First Steps To Banking In Japan
So its come to that critical moment in your stay in Japan were you finally need a bank account, be it for a new job or simply to have funds sent from back home to further your travel in the land of the rising sun.
I shall try to help make this process as smooth as possible for you by listing some helpful tips and information. So let’s get right to it shall we.
Step 1 Choosing a bank: This step can either be breathtakingly simple or mind numbingly difficult, depending on how in depth you want to get into each banks differences. If interest rates, currency exchange, credit and loan options, mortgage rates and all the other banking banky things that banks do matter to you theｎ it’s going to require some checking on your part. However if simple having a building in which your money is some how magically stored in between spending sprees you can simply walk in off the street (assuming you meet the criteria in step 2) and get the ball rolling.
Step 2 Opening the account: Things you will need, an alien registration card, depending on the bank perhaps also a Hanko (Japanese Signature Stamp) and presumably some money. Unless you speak Japanese fairly well it would be advisable to either find a bank that caters to English speakers (or any other language for that matter) or take someone along with you to translate
Step 3 Accessing your money (the great ATM battle): So as you may already know, Japan is a country were cash is still by far the most common way to pay for things. Now this being the case you would assume that not only would cash machines be plentiful but you would be able to access them at anytime…Sadly this is not the case. Though there are more cash machines than there used to be (most convenience shops have them) though most of the ones you will find are only open at times the logic of which will escape even the most warped of minds. The only reason I can think of to stop ATMs from working from around 21:00-00:00 is to stop drunk salarymen spending all their money in hostess bars. Convenience shops are your best bet; they are open 24/7 and can be found almost everywhere. You should check that your bankcard can be used in the conbini closest to you.
Step 4 When leaving Japan: It is possible that when leaving Japan your bank will want you to close the account. Of course it’s entirely up to you if you tell them or not. If you chose not to, then perhaps It might be a good idea to ask a friend if you can use their address to receive mail from the bank while you are out of the country.