Originally Posted by
lowkeyflyer
In order to withdraw the cash at convenience store ATMs, would I have to get the Wise debit card?
What other alternatives are there besides Wise for this purpose? Just convert my USD to JPY here in the states first?
Yes - you need the card. And - NO -- do NOT change your USD to Yen in the states -- and NEVER in the airport -- it's a total ripoff...
To be honest -- the best way to maximize the conversion rate in Japan is to use your US bank card to withdraw cash at any Japanese ATM -- and when you pay for anything in Japan ALWAYS pay in Yen --
NEVER take the offer to convert to USD... Most major banks will give you the spot rate on that day for the conversion -- no need to worry about hedging....
We use Chase in the US and for the past few years Japan has been "on sale" for 20-30% off! One strategy we have used is that when the yen is very weak we exchange a ton of dollars for yen and just leave it in Japan (we live there too so it's easy).... But since we are not currency traders we just do as outlined above....