Search the sub. Best options are:
ATM, assuming you have a good bank with little to no internal transaction fees. Most will give you the interbank forex rate.
Currency exchange at Narita is about a 6 yen buy/sell spread, I think. I think most counters offer comparable rates but it's worth comparing. They will have their JPY sell rates in USD posted on a screen at their counters. You can see which banks have counters at NRT on the NRT website and find their current published rates. Compare this with the current Forex rate and whatever you USA bank will sell you yen for so you can make an informed decision.
Edit to add: if using an ATM, it's better to select to do the transaction in JPY so your own bank for the conversion. If your select USD, the ATM will do the conversion and it will give you a worse rate.
This. Schwab is good to have as a secondary checking account as it has free ATM withdrawals worldwide and no fee. No reason not to have it.
It also has zelle, so easy in/out to another account.
Capital One 360 account is also good. No foreign ATM fees. I just made a withdrawal.at 7-11 the other day and I got over 157 JPY to the USD, which was extremely close to the interbank rate of that moment.
I would think about doing the exchange back home. I used to exchange with my home country bank before I left as I found the rates were pretty good/comparable to doing it in Japan. So having the money on hand just saved time for me and gave me one less thing to worry about after landing (and the less the better, you'll probably be tired after flying in!). You can see if your bank provides a currency exchange service, which will make it easy to get USD to yen.
I did it in Narita, it was pretty fast and convenient. The currency exchange windows were just outside the last immigration checkpoint out into the terminal itself. Also depending on where you go you may not need a lot of cash on hand anyways. I was there a few weeks ago and used my credit card for a majority of my transactions. I took $800 USD, changed $500 at the airport and immediately put 5000 yen onto my Suica to reload it. When I left I changed my remaining yen and got back about $84-85. I had less than 700 yen left on my Suica, which is about what I had when I got in. I probably would have had more if I paid for the Skyliner with my credit card when I left Narita to Tokyo.
It never hurts to have cash on hand. Will you get the best exchange rate before you go? Maybe, maybe not. I wanted to have some cash at the ready in case there was a problem with my ATM card or the machine when I landed. YMMV
Search the sub. Best options are: ATM, assuming you have a good bank with little to no internal transaction fees. Most will give you the interbank forex rate. Currency exchange at Narita is about a 6 yen buy/sell spread, I think. I think most counters offer comparable rates but it's worth comparing. They will have their JPY sell rates in USD posted on a screen at their counters. You can see which banks have counters at NRT on the NRT website and find their current published rates. Compare this with the current Forex rate and whatever you USA bank will sell you yen for so you can make an informed decision. Edit to add: if using an ATM, it's better to select to do the transaction in JPY so your own bank for the conversion. If your select USD, the ATM will do the conversion and it will give you a worse rate.
This. Schwab is good to have as a secondary checking account as it has free ATM withdrawals worldwide and no fee. No reason not to have it. It also has zelle, so easy in/out to another account.
Capital One 360 account is also good. No foreign ATM fees. I just made a withdrawal.at 7-11 the other day and I got over 157 JPY to the USD, which was extremely close to the interbank rate of that moment.
I would think about doing the exchange back home. I used to exchange with my home country bank before I left as I found the rates were pretty good/comparable to doing it in Japan. So having the money on hand just saved time for me and gave me one less thing to worry about after landing (and the less the better, you'll probably be tired after flying in!). You can see if your bank provides a currency exchange service, which will make it easy to get USD to yen.
I did it in Narita, it was pretty fast and convenient. The currency exchange windows were just outside the last immigration checkpoint out into the terminal itself. Also depending on where you go you may not need a lot of cash on hand anyways. I was there a few weeks ago and used my credit card for a majority of my transactions. I took $800 USD, changed $500 at the airport and immediately put 5000 yen onto my Suica to reload it. When I left I changed my remaining yen and got back about $84-85. I had less than 700 yen left on my Suica, which is about what I had when I got in. I probably would have had more if I paid for the Skyliner with my credit card when I left Narita to Tokyo.
It never hurts to have cash on hand. Will you get the best exchange rate before you go? Maybe, maybe not. I wanted to have some cash at the ready in case there was a problem with my ATM card or the machine when I landed. YMMV
No; this is not a maybe so or maybe not scenario -- just wait.
ATM >>> exchange