March 02, 2002
High rollin in the land of the yen

I've certainly been fortunate in my young life to have been able to convert hard earned American dollars into about a dozen different currencies. I've bought kroans in Prague, pounds in Great Britain, pesos in a variety of Spanish speaking nations, and Argentine dollares back before they were worthless. Never, though, has the process been as arduous as trying to convince the Japanese that I am worthy of their yen.
First, the only places to exchange your traveler's cheques and greenbacks are the bank and the occasional shopping mall. At the Fuji bank down the street, there is an entire floor dedicated to containing the gaijin and getting them their yen. Then, you wait. You take a number and wait. I sat for 10 minutes before the very courteous teller rang my number, despite the fact that no one else seemed to be being helped. Next come the forms. I don't think any type of transaction can happen in this country without the properly annotated and signed form; I'm tempted to try the exotic massage simply to investigate the paperwork involved in the extra ten minute experience.
After filling out the requested paperwork, signing everything over, and surrendering my passport, everything gets shuffled back to a staging area for the dollar to yen conversion. Now, I'm not sure what kind of alchemy is required for such a transition, but it's clearly much more complicated than I imagine. Honestly, I'm not sure what a Japanese teller has to do that isn't required by, say, a Chilean cambio in the middle of the Atacama. A full staff of no fewer than 20 people is constantly whirling about with stacks of bills, coins, and paperwork galore, all delicately transferred on plastic trays; at no time during all of this process does anyone actually dirty their hands with any money.
A full half hour after showing up at the bank, I had my yen, at 132 to the dollar. Of course, I managed not to get enough for a good massage.

Posted by jimray at March 02, 2002 12:20 PM
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