sure a few 5 yen coins to round up is ok, but to essentially be paying your half your bill with 5 yen coins isn’t going to make you many friends in retail.
Myself I at least have the courtesy for those in line behind me and respect for the cashier, to spread out dumping my lower denomination coins over several transactions. Though I must admit when I was younger I did pay for a bus ride with all pennies just to be rebellious.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
Satoru,
I don’t want people to be sorry, I want their stories about the law in their country..
Also, to set the record straight to EVERYONE who reads my post..
there was NEVER any line.. it is a private dormitory with very few students..
I would be more considerate if I would GO to for example Saizeriya etc..
btw I dont need anyone’s sympathy, I just need to hear from you guys..
cheers
Veoh.jp
Rate this comment:
0 
0
i live in Canada and i’ve payed for an entire meal ( about 20 dollers) in toonies ($2), Nickles (10 cents) dimes ( 5 cents) and pennies. they cashier was pissed off but she has to take it.if its legal money they have to unless there’s a sing saying ” we do not accept ______ bills” mostly 100 doller bills i remember i worked at a grocery store and a kid came in and bought candy and payed for it in all pennys (1cent coin) and i had to stand there and count out hundreds of pennys, no one complained about it cuz thats all the kid had… and plenty of us have done it as kids and adults.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
I believe this is happening with the 1cents in the U.S. I see it being disposed all the time, and people don’t really seem to care much about it.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
Dude , no saine country will have this carzy laws !!!
OJP = only in Japan !!!
Rate this comment:
0 
0
I was in Japan two years ago, and had experiences with both using large currency and using small currency.
A little after I arrived in Kyoto, it was a really hot day, and I wanted a drink, but I didn’t have enough coins to use a vending machine, so I had to go into a store and break one of my 10000 yen notes. I actually apologized to the cashier, an old lady who was probably the owner, since I was only buying a drink. But she said “No mind” and happily took it. When I was in Hokkaido, I went to the grocery store with my host family. We only bought some small snacks, but my host mother paid with a 100000 yen note.
On the other hand, two of my friends and I were eating at a Ramen restaurant, we all ordered the exact same thing, and we could all pay with exact change (Why we don’t include tax in the price like Japan does is a mystery to me). Me and one of my friends paid the easiest way we could. But my other friend was looking to unload all his small coins, so he gave me tons of 10 yen coins. I guess totaling it up, we probably had more than twenty coins of something, but when I gave the person behind the register the money, she didn’t bat an eye.
So, different strokes for different folks I guess?
Rate this comment:
0 
0
Hi, I was just browsing Neatorama and they happened to have something that was related. Someone in New Jersey tried to pay his traffic ticket in pennies and got into trouble. http://wcbstv.com/watercooler/pennies.traffic.ticket.2.888243.html
Rate this comment:
0 
0
People who pay for service or invoices using lots of little coins must have a wallet with a massive coin purse attached. The wallet would be very heavy.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
I must be the only person as a small child growing up finding coins in the washer/dryer, on the floor, or given pennies/nickels/dimes from my parents at the end of the day, with my ziplock bag or coffee can full of change with only a few quarters and a zillion pennies. I was never once turned down from the ice cream truck, or 7/11 with my legal tender, not once. A many a ice cream and gum, lemonheads, laffy taffy and what-not had been bought in my time as a child, there was no penny discrimination growing up where i’m from i guess. maybe because i was just a child, i don’t know. As for the Euro coins, when i left germany to go to japan, i had 230$ roughly in Euro coins that i exchanged. Going out and getting drunk and throwing my coins in a small clay pot, landed me a couple hundred bucks after 2 years. not bad i say. Can you imagine when i got to germany, my first time going to a strip club, only trying to imagine where i’m supposed to put a 1 euro coin at on the stripper…lol good times.
Rate this comment:
0 
0