Cost of living in Japan

So I’ve made a vlog about the cost of living in Japan, finally posted it here. It’s 40 mins long so it’s split into two parts! In it I cover the cost of bills, food, transport, banks and the Post Office.

I’ve got some more to add now, so here’s an update.

Bills

As mentioned, your gas, electric, water (every two months) and insurance bills can all be paid at local combini (convenience stores- Family Mart, 7/11 etc).

The basic way to know if it’s a bill if you can’t read Japanese is it will have a bar code on it. Therefore, you can take it to the combini to pay it.

 

Post Office

Like back home, if you’re not in, your package or letter that needs signed will be taken to the Post Office. The Japanese post office is JP Post, ask your boss for your local one. I live in a small town but my post office is still huge, and also like back home, offers banking too. I forgot to mention in my video, if you need to pick up a parcel/letter, take ID (gaijin card) and your hanko (stamp with your name in kanji). You don’t need to speak any Japanese, just hand over the card.

Banks

If you’re like me and a beginner at Japanese, you will need someone to speak the language to help you open your account. The forms will be in Japanese, so it’s impossible to otherwise.

You’ll get a cash card, which essentially can be used for lifting money at ATMs. As I’ve mentioned, cash is king in Japan. You can rarely switch things unless in the big cities.

Japanese banks are much better than back home. They’re open for ages, and even when they close for lunch, the ATMs are still open. The ATMs are fantastic- there will be an English option. You can withdraw, check your balance, and here’s the best bit- deposit money too. Follow the instructions- all you need to do is put in your passbook, and you can deposit coins (which is great, because 1 Yen coins are worthless and really add up in your purse) and notes. The machine will count your money, you confirm the amount, and update your passbook. Simples!

Transferring money back home

There are two options. You can open a Post Office International Payment account here. The problem is this needs to be done before you come to Japan, and you need to have two proofs of your Japanese address in English.

Instead, I opened a Lloyds Go account here.

They send you a letter, which you can take up to the bank teller. It took my guy a while to work it out, but there’s a number they can phone. He then took me over to the ATM. For some reason, the transfer option doesn’t come up in the English menu. Using the info on the letter, he was able to transfer the money to my Bank of Scotland account back home.

The pros- it’s simple enough once it’s set up and the money is transferred in hours.

The cons- if like me you need to transfer every month, it’s annoying that you can’t walk into the bank and transfer the money without help, or do it online. Also there’s a 2000 Yen fee (£16) and sometimes more depending on your bank.

 

I think that’s everything, leave a comment if you have any questions ^^