Elisabeth Dalseg finds out the hard way that the cash flow in Tokyo is hard to tap into



Even though Japan is famous for being technically on the forefront, it is still very much a cash country. Why? One reason is probably that the streets are so safe here that you can actually walk around with a lot of money on you and still feel at ease.

I was warned that there would not be any working cashpoints at Narita airport, so I came to Japan with about enough cash to pay for the Friendly Airport Limousine bus, phone my friend so she could come and pick me up, and go out to have a few beers. But that's about it.

Lunch time next day, I tried to find a cashpoint. That in itself was not such a mission, but finding one with an English explanation as an alternative made it a little harder. When I did find one, it didn't work. Neither did cashpoint number 15, nor did number 27. It has to be mentioned here that I have only got a VISA debit card. Before I left England, I asked my bank - not to mention any names, Barclays - TWICE if the card would work in Tokyo and they promised that I "could stick it into any cashpoint machine in the whole world and get money out," (given that there was money in my account in the first place, of course).

So what does a girl do? When for the first time in absolutely ages there actually is money in my account, and there are enough temptations around to make Donald Trump broke in a flash, it was time for emergency action.

An English edition of the Japanese phone book was brought to my attention, and (yes!) my bank did have a branch in Tokyo. I tried to phone them to ask for a map, or street directions, but no one spoke English. A friend of a friend etc. who spoke Japanese phoned the bank for me and explained the situation, and they faxed me a map.

So off I went, and found the most classy bank I've seen in a while. No counters, no queues, just a huge desk with a pretty secretary, and a leather sofa with some nice magazines and ashtrays scattered around. If only all banks were this nice - or not. "Do you have an appointment," she asked, "and with whom? Please take a seat." I wonder if she even knew what that meant.

I tried to explain that I didn't have any money, and that I had an account with that bank, and I wanted to withdraw some money. Some translation help was fetched, but the bottom line was no non-corporate clients. Could she be so kind to call the London office for me? Only if I was a corporate client. (So much for a big bank in a small world.) I left the office with the advice of contacting VISA.

Since this was the second morning wasted running around to try to find money I decided to live on borrowed money for yet one more day, and go see VISA the next day. On my way, passing through Tokyo station, I thought maybe I could find a money exchange that would accept VISA for yen. I couldn't find any exchange offices - and couldn't find the information desk to tell me where it was. (My bank may not be big, but Tokyo station sure is.) At last I bumped into somebody kind enough to show me the tourist office, who could tell me that there was no such thing as a money exchange there, but I might try the cashpoint assembly. So she drew a map and I followed blindly.

Finally there: Cashpoint Heaven. Machine one: Card rejected. Machine two: Card rejected. Machine three: Please enter your SECRET code now. Please enter the desired amount. I am sorry, we are not able to process this transaction now. Machine seven: Starting well. Optimistic. Maybe if I press the keys very lightly and comfort the machine with gentle strokes it will be nice to me. Please. Please. Yes! Yes! Yes! I am in cash heaven. I am the queen of cashpoints. Show me a cashpoint and I'll make it work for you. HA! VISA office: I am sorry I will no longer be paying you a visit tomorrow. Tokyo here I come!

The machine working was a UC Bank machine. So I kept looking around for another one the next time the little cashpoint queen needed to do her stuff. This time, though, joy came from right before my eyes: a 24-hour Citybank right there, just when I needed it. That's actually one I hadn't tried before! And there it was, confirmation that it is possible to get cash from foreign banks here. You just need to know where to go. You'll miss the feeling of being the cashpoint queen, but it will make throwing cash around on your stay here a helluva lot easier. That is, if you've got any cash to throw.