Show Me The Money

The image of Japan as a tech-driven, sci-fi wonderland is in some ways absolutely true, especially in the big cities.  Towers drenched in neon leap over you, vending machines scan your face and recommend a drink for you, and bullet trains zip you from one end of the country to the other in no time at all.

But there are just as many examples of the lesser-developed Japan that may just surprise the uninitiated.  I don't mean this in a derogatory way, but some things we may take for granted in the West are rare or even non-existent in Japan.  Radiators, for instance.  And insulation (if you hadn't guessed, I'm feeling cold right now!).  But nowhere is this more evident than with money.

Before I left the UK, I'd grown used to reaching for the plastic when paying for my goods.  Even the most tumbledown, backwater shop has a creaky card-reader they can dust off these days.  Not so in Japan.  It is still by and large a cash-driven society.  You want to buy something?  You will be paying by cash, my friend.  Only in the biggest chain stores are card payments a sure choice, but even then, if you're paying with an international card, it can be more awkward than you'd think.

It can be a real pain when ATMs are so few and far between.  A Japanese person would be shocked to see that our ATMs are out in the open, as in Japan they are all indoors, which can make looking for one harder than it should be.  And even then, you need to look out for the time and day: you could be charged for the privilege, even if it's your bank's own resident machine (as if there are little people inside who demand the extra pay for the inconvenience of working the ATM pulleys and levers on a Sunday...).  Worse still, the ATM could be closed altogether.  Therefore, you get into the habit of taking advantage of a free ATM whenever you can, so it's not uncommon to be walking around with huge wads of yen in your pocket, something you could only get away with in Japan.

In some ways, though, I kind of prefer it this way.  You feel more in control of your own finances, and you will always have a good idea of what you have in your account.  And because you never pay by card, you don't have to worry about rogue card payments you'd forgotten about suddenly plunder your balance dry.  It also encourages you to be more sensible, too, and less prone to impulse-buying.  If you go for a night-out, you'll be pegged by the money you pulled out for the occasion.

The system is inconvenient, yes, and it is steadily changing.  And it needs too: Japanese people find it WAY too easy to save and aren't spending enough to keep the economy ticking over, apparently.  Maybe removing these bottlenecks is a good start.  But, for now, I'm glad I don't have my money on tap 24/7.