[Barone1551]

Ok I had some small problems when I was in Japan, dealing with similar things.

-Most post offices, at leas all the ones we went to, had international ATM's. A card will work at these, it can be a debit card or credit card. Be careful though, it appears that your card will need to be tied to a name in order to work. I purchased a gift credit card, witch works like a normal credit card here in the US. But in japan it didnt work perfectly. I could buy stuff from stores with credit card machines, but I could not pull cash out from ATM's. If you are going to a more populated area like Tokyo, most shops will have credit card machines.

- As far as getting cash goes, I would recommend getting some before you leave. There are some banks that will give you great deals on the exchange. I think I went to Washington Mutual. They do not charge any processing fee, and they give you a direct exchange based on the exchange rate. If you do this any other place, like the airport, they usually kill you on the exchange. Plus this way you will have cash the second you step off the plane, Its nice after that long flight. You dont have to worry about doing anything.

-oh yeah. I had no problems paying with large bills. It seemed, at least in my experience, most people pay with cash anyways. They are used to people paying with bigger bills. Even in the smallest of shops I used big bills. Although I didn't notice you will accumulate lots of coin change. I was also told to use this change as much as possible, and try to give the exact amount of money to the shop. Ex: if you have had something that cost 5500 yen, and all you have is a 1000 yen bill. You should try pay with 1500 yen. I am used to just stock piling change in the US, it appears they actually use their change in Japan lol.