Apr 18 (soranews24.com) - Poor exchange rate with the metaphysical plane was not enough to cover his pack of smokes.
On 13 April, a 22-year-old man walked into a convenience store in Uruma City, Okinawa Prefecture and purchased a pack of cigarettes with a 10,000 yen (US$92) bill. Upon receiving the money the clerk thought its texture felt odd, but because there was a lineup they hurried the transaction along and gave the man his change of 9,510 yen ($88).
It wasn’t until later that the clerk discovered that the bill they had received was not legal tender. Rather, it was the “currency of the afterlife†known as uchikabi. Descended from a common Chinese tradition but unique to Okinawa in Japan, uchikabi is a type of symbolic money burned as an offering to the deceased in various ceremonies such as Obon.
It can take many forms but the standard in Okinawa is a sheet of coarse yellow paper made from straw with coin shapes imprinted on it.