I know that me ranting like this is not doing much to change how things work around here, but here we are in the big 2026, with the government urging changes in ways to work, banks are still evaluating users for banking services- something that almost equals lifeline infrastructure- with a set of “risk based rules” that based on the lives back in the 1990s.
- Opening a bank account
This is a forever issues, where some unnamed Jxxxxx Pxxx bank will refuse account opening for people arriving in Japan for less than 6 months. But without a bank account and/or credit card, you can’t get rental houses, phones, etc to live normally…
Now, some banks still allow account openings, so the damage is not too bad yet… - Opening a credit card
If you don’t have a credit card, you won’t have credit history, and you won’t be able to open a credit card without credit history, rinse and repeat - Taking out a loan (any from a short term loan for cars, or bigger loans)
Apparently any professions besides public workers and company employees are going to face a verrry dark time, no matter how consistently high your earnings are.
Additionally, even if your salary is so low, staying in one company for a long time is still much better (welp I really miss the days where Japanese companies still actually increases one’s salary periodically, not now anymore)
Also the part that infuriates me the most is the assumption that the man is always the breadwinner in the house. If somehow the one applying for a loan is the wife, even if she has higher income, banks will question why is the husband not the one applying… I feel so frustrated as this is so fundamentally sexist, just because the old MEN in banks still hold the deep assumption that women will FOR SURE get pregnant, give birth, give up jobs, have a lower income compared to the men….
Fundamentally, the politicians accolading women “empowerment” or 社会進出 can talk all they want, but they never plan to improve barriers like this, and it makes me so tired and disheartened…
by ChampionshipLimp950
12 comments
How about a friend of mine who couldn’t open a Japan Post account for her baby, because he (the **baby**) had the same name and Kanji as someone on record as a criminal.
Get the “easy” credit cards first. Anecdotally Rakuten, Cost-Co.
Depends on the bank of course, but sometimes getting a bank loan is just a matter of having the numbers on your side. When we applied for a mortgage our account prepared a folder with several years of income and expenses, and showed how we could afford repayments and we’re low risk. Of course YMMV but it’s not always about who you are, sometimes they just want numbers.
1 Is related to AML / financial regulations, not banks being ornery on purpose. Also it is quite possible to secure housing (etc.) without a bank account, though certainly can be more troublesome. Cell phones are also doable as well, but yes it may limit your selection unfortunately (and that is certainly frustrating.)
2 This is demonstrably untrue, including in countries other than Japan.
3 I’m not sure most of this is accurate, though definitely true that contract and freelance workers face higher scrutiny / higher hurdles.
>Fundamentally, the politicians accolading women “empowerment” or **社会進出** can talk all they want, but they never plan to improve barriers like this, and it makes me so tired and disheartened…
That was quite a turn to take…
>Also the part that infuriates me the most is the assumption that the man is always the breadwinner in the house. If somehow the one applying for a loan is the wife, even if she has higher income, banks will question why is the husband not the one applying…
Unless you are a non-pr foreigner?
I’m (man) the one with the bigger capital and clearly stated I’m the one who’s going to inject most of the capital, but all banks just suggest for my wife to apply to avoid all the challenges and complexities associated with loaning to a non-pr foreigner; but it doesn’t make sense for my wife to apply by herself as the loan would be much lower…
I was surprised by how many banks would just give a loan to my wife based on her job and financial situation alone.
Honestly I had just as much difficulty opening my first credit card in the UK as an employed UK citizen as I did opening one here as an unemployed foreign resident with less than 1 year to expiry on my visa. It’s not that bad unless you have a middle name (there are still ways around that too).
I couldn’t get a credit card for the first 2 years, which meant I couldn’t have a phone number based in Japan. 2 years without a phone number meant I couldn’t sign up to pretty much anything. I had to give my company phone number to companies when looking for a new job.
And a bonus: I almost got stranded in Tokyo once because my Suica was empty, I had my cash card on me but when I tried to withdraw the bank had gone down which meant I couldn’t withdraw my own money for 3 days. By sheer luck I had some loose coins just enough for the train ticket back.
Go to SMBC Trust Bank – Prestia.
Subsidy of SMBC with specific focus on expats and foreign residents. They all speak fluently English. I opened my bank account and got debit and credit card applications approved within my first week after arriving in Tokyo. The branch in Akasaka is great!
Online banking for MUFG’s business system doesn’t let you log in on holidays. For a company that’s open on holidays, that’s awful.
They also just added English and their calendar says Mon, Tue, Web. Lol no Wednesday, we have Webnesday.
Whenever I see posts like these, I just have to wonder what all of you are doing. I know foreign university students with multiple Japanese credit cards that they got with ease. And before you say “muh middle name!” These students are from other parts of Asia and thus have really long names, with multiple middle names. If a Southeast Asian student with 3 middle names can do it, so can someone named John Michael Smith.
Opening a Japan Post bank account is easy and straightforward. How on Earth are gaijin in the year 2026 *still* complaining about these things?
> Opening a bank account
This is the fault of the government and a very outdated law. You can generally open a restricted Japan Post account (try a bigger branch if you have trouble at smaller ones) even within your first 6 months in Japan.
The law also allows you to open a full (unrestricted) bank account if you can prove employment. Sony Bank allows this. They ask for a copy of a business card but you can probably make it work with other documents. University students can generally get accounts opened as well, especially if the university makes the introduction (which is common.)
> Opening a credit card
Easy to solve. Open a secured LifeCard, called a “デポジット型ライフカード” in Japanese. You place a security deposit for the amount of credit you want. Want a 200,000yen credit limit? You place a 200,000yen deposit. This is a normal credit card in every other way. You get bills at the end of each billing period that you have to pay. It codes as a normal credit card at checkout — not a debit card, not a prepaid card. And it shows on your credit report as a normal credit card. (Likewise if you miss payments THAT will get reported onto your credit history too, so don’t miss payments.)
After a year or so, you may be able to convert the lifecard into a normal card and get your deposit back, or you can probably get something like a Rakuten card.
Another option for this that I still use today is Wise. You can get a mastercard debit card through them. Sure it is not the same as having a credit card but the exchange rates are AMAZING. Sony’s Visa Debit card is another good option, if you do open a Sony account.
> Taking out a loan
These are actually much more difficult. It is tough to get a loan that exceeds the length of your visa, without them wanting a cosigner. With my first car loan over 25 years ago, I was making 8m/year in a secure job, still had to ask my father-in-law to cosign. Second loan like that I had PR and did not need a cosigner.
Really the best solution to this is to not buy cars that you can’t pay cash for. I currently drive a beater that I paid 350,000en for during the pandemic. It’s great, and has been super reliable. No car payments is the best.
Then i think i was lucky ! I got the original Amex gold card! Yeah the roman army head AMEX. The original Amex. I could not believe my luck. Only 7 months in Jp.
> This is a forever issues, where some unnamed Jxxxxx Pxxx bank will refuse account opening for people arriving in Japan for less than 6 months.
I opened a JP Post account less than a week after arriving.
At least the ATMs are mostly 24/7 now – when I arrived they still worked on roughly 9~9 schedule, and more than a few banks were completely shut on weekends.
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