The Things That Count Discussion

Most Recent Most Votes

In Japan, many new owners of motor vehicles hide a Five Yen coin inside the cabin to bring good luck to their ownership of the vehicle. Usually as a superstition to protect owner and make the vehicle more reliable. 

This is why when the cars are imported over to other countries, they find many 'lucky' five yen coins hidden within the interior depending on how many previous owners. 

Helpful and easy lesson as always, formatted in a way that makes reading straightforward. Arigato!

Good point, Christine-san! Yes, I've been in the U.S. for more than 10 years. Still, I'm not used to pounds, feet, inches, etc....

えん isn't pronounced "yen" in Japan. Yen is the way English speakers pronounce it, I think just because it's weird to say "en." It is always pronounced "hyaku en" "go en" etc. Japan doesn't use pounds, they use grams. Important to note since a Japanese person will have no idea what you mean if you say something in pounds or feet or whatever.

why is えん pronounced Yen? wouldn't it be "en"? Yen is basically a word that doesn't fit into the japanese phonetic system...

I think the Japanese word for the English pound is ポンド, or 'pondo' in romaji. If you wanted to say 'This is two pounds,' you would say 「これはにポンドです。」 or, in romaji, 'Kore wa ni-pondo desu。' Another example: 「すみません、このほんはにポンドですか。」 「はい、そうです。」 （やすいですね！） Of course, please correct me if I'm wrong!

How do you write pound ?

Just out of curiosity... The 2000 yen note is still very popular and used in Okinawa. In fact it is mainly printed there and portraits Shureimon Gate. The 2000 yen note has never been very popular in Japan mainland, as most vending machines don't accept it. Later this year, the 2000 yen note won't be printed anymore.

The word 円 ( えん ) is interesting, as when used in conjunction with a series of numbers that end in an N sound, the sound is modified. Like in the number 二千円 ( にせんえん / 2,000 yen ), it changes from en to yen, hence the English word for Japanese currency being yen instead of en.