Anyone planning a trip to Japan quickly learns in their preparatory research that cash will be a necessity. Thankfully, it’s not necessary to load up on cash before leaving for Japan or to grab a huge stash from an exchange booth at the airport. Any ATM that allows for international bank cards – and in my experience, that was a lot of them – will provide you all the cash you need, as you need it. 

I chose to use the Wise card, and it worked out great. The ATMs in convenience stores, especially 7-11’s, all seemed to take that card.

The fees were ridiculously low.

They applied the most favorable exchange rates.

For Wise to work, they have to give travelers the best possible deal, and they have to be transparent about it. It’s too easy for disgruntled travelers to learn if they’ve been cheated and to spread that world. Wise makes the, well, wise decision to play things straight.

At least, that was my experience.

[the process]

One issue with getting cash from ATMs, however, is that – again, in my experience – they disperse ¥10,000 notes. That’s well under $100, but, in the Japanese equivalent, seems like the functional equivalent. Breaking a ¥10,000 note can be a pain.

I stopped in a small cafe in Hakodate, one that I found on Google Maps. In the US, it would have been considered a greasy spoon or a mom-and-pop. The food was good, the…. 

The bill came to under ¥2,000, and all I had was – a ¥10,000 note. I was so embarrassed, and more so as the two women who owned this place started digging through their purses looking for change. They even asked the customers! I swore never to not have smaller currencies with me.

If you get your cash from a convenience store ATM, but a cold drink (¥100-150) to break the bill. Or, like I did in Hiroyama, locate a bank and get change there. The bank clerk knew what I needed the most I held out my two ¥10,000 notes, and she happily gave me ¥1,000s!

Your bank card might suffice for getting cash, but my researched indicated that this could be problematic at times. I had no trouble using my Visa for hotels, many means, souvenirs, and topping up my Suica card. I decided to use Wise because I knew it would work in most ATMS and that I would have no issues with exchange rates or international transfer fees.