Exchange at airport or wait?

Should I exchange all of my money into yen at Narita airport, or will I find a better rate in Tokyo? If so, can anyone tell me where I would find an exchange place near Ueno station?

Thank you!!

What money?

In general it is better to exchange in your home country, but it may depend on which country is your home country.

You can see current Narita rates here:-
http://www.narita-airport.or.jp/exchange_e/index.html

They are very bad compared to what I can buy for in Australia.

What country do you come from?

Generally it is difficult to exchange money outside of airports and hotels, so I would recommend changing a reasonable amount at home or the airport (you can easily compare prices to see who is offering the best rate), and then withdraw cash from my home bank account via postal atms (if you have a bank that supports this) as the postal atms tend to have the best rates. I also try to use my credit card as much as possible as they use near exact rates, and I have a card that doesn't charge foreign transaction fees.

I'm from Canada, and I did plan to exchange in advance, but my local currency exchange place is out of yen, and won't be getting any for another week, which is too late! They told me to exchange into USD, so I'd have an easier time, which I did. Are there really no currency exchange places on the street? That's problematic. The airport rates are pretty bad. Maybe I'll just carry my cash around and withdraw from my credit card!

Are there really no currency exchange places on the street?

Yes and no. Traditional exchange offices are few and far between, but you can exchange at major hotels. They tend to have worse rates than the airport though.

On the other hand, postal and 7-11 atms are literally everywhere. And while not technically exchange offices, they allow you withdraw yen from a foreign bank account. It ends up being a far more convenient way of getting yen and at a better rate as long as you make larger withdrawals (several 10000 yen at a time). All you need is a bank account in Canada with an atm card that works on one of the major international atm networks (which are practically all major banks). Don't forget to notify your bank that you will be in Japan and raise your withdrawal limit to something reasonably high.

more info here:

http://www.sevenbank.co.jp/intlcard/index2.html
http://www.jp-bank.japanpost.jp/en/ias/en_ias_index.html

The airport rates are pretty bad.

They're fairly reasonable, but you can find better. But don't forget to put things in perspective. The difference in rates is often fairly small sum unless you're exchanging large amounts of cash. Anything less than several thousand dollars may not be worth a crosstown trip for.

Maybe I'll just carry my cash around and withdraw from my credit card!

Pay as much as you can with a credit card, but do not get cash advances if at all possible. They tend to charge more than 10% interests (with no grace period) plus a $10-20 fee. There is probably also an exchange fee if you don't withdraw in your home currency. If you are at an ATM where you can make a cash advance, you should instead consider the much cheaper international withdrawal.

I always change all the money I think I'll need for the entire trip at Narita. The exchange rate is better than the U.S. and it's right beside the exit into the concourse at Narita. Unless you're changing thousands, the difference of a Yen or two is not significant.

Exchange rates at Narita and even at banks is not bad for USD and EUR, but for any other currency, the exchange rate can be 10-15% worse than the nominal exchange rate.

i.e. For 100,000 yen, it could cost you 10,000 - 15,000 yen, instead of 2000 yen.