Fan Mail Friday! YEN

It's FAN MAIL FRIDAY over here at OkiNinjaKitty. What's Fan Mail Friday? Well, throughout the week I read all of the comments that I receive as well as any emails that I receive at okininjakitty@yahoo.com as well as anything that I get over at the Facebook. I then try to answer as many of them as possible. Of course some of these answers can easily be answered with a simple comment but for those who require a bit more of an in depth response you can expect to hear back from us in blog form as well as VLOG.

A super fan of ours known as MSOld7 asks:

Can you get yen anywhere or do most places take plastic or USD?

This is a great question!

So before I get into any of these details I think it's important to know that when traveling to any country it is important to ensure that you are bringing at least some money that you retrieve from a bank in your home country or some cash that you can exchange at the airport. Of course getting foreign currency will be different depending on the banks in your home country although in the US I understand that you can call your bank and set up a time to pick up a set amount of currency. If that's not your style bringing cash with you will ensure that you can change out that currency once you get to the airport. There are sure to be currency exchanges. I understand that Narita, Haneda, Osaka and Naha all have places where you can exchange currency so you shouldn't have a problem there.

Now let's talk about when you are on the ground and are actually starting your vacation. Since you are in Okinawa you have a TON of advantages that you might not have in other parts of Japan. The first advantage is that there are various places where you can get yen. If you have access to the military installations you can get yen from the ATM's on the bases. If not that's ok! You can exchange dollars for yen at various banks through Okinawa or even at yen exchange machines which are located in areas heavy with Americans such as Mihama's Make Man store and the AEON in Mihama as well. There are also ATM's available at almost every convenience store here in Okinawa (Lawson, FamilyMart or Cocoa). Not all of these ATM machines may not work with all ATM or bank cards so you may have to look around but this should not be too much of a problem because these konbini's are all over the place.

If you don't have any yen on you or if you want to shop without the restriction of yen you can use plastic at a variety of places here in Okinawa although this is not something I would advise as a reliable way of paying for things. Most restaurants do not take plastic (credit card). There are some that do and when they do they usually will take most of the major credit card companies so you will not have to worry there although these places are not as common as in the US which means your options will be limited and you might not be able to eat anything you want. Shops also may or may not take card. It depends on their preference. It is always a good idea to ask before you start to shop/eat which you can do the difficult way "cer-re-di-ka-do de-har-ratte-mo-ii-desu-ka" which is how I asked until I was informed that I could talk like a regular human and say something like "ca-do de ii desk ka". Or if you are like the many who get on the spot and can't seem to remember what the heck you are supposed to say you can always take out the card in one hand and make an "a-o-k" sign with the other and you will also be able to get your point across. Of course it is always good to learn the language if you are going to be here for a long period of time but let's face it. . . . our memories don't always serve us the way we would like.

There are places which will almost never take credit card which include road side stands, convenience stores and vendors. Grocery stores are also not known for taking card unless they are big companies. AEON for example will take credit but San A will not. Again, just ask. It's always important to ask.

For USD you are also in luck when here in Okinawa. There are places out in town that will take USD. These places are USUALLY (and I stress usually because there could be other places out there which do not fit this mold but I don't know off hand) food places. It is important to remember, however, that the places which take dollars have the ability to determine the rate at which the dollar to yen is for their business. One place you go may have an 80yen to 1 dollar conversion where as another place along side them may give an even 100yen to 1 dollar conversion. This is completely up to the business and you as the patron should always be cautious of what you are using to pay for what you are purchasing. It is arguable that in most cases paying with yen will benefit you more, however, there are some very rare cases where the business with take a bit of a hit for more business. (An example of this is some of the tanning salons here in Okinawa which still do a one to one yen rate). Of course it is completely up to you. There are some cases when I just use the yen and others when if I have some dollars in my pocket I might use that even if the rate is not that great.

Overall I would say that it is very much the luck of the draw while here in Okinawa. Your best bet is to have everything with you at all times and that way you can ensure you never have to turn away from a store because they don't happen to take the method of payment you have available to you at the time!

Thanks so much for reading this post I hope that I have offered some insight to using various types of currency here in Okinawa. If you have any more comments and questions please feel free to leave them in the comments below or email me at okininjakitty@yahoo.com