It is not just vending machines. I have had the new 500-yen coins rejected on buses, in food stores, etc. It will happen gradually, but I think it is the first

It is not just vending machines. I have had the new 500-yen coins rejected on buses, in food stores, etc. It will happen gradually, but I think it is the first time in my 15 years of experiencing Japan that there has been any change to a coin so I expect it to take at least another year.