How to handle 1,000+ 10 yen coins per week for a cat shelter donation project?

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for advice on the most fee efficient and practical way to convert a large number of small coins into Amazon gift vouchers in Japan.

A local school in Yokohama recently started building a relationship with a cat rescue shelter called Velcat. The students wanted to help the cats, so they voluntarily started a “Donate 10 Yen Tuesday” activity where each child can voluntarily bring one 10 yen coin each week.

The reason we chose 10 yen is because we want this to stay affordable, and sustainable long term. It allows many children to participate without creating financial pressure for families.

The idea is that at the end of each week, we use the money to buy Amazon gift vouchers and purchase items directly from the shelter’s Amazon wishlist.

The challenge is the number of coins. It has only been running for 2 weeks so far, and the first week collected around ¥8,500. As more grade levels participate, we expect weekly donations to go over ¥10,000. Since almost all of that is in 10 yen coins, that means over 1,000 coins every week.

We intentionally do not simply hand over bags of coins to the shelter because:

1. We are worried about creating extra work for the shelter staff by making them deal with hundreds or even thousands of coins every week.
2. The students become much more engaged and motivated when they can help choose the exact cat food, litter, blankets, etc. that are purchased each week. It makes the donations feel more real and meaningful for them.
3. Buying from the shelter’s Amazon wishlist also helps ensure the money is used for items the shelter actually needs.

Currently, teachers have temporarily used their own credit cards to buy equivalent Amazon gift vouchers, then taken the coins themselves afterward, but this is not ideal long term. We would prefer to avoid involving personal credit cards or creating any possible accounting misunderstandings.

Does anyone know the best way in Japan to:

• convert many 10 yen coins into Amazon gift vouchers directly?
• convert coins into notes or deposits with minimal or better, no fees?

We are trying to make sure as much money as possible goes toward helping the cats rather than fees, while also keeping the process easy for the school and the shelter.

Thank you for your help