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Opening a Bank Account in Japan

As a new arrival in Japan, opening a bank account should be right at the top of your list of priorities. You can't even get a telephone line or a mobile phone without a local bank account, so without one, getting yourself set up with other services will be troublesome. Not only that, you will find that setting up direct bill payments will save you a lot of trouble, especially if you can't speak Japanese... smoothing over late payments is no easy task if you can't speak the language.

Even more important that opening your account is your Alien Registration Card. Without this, you can't even open an account! When you have it, present it at your bank of choice and sign the forms and you'll be set up.

A local ATM card is essential, as many ATM's won't accept cards issued in other countries. Also, you should make yourself aware of ATM opening times (yes, many ATM's actually close in the evening!), although 24 hour machines are becoming commonplace now.

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As Japan is a major financial centre, you may also want to ask your home bank if they have a local presence in Japan.

In short, opening an account is pretty straightforward.

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