When the booking system cannot charge in yen
Yen has no minor units. ¥5,500 is five thousand five hundred yen, not 55.00 of anything — and software that assumes two decimal places either refuses the currency or quietly mangles the amount.
Check that the tool treats JPY as a zero-decimal currency, that it settles in yen rather than converting, and that the money reaches a Japanese bank account without a foreign exchange step.
The zero-decimal problem#
Most payment code is written around currencies with cents and stores amounts in the smallest unit. Yen has no smaller unit, so a tool that has not handled that properly can turn ¥5,500 into ¥55, or refuse the currency altogether, or display prices with two decimal places that make no sense to a Japanese customer.
And the conversion problem behind it#
A tool that only settles in dollars or euros means your customer is charged a converted amount, sees a foreign transaction on their statement, and may be charged a fee by their own bank for the privilege. You then take a second conversion hit on the way to your account.
For a domestic business selling to domestic customers, paying twice to convert to a currency neither of you uses is pure loss.
What to check#
- Can you enter a price as a whole number of yen, and does it display as ¥5,500?
- Is the charge made in JPY, or converted?
- Does the money settle into a Japanese bank account?
- Does the customer's statement show your business, or a foreign platform?
How Business Box handles it#
Yen is treated as a zero-decimal currency throughout. You type 5500 and the customer is charged ¥5,500 — the amount is shown back to you as you type, so there is no guessing.
Payment runs through your own Stripe account via Stripe Connect, so the charge is made on your account in your account's own currency, the customer's statement shows your business, and Stripe pays out to your bank on its normal schedule. There is no conversion and nothing passes through us. Currency
The price must match the account#
Prices have to be in your Stripe account's own currency — yen for a Japanese account. Try to save something else and you are told plainly rather than discovering it at the first payment.
And the price reads correctly to both audiences#
Amounts are formatted for the reader's language, so a Japanese customer sees ￥5,500 and an English-speaking one sees ¥5,500, from the same setting.
Common questions
Can I charge customers in Japanese yen?
Yes, natively. Yen is handled as a whole-number currency throughout, the charge is made in JPY on your own Stripe account, and the money reaches your Japanese bank without a conversion step.
Why do some booking tools show yen with decimal places?
Because they assume every currency has cents and store amounts in a minor unit that yen does not have. It is a sign the currency was added late rather than designed for.
Can I charge in a currency other than yen?
Prices must be in your Stripe account’s own currency. A Japanese Stripe account charges in yen; an account in another country charges in that country’s currency.
Set this up in about ten minutes
Business Box is free for as long as you like, with no card required — booking pages, Google and Outlook calendar sync, availability, Japanese public holidays and the website widget. Taking card payment for bookings is ¥1,200 a month, tax included, with no commission on what you sell.
Last reviewed 28 September 2026.