Everyone primarily speaks Japanese. Since I go to an international school here, it's not uncommon to hear other languages when I'm moving around the campus, but for the locals, the majority of the population can only speak Japanese. One of my Japanese friends was telling me that everyone has to take English in middle and high school, but from their perspective, the classes only teach English grammar and don't really help with conversational skills.
The Japanese yen (currency symbol: ¥) is the type of currency used here. People here also rely a lot more on physical money, like cash and coins, rather than credit cards. There are six yen coins, each worth 1, 5, 10, 50, 100, or 500 yen. Paper cash includes bills worth 1000, 5000 and 10,000 yen.
I usually buy big 2 liter bottles of water, which cost me only 108 yen each, or 68 cents!
On Saturday, my dorm made butadon, which is a pork and rice bowl. The pork is simmered in a sweet sauce mixed with soy sauce, and it's absolutely delicious!
