Podcast 57: Talking About Money in Japanese

すみません、この本はいくらですか?

こちらは1000円です。

クレジットカードでお願いします。

すみません、こちらは現金のみです。

わかりました。1万円札でも大丈夫ですか?

はい、お釣りは9000円になります。

Welcome to Learn Japanese Pod, the podcast that helps you to speak Japanese more naturally and fluently.

And I'm your host, Alex, and we are joined by the amazing Ami-sensei.

こんにちは。

こんにちは。元気?

はい、元気です。アレックスさんは?

あのね、最近風邪。

Oh no.

風邪と喘息。

あら。

大変。

でも、

お大事に。

ありがとうございます。

ちょっとレモンティーを飲んで回復中です。

頑張って回復してください。

頑張ります。

はい。

Anyway, dear listener, welcome.

You are listening to the lesson version of the podcast,

where we teach you some useful phrases, grammar, and vocabulary to improve your spoken Japanese.

So, Ami-sensei, what are we talking about today?

So,

in today's lesson, we're going to talk about handling money in Japan.

Ooh.

We'll focus on Japanese vocabulary related to different ways to pay money,

such as using a credit card or cash.

And then we'll also talk about the cultural norms and etiquette of handling money in Japan.

マニー、マニー、マニー。

I can't remember the rest of the words.

Me neither.

Something like makes the world go round or something.

マニー makes the world go round, the world go round.

No, that's another song.

That's another song.

Ancient songs from my childhood.

Ancient.

Ancient, meaning late 70s, early 80s.

Ancient Egypt.

Well, for some of the listeners, some of the younger listeners, it might as well be ancient Egypt for them.

Yeah.

For you young spring chickens.

That is.

Not me.

Oh.

It's a rich man.

It's a rich man's world.

So, dear listener, money is the name of the game.

Oh, how does that rap go?

Hang on.

Everything counts in large amounts.

Anyway.

Okay.

I don't know that one.

I forget who that was.

Anyway.

So, yeah, we're talking about money.

And the reason I wanted to do a podcast on money is because when you're talking about banking or paying money,

some of the verbs and vocabulary you use aren't that obvious.

Right.

You learn basic verbs that we're going to talk about today.

But some of the kanji and some of the phrases are a little bit tricky to learn.

So, today we're just going to do basic vocabulary for handling money in Japanese.

Does that sound good?

Yeah.

Cool.

So, as always, you heard a dialogue at the beginning of the podcast.

Let's have a listen to that dialogue again.

And then afterwards, Ami-sensei and I will break it down for you.

Here we go.

So, Ami-sensei, what was the first sentence?

The first sentence was,

So, sumimasen, of course, means excuse me.

And, well, in this context.

And then,

So, kono is this.

And then we want to follow it with a noun.

Hon is book.

Wa is the particle that points to the topic of the sentence.

So, essentially, meaning something like as for.

So, kono hon wa, as for this book.

Ikura, how much, and desu ka, this is, and then ka makes it a question.

So, how much is this book?

Excuse me, how much is this book?

Sumimasen, kono hon wa ikura desu ka?

Ikura desu ka?

Okay, just for fun, Ami-sensei, how do you say,

kono hon wa ikura desu ka in Osaka-ben?

Okay.

Sumimasen, kono hon wa nanbo desu ka?

Yeah, right.

Although, I probably would just say,

kono hon wa ikura desu ka?

Ikura desu ka?

Not ikura desu ka, but ikura desu ka?

Yeah.

Right, we want to use, but we want to use deep Osaka-ben, so nanbo.

Yeah, if you wanted to use deep Osaka-ben, you don't even need desu ka.

Right, right, right.

Konoha nanbo.

Nanbo.

Yes.

Great.

And then the shopkeeper or the bookshop staff said,

So, kochira is a polite version of kore, this.

Kochira wa, there's that particle again, as for.

So, as for this, sen'en desu.

Sen is a thousand, and en, of course, is a Japanese currency.

Now, we say en, not yen, even though in English it's written,

y-e-n, so sen'en, sen'en desu.

Desu, of course, stating it is.

So, this is a thousand yen.

And the next sentence is something I use a lot on a daily basis, and that was,

Oh, gee.

Kurejitto kado.

It's going to be hard to translate.

Can you guess what that means?

Yes.

So,

So, credit card, kurejitto kado, de.

So, de is another particle, and it means something like by means of or via something.

So, you know, in this case, kurejitto kado de means by credit card or with credit card.

And then we had onegai shimasu, which means please.

So, please, I'd like to pay with.

A credit card.

Kurejitto kado de onegai shimasu can be a bit of a mouthful.

So, sometimes in the convenience store, I'll say kado de.

Kado de, yes.

That is like the most natural, most local way of saying it.

Yeah.

And then I said,

Sumimasen.

Kuchira wa genkin nomi desu.

Sumimasen.

Kuchira wa genkin nomi desu.

So, sumimasen again.

But this time, it means I'm so sorry.

So, earlier it meant excuse me.

And this time, it's more like I'm so sorry.

Kuchira wa.

So, kuchira again means this.

And then wa.

As for this, genkin nomi desu.

Genkin is cash.

Nomi means only.

And then desu is.

So, this is cash only.

And then, Alex said,

Wakarimashita.

Ichimanensatsu demo daijoubu desu ka?

So, wakarimashita means okay, understood.

Or, I see.

Ichimanensatsu demo daijoubu desu ka?

So, ichimanensatsu.

Ichimanen is ten thousand yen.

And satsu is a bill.

So, ichimanensatsu, ten thousand yen bill.

Demo is more like, it's like even if.

Or, is it okay if it is a ten thousand yen bill?

Daijoubu, of course.

Okay desu ka?

Is it?

So, is it okay?

If it?

Is even a ten thousand yen bill?

Hope that made sense.

And then, the last sentence was,

Hai, otsuri wa kyuseien ni narimasu.

Hai.

So, yes, otsuri.

Otsuri is change.

Wa, again, is that particle that points to the topic of the sentence.

So, as for change, kyuseien ni narimasu.

Kyuseien is nine thousand yen.

Ni narimasu.

So, ni narimasu.

Ni is a particle.

And it's saying, it is going to become.

So, it is going to be nine thousand yen for change.

Fantastic.

Awesome explanation.

Thank you, Ami-sensei.

Iye, iye.

So, hopefully that dialogue made a bit more sense.

Have another listen if you want.

So, you can practice your listening.

So, Ami-sensei.

Hai.

I have a question.

Can you teach us some basic verbs related to paying money and using money?

Yes, absolutely.

Let's look at the verb to pay, which is hara-u.

And hara-u is what's called the dictionary form of the verb.

Okay.

And it's usually used.

It's used in casual conversation.

So, when talking to someone in a shop, you can use the polite form, which is haraimasu.

So, the masu form.

And you may have also heard shihara-u, which also means to pay.

But this is usually used in more formal contexts, like paying a bill or an invoice.

So, the polite form of this would be shiharaimasu.

And I can attest to the fact that.

Usually, with work, I tend to see the word shiharaimasu rather than just hara-u in documents.

So, like when I'm paying an invoice or doing some kind of business transaction, it tends to be shiharaimasu rather than haraimasu.

Yeah.

And you might also see an o in front of it.

So, o shihara-i if maybe they're saying payment.

O shihara-i.

That's a really good point.

Yeah.

So, usually when you're talking to a.

Customer, you'd say o shihara-i.

Nani?

O shihara-i.

Yes.

O shihara-i.

O shihara-i, yeah.

Which means payment.

And a very polite way of saying it.

Yeah.

But usually, if you're just talking to your friends and family, you're going to say hara-u, right?

Mm-hmm.

Yep.

So, let's look at a useful grammatical structure, which is something something o hara-u, which means to pay something.

So, for example.

O kane o hara-u, to pay money.

So, o kane, money, o is that particle again between the noun and the verb, and hara-u, to pay.

And then we have o kanjou o hara-u, or chikku o hara-u.

So, o kanjou is probably more common and means to pay the bill.

So, o kanjou is bill at a restaurant.

So, o kanjou o hara-u, chikku o hara-u, means to pay the bill or pay the check at a restaurant.

Now, when you want to talk about how to pay, you can use something something de hara-u.

And de is a particle, which means by means of or via.

For example, genkin de hara-u.

Genkin is cash.

De, by means of, hara-u.

Will pay, or I'll pay.

So, I'll pay by cash.

Genkin de hara-u.

And, of course, you heard in the dialogue, kurejitto kaado de hara-u.

I'll pay by credit card.

Kurejitto kaado, credit card.

De, by means of, hara-u, pay.

And, again, this is the very casual form, hara-u.

And, platform is hara-imasu.

Now, recently, more and more people are using cashless payment systems, such as IC cards or mobile payment apps.

In that case, you can just use the name of the payment app or method and say,

Suika de hara-u.

I'll pay by Suika card.

Suika card is the IC card you use.

It's usually for JR trains.

Right.

But, not just trains.

You can also use it to pay at convenience stores.

You can use them in some taxis, I think.

That's so convenient, right?

It's super, super convenient.

You can't use them absolutely everywhere.

I don't think you can use a Suika in most big department stores.

But, you can use them in convenience stores and, like I said, taxis.

So, Suika cards are super, super useful.

And then, there's a card that you can use.

And then, there's also PeiPei.

PeiPei de hara-u.

So, PeiPei is a cashless payment system or app that allows you to buy things using your cell phone.

And there's recently, you know, an increasing number of mobile payment apps.

So, there's like RakutenPay.

Obviously, there's also ApplePay as well, GooglePay.

A whole bunch of new cashless apps that are coming online.

PeiPei is a relatively recent one, but it seems to be very popular in Japan at the moment.

And I think the only difference is it, like, shows a, it displays a barcode on the screen of your mobile phone.

And then, the cashier scans it.

And that's how you pay.

Easy, huh?

Yeah.

I think Suika or, what do you call it?

They say Tachi.

Tachi.

So, the credit cards where you can just touch.

The machine are the easiest way, easiest ways at least for me to pay.

Yeah.

Nice.

I just still think PeiPei is such a funny name.

Yeah, PeiPei.

Yeah, yeah.

It's a relatively.

Yeah, yeah.

PeiPeiShimasu.

Yeah, it's a relatively recent app.

I think the other one is like RakutenPay.

That's another, that's another one that everyone's using.

But I think PeiPei is like the most popular cashless payment system.

Obviously, you can use credit cards as well.

As we said before.

And also cash.

Can tourists use PeiPei?

So, I guess so.

Yeah, I guess if you can download the app, I guess you can.

Yeah.

I guess if you can, if you can top up the app, then you can use it.

Right.

Cool.

Well, one thing you should be aware of is with the Suika cards.

I don't know what the current status is, but there was a,

Yeah.

there was a shortage of Suika cards because there weren't enough IC chips.

And it was hard for tourists to get Suika cards.

But what they're doing now is people are now using Suika cards on their iPhones.

So, I actually have an iPhone with a Suika card on it.

Okay, so you don't have to actually now get the physical card.

You don't have to get the physical card.

And I think JR in the future is going to switch to mobile only Suika cards in the future.

So, that's cool.

Yeah, because everybody has a mobile phone.

Yes, even my grandma.

Even your grandma.

Does she have a smartphone or like a flip phone?

I don't think she has a smartphone.

But who knows?

Maybe she does now.

By the way, just a quick side note.

How do you say flip phone in Japanese?

Ah, pakapaka?

Pakapaka.

Or do you know?

No.

Garake.

Oh, garake.

Yes, yes.

Garake.

Do you know why it's garake?

Something about garapagosu.

Yeah, right.

So, this is hilarious.

But I don't remember why.

Is it because like nobody lives there or?

Yeah, basically now these days like no one uses flip phones anymore.

But they used to be very popular.

Right, right, right.

So, if you use a flip phone, it's kind of like you live on a,

you know, small isolated island that's evolved in its own kind of way,

different from the rest of the world.

I think that's one reason they call it garake.

It's so funny whoever came up with it.

I know, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Pretty funny.

Cool.

So, Ami-sensei.

Hi.

Let's talk about the cultural differences between, say, I don't know,

the US, Europe, and Japan when it comes to handling money.

Do you have any cultural advice or etiquette tips when it comes to handling money in Japan?

Yes, I do have a few.

I've got a list here.

So, I know we talked, we just talked about, you know, cards and cashless payment systems.

And, you know, even though more people are using credit cards and those apps, Japan is still a cash-based country.

Yeah.

So, cash is king.

So, I'd say be ready with cash as some smaller restaurants or shops don't accept credit cards.

Yeah, definitely the small mom and pop shops, especially also in more rural areas, don't accept credit cards.

So, be ready to carry cash with you.

Yeah.

Although, like, you know, you're right, Ami-sensei, more and more people are using cashless apps,

but definitely you will need cash if you're visiting Japan.

I'd agree.

And the money tray.

The money tray?

It's not a huge deal, but, you know, when you're paying with even credit card,

but, you know, it started, probably started a while back.

When you're paying with cash or card, there'll be a small tray to put your money in.

So.

You know, rather than handing them the money, right, to them directly,

you want to place your money or card onto the tray when you pay.

It's not in absolutely every single situation, but generally speaking, you usually use that little plastic tray.

Yeah.

And then they'll, you know, if you are expecting change, they'll put your change in the tray too.

And then you'll take it.

Yeah.

Mm hmm.

Yeah.

Speaking of like paying, you want to use two hands.

to be polite when you're receiving or giving money or your credit card because that's considered

more polite when you're giving and receiving your um you know business cards yeah oh 100

definitely use two hands when exchanging business cards yes yes it's like a a must

sign of respect i guess yeah so i mean sensei let me ask you about tipping okay

japan has a huge tipping culture right

right no right wrong wrong me no no tipping no tipping it absolutely does not have a culture

of tipping so no need for you to leave tips at a restaurant

using tax using a taxi or anywhere really it's so nice not to have to do a it's so nice it's

so nice not to have to do a mental math test at the end of your meal right right right and um

you know you can budget very accurately right how long how much you're going to need

um and uh you know sometimes you know it can be considered rude if you hand somebody a tip

like um so you know the best advice here is is no tipping no tipping nobody is expecting you to tip

and i've got one more tip for everybody and um that is money in envelopes

so for special events like weddings funerals too it's customary to place money in a specially

decorated envelope called a money envelope and it's customary to place money in a specially decorated envelope called a money envelope

called a money envelope called or just um you know if it's of course a funeral not

place money in them and we give them to the the hosts

yeah so i get yeah special events so weddings funerals

for new year's new year's money gifts to your children or nephews little expenses

year's pocket money

passenger Kwakw carrying stupid things

your young kids in your family you'll put it in an envelope so that's now I

guess like generally speaking when handling money Japanese people tend to

do it in a a respectful and respectful and discreet and discreet kind yeah

that's that's a good word discreet yeah um when handling large amounts of money

it's not very polite to just wave it around everywhere and just yeah throw it

down on the counter you you handle it discreetly and politely and carefully

and formally so that there's there's definitely a certain etiquette to

handling money yeah and so it's not it's not done in a very flashy or casual kind

of way so you might just want to be a little yeah just be careful when

handling money like that yeah and I think just in general it's respect for

the money itself too so not just for the person but

it's also because money is you know is precious and yeah and that's partly why

we say okane instead of kane yeah you put the honorific or so or kane is you

know not a good translation but you know honorable money so you're being

respectful yes to money right right right so it's there's definitely I mean

obviously apart from the vocabulary and grammar you learned today there's also

some grammar which is very much related to the social meaning of money so

knowing a little bit more about money is quite a common thing in Japan in

Japan you know we have the word money and in Japan we have this term

the word bling when and and when you know when you're in doubt you just copy

what everyone else around you is doing you're just getting it right so there's

there's less of the feeling of how can I put this bling in Japan when it comes to money you're a bit more kind of held back or a bit more shy I think when handling money. yeah you're bling bong bong bong

I'm so glad you know it

Okay we're going to stop there

we are finished now

so I hope you enjoyed this video and maybe we're going to talk a little bit more about

well yeah yeah yeah no so that's very interesting um so there you go there's the vocabulary

grammar and culture surrounding money i hope you learned some new phrases and a little bit

more about the culture and etiquette of handling money in japan

that's it for this week thank you ami sensei for teaching us interesting money

and don't forget for premium members you can get downloadable pdf show notes that explain

everything in detail plus an extra practice audio drill you also get another premium podcast which

includes another dialogue grammar and vocabulary related to this lesson you can find more details

about that if you click the premium membership link at the top of our website at learn japanese

pod.com

so everyone thank you for listening keep practicing and using your japanese

a little every day and i promise you will make progress so see you next time