How can you be a foreign exchange student?

How can a foreign exchange student from the USA get cash in Japan?

• Son going to Nagaoka, Japan next week. He will be there for 6 months as a foreign exchange student. He has an ATM card from Bank of America and a credit card from Citibank. I hear he can withdraw funds from ATMs at the post office but have no clue what exchange rate or fees are. Can anyone help?

• Answer:

  For a six month exhcange program in Japan, getting your cash by ATM is probably sufficient. Bank of America fees are posted, unsurprisingly, on BofA's website. https://www2.bankofamerica.com/efulfillment/documents/05-11-3000ED.20080509.htm It's basically $5 per transaction to withdraw money from an ATM outside the US, so it's a good idea to withdraw as much as possible each time. The exchange rate varies each day, and there are dozens of websites that list the rates. A good one is www.oanda.com because they don't just list the interbank rate but also the exchange rate you get on your credit card or ATM card transaction. One note of caution with the postal ATM is that 6-digits is the longest PIN they accept, so it's a good idea to change your PIN before heading out if it's 7 digits or longer.