Opening a bank account (successfully)

After Mizuho and UFJ Bank brushed me off, I was looking for another bank to open an account at. Emi told me to wait for what my company says, but I didn’t have anything to do today. Livio (the guy from eatern Switzerland living in Tokyo) suggested Shinsei bank, which doesn’t require a seal. I didn’t find a branch close enough to my home or work, so I was looking around for another one, until Japan Post Bank came to mind. They offer ATM services to foreigners, so I figured they might be foreigner-friendly in other aspects as well.

After going to the office close to Oimachi station, a very friendly staff helped me fill out all the forms. Following documents were required:

• Address in Japan
• Phonenumber (I used my gf’s because I don’t have one yet)
• Residence card
• Passport

The staff really helped me out a lot. Everyone was very patient and told me, what the kanji I couldn’t read mean.

After waiting for what was about 20 minutes, I walked out the bank with a new account and some kind of a booklet, which I can use to withdraw money for now. I’ll recieve a bank card in a few days, so I won’t need to carry that around all the time (luckily).