Deciding to visit Japan is easy, but overcoming many of the barriers to visiting are not. Often, travelers will face a language barrier, a barrier to reading even common signs, and sometimes barriers to competently finding their way around the city. However, managing currency does not have to be a concern for the traveler who plans ahead.
Japan is a Cash Society
Japan, unlike many developed countries, still relies heavily on cash for many exchanges. Often, a foreigner visiting Japan will be able to book certain things ahead of time using a credit card, such as hotels in large chains, some ryokan (traditional Japanese inns), Japan Rail Passes, or even rent at some guest houses. However, eating in many restaurants, staying in some small boutique hotels, purchasing train tickets, entertainment, and other such activities, will require a considerable amount of cash.
The currency of Japan is the yen. The yen has fluctuated pretty wildly over the last few years. Over the last year, it has ranged anywhere from 82 yen to 108 yen per dollar. Currently, the exchange rate is 92 yen to one dollar. A simple, quick way to get a rough idea of the current exchange rate is to type the phrase “usd to yen” into Google’s search bar. It will return the exchange rate of yen against the dollar.
A single yen is roughly equivalent to one cent or 100 yen per dollar. It may seem odd to run around Japan with $500 in cents at a time, but it is not unusual in Tokyo for people to carry cash of over 100,000 yen (¥100,000 at a time (or $1000). The Japanese have coins for the ¥1, ¥5, ¥10, ¥50, ¥100 and ¥500 and bills for ¥1,000 ¥5,000, ¥10,000. The Japanese people’s willingness to run around with massive quantities of cash has a lot to do with the crime rate in Japan, which is very low.
Traveler’s Checks v.s. Cash
What does this really mean for someone traveling to Japan? It means that the easiest way to transact purchases in Japan is to bring a quantity of traveler’s checks sufficient for the entire stay and have them all exchanged at Narita Airport. In Japan, the best exchange rate for a foreigner in Tokyo (without some connections to the Japanese banking industry) is with a traveler’s check at Narita airport. Conveniently, Narita Airport actually posts their currency rates online at Exchange Information. When entering Japan, the rate is always better if the person exchanging currency uses traveler’s checks, represented on Narita’s site by T/C. Alternatively, when leaving Japan, the traveler always gets a better deal when converting cash yen to dollars.
This means that it is to the traveler’s benefit to bring as much cash as needed in traveler’s checks, convert all of it to yen, and then convert anything remaining back into dollars when leaving Japan. The other benefit to exchanging traveler’s checks at the airport is that the clerks speak the minimal amount of English required to get the transaction done, which is not guaranteed at a local Japanese bank.
American Debit Cards in Japan
If it is impossible to have all of the cash needed for a trip available in advance, such as if someone intends to move to Japan, there are ATMs in Tokyo that will accept American ATM cards. The best bet is to go to a local Japanese post office, which is easily recognized by the JP Post logo in red. Many Japanese still do their banking through the post office, which also functions as a savings and banking center.
The benefit of using the post office is that there are over 20,000 of them around Japan. Many Internet websites claim that 7-Elevens also take international ATM cards, but the author was never able to retrieve cash using a 7-Eleven ATM (although they are quite handy for purchasing concert and movie tickets). Do know that there will be fees by the foreign bank for retrieving cash from a Japanese ATM.
There is usually a fee for using a foreign ATM as well as a transaction fee to make the conversion, and the exchange rate will not be as favorable as the one offered by Narita Airport. Also, any traveler should be sure to contact his or her bank ahead of time to let it know that the card will be accessed from Japan, or the unfortunate traveler may be stuck making a very expensive phone call from Japan to sort out the account.
Look for Credit Cards with no Exchange Rate Fee
One final point for travelers does relate to credit cards. Although many cards are accepted at ATMs and major hotels, finding a card that specifically touts that it does not charge a transaction fee for currency exchanges will benefit the traveler. One good card company for travelers is Capital One, which makes a point to boast that it does not charge exchange fees for using its cards abroad. Again, as with a bank, call before the trip to alert them that the card will be used overseas, what country and the dates the traveler intends to be abroad so as to avoid any problems with using the card.
With this information and some planning ahead, any traveler can minimize problems with making the monetary exchange and having a smooth visit to Japan!
Alia Luria - Alia Luria began her career as a web designer and developer in 1997. She worked for a series of internet-based companies and experienced ...
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