Hi Everyone,
I have guests from overseas who brought US Dollar bills with them instead of Yens. Do you know where they can exchange these for Yens (I think there is a fixed rate everywhere except for Citibank - is that true?) Also, where can they withdraw money from with their Visa credit cards? We live near Meguro station but anything in the Hiroo area is also fine.
Many thanks in advance, Liat Friedman

If they have a pin number on their credit cards they can go to any Citibank ATM, if they don't have a pin number there is at least one UC Card shop in Shibuya, it is on the 7th floor, to the right of Tokyu Plaza and Mitsubishi Bank. Hope this helps and that your guests enjoy their stay.

The easiest place to change cash is always at the airport, but I guess it's too late for that. Big hotels also do it, but their rates/commission charges are pretty steep. Large, central branches of the main banks should be able to change dollars, though from what I remember a few years ago, it can be an incredibly long and bureaucratic process.

Also, you can now use some overseas-issued bank cards (not sure about credit cards) in the Post Office cash machines.

You can change dollars practically anywhere these days -- ask at any largish bank. They often have "official exchange bank" or something similar posted in the front window in half a dozen languages.

You can also do it at a surprising number of post offices. (Any post office that sells international money orders can do it.) The rates are entirely reasonable and you can be in and out in five minutes. (Bank will take 10-15 minutes.)

So true Tara. They opened up the exchange market a few years back when they de-regulated (really just changed the regulations). Post office is more convenient because has longer hours then the bank, but banks might have slightly better rates (which really only make a difference if you are changing a lot, ie. over $2000 USD). Even some department stores change cash now.

I found the post offices very useful because of their working hours. But if you don't care about a few yens per dollar difference, don't read this because it will be a waste of your time.

First of all, let me explain from my recent experience of exchanging yens to euros and pounds, that rates do slightly change depending on the organization, but the difference is very slight (less than 0.09 yen per dollar). But they never change depending on the branch. What I mean is that all UFJ bank branches have same rates, all Tokyo-Mitsubishi bank branches have same rates, all post offices have same rates, but rates may slightly differ between UFJ banks, Tokyo-Mitsubishi banks and post offices.

You can phone or check your favorite bank's website for "today's rates," or just take a walk down a business district where a lot of large banks and post offices are located. Unfortunately, the post office don't show their rates on their website.

Now, the trick is this. If memory serves me right, at least in last November, all banks I checked change rates at opening hours which is something like 9:00am, and then they inform their "today's rates" on their websites around 10:30am. On the other hand, post offices don't change rates until noon. So you can wait in front of your personal computer until 11:00-ish to check up-to-date rates, then rush to the post office to get the best rates. Got it?

Btw, the central post office of Yokohama located near Yokohama Station wasn't crowded at all. And in November, rates were going wild and the procedure I just explained helped me save a lot!

Please keep in mind that I'm speaking from the experience of buying foreign currency. Since Liat's friends are buying domestic currency, it can be a slightly different story. I am assuming they will have more options because more counters carry yens than foreign currencies. But on the other hand, buying domestic currency is always expensive than the other way around.

By Marie Kawachi on Monday, May 1, 2006 - 01:02 pm:
Does anyone has an information or knows a company where we
send a cashier's checks to US.?
Thanks in advance.
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Hi Marie, Actually, I always sent cashier's checks from the bank in US dollars. The cost was Y2500 per check, and I had to change from yen to dollars at the rate for the day. There were two possible rates to choose from, Bank of Japan followed by most Japanese banks, and Citibank. Citibank was usually a bit less favorable but if the amount I needed to send was lower than the cost of Y2500 (because with a Citibank account I could just buy travler's checks for free) then I would use Citibank, But if I was changing more than $3000 or whatever the cut off point was, then I would just use a Japanese bank and send a cashier's check.The big banks all have an arrangement with a major bank in the USA to clear those checks. The post office does not do cashier's checks.
Of course I was often told that it would be better to wire the money. But I wasn't in a big hurry, and the cost of wiring was higher than just a cashier's check and then mailing it (because there was always an additional fee at the receiving bank as well as at my end). I think if you want to do a cashier's check in the sense that it is used for at a settlement of a major purchase, it may not work the same way. In the USA, if you get a cashier's check issued and then end up not using it you can get it cashed back again (for a fee). I'm not sure if this is so easily done here, plus of course the check would have to be mailed back to Japan again.