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Written by John Cheshire
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Where's the best place to withdraw money from an overseas account in Japan?
When I first arrived in Japan in 2001, I had no idea how to get money out of my American bank account. I didn't have a special international card, but I assumed that I would be able to get money somewhere. This proved to be quite a mistakes as I spent several days being broke before I was able to solve my predicament.
First, I noticed that most ATM's had a VISA mark on them, so I thought "This will be easy. I'll just use one of those ATM's." However, after spending several hours talking to various bank customer service operators I realized that I was barking up the wrong tree. After asking around a bit, I heard that, being an international bank, Citibank ATM's would allow me to access my American bank account. Unfortunately, the only Citibank ATM in Osaka was located in Honmachi which was a 40 minute train ride from where I lived. I made the trip down to Honmachi and managed to withdraw some money from the Citibank ATM. I was ecstatic, but one problem remained. I needed to be able to access this ATM on a fairly regular basis and making the trip to Honmachi made this next to impossible. That's when I heard something that shocked me.
Just down the street from our dorm was a Japanese post office, and I had gone there to send some paperwork to my school. At the time I didn't notice, but there was an ATM there. It turned out that this ATM had the ability to withdraw money from overseas bank accounts. In addition the ATM doesn't charge any special fee to withdraw your money and provides you with a reasonable exchange rate. Postal ATM's are located throughout Japan in even the most remote locations. So just remember, as long as you have an ATM card, you will never be far from your bank accounts back home.
Just look for the postal savings mark:
For more information on what cards can be used click here.
For detailed instructions on how to the Postal Savings Machines click here.
To locate an ATM near you click here and enter your seven digit zip code into the center box marked 郵便番号で検索 then hit the 検索 button.
The Straight Dope: Most ATM's in Japan don't accept cards issued overseas. However Japan Post ATM's do and they are located throughout the country. No one has commented on this article. J! Reactions • General Site LicenseCopyright © 2006 S. A. DeCaro |
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