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Originally Posted by cosmicenema
Do most ATMs take foreign cards?
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I don`t believe many do. You also can`t write a check and have it cashed unless you have weeks of time to wait. Traveler's checks seem to be popular for people to bring, but they are really hard to have cashed. Usually each brand has only a handful of banks willing to deal with them, and even then it sometimes takes days.
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Are most ATMs in English?
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There is almost always and "English Guidance" button on ATMs. I`ve never used it, so I`m not sure if it offers all the services though.
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If I bring some 10k bills are they going to be usable? For example in the States most places won't/can't break a $100 bill and even a $50 is too high some places.
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You will encounter absolutely NO problems of that sort in Japan. Almost everyone carries around 10k bills and uses them everywhere. There is absolutely no place that will not / can`t accept them.
Wow. That is something about the US that I had totally forgotten...
Everybody here seems to carry 50k+ in their wallets most of the time. I`d feel lost without 30k+ in the wallet and 50k+ at home for easy access. Using 10k in Japan feels like nothing at all - I`d compare it to using a $20 bill in terms of "normalcy".
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Does anyone have a recommendation for a good bank to use in Japan from the States? My bank has some very high fees.
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I would personally say to just bring cash if you`re going to be in Japan for a short time... And if you`re in Japan for a long period of time (work, etc) to bring cash and open an account at a Japanese bank.
I just want to add though - most places do indeed accept credit cards. The types of places that wouldn`t accept outside of Japan are not going to accept in Japan - small eateries, corner markets, etc. You could easily find anything you want in places that do accept credit cards.
ETA;
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Originally Posted by Barone1551
-Most post offices, at leas all the ones we went to, had international ATM's. A card will work at these, it can be a debit card or credit card. Be careful though, it appears that your card will need to be tied to a name in order to work. I purchased a gift credit card, witch works like a normal credit card here in the US. But in japan it didnt work perfectly. I could buy stuff from stores with credit card machines, but I could not pull cash out from ATM's. If you are going to a more populated area like Tokyo, most shops will have credit card machines.
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Be careful with this - the machines accept cards with a "credit card" number only. You can`t use them to get money from your account UNLESS the card is a debit card with a credit card like function. If it`s just an ATM card, you`re not going to be able to withdraw. What the machines do is charge that amount of money to your credit card - sometimes with horrific fees added on - not actually withdraw from your account. If it`s a debit card it will seem like that is the case, but it`s not really a withdraw.
A friend used one to get 20k from a machine once and had a 5k fee added on...