What to do with my US Dollars?

[crew]

I have a couple of dollars at home, accumulated throughout the year and has reached the thousands. What is the best way to deal with this? Convert to yen then invest? Keep in USD then invest? If the latter, how? Are there banks that have dollar denominated accounts?

[adamu]

If it's in the low thousands, maybe just keeping it as an emergency fund for peace of mind is the simplest option.

[StockBeard]

Exchange it against Yen when you have friends visiting from the US? Or find a friend who's going to the US soon and is willing to buy them.

[captainspoke]

In a bank? (local/small, or big?) At a brokerage?

Cash you've left with someone...?!?

[StockBeard]

Oooh, I assumed they meant physical cash... smh.

[TokyoWart]

I know Prestia (SMBC 信託銀行) allows, even encourages, longterm foreign currency deposits. I believe that for US dollars you can even bring them in as is and have them deposited in a US dollar account and get them back again without exchanging through yen if you so wish. Interest rates on those accounts are, like everything else, very low.

[crew]

Oooh, I assumed they meant physical cash... smh.

That is indeed what I meant.