On a recent trip to the Orient my companions ATM, issued by a California Credit Union, worked fine in Beijing and Shanghai.

But, we couldn't get it to give us cash anywhere in Japan. We tried banks, the post office and more banks. Kept getting various messages that account doesn't exist, system is down, network is down, try later, etc.

The Credit Union doesn't have a clue.

Any thoughts about how to avoid this problem on future Japan trips? Thank Heaven we had American Express Travelers Checks with us.