The language spoken here is Japanese, as it is everywhere in Japan, but the Akita dialect (Akita-ben) is spoken here. It is said to be one of the hardest Japanese dialects to understand and sometimes has subtitles used for it on national media. It is treated as the typical rural accent in pop culture.
Japanese yen (円) is used here. You have probably seen it as ¥ but the symbol 円 is much more common in everyday life here. The currency comes in 1000円, 2000円 (rare like the $2 bill), 5000円, and 10000円 bills. These are comparable to about less than $10, $20, $50, and $100. Coins are used a lot here--I had to buy a coin purse. There are 1円, 5円, 10円, 50円, 100円, and 500円 coins. These are equal to slightly less than $0.01, $0.05, $0.10, $0.50, $1, and $5. One dollar is around 107 yen, but I just move the decimal place to the left two places to figure it out.
