In many countries, European countries included, many things cannot be paid with CC. Local transportation tickets for example. Small restaurants, street vendors, countless situations that a CC does not help you a bit.

Yes, Cash Advance is suggested by my BofA CSM too, largely to circumvent the daily limit on ATM withdrawal. In many cases the limit is as low as just $500.

You can use 7-11 ATMs as well as ATMs in the Post Offices. There are also Citis and other major Japanese banks in tourist popular locations that have the international network function.

You should check the exchange rate you are getting - usually you are paying a 5% or more difference buying currency from the bank - just check the Buy / Sell rates. When you "buy" the foreign currency, you essentially "sell" your USD to the bank. Bank does not do this for free, aside from the processing fee. Bank does this to earn the SPREAD between the Buy and Sell rate.

ATM withdrawal OTOH, uses the Multi-Millions Interbanks settlement rates which are much much more tight spread, usually less than 0.25%.

ATM cards are much safer than bring cold hard cash. You do not bear the risk because any fraudulent usages, if there is any, as long as you report it in time (within 60 days of the statement where such fraudulent charges occurred), you are not responsible.

Yes, Schwab is Great. They also reimburse the ATM fees which in many Asian airports ATMs charge fees. I have seen that in BKK and ICN recently.

Citi, Chase and a few big Japanese banks all have international network ATMs but as you said, outside main tourist areas you could not find any. BUT 7-11 ATMs all work as Citi partners with them from years ago to offer such service.

I knew Citibank is in many international locations , but did not know that Chase also has representation in Japan?

I believe I have seen it in our 2009 trip. Chase used to have presence in Hong Kong as well but they pulled out. Citi is everywhere, so as HSBC.

With the Schwab and Fido card you can withdraw your money with any bank anywhere as both reimburse the ATM fees. Schwab has a higher daily limit and they are very willing to work with you in case you need to up or down the daily limit because it owns a bank. Fido though is another story as it does not own a bank and your money is spread among several banks. However Fido has local toll free number in tons of countries so when you need to talk to them it is very useful. Had to call them from Livorno, Italy on withdrawal made at Aix en Provence, France at BNP the day before. (BNP ATM ate the card and a long story followed). The Fido toll free number and the online chat have proven quite helpful. We always bring both ATM cards with us.

High Risk countries, you may want to use ATMs that don't suck in your card and instead use the ones that never leave you finger (the swipe). Last thing you want is the machine eating it while being overseas

And Capital One Debits have no foreign transcation fees

Schwab is best

When I was going to Colombia, Chase would not let me add a travel notification on my account, siting it as a high risk country. They said they could not guarantee they wouldn't block transaction from Colombia. But over 2 weeks I had no issues, withdrawing from atms multiple times.

I've used the Schwab high yield investor checking debit card in Myanmar, Colombia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Cambodia, Kenya, Nigeria, India and Nepal. I call ahead for a travel notification and have never had an issue. 0% transaction fees and they refund all ATM usage fees. I can't believe this card still exists and that it has been working for as long as it has. It's fused to me on any travel.

They may only charge you a $7.50 but the exchange rates for more exotic currencies will be awful.
Cheers
Howie

Iran isn't a high risk country it's the sanctions that block Western Bank Cards working there. I've had problems in Japan due to Mastercard being blocked for a short period last year.
Cheers
Howie

I've used ATMs in many so-so countries... Syria, Congo, Gabon, Angola, etc without any issues. Did not use ATMs in Nigeria, Somaliland, Iran, Iraq, Eritrea, Algeria, Uzbekistan, but mostly due to black market rates being much better than official.

I've had BofA, Chase and Schwab bank accounts.

My Citibank card has almost never failed me, except in the airports in Belo Horizonte, Brazil and Georgetown, Guyana, where there were no machines that would accept it. I travel almost exclusively in emerging-market countries (a.k.a. high risk). It is true that Citibank is familiar with my travel patterns and doesn't blink when I put my card in an ATM in Uganda, for example, but the fact that they are present in so many countries is a big help.

Isn't it more likely that the swipe ATMs have a skimmer on them?

I don't know if this will help anyone but
I lost my Charles Schwab debit card while traveling overseas... Got my replacement card in the mail today and it has an EMV chip.
I repeat, the Charles Schwab DEBIT card now has EMV chip technology

Also haven't had any issues with Schwab.

In Japan, stick to 7-11, HSBC, Japan Post and Citi ATMs.

I've also used my Schwab card across India and Southeast Asia without problems.

FWIW, used my Fidelity debit card in Mexico last week for several withdrawals. Got awesome exchange rates and all ATM fees were refunded instantly. Also yes, as others have mentioned, my new Schwab debit card has a chip. The documentation explicitly has instructions about chip and signature. I would imagine that being it is a debit card with a PIN it should also work as chip and PIN, right?