Foreign exchange difficulties

When I first came to Japan in 2000, foreign exchange was not easily done. Travellers cheques, which were still in use globally, were difficult to cash. The ATMs still didn't readily accept credit cards from outside Japan. And in order to do a cash exchange of euro to yen, or vice versa, you often had to book the currency in advance and be a member of the bank in question. Meanwhile, in my home country, Ireland, at that time it was easy to do. You just walked up to a teller in any bank or a post office, handed in your cash and received the currency of your choice.

However, with the rise of 'cashless' in Europe, it is no longer easy to get cash in the foreign exchange, which I learned the hard way this year. I walked into my local bank expecting it to be the same as it was at the turn of the century, only to be gravely disappointed. "We no longer exchange yen", he says, "we haven't done it in years". Long story short, there are very few banks where you can exchange cash in Ireland anymore. And those that do it, you now have to be a member of the bank, even though you didn't have to be in the past. Its become more like Japan now. And another way it resembles Japan now too, is that it no longer easy or instant to join a bank. It takes three days in Ireland these days. 

While it is easier to exchange money by credit card in Japan now, there are still some hurdles with cash. The airport remains the safest bet for non residents without bank accounts in Japan. But the exchange rate is appalling. My husband, last minute, exchanged 10,000 yen at the airport, so he would have cash in Finland just in case, and he got 40 euro in Narita Airport. On the exact same day I had also exchanged money in Ireland, also at the airport, and got 65 euro for every 10,000 yen. That is a big difference.

If you want cash in another currency, where do you do your foreign exchange?