If you walk around San Diego and happen to see some Japanese yen coins on the ground, I might have put them there. Since I arrived from Japan, I’ve been finding yen in my pocket that isn’t worth terribly much, so rather than carry it all the way back home with me I’ve been dropping the coins in parking lots and on sidewalks for others to find. I often do the reverse when I’m in Japan, tossing pennies or dimes or quarters from the U.S. that I happen to have carried back to Japan with me onto the ground, where they might be picked up by someone and puzzled over. Perhaps there’s some high school student who isn’t sure of their future, I reason, and finding a “lucky penny” from the U.S. will push them to study English more. Or perhaps finding a cool Japanese five-yen coin with its stylistic “zen” design and hole in the center (so you can carry your coins on a string) will make someone’s day in the U.S. It’s silly, of course, but if I can make one person happy by tossing a few coins around, I’d consider it a good exchange.
If I have yen I don’t need, I like to toss some coins to the four winds.
