Couple of questions about travel to Japan

Hello,

Im going to Osaka in December and have a couple of questions left.

- I have a creditcard (MasterCard) and international bankcard (Maestro). Is it cheaper to exchange the money and bring cash with me or pay with my card/go to an ATM?

-How expensive is travel in Osaka? In my country you can buy 1€/1Use tickets for tramway and such, is there something like that in Osaka?

-Any cool things I def should do/visit?

Thanks

 

Hi,

-Credit card expenses depend on your bank... Usually, you're better off going to the ATM and withdraw larger sums.
Remember, in Japan you'll only be able to use ATMs at 7 Eleven and Post Offices (national banks don|t accept foreign CCs)

-In Osaka (and many Japanese cities) your subway fare depends on the distance you'll cover. Usually, it's between 150 and 250 JPY iirc. You'll want to get a Rainbow card that has a prepaid value of your choice.

-Osaka's nightlife is really fun! You should find nice bars, party places in Nanba/Shinsaibashi... Avoid the gaijin places like Balabushka, they're really crap!
If you're on this forum, I guess you'll want to go to Nipponbashi (video game/otaku neighbourhood). Regarding retro games, Retro Game Revival on the main street has closed, but Super Potao in one of the backstreets is still there and cheaper than the Akiba branch.

Enjoy! Osaka is really fun!

 

Thank you so much for your answer!

 

I found it was better to get cash in my home country, since this lets you shop around to find someone who'll give you a good exchange rate. If you use your credit card, you're powerless to do anything but accept whatever exchange rate (and fees) the bank wants. Also, not many shops in Japan accept credit cards, so you'll need cash anyway.

For travel, if you get an IC card (either passmo or suika) this makes travel easy as you simply need to tap on at your departing station and tap off when you exit and it will charge you the correct amount. You can both buy an IC card as well as put credit on it at the machines at the station.

 

Thanks

I think I'll exhange my money here, I can get 100.000yen for 750euro here. I think that is pretty decent. I'll keep my card with me if I ever neef it.

The train system sounds like the one we have in my country (The Netherlands)

 

Yep. In my case, my bank was gonna give me 90 yen for $1, but when I went though a private company, I got 94.3.

It's similar to what I used in Australia too. Only the IC cards also allow you to buy stuff from vending machines and convenience stores with it. Point to Japan!

 

You should try to work out a deal with someone (perhaps here) that doesn't mind having Aussie dollars, and have them hand you over cash. It takes some trust but it can save you 2-3% easily.