Bank of America in Japan
 

Just like most other Americans with a job, I use a debit card instead of dealing with cash most of the time. However, it's not hard to obtain cash as I can easily go to an ATM.
Now, my question is, can American(or any foreign for that matter) debit cards work in Japan? I have two but I'm specifically curious about Bank of America. If I bring that card over, will I be able to use it? Or will I have to set up a bank account in Japan?

You can use your Bank of America debit/ATM card at Japan Post Office ATM machines. It may or may not work in convenience store ATM machines, it depends on which convenience store you use.

Thanks for the information. Do you know any convienience stores in particular? Or how common post offices are?

I don't mean to bump but are there any takers on what stores have accessable ATMs for Bank of America?

I have BofA, Convenience store ATM's don't take them some machines in malls take them and post offices, just make sure the machine has a Visa and MC logos.

Bring cash. I have literally spent days looking for a machine that takes debit cards. Sometimes a machine will work one day, and then not the next. Japan is a cash culture. That's the safest bet.

@Decen
Do you deal with cash most of the time?

@MMM
I'm planning on living in Tokyo for at least a year(probably two). I'll be sure to bring enough cash to help me get on my feet as soon as I get here, but bringing enough cash for a year is obviously not feasible. Would you suggest I just get a bank account in Japan then? (Or any other options people do during long term stays).

If you are going to be there for a year, then you might consider opening a bank account in Japan. I would be surprised if your bank doesn't charge you a fee every time you take money out of the bank in yen.

In what capacity are you planning on living in Japan?

That's the type of information I'm still looking into right now. It would be a great convenience to be able to just stick to BoA, but if I'm going to get a lot of fees then I'll probably try and set up an account in Japan, assuming it's an easy process for a foreigner.

As for living in Japan, I'm just waiting on a college acceptance letter which should be arriving soon. If I don't get in, then this information won't really matter, but if I do get in then at least I'll have a few leads on basic living information before leaving in mid August.

You need to open a Japanese bank account. Not only will it make your life way easier as far as getting a hold of cash goes, without a bank account there are many things you cannot do, such as get a cell phone contract etc. Japan is a cash society and the idea of a card that just takes money directly out of your bank account just to pay for your groceries is still an idea that does not quite register with people here.

Japan is generally as safe country to carry around a lot of cash on you anyway. I will admit having the equivalent of $300+ on me at times did take some getting used to though.

And it is not uncommon for people to walk around with 10 times that.

This is something I've actually been curious about. Why is Japan such a "cash-based society" like everyone says? I mean, Do Japanese workers get direct deposit? Do they pull out cash from an atm and then buy the groceries rather than using the debit card as a form of payment? How do people in Japan acquire the cash to pay for everyday stuff, or how often do they frequent banks/atms? What happens if they're making a spur of the moment large purchase but don't have enough cash on them? Do they leave, get the money, and come back?

When I worked in Japan I was paid by direct deposit. There is no such thing as "checks" in Japan. You are paid by direct deposit or cash. Bank cards can only be used at the bank. Credit cards are becoming more commonplace, but still, cash is king.

To pay bills I would take my bills to the convenience store and pay them in cash.

I wouldn`t say that Japan is as much a cash society as people often say - credit cards are pretty common and these days most places accept them.

However, debit cards are pretty much nonexistent. It`s either cash, card, or recently prepaid electronic cash cards. There really isn`t anything that will draw money from a cash well in the bank like a debit card or a check.

My household bills are paid by direct withdraw. I get a notification for the amount, and it is automatically taken from my bank account. One or two (net and long distance, lumped together) are paid by credit card (which is paid by auto withdraw, so really it`s auto withdraw in the end.)
If something special comes up, I usually pay by bank transfer.

For groceries I pay with cash about 75% of the time. If I go to Aeon/Jusco - I pay with Waon (prepaid electronic cash card). The Waon card is automatically charged via my credit card in 3000 yen amounts when it drops below 1000 yen... And my credit card is paid by automatic withdraw.

What do you consider a "large purchase"? That is an important part of the question. $50? $100? $500?
I regularly carry around 30,000 yen. I feel stress if I have less than 10,000 stashed away in my wallet. As I tend to get the cash out at pay day and actually budget for the rest of the month - depending on the plans, I occasionally have 100,000 in there.
I can`t really imagine making a spur of the moment purchase of over 30,000. To be quite honest, I can`t really picture one of over about 8000. That`s sort of where my spending regulator kicks in. (As it`s hard to cover without pain)

And really, even if for some incredibly strange reason I decided to throw reason to the wind and buy something 30,000+ on the spur of the moment... I find it hard to think of anything I would want that would be sold somewhere that didn`t accept credit cards.

But what's your preferred method of obtaining cash(since you said you received direct deposit), and how often did you frequent atms/banks to get said cash?

I'm in the minority anyway in the states because I don't have any debt, and I don't buy ANYTHING on credit(unless it's something big that requires a credit card). I don't buy anything unless I can pay for it outright. It's a lot easier using a debit card in the states to make your large purchases, assuming you have the money. Therefore, it's still hard for me to wrap my head around making many purchases with a credit card instead of a debit card. Not really a big deal but I just don't like to associate anything with credit cards haha. So something like 30,000 I'll have a credit card for, but it just leaves a weird taste in my mouth to buy something that way if I know I can just pay for it right there, rather than buying it on the credit card and then paying off the card. Or with what you said about your credit card being paid by automatic withdraw; is this instant like using a debit card?

I don`t have any credit card "debt" either - what I pay for by card is what I can afford. What is on my card this month will be paid off in full on the withdraw date. I rarely pay by card anyway as it`s pretty uncommon for me to just buy something out of the blue that I don`t have the cash on me for.

I think you have to really think of it more out of necessity. There ARE no debit cards. There are no checks. (You can explain a credit card, but it`s pretty impossible to even get someone to comprehend what a check even IS.) It`s pay by cash or credit.

The automatic withdraw isn`t instant. It`s once a month on a set date, but anything that isn`t put into the revolving account on the credit card is interest free, so you can really think of it as a delayed debit card sort of thing. If you have the money in the bank, just leave it there and it will be paid by automatic withdraw. If it is something that you would normally pay by credit (ie. You don`t have the money available to pay it all right away), you would request that it be put in the revolving account on the card. That part is what would be considered "debt" as it is paid off in monthly installments and you are charged interest.

I have a bank account dedicated just to my card - there is no chance of "accidentally" using the money elsewhere.

Credit cards themselves aren`t bad. It`s just people who have no clue how to use them responsibly and who treat them like free bags of money that are the problem.

My preferred method is going to the bank and using the ATM to get cash. I probably went a couple times a month.

So basically you buy most of what you need throughout the month on a credit card, and then when pay time for your work rolls around, the credit card just pulls from your bank account at the end of the month?

So you probably took out the money in large quanities? I'm just so used to taking $20-100 here or there every few days.

You are going to need to get used to all kinds of different things when you move to Japan.

I would usually take out 20,000 to 50,000 at a time. Like Nyororin said, I would feel uncomfortable with less than 10,000 in my wallet at any time. You can take out any amount you want, but ATMs are not 24hrs (they are usually located inside the bank) so you always want to have emergency cash just in case you miss the last train, etc.

Well I'm not concerned about "culture shock;" I'm just concerned about access to my money. You can get anything if you have the cash to pay for it, but I don't want to show up in Japan with 5,000 dollars in my pocket. I'd rather bring some cash but withdraw money once I've gotten in the country, but then it's a means of how easily I'll be able to do that.

Then it's a matter of setting up a credit card that will withdraw from my bank account within a month so I don't have to withdraw from my BoA card again. Do you reccommend any Japanese banks?

I didn't say culture shock. You just keep saying "I am accustomed to this" and "I am accustomed to that" and I am saying you are going to need to get accustomed to some different ways of doing things.

One of those things might be showing up to Japan with 5000 dollars in your pocket.

Exchanging money and transferring money costs money, so you want to do it as little as possible.

I used the word culture shock in that you told me there were thing(s) I would need to get used to; needing to get accustomed to multiple things that are foreign is a large part of culture shock.
However, I don't feel I'll experience culture shock in the conventional sense; language barrier, new foods, etc. I'm just not accustomed to how my money has to be handled.

Would you suggest I board the plane to Japan with a few thousand dollars in my pocket? I'm asking questions to those who have more experience than myself, seeing as how I've never stepped foot into the country.

You can grow accustomed to things in a foreign country without experiencing culture shock. It's the inability to grow accustomed that causes culture shock, really.

Yes, I would suggest you board the plane with few months of cash so you can open a bank account when you get settled. It's hard to say how the yen/dollar situation will go, so you might want to exchange it before you go or you could wait until after you get there.

No, I pay for most of what I need through the month with cash. You asked about debit, so I explained the way my card functions... But I pay for most everything using cash. I even said this; "I rarely pay by card anyway as it`s pretty uncommon for me to just buy something out of the blue that I don`t have the cash on me for." You asked what people do if there is something they decide to buy on the spur of the moment when they don`t have the cash on them. The card is there for those rare out of the blue purchases where I do have the money but not on me for some reason (which is virtually never in my case).

You can withdraw as much as you like as often as you like, and never use a card even once while you`re in Japan - even for online purchases you can request a bank transfer form and just pay it at a convenience store or ATM. There is no reason you would need a credit card. People generally carry around cash, and it`s not unsafe. 10,000 bills have the pocket feel of $20s.

I wouldn`t worry about getting a credit card in Japan for the auto withdraw. (For one, the chances that you`d be able to get one as a student are nil.)
Just open a bank account at a bank with ATMs convenient to you. UFJ is everywhere, but you may find some other local bank more convenient where you live. Post office accounts seem to be the easiest to open, but ATMs are really only as common as post offices.

FWIW: UFJ apparently allows you to open an account with them in the USA: Important Information about Opening Accounts in the U.S. : Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ . I know nothing else about it, but if that interests you you might want to check into it. You could deposit your money before you leave, withdraw it in Japan. Here is a list of their offices in the USA: Global Network : Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ

I understand where you're coming from, I was uneasy too when I went but honestly it's the norm there. If it's security that concerns you, don't worry, that being said I wouldn't set foot in Roppongi with that much at night.

I went in with 3 grand to Narita, got scamed a bit with the rate but it was minor. I would just take as much as I figured I needed during the day and left the rest in my hotel room, not the safe but in my luggage.

Never had any problems or issues, Japan is general was/is cash based although credit cards are accepted at more and more places.

ps Remember, DON'T tip for your meal, they'll chase after you with the change :)