Emergency, mastercard does not work!

rakuten said:

3. almost all post offices even in the deepest countryside have an international ATM where you can withdraw money with "foreign" creditcards, also on weekends, so look for post offices and forget the banks

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It doesn't always work. When my family last came to Japan, we tried to withdraw money with Visa from several postoffice ATM's in Kyoto (even the GPO, next to Kyoto station). We even tried several ATM machines and 3 different cards (from different card holders) and none worked ! We tried at Citibank and it worked immediately.

5. you can go to any bank, show your passport and creditcard and withdraw money when you do it at the counter! Traveller Cheques work too (Thomas Cook etc.)

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That didn't work for me. When I first came to Japan 3 years ago, I tried all the major banks (in central Tokyo). I went to the counter (with my wife, as I didn't speak Japanese at the time) and asked to withdraw at the counter, as it is how I had always done in countries like India or Indonesia, but they just said "sorry, no foreign Visa cards !".

- go to a local bank, get the required documents for opening a bank account and ask what they need from the City Hall
- get your personal hanko/inkan (in Japan you sign with your personal stamp, your signature is not valid, except for signing creditcard receipts, haha how ironic)
- register yourself at your local City Hall, take a Japanese friend with you (a "counter for foreigners" might imply that they speak English - yeah you wish...)
- a permanent address in order to get registered
- some Yen to pay for the stamped documents
- lots of patience

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That's not true. I opened bank accounts in different Japanese banks and all I needed was my "gaikokujin torokusho" and nothing more (not even the passport). Some banks will ask for a hanko, but by explaining that you don't have one as a foreigner, they will make you sign instead. It also didn't cost anything to open the accounts and all was done in about 5 minutes (each time, at different banks). In Europe, it once took me one hour to open a bank account !

So in summary, is a VISA card better to have while traveling in Japan than a MasterCard?

And what about Discover, American Express, Capital One, etc.?

Xkavar said:

So in summary, is a VISA card better to have while traveling in Japan than a MasterCard?

And what about Discover, American Express, Capital One, etc.?

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Visa is probably better than MasterCard. Forget about any other card, as they have surely never heard of them in Japan (except AmEx, but very very rare here).

Yeah, I luckily found out that 1 minute walking from my hospital takes me to Daily Yamazaki, which I just found out has a postal ATM! What are the hours and days that postal ATM's usually operate on? I reckon I will withdraw a decent amount of money to support me over Shogatsu as well. As soon as I leave Kumamoto I will probably be okay to go to post offices wherever I wind up in Japan, as so far it has only been difficult because of my working hours at the hospital.

Thanks for everything guys

- go to a local bank, get the required documents for opening a bank account and ask what they need from the City Hall
- get your personal hanko/inkan (in Japan you sign with your personal stamp, your signature is not valid, except for signing creditcard receipts, haha how ironic)
- register yourself at your local City Hall, take a Japanese friend with you (a "counter for foreigners" might imply that they speak English - yeah you wish...)
- a permanent address in order to get registered
- some Yen to pay for the stamped documents
- lots of patience

Click to expand...

That's not true. I opened bank accounts in different Japanese banks and all I needed was my "gaikokujin torokusho" and nothing more (not even the passport). Some banks will ask for a hanko, but by explaining that you don't have one as a foreigner, they will make you sign instead. It also didn't cost anything to open the accounts and all was done in about 5 minutes (each time, at different banks). In Europe, it once took me one hour to open a bank account !

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Seems to be a misunderstanding here. The itemlist features what you need to get the Alien Registration Card in order to complete the mission. After that, revealing the secret of Monkey Island usually is straightforward (= opening the bank account). Holders of a Japanese passport can enter the bank and open an account as if you went buying stamps. Same for holders of the Alien Registration Card, which is a translation of your passport. But it's always better to bring your passport, just in cases. 9 out of 10 banks (or whereever you have to show proof of your identity) might not ask for it and usually the Alien Registration Card is absolutely sufficient - but you'd hate someone when they unexpectedly ask for passport too, and you have to go back home and lose hours only because you didn't bring it. Don't know how the police handles this (sometimes they check up on foreigners), don't know whether the Alien Registration Card will be sufficient then...?

Didn't know some banks accept signing by hand. Anyway, sooner or later you need a hanko.

Btw jet_dee, in case you opened a Japanese bank account, withdrawing money at the ATM costs a small fee! Yes proud card holders, withdrawing (from your Japanese bank account) at the counter is free or costs less than at the ATM! That's the Japanese banking system. And "opening hours" are limited, only few banks allow 24/7 access. Most banks "close" their ATMs for the night. You can also withdraw at convenience stores, not sure about their ATM "opening hours" (not 24/7).
It all depends on the bank. But on the other hand, no yearly fees or recurring costs for bank or post accounts. Once you opened an account, pay in the minimum of 1 Yen and the account is yours for lifetime!

And Visa is definitely better than Master, not to mention the "rest"...

Btw jet_dee, in case you opened a Japanese bank account, withdrawing money at the ATM costs a small fee! Yes proud card holders, withdrawing (from your Japanese bank account) at the counter is free or costs less than at the ATM! That's the Japanese banking system. And "opening hours" are limited, only few banks allow 24/7 access. Most banks "close" their ATMs for the night. You can also withdraw at convenience stores, not sure about their ATM "opening hours" (not 24/7).
It all depends on the bank. But on the other hand, no yearly fees or recurring costs for bank or post accounts. Once you opened an account, pay in the minimum of 1 Yen and the account is yours for lifetime!

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I should point out that some U.S. banks operate in a similar manner.

At Wells Fargo, for example, there is a maximum daily withdraw limit of 300 dollars, and a fee for using a W.F. ATM card at any other bank or ATM. Lot of people don't know that.