Hi! I am going to study in Japan for 6 weeks this summer, and I was wondering if my American credit cards will work there? Or should I just carry cash? Any tips and ideas about living in Japan would certainly help me a lot too! Thank you very much for your time!
Japan - 3 Answers
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1 :
Nice trip! You should exchange your currency into yen. Now you can do this at the airport. Find out what's the different between the two going rate. When I went to Europe. Each exchange for dollar to euro I lost money. For every 20 dollars I lost 7. :(
2 :
When I went, I had a Visa card, a bunch of traveler checks, and cash. Some places I could use the Visa, which was quite nice, but a lot of places you can't. However, if you go to an ATM in a post office, you can use the ATM to get money off of it. For some reason, other ATMs I found didn't take my card (I'm assuming they just weren't prepared to deal with foreign cards), but it was still convenient. The checks I could exchange at either a post office or certain banks (Mizuho Bank was the only one that I found would do it, but they're EVERYWHERE and if you go into a different bank and ask, they'll point you to the nearest one that will.) As for cash, it's accepted everywhere, and you'll NEED it if you're going to be riding a train or subway, but, as I'm sure you know, it's not secure. So just carry what you need for a few days and keep the rest on your card or in traveler's checks. ALSO, if you're going to go with travelers checks, make sure you have a phone number and address to give them. They'll make you fill out a little slip. If you don't have that info, there'll be a problem. ESPECIALLY if you don't speak Japanese. Then there'll be a problem that you don't understand the solution for! Oh, and carry your passport on you in case they ask for ID. In summary, I'd suggest a combination of the three. When you first get there, make sure you find the banks and post offices in your area and the hours they're open so that you don't find yourself without money and screwed one day.
3 :
Credit cards issued in the US work fine in Japan. However, before you leave for Japan, make sure to call your card issuer's customer service to let them know you will be out of country; otherwise, you may not be able to use your credit cards overseas. If they detect "unusual transactions" (e.g., transactions overseas), they may suspend your cards. Although more merchants accept credit cards now than ever, Japan is still cash-oriented society. So, I would bring both credit cards and cash. As you may know, when you exchange money, they charge you a fee. So, plan carefully when you get yen; otherwise you would pay a fee again to convert it back to USD when you come back. In this sense, credit cards are easier. Your card issuer will bill you in USD (i.e., converted) along with a "foreign transaction fee," which is about 2.5%~3%. With credit cards, at least you would not have to convert yen back to USD, paying fees twice. I'm from Japan, but I live in the US. When I visit my family in Japan, I use my credit cards for big purchases (e.g., hotel, Shinkansen), and use cash for small purchases (e.g., food, subway tickets). I was in Japan last month, and I used Amex since their fee was lower than what my Bank of America Visa would have charged.
