Yen coins and bills in 2026: every denomination, what it's worth, and when you'll actually use each one

⚡ 30-Second Answer: Japanese yen = 4 banknotes (¥10,000/¥5,000/¥2,000/¥1,000) + 6 coins (¥500/¥100/¥50/¥10/¥5/¥1). ¥2,000 notes barely circulate — older vending machines reject them, so treat one as a souvenir. Both new (July 2024) and old notes are valid. Recommended tourist mix: 10× ¥1,000 + 1-2× ¥10,000 + about ¥500 in coins covers most scenarios; withdraw odd amounts like ¥9,000 to force an ATM to give you small bills. A week of change weighs about 500 g, so feed coins into vending machines and Suica as you go.

Quick Reference	Value
Notes	¥10K/¥5K/¥2K/¥1K
Coins	¥500/¥100/¥50/¥10/¥5/¥1 (¥5 and ¥50 have a hole)
¥2,000	Rare circulation; souvenir
New vs old	Both valid
Tourist mix	10× ¥1K + 1-2× ¥10K + ~¥500 coins
Small bills from ATM	Withdraw ¥9,000 / ¥3,000
Last verified	September 2026

Japanese yen has 4 active banknote denominations and 6 coin denominations — fewer than the US (7 + 6) and similar to the EU (7 + 8). The active set is ¥1,000 / ¥5,000 / ¥10,000 banknotes (plus the rare ¥2,000) and ¥1 / ¥5 / ¥10 / ¥50 / ¥100 / ¥500 coins. ATMs default to dispensing ¥10,000 bills, which means your first cash-handling decision in Japan is "where do I break this?" Once you've made that decision, the rest follows automatically — ¥1,000 bills for small shops, coins for vending machines and Suica top-ups, ¥10,000s reserved for ryokan deposits and large hotel cash.

TL;DR

• Active banknotes: ¥1,000 / ¥5,000 / ¥10,000 (the 2024 redesign is in parallel circulation with the 2004 series — both legal tender)
• The ¥2,000 banknote: exists, still legal tender, almost never circulates outside Okinawa
• Coins: ¥1 / ¥5 / ¥10 / ¥50 / ¥100 / ¥500 (the ¥500 coin had a major redesign in 2021)
• Cultural note: ¥5 coins (read "go-en") are considered lucky (homonym for "fortune"); donate them at shrines
• Day-1 priority: break a ¥10,000 at a konbini for ¥1,000 bills + ¥500 coins — see article #83

Banknotes

¥10,000 (Fukuzawa Yukichi 2004 / Shibusawa Eiichi 2024)

• Approximate USD value: ~$65 (varies with FX, JPY ~152 per USD recently)
• Color: brown (2004) or pale blue/grey (2024)
• Where it comes from: every Japanese ATM defaults to this. Get cash from Seven Bank → you get ¥10,000 bills
• Where it works: konbini, department stores, supermarkets, JR ticket machines, chain restaurants, major hotels, all hassle-free
• Where it's awkward: small family-run shops (limited change), food stalls, ¥150 vending machines
• Day-1 strategy: break one at any konbini within 30 minutes of arrival; see article #83 for the full playbook

¥5,000 (Higuchi Ichiyō 2004 / Tsuda Umeko 2024)

• Approximate USD value: ~$33
• Color: violet/purple
• Where it comes from: change from ¥10,000 at a small shop, or specifically requested at a bank/post office
• Where it works: most places, but less commonly handled than ¥1,000 or ¥10,000
• Practical tip: not a denomination you'll often actively seek out; you'll receive them as change

¥2,000 (Shureimon Gate, Murasaki Shikibu — 2000 commemorative)

• Approximate USD value: ~$13
• Color: green
• Status: still legal tender, but almost never seen outside Okinawa (where it's a local pride note)
• History: Issued in 2000 to commemorate the G8 Summit in Okinawa and the millennium. Not part of the regular series; production was discontinued, and Bank of Japan keeps a stock for collectors and tourism
• If you receive one: treat it as a souvenir or spend it normally — both work. Most ATMs and vending machines accept it, though older terminals sometimes reject the unusual design.

¥1,000 (Noguchi Hideyo 2004 / Kitasato Shibasaburō 2024)

• Approximate USD value: ~$6.50
• Color: blue
• Where it comes from: change from breaking a ¥10,000 or ¥5,000, or specifically requested at a bank/post office
• Where it works: everywhere — this is the workhorse denomination for daily purchases, small restaurants, vending machines that take bills (most do up to ¥1,000), and small family shops
• Practical tip: aim to always have 5–10 ¥1,000 bills in your wallet. Get them by breaking ¥10,000s at konbini.

Coins

Japanese coins have a distinctive feature: ¥5 and ¥50 coins have a hole in the middle. This is partly historical (easier to string on a chord pre-1948) and partly tactile (easy to identify by touch), and it's a defining quirk. The six at a glance:

The two that trip up visitors are ¥1 versus ¥5 (both small; only the ¥5 has a hole and a gold colour) and ¥50 versus ¥100 (same colour; only the ¥50 has a hole).

¥500 (silver-colored, large)

• Approximate USD value: ~$3.30
• Notable: had a major redesign in 2021 with a two-color design (silver outer ring, copper inner core) to combat counterfeiting. Both 2021+ and the older single-color silver design are legal tender.
• Use cases: vending machines (almost all accept it), bus fares, train ticket machines, small shop change

¥100 (silver-colored, medium)

• Approximate USD value: ~$0.65
• Use cases: the most-handled coin denomination — vending machines, parking meters, coin-operated lockers (~¥300–¥500), convenience-store small purchases

¥50 (silver-colored with a hole)

• Approximate USD value: ~$0.33
• Use cases: change accumulator, occasional small purchases. The hole helps distinguish it from ¥100 by feel.

¥10 (copper-colored)

• Approximate USD value: ~$0.07
• Use cases: change. Used to be useful for phone booths back in the 1990s; mostly a change accumulator now.

¥5 (golden-colored with a hole)

• Approximate USD value: ~$0.03
• Notable: culturally lucky — "go-en" (五円) sounds like "御縁" (fortune / connection). Throw a ¥5 coin into the offering box at any shrine; it's the traditional amount
• Use cases: shrine donations, change accumulator

¥1 (aluminum, very light)

• Approximate USD value: ~$0.007
• Notable: famously light — they float on water. Often used in school physics demonstrations
• Use cases: change. Many tourists end up with a wallet full of these by day 4. Unloading them at the airport is one of the few legitimate uses for a Pocket Change kiosk (article #100).

The ATM dispensing reality

When you withdraw cash from a Seven Bank or similar ATM, the default output is as few notes as possible, which means ¥10,000 bills:

Some Seven Bank ATMs offer a "choose denominations" option buried in the Japanese-language flow. Most foreign-card flows skip this. Two reliable workarounds:

• Withdraw an odd amount. Seven Bank lets you enter any multiple of ¥1,000, and the machine has to make the amount up in smaller notes: ¥9,000 comes out as one ¥5,000 plus four ¥1,000s, ¥3,000 as three ¥1,000s, ¥15,000 as one ¥10,000 plus one ¥5,000.
• Withdraw ¥10,000 and buy something at the same konbini — the cashier gives the change in ¥1,000s.

When each denomination matters

Day-to-day "cash on hand" mix

A good wallet split for a typical tourist day:

• 1–2 ¥10,000 bills (reserve for ryokan deposit / hotel cash)
• 5–8 ¥1,000 bills (small shops, food stalls, taxis)
• ~¥500 in coins (vending machines, station storage lockers, casual purchases)
• A few ¥1 and ¥5 coins (donations, exact-change moments)

For shrines and temples

• ¥5 coins are the traditional shrine donation — "go-en" (lucky homonym)
• Locals also play with the wordplay: ¥45 ("shijū go-en", "good connections always") and ¥55 ("gojū no go-en", "fivefold connections") are popular; ¥10 is said to mean "distant ties" (tōen) and is avoided by the superstitious — none of it is taken very seriously
• ¥100 / ¥500 coins are appreciated at temple boxes (賽銭箱)
• ¥1,000+ donation at some temples for special prayers (omikuji / goshuin-cho)

Where a ¥10,000 note is unwelcome

• A food stall selling ¥500-800 takoyaki will wave it away with "no change"; a family-run shop may send you off to break it first; a taxi driver on a ¥500 starting fare is left scrambling
• Fix: keep 5-10 ¥1,000 notes on you, break ¥10,000s at a konbini with a ¥3,000 purchase, and let Suica or Apple Pay cover the small stuff

For vending machines

• All accept ¥10–¥500 coins
• Most accept ¥1,000 bills
• Some accept ¥5,000 / ¥10,000 (the newer ones)
• Most reject ¥1 and ¥5 coins (low denomination, not used in standard pricing)

For ryokan and traditional inns

• Cash deposit in ¥10,000s (¥15,000–¥30,000/night typical)
• See article #50 (Hakone) and #95 (ryokan payment etiquette) for the full pattern

Coin-handling tips

Coins accumulate fast — and they weigh something. One of each coin (¥666 in total) is about 23 g, and a typical trip leaves you with:

Half a kilo of coins after a week is normal, and it goes straight into your checked-bag weight. Strategies (see article #84 for the full version):

1. Feed coins into vending machines — ¥130 drinks turn pocket-loose change into hydration
2. Top up Suica/Pasmo with coins at the IC machines — converts loose change into IC balance
3. Coin-counting at the konbini cashier — works for small purchases but slow at peak hours; some travellers ask to pay a ¥1,000 bill "all in coins"
4. Shrine offering boxes and airport charity boxes absorb the ¥1s and ¥5s nobody else wants
5. Pocket Change kiosk at the airport on departure day — turn the remainder into PayPay / Amazon balance (article #100)

Common misunderstandings

"There used to be ¥500 paper notes"

Yes — pre-1982. They're still legal tender (article #94) but valuable to collectors at far more than face value. If you find one in change, congratulations; don't spend it at a vending machine.

"¥1 coins aren't worth carrying"

Mostly true but: Japanese sales tax (10% as of 2026) frequently creates ¥1-resolution prices, and exact change is genuinely useful at small shops and vending machines. Carry a few; don't hoard them.

"Old coins might not work"

All Bank of Japan-issued coins since 1948 are legal tender. The 2021 ¥500 redesign was the most recent major change, and both old and new designs work in all vending machines. See article #94 for the full legal-tender story.

"The new 2024 banknotes still get rejected by machines"

This was a real problem right after the July 2024 redesign — early reports put roughly 30% of vending machines as not yet upgraded. By 2026 the picture has improved a lot: banks, convenience-store registers, supermarket self-checkouts, and major railway ticket machines are essentially all compatible now. The stragglers are older, privately-owned vending machines (cigarette machines, small local drink machines, some coin lockers) whose bill readers haven't been swapped out, since the upgrade is costly for the owner. If a machine rejects a new-design ¥1,000/¥5,000/¥10,000 note, try an older-design note or coins instead — both series remain legal tender side by side.

Frequently asked questions

Do any shops refuse ¥1 coins?

Practically none. A few old vending and ticket machines don't take ¥1 or ¥5, but a cashier always will.

I was given a ¥2,000 note — can I get rid of it?

Any bank counter swaps it for two ¥1,000s. Most shops accept it too; it is only older machines that balk. Or keep it — it is the one yen note most Japanese people have never handled.

Can I use both the old single-colour and the new bicolour ¥500?

Yes, both are valid and both work in machines.

Is counterfeit yen something to worry about?

No — Japanese counterfeits are vanishingly rare, well under one in a million notes. If a bill feels smooth rather than textured, has no watermark portrait, or (on the 2024 series) the hologram doesn't move, hand it back to the shop that gave it to you. See article #93.

How do I say the denominations?

"Ichi-en, go-en, jū-en, gojū-en, hyaku-en, gohyaku-en" for the coins; "sen-en, gosen-en, ichiman-en" for the ¥1,000/¥5,000/¥10,000 notes. Cashiers will understand English numbers too.

Related

• #83 Breaking ¥10,000 bills
• #84 Dealing with coin-heavy change
• #94 Old and new yen notes — are they still legal tender?
• #93 Counterfeit yen in 2026
• #13 How much cash to bring to Japan
• #14 Leftover yen strategy
• #186 Pre-departure money checklist

Last verified 2026-09-08. USD-equivalent values vary daily with FX; figures shown use ~152 JPY/USD as reference.