Miscellaneous things about Tsukuba and Japan (2)

There's not really anything interesting today except the fact that it's raining for the first time since I came to Japan. So I will present another collections of miscellaneous things that aren't big enough to have their own posts.

TV Programs

In different parts of Japan, people get access to different TV stations, unlike Thailand where every regions get the same programs. Digital signals are also being used here which means that television is crystal clear despite being in a rural area. Signals are encrypted and a IC card (comes with every television) is needed to decode the signal, which is the reason why we don't see televisions with foreign brands in Japan.

Coins

Japanese coins are more "complex" than Thai coins. With Thai coins, the size simply increases with the value. However, for Japanese coins, 100 yen coins are smaller than 10 yen coins! The idea is that 1 yen, 5 yen and 10 yen coins have smooth edges while 50 yen, 100 yen and 500 yen coins have rough edges. The 5 yen and 50 yen coins also have holes in the middle. This allows blind people to recognize the coins more easily. Also note that the 5 yen coin has no arabic number on it!

Japanese Coins. Image from Wikipedia.

Another interesting thing is that a lot of shop in Japan have an automatic cashier, where the human cashier simply inserts the banknotes and the coins into the machine and the machine will automatically give the correct change.

Paying at Restaurants

In Japan, most restaurants (read: the few restaurants I've been to) will leave a bill on the table and you are expected to take the bill and walk up to pay at the cashier before you leave. When eating together, the cashier will allow you to pay individually despite everyone's meal being on the same receipt. (Restaurants in Thailand will often ask the customer to pay together and it is the customers' job to distribute the changes amongst themselves.)