Staff writer

Last payday, Masaaki Usui had $1,462.38 transferred into a dollar account he recently opened at a city bank.

Of the 15 employees at International Scientific Co., a Tokyo-based venture capital firm, 14, including Usui, had part or all of their monthly salary for April paid in dollars. "It helps me save money," said Usui, 26. "I will probably not change the dollars into yen because it's still hard for me to spot a good exchange rate."