Bank Troubles bleh...

[Hatredcopter]

I'm surprised to hear a long-term student like yourself wasn't required to get a Japanese bank account. When I studied abroad a couple years ago, all of us, as well as friends I knew who were studying at other Japanese universities had to open bank accounts. Either way, if you're in the Tokyo area, there'll no doubt be a bank somewhere staffed with English speakers. Otherwise I'd follow Nyororin's advice and have your host mother help.

[Reutte]

Originally Posted by Nyororin

You should be able to apply for receiving the money in person at the government office?
There is an option allowing those who are unable to have the money deposited into an account to pick the money up at the office - although depending on the area it may be quite a bit later than the date set for it to be deposited into accounts. I understand that the more residents there are in an area the later it becomes.
So you shouldn`t technically have to open an account in order to receive the money.

You say you have a host mother - you should have received documentation in both Japanese and in other languages. I`m going to say that it`s pretty much a given that she also applied, so will know exactly what it is. It shouldn`t be that hard to have her help you even if she doesn`t speak English. If you`ve been living with her since September you should be able to communicate with her at some level.

I only have been living with my host mom since February. And she kinda refused to help me with it. I asked for her help but after she looked at the paper work she wouldn't answer any of my questions and told me to ask my program for help which I did. After that didn't work I asked for help here.

However, I think I've got the problem solved. I found out that SMBC has English staff and another student got them to help him make an account. So I'm going to try to ask SMBC bank to help me and see if I can get an account there.