Cash and ATMs in Japan: which machines take your card, and what to say at the register
Japan runs on cash much further into this century than anyone warns you. Tokyo will take your card at a department store and then, two streets later, a ramen counter with a queue out the door points at a handwritten sign reading 現金のみ. Small izakaya, shrine offices, market stalls and plenty of coin lockers still want paper and metal.
The awkward part is not the paying. It is the getting: most Japanese bank ATMs quietly refuse foreign cards, and they refuse them in Japanese, at the moment you have twelve hundred yen left and a train to catch. Once you know which machines work — and they live inside convenience stores, not banks — the problem disappears.
This page covers both halves: finding a machine that will pay out, reading the buttons on it, and the things you will hear and say at a counter while cash changes hands. It needs about eight sentences, not fluency.
Which ATMs in Japan actually accept a foreign card?
The short answer is convenience stores, not banks. An ATM in the lobby of a Japanese bank branch is usually wired to the domestic network only, and it declines cards issued abroad without explaining itself.
- Seven Bank, inside 7-Eleven. The most reliable of the lot, nearly always open, English one button in.
- Japan Post Bank (ゆうちょ), inside post offices — the rural backup, though a machine in a small branch keeps that branch's hours.
- Lawson Bank and E-Net, inside Lawson and FamilyMart.
- AEON Bank, inside AEON malls and supermarkets.
Before you fly, check that your PIN is four digits. Japanese machines expect four, and a longer one is a common silent failure.
| What you want to say | Say it like this | Japanese |
|---|---|---|
| Can I use a card from overseas? The one to ask at a bank counter or hotel desk before you queue. | Kaigai no kaado wa tsukaemasu ka. | 海外のカードは使えますか。 |
| Is this ATM working right now? | Kono ATM wa ima tsukaemasu ka. | このATMは今使えますか。 |
| Is there a fee? The machine also shows the fee on screen before you confirm. | Tesuuryou wa kakarimasu ka. | 手数料はかかりますか。 |
How do I ask someone where the nearest ATM is?
Usually you do not have to: aim at any 7-Eleven and the problem solves itself. But in a small town, or a station with eleven exits, asking beats wandering. Hotel desks and station staff know, and the letters ATM are said exactly as you already say them.
| What you want to say | Say it like this | Japanese |
|---|---|---|
| Where's the nearest convenience store? | Ichiban chikai konbini wa doko desu ka. | 一番近いコンビニはどこですか。 |
| Where is the post office? Post office ATMs are the rural fallback. | Yuubinkyoku wa doko desu ka. | 郵便局はどこですか。 |
| Can I withdraw money here? | Koko de okane o orosemasu ka. | ここでお金を下ろせますか。 |
What do the words on a Japanese ATM screen mean?
Convenience-store machines put an English button on the first screen, so most days you will never need this. Machines in supermarkets, older post offices and station corners sometimes do not. These are worth recognising by shape alone:
| What you want to say | Say it like this | Japanese |
|---|---|---|
| Withdrawal — the button you want | O-hikidashi | お引き出し |
| Deposit — the button you don't | O-azukeire | お預け入れ |
| Balance enquiry | Zandaka shoukai | 残高照会 |
| Transaction fee | Tesuuryou | 手数料 |
| Cash only On a door or a till, this is the whole message. | Genkin nomi | 現金のみ |
| Money changing | Ryougae | 両替 |
| Out of service / being adjusted | Chouseichuu | 調整中 |
| Top up (an IC card) | Chaaji | チャージ |
How do you actually hand over cash in a Japanese shop?
Not hand to hand. Most counters have a small ridged tray, and the money goes in the tray: you set your notes down, the clerk lifts them out and counts them aloud, and your change comes back into the tray or into your palm with both hands. Some chain tills are automated instead — a slot for notes, a cup for coins, the change dropping out at the bottom. If the clerk gestures at the machine rather than reaching for your money, feed the machine. Expect two or three set questions while any of this happens, always the same ones, which is the good news.
| What you want to say | Say it like this | Japanese |
|---|---|---|
| Cash, please. | Genkin de onegaishimasu. | 現金でお願いします。 |
| Sorry, a 10,000-yen note is all I've got. | Sumimasen, ichiman-en satsu shika nai n desu. | すみません、一万円札しかないんです。 |
| Do you take Suica? Swap in ICOCA, PASMO or whichever card you're carrying. | Suica wa tsukaemasu ka. | Suicaは使えますか。 |
What do I do with all the coins I keep accumulating?
Japan has six coins — 1, 5, 10, 50, 100 and 500 yen — and by day three your pocket sounds like a tambourine. The 500-yen coin is worth real money, so sort before you write the pile off as shrapnel.
- Vending machines take 10, 50, 100 and 500 yen, never 1 or 5.
- Station coin lockers and IC-card top-up machines swallow 100-yen coins by the handful.
- Bus fare boxes take coins, and the change slot on many of them breaks 1,000-yen notes only — sort your coins before you board, not while forty people wait.
Shops will generally not break a note unless you are buying something. If you need change, buy a bottle of tea.
| What you want to say | Say it like this | Japanese |
|---|---|---|
| Is it okay if I pay in coins? | Kozeni de haratte mo ii desu ka. | 小銭で払ってもいいですか。 |
| Where's the change machine? Stations and laundromats have them; shops mostly don't. | Ryougaeki wa doko desu ka. | 両替機はどこですか。 |
| Does it take 500-yen coins? | Gohyaku-en dama wa tsukaemasu ka. | 五百円玉は使えますか。 |
What usually goes wrong with money in Japan?
None of these is a disaster, but each has ended somebody's evening early.
- Assuming a restaurant with a beautiful website takes cards. Look for the card stickers by the door before you sit down.
- Running the wallet to zero on a Sunday night in a small town, where the post office has shut and the nearest 7-Eleven is a taxi ride away.
- Walking off mid-transaction: the card comes back before the money does, and people take the card and go.
What else is in PlaneHopper for this
Everything above is free to read and use. The full course adds 2 more scenarios for these situations — each with the complete phrase set, every reply you might hear, and a 10-second roleplay that makes you produce the line under time pressure instead of just reading it.
🏧 Cash & ATMs
The eleven-o'clock moment when the third machine in a row has spat your card back out and you have to ask a stranger which shop to walk to.
- Kaado wa tsukaemasu ka? カードは使えますか？
Can I use a card? - Genkin nomi desu ka? 現金のみですか？
Is it cash only?
+9 more phrases, replies and a timed roleplay in PlaneHopper.
🪙 Paying with cash & coins
Standing at the till with a fistful of coins, a tray you are unsure about, and a queue forming behind you.
- Kaado wa tsukaemasu ka? カードは使えますか？
Can I use a card? - Genkin dake desu ka? 現金だけですか？
Is it cash only?
+9 more phrases, replies and a timed roleplay in PlaneHopper.
The habit that fixes most of this: top up before you leave a city, not after you arrive in the village. Carry more cash than feels sensible by home standards — Japan is one of the few countries where a fat wallet is genuinely low-risk.
Frequently asked questions
Can I travel Japan on cards alone?
In central Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto you could come close, and an IC card covers trains and konbini. Outside them, no: small restaurants, temples, markets and plenty of coin lockers still want cash.
Why did the ATM reject my card?
Usually one of three things. It is a domestic bank ATM that never took foreign cards, your PIN is longer than four digits, or your bank blocked it because nobody told it you were travelling.
Should I choose yen or my home currency at a Japanese ATM?
Choose yen. When the machine offers to bill you in your own currency it is doing the conversion itself, at a rate it picked. Your own bank is nearly always cheaper.
Is it rude to pay for something small with a 10,000-yen note?
At a convenience store or a chain, not at all — they break big notes all day. At a tiny stall early in the morning it can be awkward, because the float is thin. Break the note at the konbini first.
What do I do with 1-yen and 5-yen coins?
Vending machines refuse them, so they only leave your pocket at a staffed till. The tidiest move is to drop every small coin into the konbini tray and let the total absorb them.