Questions about budget and payments in Japan

Hi there,

The info I found on the forum is a bit outdated, so I’m asking again!

1) What budget should I plan for 15 days, given that hotels with breakfast, transfers, and transport are already paid for? I know it depends on the person, but I’d love a rough idea. For meals, we’re thinking simple street food or small local restaurants.

2) I’ve heard that credit cards (we each have a Revolut + 1 Visa Premier) aren’t widely used and that it’s better to have cash. Can you confirm?

3) Are foreign credit cards still not accepted at bank ATMs? Still 7-Eleven or the Post Office? And what about American Express?

Thanks in advance, Best regards

Hi,

1) What budget should I plan for 15 days, given that hotels with breakfast, transfers, and transport are already paid for? I know it depends on the person, but I’d like a rough idea. For meals, we’re more into simple street food or small local restaurants.

It’s not easy to answer. Between street food, markets, and small restaurants, you’ll find what you’re looking for without blowing your budget. By carefully reading the menu, checking out the food models, and sticking to one hearty dish, I paid 10–20 € per meal. And don’t forget to treat yourself to some delicious sushi! 😉

2) I’ve heard that credit cards (we each have a Revolut + 1 Visa Premier) aren’t widely used and that it’s better to have cash on hand. Can you confirm?

Yes, cash is necessary for street food and markets. I had no issues using Mastercard and Amex. In some restaurants, you order at a kiosk and pay there.

3) Are foreign credit cards still not accepted at ATMs in banks? Still 7-Eleven or the Post Office? And what about American Express?

No idea—I don’t withdraw cash abroad.

Hi there! There are tons of well-stocked convenience stores with little snacks to munch on (onigiri, sandwiches, fried chicken, drinks, desserts...) Often, after a good breakfast at the hotel, I just grab something like that for lunch. In the evening, I spend between 10 and 15 € max. These same convenience stores have ATMs for withdrawing cash. Some charge fees (660 yen, or 3.7 €) for 20,000 yen—this is shown before the final confirmation. Others are fee-free, like ATM+, I think, and you can even set the language to French 👍 You’ll often need cash for small amounts. I recommend getting an IC card per person and topping it up—it’s super handy and often replaces cash. Have a great trip!

Thanks for the info.

About the IC card, it seems like it’s recharged with cash. Did I misunderstand?

Yes, it's cash only, max 20,000 yen

Okay. Thanks for the details.

The iPhone lets you have virtual IC cards (Suica, Pasmo, and ICOCA), which you can top up via Apple Pay, down to the yen. Absolute bliss.

For the budget, it obviously depends on everyone, but food really isn’t expensive. At a supermarket, you can feast on sashimi for around ten euros, and for the same amount, you can eat at an izakaya. Over 8 months of travel (cumulative), I only exceeded 5,000 ¥ (for 2) less than ten times—last time, in May, it was nearly 12,000 ¥ (still for 2), but that was for fugu… We’re nowhere near Parisian prices.

Thanks! For the IC card on iPhone, could you tell me more about it? Is it as widely accepted as a physical card? And how do you top it up?

Is it as widely accepted as a physical card?

Since an IC card only works contactless, yes, it’s exactly the same.

And how do you recharge it?

With Apple Pay, anytime, anywhere. Though, if you don’t have any credit card in Apple Pay, I don’t know.

Thanks. This is all Greek to me (or rather, Japanese!). So I’m gonna play detective like Columbo: I’ll talk to my wife about it since she’s the one with an iPhone—I’m on Android.

Just out of curiosity: are you thinking of moving there one of these days?

Hello,

I’m revisiting this topic since I’m finalizing our travel plan! I have a few questions about payments, especially since we’ll each have (my wife and I) an ICOCA card provided by our travel agency, preloaded with just 1500¥.

1) Can you confirm that it’s valid for all public transport in Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka? We’ll also have a Hakone Free Pass and a JR Kansai Hiroshima Area Pass. 2) My wife has an iPhone. It seems she can reload her card via Apple Pay, but there’s one thing I don’t understand: Does the app let her search for her physical card, or does she need to convert her physical card into a virtual one and use her phone for payments? 3) From what I understand, my Samsung (bought in France) won’t let me reload my IC card. Is this still the case? 4) Side question: Does that mean I’ll only be able to reload it with cash?

We also have Revolut and Visa Premier. 5) Do tourist hotels generally accept them? It’d just be for extras since the rooms and breakfasts are prepaid. 6) Can we withdraw cash with them somewhere? And if so, where?! 7) Generally speaking, how do you handle cash? Do you take some from France before leaving?

Thanks in advance.

Hi there,

I’m chiming in with what I know—I never take trains in Japan and I don’t visit tourist sites, but I have a Pasmo card that I top up at stations, and it works great for everything: buses, subway, even convenience stores and taxis.

You can withdraw cash more easily from ATMs at 7-Eleven and Japan Post (JP).

All hotels accept cards, even the ones that rarely see tourists—it’s pretty uncommon otherwise.

I always carry about 1000 € as a precaution, but I bring it back home. For everything else, it’s just payments and withdrawals.

Michel

Cash is easiest to withdraw from 7-Eleven and Japan Post (JP) ATMs.

Thanks for your reply!

So, if I understand correctly: 1) I withdraw cash from a 7-Eleven (that’ll remind me of the US!) or a bank. Ouch, those fees! 2) And then: either I use cash at shops, or I load my ICOCA card and pay with that.

Hi there,

It’s not exactly 7-Eleven—there’s something after "& i holdings," but you’ll recognize it. Maybe there are ATMs in other konbini, but I’m less sure about that. Fees? I use either an Ultim Boursobank card or a Fortuneo Mastercard Gold, and neither costs me a single euro per year. Agreed on point 2.

Michel

Hi, I especially recommend the Japanese post office, which only charges a flat fee of 220¥ per withdrawal. For 7/11, it depends—you’ll often see the 220¥ plus 3% of the amount, especially at airports, same with Family Mart or Lawson. However, at Lawson or Family Mart in the city, it’s just the 220¥, while 7/11 still adds the 3%. To be sure about fees, before confirming, it’ll be shown on the screen—one line for the 220¥ and possibly another for the 3%. In that case, I cancel; there are ATMs and post offices everywhere. Right now, the exchange rate is incredibly good.

Hi Patrick,

I don’t think I paid any extra percentage on top of a flat fee—it was at a 7-Eleven. I’ve never really found it intuitive to recognize Japanese ATMs.

Michel

And what about at the beginning? A long time ago, I didn’t pay attention to that, and then one day I saw this percentage added to the 220¥—especially at 7-Eleven. It’s sneaky if you’re not careful, so always read before confirming. The post offices are easy with their logo, and you never get any surprises with them. Otherwise, no fees—I’m also with Boursobank and their Visa Premier card. Yeah, I kept it; they didn’t have a choice! LOL.

Thanks to everyone for your replies.

If anyone else has info on using the card with iPhone... Thanks

Yeah, it works great almost everywhere with the iPhone—it’s what I do most often. Worst case, if it doesn’t work or works poorly, you can just use your card for contactless. Everything’s super easy when it comes to payments in Japan.

Yeah, it works well pretty much everywhere with the iPhone—I do that most of the time. Worst case, if it doesn’t work or works poorly, you just pull out your card for contactless.

So, does that mean (and this would answer my question) that you can add the card to your iPhone, top it up with a Visa linked to your iPhone (like Revolut, for example), and still keep using the ICOCA as a physical card?

Yes, you can also add ICOCA to your iPhone wallet, just like Suica and Pasmo.

So, does that mean (and that would answer my question) that you can add the card to your iPhone, top it up with a Visa linked to your iPhone (like Revolut, for example) and still keep using the ICOCA as a physical card?

To finally try to answer your question, yes, you can actually have virtual IC Cards on your iPhone. They top up via Apple Pay, down to the exact yen, which is a huge advantage over the physical card.

There’s no interaction possible between the physical card and the iPhone, except in two cases.

You can transfer a physical card to your iPhone, keeping the balance, but the physical card becomes unusable. I learned this the hard way—I tried it with my ICOCA, and it worked, but then no more ICOCA: goodbye, platypus…

You can track the spending on your physical card via dedicated apps on your smartphone using NFC.

Note that the iPhone also supports, in addition to Japanese IC Cards, T-Money for Korea, Octopus for Hong Kong, and a bunch of Chinese transit cards…

Thanks for your reply.

So, if I understand correctly, once the card is on the iPhone, you can’t use it physically anymore. Is that right?

I didn’t get the expression "exit the platypus..." Sorry!

So, if I understand correctly, once the card is on the iPhone, you can't use the physical one anymore. Is that right?

Yes. Actually, if you have both—a physical and a virtual one—it’s better to finish using the physical one and then switch to the virtual, because 1) the physical becomes unusable after the transfer, and 2) the balances don’t combine.

I didn’t get the phrase "exit l’ornithorynque..." Sorry!

An IC card looks like this:

Ok, thanks 😎😎😎

hi we also have Revolut and honestly, it's the best—it works everywhere, and the exchange rate is better than at exchange bureaus. Plus, you pay directly in yen with the card. no issues with withdrawals either.

Thanks. We loaded our Revolut cards and got some cash to top up our ICOCA cards. We're all set. Well, I hope so!

after the Revolut card, the premium one with the best benefits is the Metal one. Same for withdrawals, foreign exchange fees, and revpoints

nos Revolut

To pay in ¥, it's best to open an account... in ¥. That way, you can keep better track of your spending and, most importantly, avoid the currency exchange fees Revolut adds on weekends.

Absolutely, I exchanged my money into yen and paid in yen—no fees because I have the metal card, and no fees on weekends or for withdrawals. And I found the exchange rate was better with Revolut than going to exchange bureaus. I was also able to pay for Uber rides and public transport directly in yen, which was super easy.

Thanks. That’s what I did too. I have the free “basic” card, but it’s enough for me.