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efficient international money transfer
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typical wire transfers are not with 4-5%; but it all depends on the bank that does the transfer. you can chose to send ('wire') the money in source currency or in us $; the former, the target bank in the us does the conversion (so pick one that adds no or little spread); the latter, the sending bank does the conversion (so ask about their fees/spreads). i have multiple times transferred money across the ocean (though not from japan), and never paid more than 0.3% + ~40 $ flat. it should be possible to get te same range. note that if you look around for current offers, you might be easily able to even make some money on it - some us banks are eager for new money, and offer 200+$ bonus if you open an account and bring (significant =15k$+) new money to them.
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