Opening a bank account in Japan and sending money home safely

Rules, fees and services change often. Last checked: 7 November 2026. Always confirm with the official sources below or with your city office before you act.

A Japanese bank account is how you receive your salary and pay rent, phone and utility bills. Banks in Japan must check your identity and keep checking it, because of anti-money-laundering laws. So new arrivals face more questions and some limits. Plan for that and it goes smoothly.

What banks ask for

The documents differ by bank, but the Financial Services Agency (FSA) lists these examples:

• your residence card, or passport,
• a personal seal (印鑑 / はんこ, inkan / hanko), although some banks accept a signature,
• an employee ID or student ID. If you have none, go with someone from your company or school.

Banks check your name, address, period of stay, status of residence and job when you open the account, and again later when needed. If they cannot confirm these, you may not be able to open or use an account. Some banks let you apply by app or by post, and the cash card is usually posted to your home.

Japan Post Bank

Japan Post Bank (ゆうちょ銀行, yūcho ginkō) has counters in post offices across Japan. Its own rules for foreign residents (checked 7 November 2026):

• Show your residence card. If the card has no photo, bring another document such as a certificate of residence.
• If your status is Student or Technical Intern Training, also show a student or employee ID. If you have none, the bank has a form your school or employer can fill in.
• If your period of stay ends within 3 months of the application, it will not open an account. Renew your stay first.
• People whose original period of stay was 3 months or less, with no residence card, cannot open an account.
• The passbook may be posted to you later, and the bank may refuse some applications.
• It has an app for account opening and for updating your period of stay, and an online form in several languages.

Its multilingual call centre is 0570-023170 (English, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese and Indonesian, according to the ISA guidebook).

Your first months: “non-resident” limits

Japan’s foreign exchange rules treat a foreign national as a “resident” once they work at an office in Japan, or after six months in Japan. Before that, for example as a new student, you can count as a “non-resident”, and banks may limit some transfers. After six months, ask your bank whether you need to update your account. This rule is about money transfers, not your visa.

Keep your details up to date

Tell your bank immediately when your address, period of stay, status of residence or workplace changes. Also answer when the bank asks you to confirm your details. In April 2025 the FSA, the National Police Agency and ISA published a leaflet asking foreign residents to tell their bank when they have extended their period of stay, or are applying to do so. Show your new card after every renewal; otherwise the account can be restricted. Japan Post Bank lets you update this in its app.

Sending money home

You can send money abroad through:

• banks (including Japan Post Bank), or
• funds transfer service providers (資金移動業者) that are registered with the FSA. The FSA publishes the official register.

Which countries you can send to depends on each provider. You may be asked for documents about the purpose of the transfer, and the money can take time to arrive. Compare the fee and exchange rate yourself before you choose. We do not recommend specific companies.

1. Check that the bank or provider is on the FSA register.
2. Have your residence card ready. The provider must check your identity.
3. Ask about the total cost: transfer fee, exchange rate margin and any fee at the receiving side.
4. Keep the receipt. If you claim a tax deduction for family abroad, you need proof of the money you sent.

Scams and illegal “banks”

Never use an unlicensed money sender. Banking and money transfer need a government licence. Paying cash to a person or shop that “sends money home cheaply” without a licence is illegal, and your money is not protected. If someone offers you money to “pass a payment through your account”, it is money laundering.

Selling, transferring or lending your account, cash card, passbook or online banking login is a crime, even when you leave Japan. The FSA warns that it can mean you cannot stay in Japan or come back.

When you leave Japan

Close your account before you go. It can be done at a branch. Do not give your card to a friend “to use later”. If you will claim the pension lump-sum, you need an account abroad for that payment (see our pension guide).

Common mistakes

• Applying a few weeks before your period of stay ends. Renew first.
• Forgetting to show the bank your new residence card after an extension.
• Using a cheap, unlicensed “hand-carry” money service.
• Letting a broker or “friend” use your account.
• Not closing the account when you leave Japan.

To read bank forms and ATM screens, try our numbers and prices lesson and short notices reading lesson.

Free help in your language. The Foreign Residents Support Center (FRESC) in Yotsuya, Tokyo, brings together government help desks for foreign residents. Its phone line is 0570-011000 (from some IP phones or from abroad: 03-5363-3013), weekdays 9:00 to 17:00. FRESC cannot process residence card procedures, but it can tell you where to go. Many cities also have their own foreign-resident help desk.