Currency exchange at home or in Japan?

Konnichiwa mina-san,

Hi everyone. Since I received so much helpful advice I thought I'd try my luck once more.

I am wondering if I should be changing all of my Canadian money into Japanese yen all at once, or should I convert, say, 60% and exchange the rest in Japan as I need it?

If I change it all at once, it will mostly be for the convenience factor; I'll be saving myself the hassle of finding a post office or currency exchange and doing so.

However, someone has pointed out to me that if I don't end up spending all of my money, then I'll have to convert it back and I'll lose more money. May I ask what you all think?

Please note, I'll be in Japan for just over a month (37 days or so).

Arigatou gozaimasu!

Doesn't hurt to hedge your bets.

Travelex allow you to convert money back into original currency at the rate at which you purchased it: keep the receipt etc etc check them out online...better rate than instore: you could at least get some of your yen this way

I only change about $ 200-300 in Canada then use credit cards to pay for hotel etc. then get more cash at an ATM at one of the over 11000 7-11 (I am from Canada too so I know that our credit cards and bank cards work in Japan). Be sure to have enough in your checking account..or arrange with your bank to transfer some money from the savings at one time. By the way the yen is pretty high now but no more than in the late 1990s so don't obsess too much about that.

Thanks very much again for the advice from everyone, these forums have been a great source of helpful information in preparing for the trip over. I'm grateful!

Arigato gozaimasu.

Ken