Asia - Japanese Yen

I need some advice, and this is hopefully where I will get it ! I need to take the equivalent of around £ 2000 (Sterling)..Yen to Japan. Just where is the best place to get it changed to maximise it to best effect ?? Cheques ? Cash ? ...rely on my credit cards ? I just have the feeling that stopping by Travelex at Heathrow..I am going to get myself 'ripped off.'..despite their promise of the best deal around....(I suppose it would earn me a couple of AirMiles though) Appreciate any thoughts you all may have. Mike

I've found that the ATM consistently comes out on top: closest to inter-bank rates. My bank does not charge me a fee although there may be a small fee charged (US$2) by the correspondent ATM bank you withdraw funds from.

You can use ATMs found at Post Offices and I've had luck with Saison (sp?) ATMS as well for my Cirrus/Plus cards.

In Japan, credit cards are best followed by ATMs. Have a bit of cash, say something in the neighborhood of £300 - £400 in cash in your pocket here (most people carry at least that, very different from other places but the norm here) for when a card is not possible to use. Get enough cash before coming to get you from the airport to the hotel and thorough the number of meals until you can get to an ATM.

Travelers Cheques provide a better rate than cash when compared side by side upon purchase are relatively unused here and you will hav eless language issues if you reluy on cards and cash.

Mike

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Please note that most Japanese ATMs do not accept non-Japanese ATM or credit cards, so it pays off to do a little research beforehand and figure out which ones do. Most touristy places have a couple -- I certainly hope Narita is on this list, although having a Japanese bank account I've never had to resort to one -- and most post office ATMs also accept foreign cards.

If you plan to take JR trains to/from Narita, they take credit cards.

Also, don't forget about Citibank ATMs There are only a few but depending on your hotel location they could be a good option.

There is also a Citibank ATM (and other's that are geared to travellers at Narita!!!!

It seems to me that the currencey exchange at Narita are all banks so the rate is very competitive.
I always use them when leaving Narita.

Scho

In addition to the Citibank ATMs, try the ATMs in the post offices in Japan.

(And thanks to another FlyerTalker who originally told me about this.)


Kathy

we are going to Japan in late march. upon doing some research, i was shock to learn about most ATM's dont accept foreign debit cards ! and the 24hr ATM's are far and few in between. Seems only Citibank has them. we have used our U.S. bank cards to withdraw local currencies all over the world, even in French Polynesia. we have taken it for granted and never given it a second thought. I am glad i have done some research otherwise we would get stuck as we have travelled with very little cash and no traveller's checks for many years now without any problem. Usually you find ATM's right at airports.

I found out only recently Japanese Post Offices have ATM's accepting foreign bank cards as a result of Citibank / Post Office joint venture. The problem is they are only accessible within business hours. Our arrival time is 3:30pm and the airport post office closes at 4:00pm !

To the poster who saw Citi ATM at Narita : Mastercard website lists NO ATM at Narita ! Can you verify whether the Citi ATM takes Mastercard logo or Visa logo only ?

This time we plan to bring some Travel checks along and to cash them at one of the banks at Narita, so at least we have some Yens for the first day.

I double checked the Mastercard website and if you go to search by airport code and put in NRT you will see 4 ATM's listed. You don't mention what airline you are on but if you are in terminal 1 it is quite easy to find the ATM--after leaving immigration/customs you exit into the arrivals lobby and will see all of the transit options straight ahead of you. Turn right and walk about 50 yards following the corridor and you will find the ATM. There are some good maps on the Narita website at: http://www.narita-airport.or.jp/airport_e/guide/map/index.html

Personally, although I had to search a bit to find Cirrus ATMs I was always able to find one within a few minutes. Simply keep a wad in your pocket for comfort and you will not have a problem.

Re Post Office at Narita Airport - their counters (for stamps, etc.) close at 5pm but ATMs remain open longer.

There is one Post Office with ATMs in each Terminal (T1, T2) and ATMs are open 8am-9pm (weekdays) and 9am-5pm (Sat, Sun, PH).

But you never know with Japanese yen... I think you'd better be on the safe side and bring at least some cash with you. Don't count on the people at the Post Office to explain to you in a fluent English the reason why your credit card doesn't work.

Your best bet in the Airport will be the Citibank ATM as described above.

You might want to consider going onto Citibank's website to find the closest branch to where you are staying - http://www.citibank.co.jp/en/shpatm/index.html

If one of those aren't nearby, Postal Savings is a good backup option (Although one thing I find quite inexplicable is that at some Postal Savings ATM machines, my US ATM card works fine, but my Japanese ATM card doesn't - quite odd).

Another thing to watch out for with Japanese ATM's is the legend near the slot where you insert the card. I don't know how it is in the UK, but in the US the legend is used to tell the user the proper orientation for inserting the card. That is, whether the mag stripe is to be face up or face down, and to the left or to the right.

In Japan, this legend seems to be just a generic "insert card here" indicator, and the proper orientation required for the card may or may not match (and often does not). Also, what should be a "your card cannot be read" message may say something like "your card was not accepted," leaving you to believe that there's a network problem when the real problem is you just put your card in according to the legend (that is, incorrectly).

There are ATM's which accept foreign cards at both Narita terminals (in addition to the post office ATM's). At terminal 1, you turn right after you come out of customs and pass down a small hallway. The ATM's are at the end of the hallway to the right of an escalator. At least two ATM's (one of them being Citibank) take foreign cards.

I once did an experiment of getting identical amounts of money from both at roughly the same time. The resulting charges to my bank account differed by only 10 yen, so you can use either machine.

At terminal 2, you will have to ask for the location, I don't know it.

There are 25,000+ post office machines all over Japan that take foreign ATMs although they do tend to close early for some unknown reason (as do almost all Japanese-only ATMs). Be sure to touch the screen button labeled "English" as the very first thing you do or you will be hopelessly lost!

If you're desperate, I am told that there is a higher probability that ATMs in department stores will accept foreign cards than the ones near banks.

I know there are ATMs that take foreign cards that work very late at night in Rappongi. They have lines.

Thanks to everyone who posted the info about ATM's in Tokyo.
It is very helpful, especially the Citibank branch locator. It is great to know there is one at Ikebukuro where we mostly likely would stay for the first 3 days.