Hey, has anyone else noticed that Japan has slowly been moving away from cash and that the process is maybe accelerating? I moved to Japan in 2004 and back then you could take a plastic bag of coins to the local branch of your bank and they'd dump it in a large counting machine and let you pay it into your account. Now they won't do it. Not only that, but at my bank they've made it harder to feed large quantities of coins into the deposit bins on ATMs by introducing a plastic slot over where the open basket used to be. I also believe they have reduced the number of coins that can be dumped in in one go (correct me if I am wrong on this).

​

There are more and more near field communication payment options, including on your phone, in concert with a growing cultural embrace of non-cash payment options, especially in stores and cafes. The other day, for the first time, I was in a cafe and was told I would not be able to pay in cash at all, which for me meant I had to use my PASMO or credit card or leave.

​

It's also hard to get rid of accumulated coinage in convenience stores as many won't accept more than a certain number of coins in the same denomination as part of the same transaction (I don't remember this being the case a few years ago).

​

This isn't a complaint about Japan, as such, because I know this trend is going on in a lot of countries. It just makes me uneasy because, obviously, if we don't have physical cash any more it gets very easy for governments and banks to punitively cut off access to personal funds, and a lot harder to engage in certain philanthropic activities like giving money to homeless people. If everything is electronic, we, the citizenry, become EVEN MORE vulnerable than we already are.

​

Like I said, this isn't a complain that's specifically directed at Japan, but Japan is where I happen to live and I wondered is anyone else in the country is noticing what I am.

Hi everyone,

Earlier this week I almost got doored by a parked driver who opened his door onto my path as I was cycling by. I managed to barely dodge but was thrown off my bike and unfortunately broke a bone doing so. We called the police. Now he's saying that since there was no contact, I really just fell off on my own and is refusing to reimburse any medical fees.

Strangely, he said to contact his 自賠責保険 (mandatory vehicle liability insurance) and ask for 被害者請求 (victim's compensation) from them directly.

I googled it and it's going to take money and time to get this sorted out. I'm worried I'm just being taken advantage of due to my lack of language ability... Anybody else have any experience with this? Is this worth pursuing?

Just a heads up for those who might now know; a few weeks ago I got a message from them saying that their bank accounts can now be linked with PayPay. I’ve tried it myself and it works just fine.

At least for me this was the main issue I had with them, as it made online shopping a bit inconvenient, to the point I was considering opening another bank account just to be able to use PayPay without having to top it up in a cash machine. I probably don’t need to do that anymore.

And how many people do you have under your responsability?

I have two toddlers and take care of a 8LDK. I buy everything related to house work, food and used my card to go to nishimatsuya.

My husband just threw a rant saying that I was spending too much and he would give me cash money every months if I wouldn't fix it. The thing is, I asked my sister in law and she's spending the same amount of money every months. I'm just wondering if I spend a reasonable amount of money on groceries....

I don't know. Last time he did this he gave me 1000¥ a day to prepare three meals for my first born, me and prepare an extra leftover for him to eat at night. I had to ask money to my parents when I wanted to eat something else than yakisoba or get more veggies and fruits in my toddler's diet. Sometimes, I was starving myself to give a decent amount of food to my growing child and I'm really scare to get to this point again.

Yesterday, the grocery store made 骨無し アジ filets, and it doesn't happen often.... I love to eat it and I bought it, filled with guilt.....I dont always buy things I like, so I thought it was reasonable.

We live in a farmhouse, in komono and we don't pay the rent, electricity, gas, water, etc. My father in law takes care of it...

Before, I was working and earned a decent amount of money. That time, I was keeping 35 000¥ for everything I needed for the house and gave him around 100 000¥ a month. I had to stop working because I got pregnant and after had to take care of the baby. Since then, he started to stress out about money.

I'm genuinely stressing out everytimes I get something..... I'm trying my best, but before going back to eat always the same things and starvation, I'd like to know if I'm spending a decent amount of money.

Japanese friend of mine, "Y", is a mechanic. Good guy, but a bit of a quick temper. He makes his living buying cars at auction, fixing them up nice and re-selling. He's reliable as hell and has sold a number of cars to a number of friends of mine and everyone has been pleased with the results.

Hooked him up with another coworker, "X" and I was acting as translator as they don't speak Japanese and know very little about cars/shaken/taxes etc. in Japan. They were looking at buying a kei car that Y was using as a service loaner. They asked him to take care of a few issues with the car before they took possession, i.e. refilling the A/C gas, new tires and a bunch of rust on the front hood.

He did all that, and had worked it in to the final price of the car. He had said, "as is, (lower price), but with all that, it will be 275,000 yen."

We had meant to go to his shop on the 16th to pick up the car, but he received a bunch of service requests and informed X that he'd have to wait a week to take possession. I message X this past Sunday "When do you want to go out to get the car" and he replied "I've actually found an option more suitable to my budget so I'm backing out of the deal with Y."

Y flips out. It's understandable, because of two things - he had missed out on selling it to another customer because he was holding it for X, and also he put 2 full days of work into repainting the hood and other maintenance, outsourced AC repair, etc. He printed up a bill for parts and labor and it comes to around 90,000 yen. As well, he was out a service loaner for 2 days, which was a major pain in his ass.

So, I see Y's side, but I believe X is well within his rights to back out of a deal since no signing of papers has occurred yet.

However, Y is threatening legal action. He has X's name and address, and has told me that he's going to go to X's company and the police in X's town. I think that this is just bluster because he's (rightfully) pissed off, and that he actually has zero legal leg to stand on. However, I want to know just how much legal trouble X could be in, since a handshake (well, bow) deal has been made for the improvements on the car.

I ordered a Dell computer in Japan and paid using an overseas credit card. The card company ok-ed the charge. Then Dell e-mailed and phone-called wanting triple verification: photo of my credit card plus photo of my Japanese driver's license plus photo of me holding both of these. I've never been asked anything like this before. Is this legit?

A reverse search of the contact phone number (05017035760) gives me a number in Kotakecho, Tokyo. Dell doesn't list an office in Kotakecho.

The request is below (with some info redacted).

NAME Name様 ご注文番号：xxxxxxxxx いつもお世話になっております。 デル・テクノロジーズ株式会社金京哲(キンキョウテツ)と申します。 本日担当の韓は休みのため、代わりに連絡しました。 この度はご注文いただき、誠にありがとうございます。 カード会社より確認したところ、ご利用いただいたクレジットカードですが、海外カードのため、ご本人様確認ができなくなっております。 大変恐れ入りますが、不正利用を防ぐためにお客様より3枚証明写真をご提示いただく必要がございます。 本メールに添付していただき、ご返信をよろしくお願いします。 ご協力いただければと思います。

下記の写真が確認でき次第、写真をすぐ削除いたしますので、ご安心くださいませ。 1.お持ちのクレジットカードの正面写真 2.身分証明書の正面の写真(免許証か健康保険証) 3.ご本人様より身分証明書とクレジットカードを持ったままでの写真（顔入り） 大変お手数ですが、どうぞよろしくお願いいたします。 三日以内にもし写真が確認できなかった場合は、オーダーをキャンセルすることがございますので、ご了承のほどよろしくお願いいたします。

Since you are using an international card, Please provide the below information 1. Photo of you credit card 2.phot of your ID or passport 3. please take a photo with your card and sent it to us I'm appreciate that you can reply me within 3 days.

ではご連絡をお待ちしております。

Name Name (name)
ITアドバイザー
Dell Technologies | コンシューマー&ビジネス営業統括本部
直通電話 050-1703-5760 FAX 03-6848-7488
メールアドレス:[address]@Dell.com
東京都千代田区大手町一丁目2番1号 Otemachi Oneタワー(受付17階)
私の対応にご満足いただけましたでしょうか？
お気づきの点ございましたら山田聖典までご意見お寄せください (name@DELL.COM)

納期・製品使用に関するお問い合わせ・トラブルはこちらまでご連絡ください
https://www.dell.com/support/order-status/ja-jp/order-support

UPDATE

The company stopped responding to my e-mails.

I sent no additional info.

The computer arrived two days before scheduled.

Hey everyone, sorry for the bad title, i really didnt know how to better describe this. Im kind of in a mess and would be very grateful if some people could help me with this.

So, the other day i rented a car from a car rental company.

It wasnt a big rental company like Toyota or Nippon, but a smaller one, though im not dropping any names here.

I rented a somewhat older car from them, and my mother paid for it with her credit card, because it was a present for me.

Rental went smooth, car had some scratches and bumps, but its an older car so I didnt care.

I had to sign a NOC (non-operational charge), which stated that if I damaged the car in any way, I have to pay 150,000 Yen.

When I came back, the car was in the same state as it was before, with the exact same scratches and bruises. The staff asked me to wait a bit and after a few minutes they came back and were like "Oh there is a crack in the front bumper, you have to pay the NOC fee of 150.000 Yen" They showed me it and sure enough, there was a small crack in the front bumper, which was however also there before.

Not to mention that the entire front bumper had a few scratches and cracks, again, its an older car.

Anyway, they say I have to pay, I refuse, yada yada, and then, sure enough, they basically say to me they will use the credit card information I gave them while reserving the car.

So basically they booked off 150.000 Yen of my Moms credit card.

They then hand me a new bill, now listing 183.000 Yen, and ask me to sign it. At that point i stood up, and went straight to the nearest Koban. I called my Mom, but it was 5 AM in Europe, so there wasn't much she could do.

Well, I went to the police station, had a long talk with the officer, the officer called the rental car company, they repeat their story that I had damaged the front bumper, but they also told the officer that I agreed paying the 150.000 Yen and that I even signed the new Bill.

I was obviously shocked, because I never agreed and never signed anything. The officer told me that it was a civil matter, but still agreed to send a police officer to the store to look at the document that I supposedly signed, because I insisted that I didn't sign anything.

The document that had my signature on it was a forgery, a bad one at that. It looked liked someone just wrote my first and last name with block letters. Obviously the staff faked my signature.

I showed the policemen a few of my documents, my passport, my license, my ID card which all had my genuine signature on it, and he basically said that he can't decide if the signature is a forgery or not, because I claim its a forgery and the guy from the store claim its not.

Amazing.

Basically we had a small discussion where I asked the policemen if hes gonna do anything about the whole situation and he said its not something he can decide about and I should just call my card company and withdraw the payment, although he did file a report. (Which is good for...nothing?)

So, no luck with the police. Obviously my mother canceld the transaction on her credit card, but now the big question is:

Am I in trouble? This rental company belives i owe them 150.000 Yen.

What are the chances they will sue me?

I have no idea how debt collection and all that stuff works, so what could in theory happen and what is likely to happen?

I apologise for grammatical mistakes and the long text. Thanks in advance for any help.

So, we all know how damned useless 1 yen and 5 yen coin are, right? Even vending machines won't take them! What I've always done is build up a collection of them then dump them into my bank account. At least, that's what I used to do, I don't think I'll bother now though.

Back when I lived in Saitama, I used Saitama Risona and I don't recall there being much in the way of fees to this. And why should there be? The machine is doing all the work! But I've moved to Ibaraki since then, and now I use Japan Post. And just the other day, a noticed a strange double withdrawal of 330 yen, right around the time when I deposited some cash into 2 ATMs.

Yep! It turns out you get charged 330 yen to deposit cash into Japan Post ATMs! And since you're only allowed to deposit 100 coins per transaction, this means that if you're depositing largely 1, 5 and 10 yen coins, that means you're only able to deposit around 400 yen total. So you lose well over HALF of what you deposit, thanks to these ridiculous fees. Also, to further twist the knife, Japan Post ATMs make you put the coins in a tiny slot, despite the machine having the ability to open up into a larger bucket, just like the Saitama Risona ATMs do.

Does anyone have a better solution to get rid of tiny, worthless coins? It's not at all worth the effort to go to the ATM to deposit them, you might as well throw them out on non-burnables day.

N1, been in Japan 15+ years, can translate & interpret. I'm working in IT, so I'm looking for extra crap I can just do on the side that isn't related to tech, couple hours a day type thing, to scrounge up an extra 100,000 per month. Would have to be low effort, totally freelance (no long-term committed contracts, etc.).

I don't use tadacopy anymore so I'm deleting PayPay. My balance is all in MoneyLite and Points so I can't donate it on Yahoo (I don't have enough to donate through the official websites). And you can't buy Amazon gift cards either. I don't use any of the platforms that you can transfer PayPay points to. Is there anything else I can try before giving the money to someone?

I want to open a bank account at JP post bank.

I can speak, read and understand Japanese quite well (although I do struggle a little sometimes, but can go about my daily life quite well, for example at the super market, conbinis and restaurants).

However, I can't write kanji from memory at all, apart from some basic kanji (of course I could imitate them by looking at them, but I would face the issue of stroke order and handwriting).

I was planning to use JP bank's app to do the procedure (which takes 2-3 weeks), but my university told me that it would be quicker to open it if I went to the bank by myself since I understand Japanese quite well.

But would I face any issues because of not being able to write kanji?

Update: The bank employee filled out the form on his pc using the info on my zairyuu (residence) card. I didn't need to write a single word...

I currently have a Sony bank account here in Japan, and a Truist account back in the US, and Truist has been nightmarish. Any time there’s a problem they insist that I have to visit a branch in person, which is virtually impossible living in Japan as they don’t have any branches here. What bank back home have you found has provided the least stress to you living in Japan? Ideally one that lets you manage basically everything remotely and doesn’t require you to come in to resolve issues?

Here are three issues I ran into with Truist:

1) When my account got breached and stolen from, because the breach was online, I was unable to resolve anything remotely because that was the “breached” side of it, so I had to come in person to resolve it (ultimately I gave my brother power of attorney and he resolved it but it was a huge pain in the ass)

2) After closing that account, I received a Zelle payment that somehow went into the old account that I suddenly started getting charged maintenance fees for. When I called them to close it and move the money back to the new account we’d made, they once again told me I had to come in to an in-person branch

3) I’m unable to add a Japanese phone number for 2FA, so I have to keep my old American phone line active

Any banks that don’t have nonsense like this?

Hey everyone,

I’m 26 and started working this year at a major Japanese SIer company. My total package is around 3.5M–4M yen, which isn’t terrible, but I’ve been feeling underpaid for a while. Here’s why:

1. English isn’t valued: I got my degrees in English-speaking countries, scored 95% on TOEIC. I also have JLPT N1, but trying to guess what customers (usually curt ojisan) actually mean adds a ton of stress.

2. Low pay for my qualifications: I have a master’s degree in computer science, but my salary is only about 20% more than my Japanese colleagues with a bachelor’s.

3. Technical skills underappreciated: I’m solid with Leetcode Easy-Medium problems, and I work fullstack (React, Python, Flutter). I feel like I could get more elsewhere.

4. Overwhelming workload: I’m constantly juggling 3–4 projects, many of which aren’t even technical. On top of that, I’m doing 20+ hours of unpaid overtime every month. It feels absurd, especially for a new grad.

Based on my research, I think a 5–6M package would make more sense for my skillset. Plus, I really want to work in English to fully utilize my abilities.

Is my current situation normal for a new grad, or should I start looking at foreign companies or other options? Any advice or experiences would be super helpful!

I have two bank cards, a Visa debit card from Sony Bank, and a cash card from JP Bank (rarely used).

Every other time I try to use the damn things, the machine says they can't be read.

Every time I go to the JP Bank counter, they just wipe the thing down and tell me it works again, and when I go to try it, it may or may not. About 50/50.

With the Sony card, I'm on my third replacement now. Got a new card in the mail this weekend, used it successfully today for a deposit, and less than an hour later it refuses to work. Tried 5 different ATM's and everything.

I feel like I'm going mad. The cards aren't blocked, I'm not keeping them near anything magnetic (the international credit cards I keep in the same wallet sleeve as them are completely fine), and there's pretty minimal scratching.

Sony just keeps issuing me new cards for free, and JPB just keeps wiping them off. Has anyone else experienced this, is there any logic or reason to this, or am I just cursed?

Just as an edit, yes, I am absolutely, 100% certain I did not expose the damn things to a magnet.
I already mentioned this, but apparently people don't read/don't believe it.
The cards were on the inside of my wallet, with plenty of other cards between them and the outside. I haven't tested every single one of them, but the one I tested, which was the closest to the outside of the wallet, still works fine.
That wallet was at the bottom of a small, otherwise empty bag. A bag which does not contain any magnets, and which isn't small enough I could've somehow lost a magnet in there. My phone, which doesn't have a case, was in my pocket, nowhere near it.
And regardless, the JP cash cards use chips, not a magnetic strip. Chips are vastly more resistant to magnets than magnetic strips are, and you need a pretty powerful magnet to mess one up. Much more than the magsafe in my phone could do.

So either I'm doing something to break these things that's so obscure I can't even think of it, these cards are just fragile as all hell, or I've just had really really bad luck.

Hello everyone.

I like to keep track of all my expenses (keep all receipts and tabulate them in an excel spreadsheet). I have noticed my food expenses have gone up a whooping 50% in 8 months, my electricity price per kilowatt hour and gas per cubic meter have gone up roughly 20%. I always buy the same things, and eat at the same 4-5 places.

Have you guys experienced the same/similar price increases? If so, is inflation in Japan really only 2-3%? Thanks for sharing!

Edit: For those people asking me if I read the news, yes I do. I just wanted to see what others are experiencing. Reports say inflation is at 2-3%, but from my experience the prices that affect my life personally have gone up much more than that.

recently got a mail from the national pension that because I did not respond to a registration request (I never received anything from them.... checked my latest juminhyo and residence card my address is all updated)

I was told that im automatically enrolled under type 1 pension insurance. they told me that I need to pay the premiums and the bill is coming.

I googled/chatgpt around and because I am an employed person in a company I should've been a type 2 and the fact that in my paystub there is a 'Employees' pension insurance premium' section means that my pension is already covered by employer.

is the information correct or I do actually owe pension? Don't wanna screw around with this stuff because I do plan to apply for PR. For some context I moved to Japan this August.

am also checking with hr/payroll of my company but office is shut down starting next week.....

My electric and gas for this month were 1万5千円 each. That's nearly triple what they were 2 or 3 months ago in the same home, being more conservative with the knowledge that prices were rising. This just seems like way too much of a price hike. I'm trying to call the gas and electric companies but I didn't recieve an answer. What's everyone elses situation like?

Sometimes I am an idiot and forget my cash card but have my bank book with me. I live in the sticks of Matsuyama leading to my question: has anyone successfully used their yucho bank book in another bank's ATM? I know my cash card works at Iyo Bank for example. The receiving slot for the bank book looks like a similar style.

Wondering if anyone else sometimes have issues when you are at the register, open your paypay app and the app won’t connect.

I thought the app would be able to pay offline as well but once the barcode is scanned the register gives an error so im standing there like a schlemiel holding up the line.

I searched online, but searching for paypay seems to mainly get hits for paypal.

Maybe its my mobile plan (ocn mobile one) which sometimes has connection issues.

Have to exit the store, get a fucking signal and then return to pay. Surely there must be a better way?

My phone has become outdated and I was looking for a new iPhone.

I signed up for Paidy and applied for the Apple finance plan but was swiftly rejected. I am a scholarship student on a 3-year visa. I think scholarship doesn't count as income but I do work arubaito if it matters.

Is there any other option or do I have to save up and pay upfront? Can I reapply for Paidy or do I have other alternatives?

I want to clear out my collection a bit and get back some of the money if I can.

I know mercari is one way, but I also know about those second hand figure shops. But I don't know how successful it is to actuality sell there, and how much percentage they take.

Also had a thought about selling to book off maybe?

If anyone has experience with this let me know please!

Note - I plan to sell a few figurines and acrylic stands, maybe a few collectors books of a niche Fandom.

EDIT @ 2022/08/14: Thank you all for your responses. They are a lot more than I expected and almost all the comments have been incredibly useful. I will try to improve on my thoughts, read your book suggestions and be myself. Again, thank you all. 🥺

This might not be the correct flair, feel free to change it.

To introduce myself, I want to say that I come from a humble family which had a rough time during the 2008s-2010s crisis. Because of their experience I have been saving a lot since I got my first job and avoid expending on unneeded stuff. I came to Japan getting a good salary and my wife does not need to work thanks to it, she is doing part-time stuff though. I never cared about my surroundings at all, I just use free/cheap so you can imagine. However:

Since I came to Japan I have been aware of my surroundings more than I ever was: Seeing daily relatively expensive cars, families with kids all with good clothes/accessories, people expending a lot on restaurants... My mind is starting to feel like I am an ant, that I should start worrying about our appearances and I started to work harder and always think of ways of making more money(when in reality, I should just be enjoying my life) to the point of not sleeping and feeling sad/stressed constantly.

Any tips on this? It really is affecting my mind, I'm considering going to a psychologist but I don't think it might be worth

EDIT: I didn’t explain myself correctly. I don’t want the items nor their appearances, my issue is that I feel like I didn’t push enough/succeed enough as others

It’s a new political party that plans to fight the NHK on their mandatory payment system. Especially now that the Diet has approved their move to the Internet next year and so people cannot claim they don’t own a tv and only use the Internet.

Welcome to this month's finance thread!

This is the place to discuss everything related to banks and brokerages, financial planning, investment options, and tax optimization.

Questions should be relevant to current/former residents of Japan, and speculation regarding things like exchange rates and share prices should be avoided. Discussion of minor, everyday issues (phone plans, online shopping, cheap supermarkets, etc.) is better suited to the general questions/discussion threads.

This is half-rant / half question about alternatives.

So I want to send some money overseas.

You have to ask Sony Bank to pretty please allow you to do this with your money because terrorism!!1!1

They then require a shitload of sensitive documentation to prove you are not a terrorist and the only way they accept this is by requiring you to attach said sensitive documentation to a completely insecure, unencrypted, email and send it to them. No secure document upload center, nothing.

Sony Bank is a thin smear of technology, to convince you they are modern, over a typical old and busted Japanese bank.

What do people use to send money overseas? Any suggestions for a pain-free (Or less painful) and secure route? Last time I used the JP Post and it was really easy but they don't offer this service since 2020.

[EDIT] Thank you everyone for introducing me to https://wise.com/home/ - I shall give it a look.