One US dollar = 101.5 Yen (for now). So if you want to have an idea of how much something costs, you're pretty safe using the exchange of 100 Yen to a dollar. Makes the math very easy, and pretty accurate. So if a vending machine Coke is 180 Yen, you're spending about $1.80. Simple enough. The other rule of thumb, move the decimal point over two places. 1,000.00 Yen is about $10.00.
In the above picture, you can see coins go from 1 Yen, to 500 Yen. Beneath the coins you see the numeral followed by the kanji (written language) symbol for Yen. You'll need to remember that. Yen is also written as ¥. The very bottom is the numerical word. 1 = ichi, 5 = go, 10 = juu, etc. and yen. (Ichi en = one yen)
So on the far left is basically a penny. You won't use it much, but I did use a few. The golden coin with a hole is about 5 cents, the bronze 10 is about a dime, the silver coin with a hole is about 50 cents, the silver 100 is about a dollar, and the goldenish 500 is about $5. You'll use coins a lot! Especially for transportation.
Anything larger than 500 Yen is a bill - 1,000 Yen, 2,000 Yen, 5,000 Yen, and 10,000 Yen (or about $10, $20, $50, and $100).
When you pay for something there will probably be a small tray on the counter. Set the money in that tray rather than handing it to the person. If you don't want your receipt there may also be a small box on the counter that you can put it in to be recycled. Which after receiving a few hundred, mile-long receipts, I think is a brilliant idea!
That should about cover you for what you need to know about money. Other than to have fun spending it!
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