abmj-jr

Although some on this board make fun of me, I frequently use this method myself. I prefer having my cash in hand when I step off the plane and don't mind paying a few dollars more for the convenience. Carrying cash is quite safe in Japan and not having to stop at the cash exchange window or line up for an ATM means that I am often near the front of the line to exchange my Rail Pass and able to get onto the next available train ahead of the crowds. Since I am usually not stopping In Tokyo - I prefer just blowing on through the megalopolis - that means I get to my ultimate destination quicker.

To each his own. No matter what anyone says, you haven't made a bad decision here.

dinanm3atl

My thought process(I called branch and talked to my banker I normally use to get exact price out the door before I went to branch) was the following:

Currently 50,000 yen is 475.32US Dollars. I paid 504US Dollars out the door for 50,000 yen. Basically 30 dollars to have the cash in my possession when I leave ad can use a 7-11 ATM or similar once I am there if need be. I don't have to search for place to do in the airport or an ATM somewhere. Grab rail pass and my WiFi and move long.

Didn't get the 'best possible deal' but after airfare and all the money spent to have cash on me and no headache pre-trip over 10-15 dollars(maybe) it seemed more than worth it.

angra

I currently have some Korean Won (about 140k) that I'd like to convert to Yen. Anyone have any recent experiences on good places to do that in Osaka or Tokyo? I've tried a few of the places in this thread and they all had rates more than 10% below market.

jib71

10% below "market" ? They are the market, aren't they?
How are you determining what's "market"?

mkjr

splitting hairs over what, US$10 bucks? so much wasted time i read about in this area.

angra

excellent points!

O Sora

I sometimes pass by the neigborhood of the Daikokuya, Shinjuku.
I've noticed Access Ticket close to it also shows a very good exchange rate, like 1% spread for USD.

jamar

Depends on what money is worth to you. Some people are of the "every penny (or yen) counts" mentality.

mkjr

i guess US$10 bucks is worth way less to me then when I am in Japan.

abmj-jr

+1. Convenience, time and ease of transfer are worth something! ^

In my case, a lot more than $10 or $20.00.

jpdx

I can't speak for everybody, but personally, I'd like to know why there are such huge differences in exchanging different currencies in Japan.

As O Sora says,

This is correct for USD and EUR, but IME there are many currencies where exchange rates given in Japan are horrible.

I rarely exchange cash, but knowing -thinking!- from having exchanged USD and EUR in the past that Japan is a country with fair exchange rates, last year brought some 2000 CHF that I had laying around. I was shocked to learn at NRT that I would get almost 5% less for my CHF than I would have gotten if I had brought the same amount in EUR or USD.

According to the NRT website, here are the exchange rates per April 24th. I don't feel like investing the time to look up the spot rates, but I've calculated the spread between sell and buy.

Currency Sell Buy Spread
USD 112.76 106.96 5%
EUR 123.26 115.26 7%
CAD 90.14 72.94 24%
GBP 152.86 128.86 19%
CHF 115.5 105.7 9%
DKK 18.34 13.74 33%
NOK 15.18 10.58 43%
SEK 14.81 10.01 48%
AUD 92.91 73.51 26%
NZD 86.13 68.73 25%
KRW 11.25 8.25 36%
HKD 16.57 11.71 42%
SGD 84.77 73.11 16%
THB 3.68 2.74 34%

Now, if you bring obscure currencies to an exchange window anywhere in the world, you'll get hosed. But some of the currencies with a huge spread are of neighboring countries ... I'd really be interested in finding out why KRW and HKD get such horrible rates.

jib71

Perhaps the volume of KRW/JPY and HKD/JPY trade is comparatively small.
http://budgeting.thenest.com/factors...ncy-32360.html

angra

So a few more thoughts from the guy who resurrected this thread:

• This is flyertalk - we can hardly be surprised if anyone's first thought is to minmax
• After the first reactions in this thread, I agreed internally that it was not worth hassling with and resolved to just trade at the first currency place I came across in my day to day activities. I googled to see if one of the places I was planning to go that morning had a currency exchange, and this place popped up in my search. Looked extremely sketchy but I decided to give it a shot
• That required making an appointment and waiting a day until I was in Tokyo
• While pondering my decision making process, I realized....it's not just about saving $10, it was also about learning the best path for any possible future situations, and for sharing what I'd learned with other FTers, and friends that happen to run across this situation. It's just partly my nature to dig into things and figure them out. I can live with that costing me some time
• Sketchy looking place was awesome. Excellent rate on a ton of currencies, and very little spread. Absolutely smooth transaction, very pleasant folks and I was in and out in no time.
  
  

msb0b

When I was based in HKG, I always changed foreign currencies at my local HSBC branch before going on trips. The rate is around 3% for JPY-HKD. Never crossed my mind to change money in Japan. The money changer booths in the city can beat banks' rates but with increased risk of counterfeits.

mkjr

I'd say poor cash rates for uncommon currency reflects that it takes much time and effort to convert back to yen since they can't sell it easily. I notice surprisingly Travellers Cheques have a remarkable high rate. The US cash always seems to be the best.