Exchanging money in Tokyo
 

I know this topic has been discussed here before, but I'm concerned about exchanging our money once we get to Japan. Our flight will arrive at Narita at 4 pm on a Tuesday. I know many ATMs in Japan are only open during banking hours. Will the ATMs at the airport still be open? what about the exchange kiosks? Can we exchange American dollars or do we need traveller's checks? I'm worried that we will have trouble getting money that first night...it's my biggest fear concerning our trip.
Thanks in advance for your help! :)

Exchange booths in the airport will be open. Cash or travellers checks will be fine, both accepted.

Many ATM's are only open during business hours. You will also find many ATM's do not accept foreign cards. The Post Office network of ATM's is the most foreign card friendly. You've probably already read about that here as there are quite a few posts about Japan ATMs and you said you knew the topic has been discussed here.

Anyway, you'll have no trouble at all exchanging money in the airport.

Yes, the ATM will be open. Yes, you can exchange US dollars there. There are going to be hundreds of people from USA arriving at NRT around that time and later, so all the expected services will be available.

siena, you read my mind. I've been having similar questions regarding money, but haven't had time to do any research yet. Still trying to secure all our lodging. We also arrive around 4p, but will already have some yen with us.

It seems that most people on this board go to the ATM to get money when they arrive in Japan, but I've read elsewhere that travelers checks are better than cash (safer & better exchange rate). Hardly anyone mentions using credit cards. Could people relate what they've learned and experienced regarding ATMs, travelers checks and credit cards? Also, how much yen do you normally get when you first arrive? Is it relatively easy to find places to exchange money a little at a time throughout a trip rather than a huge chunk upon arrival? Is it better to exchange large bills or smaller? I've read that this varies from country to country.

Thanks so much,
Judy

I used some TCs on my first trip to Japan. They were ok at the Tokyo Hilton but elsewhere people seemed to have no clue to what they were. That was the last time I ever bought TCs (for Japan or elsewhere).

I went to Japan last month with $300 (three bills) and 18000 yen. Got 60,000 yen on arrival. Spent about half the yen, maybe less, in 4 days and got 40,000 more. Four days after that I arrived at the airport to go home and had 41000 and $300. Paid hotel charges with Amex and Visa and paid cash for everything else.

I don't like to carry a lot of cash during internatonal travel, so I don't know about currency exchange. ATMs are the way to go, imo, ymmv.

If you have cash or traveller's checks, you will need to exchange in the airport or at a bank or post office. Hotel exchange desks offer hugely inferior rates. Banks offer the best rates. Only authorized foreign exchange banks can exchange money, so if you don't see the plaque outside, don't even bother going in. Post offices that offer exchange tend to be the main offices, not the neighborhood branches...though the neighborhood branches mostly have ATM's that accept international cards.

When my parents visited they brought traveller's checks and exchanged them at the bank near our house...not a problem.

ATM's...post office is your best bet. It's been discussed before. Although the Japanese limit on withdrawals is practically nonexistent (something like $3000.00 equivalent per transaction is usual), your home bank's daily restrictions apply here as well. You should be sure to check what your card's restrictions are.

Traveller's checks do get a better rate than cash. ATM withdrawal's are processed at the better bank rate, but if you are charged per transaction that would probably offset any savings. Credit cards enjoy the bank exchange rate as well, but know that many credit card companies charge a foreign transaction fee, which may offset any exchange benefits.

Carrying what seems to be a large amount of cash in Japan is usual. It is not unusual for us to have 100,000 yen in our money place at home at any time. When we travel it is quite usual for us to carry at least that much money in cash.

That said, it is absolutely possible to be robbed, or to lose your wallet. While I can honestly say I think it is safer overall in Japan than in many parts of the world, there is certainly a risk involved in carrying a large amount of money. I would recommend carrying no more in cash than you could comfortably lose...no matter where you travel.

Forgot to include that credit cards (VISA, MC, AMEX) are widely accepted. Only 10 years ago, we couldn't use our American issued cards at most shops in our town...not we can use them just about anywhere, but we don't because we have Japanese cards now.

When you do a currency exchange what transaction fee do they typically charge? What is the difference in the rates between the exchange place and the interbank rate? On a given day, I mean.

For ATM cards, many banks have a fee per transaction. For credit cards, many issuers charge a fee per transaction as well. The charge is highly variable, as far as being different for different account types from the same bank.

Credit cards and foreign ATM transactions generally get somewhere around 2 yen or so off of the interbank rate...depends on the issuing bank of the card. Traveller's checks get just slightly less than that, and cash a bit less again.

When exchanging, banks seem to update their rate to the previous day's closing rate around 10 am or so. We used to use the bank to exchange yen to dollars regularly, but now we use an electronic transfer service to do this which is much more economical and faster too.

I don't think Japanese exchange is really any different than any other country. Tourist exchange doesn't get interbank rates, but the difference isn't so much for the amount of money a tourist would spend. In the end, I don't think that there is a real difference in cash/credit card/ATM/TC value that would accumulate to enough to switch to one over the other. Just use what you are comfortable with. Many here like ATM. I like TCs, but also use a credit card. Just always have a back up in case the bank machine eats your card or you lose the TCs...

Is this the kind of answer you were looking for?

What I am asking is: what is the exchange rate that you can get in Kanazawa today, for $500 converted to yen and what would the fee be for the transaction?

The 60,000 yen ATM withdrawal cost $508.34 plus $5.08 "Visa currency conversion fee". This was a Visa Check Card and this fee is new. Without the fee the rate would be 118.03 The effective exchange rate with fee is 116.86 vs the IBR for the day (April 10) of 118.347

BTW, to add something to this discussion on post ofice ATMs. i foudn out this trip that post opffice ATMS are not always unavailable when post office is closed!! Post office behind the Hotel Okura in Kyoto was closed Sat and Sun., but the ATM machine (which was in a little separate kiosk outside post office door, w/its own door entry) was OPEN 9-5 on Sat. and Sun.!! I used it on Sat. a.m. at 9:15, while post office was LOCKED UP and closed for the day. It may be that the ones that are closed at post office are those where the ATM is INSIDE the post office proper.

If I had $500.00 cash? TC? or wanted to do an ATM transaction? How much yen you get would depend on the exchange rate. There is no fee to exchange cash or TCs at the bank or post office...not sure about the airport. The Japanese post office does not charge a fee to use their ATM network, but your home bank might (actually probably does) so I wouldn't know about that. If you use a third party machine to access the post office network (more and more of these) then the fee ranges between 100 and 300 yen I think, depends on time of day and day of week/outside office hours = higher fee.

Today the interbank at the moment is $1=|113.57. You could expect to buy yen for around ¥110.50 - $111.50.

About the open hours...emd has made an important observation. The post office itself may be closed, but the ATM may still be open. This is common. There are hours for postal services, hours for insurance/banking services, and hours for ATM machines. There are even hours for certain transactions...but if the machine is open, you'll be able to get money from it (it's deposits that they close for). The post office machines in stores/shopping centers keep store hours. In the convenience store, you can get money around the clock..but I forget which chain of convenience stores has a tie up with the post office...not Family Mart and not Lawson though.

Again, GREAT information. Thanks everyone!

Thanks to everyone for the info. :)

jlaughs,
I'm glad I'm not the only one who's nervous about this!!

The first time I went to Japan two years ago I bought yen from my bank before I left. I came home with about 5000 yen that I brought with me to Kyoto last month. However, at KIX I did go to the ATM as 5000 yen is not that much considering I had to buy my train ticket. There are many places to exchange in the airport - right, I am speaking about KIX - but I am sure it is the same at NRT. I keep $100 US for an emergency but never had to use it. It is comforting to have the local money before you go but there are so many ways to exchange if you have to....When I went to Switzerland last fall, I waited til I got there to get my CHF.

Just a thought about ATM cards: We recently flew to Osaka to board a cruise. My husband put his ATM card in the appropriate machine at KIX and it would not work. Finally a message came that the card was damaged. (He had used it the day before we left home, in our local ATM with no problem.)

Fortunately, I had my ATM card which we used and had no trouble. So I guess the moral of the story is: be sure that you have a "spare" card to use.

On our return home, he checked his card out with our bank, and it was OK. The person at the bank said that some foreign machines might be more sensitive to out-of-country ATM cards.

Last year, in Italy, I had a problem at an ATM, when it accepted my card, gave me NO Euros, but charged our account. The machine was empty or out of order, or so I gathered from the person in the bank, (when I went inside) who was sitting inside the window and could clearly see me using the ATM. You would think that they would have had a sign or she would have waved me away. Anyway, after reporting the problem, and waiting about a month, the $$ charged was credited back to our account. Fortunately I had back-up cash in Italy,( although after that day, my card worked perfectly in other ATMs) and we had extra cash in Japan last month. It is alway a good idea to have more than one source of getting $$ when you are traveling. Ciao! mhm