The magazine Travel Journal recently reported the results of a survey carried out by the Ministry of Internal Affairs among 7,829 travelers after the recent Golden Week holiday. The ministry asked people who had changed yen into foreign currencies how much of that money was left over in cash after they returned to Japan. The average amount of foreign cash remaining among those who responded was the equivalent of ¥38,871. Somehow, the ministry extrapolated this figure to reach the conclusion that, nationwide, there is about ¥1.3 trillion worth of foreign currencies sitting around in people's dresser drawers or stuck in the back of wardrobes, which is a lot of money.
The survey also found out that the average Japanese traveler going overseas exchanges ¥71,940 on each trip, and spends about 70 percent of that money. The average amount of cash that is stolen from a Japanese robbery victim overseas is ¥65,730 per incident. In 12 percent of the cases, more than ¥100,000 in equivalent cash is stolen from Japanese victims. In 1 percent of these cases the amount is over ¥1 million.
For better or worse, Japanese tourists are famous in foreign countries for carrying a lot of cash, presumably because in Japan merchants still prefer transactions in cash and Japan is a relatively safe country for doing so. It's one reason why Japanese tourists spend so much in airports. They feel the need to get rid of their foreign cash, even if it's spent on things they don't need. Japan Travel also comments that older Japanese people, who tend to travel in tour groups, rarely think about the exchange rate, and especially now with the yen so high may end up exchanging more yen than they really need.