(OR: WHAT I WISH I KNEW BEFORE....)
By Rob Murphy
This sign is
"Ginko", or Bank
In Japan, bank interest is
exceptionally poor -- less than 0.5% on any
account. If you do set up such an account though make sure you have enough
money on hand to cover any possible emergencies. Bank hours are about the
same as in the US --they close at 3PM on weekdays. Most have ATMs, but
outside of central Tokyo they close around 6 PM or
so. Also, you can save money just like banks through the post office. The
P.O. is open til 4:00 (their ATMs until 9:00 weekdays, 5:00 Saturdays), has
slightly better interest rates, and vastly more offices than any of the banks.
Being a foreigner, you probably can get by without an inkan in establishing an account, but
if you get one and use it
once you'll be forever required to use it. It is the same as your legal
signature--take VERY good care of it.
Checks in Japan are nearly
unheard of for consumer transactions. People use cash and credit cards. Credit cards are
generally accepted only at larger department stores and hotels, as well as shops
that handle a lot of tourists. Generally smaller shops and supermarkets do not accept them.
But it's now possible to withdraw money using
a Visa,
AmEx,
Mastercard, Cirrus, Maestro,
Plus, or Electron affiliated card at some ATMs and post offices, as well as Citibank.
Japanese banks do offer one big convenience, though. You can automatically have your bills for utilities paid through bank transfer. This will save you the hassle of paying the bills yourself. Just fill out the necessary forms from your utility company. You can revoke this power at any time, and you'll get a receipt through the mail of what was deducted. If you choose not to do this, you can still pay your bills through the post office, or almost any convenience store if it's not overdue.
- "How do I send money to someone??"
Since Japanese don't
use checks, Japanese send money by way of bank
transfer (furi-komi). Usually the money will arrive on the next business
day. The costs for sending money can range from 105 yen to 735 yen,
depending on the bank you go to and whether the receiver's acct. is at a
different bank. Japanese banks do not send monthly statements of your
current balance. To check, you need to take your acct. book (tsucho) and
stick it in the ATM. Any deposits or withdrawals will immediately be
printed on it, including your current balance. You will need your PIN
number (ansho bango) to withdraw money-- do NOT forget your secret number!!
Also, if you or someone attempts to put in the incorrect PIN number to gain
access to your account, the bank's computer will freeze the whole account
until you clear up the mess with their administration. Some banks charge a
small fee (100-300 yen) if you withdraw money and your balance is below a
certain amount.
- "How do I send money home?"
So you've visited
the banks and found that your bedroom mattress gives a
better interest rate. Now what? You have a few options-- invest it with a
securities co. (shoken gaisha), send it home and invest it (there are still
some good Savings Bonds worth looking at,
as well as some mutual funds), or wait until
the exchange rates move in your favor, buy travelers checks, and keep them
until you go back. A securities company also has CD type accounts, or can buy
stocks for you. The Japanese stock market (Nikkei) has been rather flat,
along with the anemic economy of late, but there are other markets that
are doing well, and the NYSE hasn't disappeared either. If you're
interested, contact a stock broker. If you want to play it safe though,
send it home to a CD, Treasury Note, or make a moderately conservative investment in a
Ginnie Mae (GNMA) fund. For sending money home, the Japanese post office
may be your cheapest and best bet. The Post Office allows you to send money
home to any person through a money order at much cheaper rates.
The person you send
it to (hopefully someone you can trust) can then
deposit the money order into your account. (NB: If you'll be out of the
country for a long time, it would be a good idea to legally make a good
friend or family member have a limited power of attorney for your affairs.
This allows them to act in your name.) For sending up to 200,000 yen, the
P.O. charges a mere 1000 yen. From 200,000 to 500,000 yen the charge is
1500 yen, and beyond that it is 500 yen per 500,000 yen sent.
In some cases though you may have to send it through a bank, which takes about 4-7 days.
If you have a Citibank account with over a million yen you can send the money for free to any
bank account through the Internet
Banking System. Simply download and mail in their recipient registration form to a Citibank
administration center first. Another alternative is
through GoLloyds, which has a
2000 yen fee (kokusai soukin tesuryo) per remittance. Through a Japanese bank, the fast way is direct electronic
transfer, which costs 2500-7500 yen, and maybe more when it reaches
its destination from the receiving
bank(s). The smaller the bank you send it to, the more times the money
bounces around from one bank to another and incurs service charges. A
cheaper way is the bank mail transfer, which takes up to a couple of weeks.
The costs are around 2500 yen, but vary from bank to bank. The bank must inform the government anytime
over $10,000 is moved, so frequently depositing more than US$10,000 in a US
account might attract government scrutiny and increase the
chance of a tax audit by the IRS. Since 1986 to willfully attempt to circumvent the
bank's $10,000 reporting law (e.g. sending several blocs of $9900, etc.) is also illegal
and a bank can inform the government voluntarily anytime they wish.
- "Do I still need to file income tax forms if I am living abroad?"
For U.S. citizens,
it's YES! US citizens must file a
1040 Long Form by June 15th of each year (you have a 2 month grace period
compared with your friends back home). If you receive income or interest
in your home state you may also need to file forms for your
state income tax; as well as a separate form (Form TD F 90-22.1, not sent with
the 1040) listing each bank account outside of the US if the aggregate value of
the accounts exceeds $10,000. The first thing you'll need is the official
dollar-yen conversion chart from your local embassy/consulate. You'll need it to
complete the Foreign Earned Income Form (#2555). If you spent more than 330
days outside of the US, then you qualify for the Bona Fide Residence Test
and are allowed a $74,000 income tax exemption. Even if you end up owing
zero to Uncle Sam you still must file your tax forms. If not, you might not
be able to get your passport renewed when it expires and you open yourself
up to an audit. If you've never had one, you'll find that root canal
together with a broken leg is a far more pleasant experience. If you don't
qualify for the BFRT than you may still owe nothing thru the Physical
Presence Test, in which the number of days you're not in the US divided by
365 gives you what percentage of $74,000 you can be exempt from. If you
have stocks/bonds/mutual funds, etc, you'll also have additional forms to
fill out (1099-INT, 1099-DIV,etc). Note also that to be able to count a day
as outside the US you must be in or flying over a foreign country, whether
it's your destination country or not doesn't matter. Flying over the ocean
per se doesn't count. The bureaucrats have made a very lengthy explanation
of all this in their tax pamphlets. (See IRS Publication 54 -- Tax Guide for US
Citizens and Resident Aliens Abroad). Contact the US embassy (033-224-5000)
or Osaka Consulate (06-315-5900) for tax advice during the tax season. The
embassy has an IRS agent there all year long, and can assist you in getting
thru the red-tape, as well as other matters such as absentee ballots (you
DO vote, don't you?) and legal questions. British nationals can find info
here.
- "What if I get sick in Japan?"
Getting ill in a foreign
country is nothing to take lightly--and medical expenses in Japan can be
quite costly as well. If you live in Japan you can choose to enroll in Japan's National Health
Insurance. Under this plan you pay a monthly premium, as well as a 30%
deductible of your medical/dental bills immediately on treatment; the
government pays the other 70%. You can sign up for it at your
local city ward or town office, and aside from that there is never any
paperwork or red tape to go through. The ward or town office determines
a monthly premium to pay based on your previous year's income.
If you're new to the plan the amount can be quite low--around
1350-4500 yen per month. However, every April at the next premium
adjustment you may find the amount escalating sharply, even if your
income changes very little. A first year of 4500 yen a month, a second
year of 13,500 yen a month, and a third year of 35,000 yen a month is
typical (Japan has an exploding number of old-timers). Cosmetic/elective
surgery, child birth, and abortions are not covered, however. Previously,
some ex-pats who planned to leave Japan and tried to cancel their government
insurance were given the standard response to Japanese, "You can't cancel
it." However, the truth is you can, and if someone lays that response on
you to may have to reiterate that you're leaving and push a little more
for them to terminate the insurance. They may ask to see your air ticket to
prove you're actually leaving. So if you plan to change from the government
plan to a different plan while in Japan you may have to do it before you
take a vacation abroad somewhere. If you're definitely staying in Japan
long-term, and your employer won't pay the insurance rate for you, then
you might consider private insurance either with Japanese or foreign
companies. There are many companies to choose from and dental costs may
not be included; the Nova Teacher's Union has compared some as
an example.
This sign
is "Yuubin Kyoku", or Post Office
Japan offers
all the major services that are in other countries. But the
stamp for domestic mail is the highest on the planet -- 80 yen each.
Delivery within or to a nearby prefecture usually takes one business day.
Any further takes 2 business days. Special delivery can make that into one
day, but that costs 270 yen more. An info hotline in English is now
available and the PO will answer any questions you may have about mail,
transfers, life insurance, etc. (NB: the hotlines are NOT toll-free.)
Hours are Mon-Fri. (except holidays) 9:30AM to 4:30PM.
The international rates To N.America, Oceania, and Europe as of June 7, 2000 are as follows:
Postcards: 70 yen
* Aerogrammes: 90 yen
Max weight is 20kg. Size limits-- length 1.5m, length plus girth must be under 3m (2m if going to US).
e.g. a SAL box weighing exactly 7kg would cost: 2700+4600+2100=9400 yen. Hope those contents are important.
For sending letters, there is an extra charge if the width of the envelope is over 12 cm.
For those of you
who want to get or send e-mail, but don't want to shell
out a lot of money for a computer and net provider, there now several websites
that allow you to get/send e-mail for free, no strings attached. You can do it
from any net-connected computer, like at a net-cafe, a friend's house, while
pretending to go shopping at a computer shop, etc. It's
also great if you travel somewhere else since you can still get and send
e-mail. A few websites that do it are iName,
Hotmail,
and Yahoo Mail, MailCity,
Planet Save, and
the spam-free Mail Circuit. For 200
other sites, click here. A few
other noteworthy sites are E-Fax and
Message Click which allow you to receive faxes or voice-mail from around the globe
through your computer and Hushmail for encrypted and
completely private e-mail.
Even if you
don't need one of these sites, a free service like Bigfoot is
useful since you choose your own e-mail name and not be forced to use some
long stupid number (like at a university) that none of your friends can possibly remember.
They also have a growing blacklist of spammers and will kill their trash before it even gets
near your mail box. Other e-mail forwarders are on Yahoo
and Netforward.
One more
useful site if you use a WWW e-mail account is The Net Cafe
Guide which has a database of over 1000 net cafes around the world.
- "Is my (insert your country) driver's license valid in Japan?"
NO--not
for one minute, not even for a second. If you're going to
drive, you'll need to get an international permit before you come to Japan, or
else get a Japanese license when you're in Japan. The international permit
will only be as good as your visa or a max of one year. Be sure to carry your home
license and passport with you when driving on an international permit.
Afterwards you'll need to return to your home country to get a new international permit or
get a Japanese license. Officially you are supposed to get a Japanese license after a year
of using an international permit. For obtaining the Japanese
license, if you've had your own country's license for at least 90 days before coming to Japan,
you can use it in lieu of having to go to a Japanese driver's school
(saving you up to 300,000 yen), but you'll need an authorized translation of your
license (contact your embassy/consulate in Japan or the
Japan Auto Federation [JAF]; cost: 3000 yen)
as well as taking a written test (10 multiple choice questions, you need to score at least 70%;
English and 7 other langauages now available),
driving test (citizens from the UK, Australia, France, Germany, Sweden, Italy or Spain
with licenses are exempt from the driving test),
color recognition and eye test. Depending on the examiner, the driving test
can be extremely picky and even experienced drivers can fail over
and over again. For those staying in Japan long term, it would behoove you to get the Japanese
license and take a couple hours for some driving lessons to prepare you for the test, especially
if you are unfamiliar with driving and traffic signs in Japan.
The whole process takes several hours and you'll need to sign up for it
first thing in the morning (call for times), paying up to 5000 yen.
(In large cities you may have to wait a few weeks for the driving test). Take your
passport, photo (3cm x 2.4cm), and foreigner id card with you. To
pass the tests you'll need to know what Japanese street signs mean and
the examiner's directions in Japanese (right, left, stop, etc).
No high speed driving or fancy shifting is necessary, but to be licensed for both auto
and manual transmissions, you need to pass the test with a manual transmission.
Assuming you pass everything, (if you don't you can come back again) you'll then be
photographed for the license. Look good--if you
sneeze when they snap the shutter you'll be stuck with it for 2 years
from your next birthday. Waiting until right after your birthday would be the most
economical. Long term ex-pats with good driving records can eventaully get a license
good for 5 years.
A regular license allows you to drive a normal
car or 50cc scooter. For any motorbike helmets are required at all times, and
bike ignition locks are about as effective as jello--be sure to use a chain or
horseshoe lock as well.
NB: Different
prefectures have some differences in procedures, requirements, etc. Before
your test, check and see about anything else you may need, schedules, etc.
You might want to see some supplemental info on getting a license and the
test here.
- "How do I get a car?"
Like everything
in Japan, getting a car is never as simple as picking one
out, putting your money down, and driving your new honey home. Many people
go past some used car dealers, see some good looking cars, (some for just
$500) and wonder if they're really that cheap! Well, they are. But there's
more to what you see. The real costs come afterward. Before you can call
that car yours, you'll have to get a parking space for it, pay the taxes on
it, get insurance, and then there's the mandatory periodic maintenance
check. Still gung-ho? Or is that adrenaline rush of roaring down the street
waning a bit? First ask yourself WHY you want a car, and if you really need
it. Where you live in Japan is a big factor--if you live in the mountains, or
some small town, or you'll be constantly needing to transport a lot of stuff, it might
not be a bad idea. Plus, you won't be a slave to train and schedules, which stop before
midnight. And the fact that Japan has some of the most beautiful mountains in
the world! On the other hand, if you live in a big city, the costs can be very
discouraging--in fact, they're meant to be. Traffic jams 30 miles long aren't unusual,
gasoline prices are triple that of the US, cities are clogged with cars, and
the freeways are anything but free. Let's look at what's involved in that
car purchase--
The parking space
You must have a
registered parking space and submit certification of such
(shako shomeishou) to the police. The rental of the space varies -- from a
couple thousand yen/month in the sticks to up to $1000/month in the glitzy
areas of Tokyo. To get a parking space, some are found thru real estate
agents, others are rented directly from the owners. If it's from the
fudosan, except for the guarantor most of the other terms for apartment-hunting apply.
Paying taxes
When you buy a car, you'll
have 3 main taxes to pay. One is an Acquisition Tax, another
is a weight tax, and the 3rd is an annual tax every May. The first 2 you pay when you buy
the car. Basically, the bigger the engine, the more you pay. The Acquisition Tax is around
5% of the price of the car. The weight tax for cars with engine sizes up to 2 liters are about
56,700 yen. Over that is 75,600. Passenger cars with a 300 something or 33 in the
upper right corner of the license plate (including nearly all US cars) are the highest.
A 50-something on the license plate indicates a medium-size car, and the "Kei" cars with
an engine of 660cc have a yellow plate and are lowest. The May annual tax for Kei cars is the
lowest as well at about 5000 yen, but for larger cars the tax quickly escalates to
34,500-39,500 yen for medium cars to 45,000 yen for 2.5 liter cars and 56,000 yen for 3
liter cars. You also need to pay consumption tax when you buy gasoline, and many gasoline
stations don't post their prices. Prices can vary and may be up to 15 yen/ltr. cheaper at some
stations--a big difference.
Vehicular Insurance
There are 2 insurance programs--one is the mandatory insurance (kyosei
hoken) which just covers the car, and the optional insurance (jibaiseki
hoken) covers collateral injuries/damages you may get/cause. You can decide
the extras-- theft, vandalism, disaster damage, lost wages, etc. Getting it
would be a good idea--if the guy driving that Mercedes you just broadsided
decides to have a heart-attack, you'd be in trouble. The costs vary
according to your age, if your family also drives it, how many citations
you may have had, if the car has an airbag, etc. Since the customer is King
in Japan, by all means find a company that has a 24 hour toll-free hotline
in English you can call in case of trouble. If you can't find one, try the
British Insurance Group at 033-214-6921 in Tokyo, and 066-252-7251 in
Osaka. Ask about a good driver's discount, in which you might get a 10%
discount. Make very sure though that you know all the details of the
insurance forms you are signing, wherever you go.
Shaken -- The Mandatory Vehicle Inspection
Many people come to
Japan and are very surprised that all the cars are
clean, well-maintained, and always running well. The sensitive Japan
"experts" will tell you that it's because Japanese take such pride in their
work, have such dignity to drive cars that only look like new, etc. All of
which are true. But the real reason is different--and you'll pay dearly for it.
Cars more than 3 years old have to have a mandatory maintenance check
(shaken) every other year, broken or not. The costs again vary according to
the size of the car and area, but basically you'll be paying 120,000-160,000 yen or so
for a smaller car, and more for a larger one or if there is anything the grease-monkeys
can possibly fix. Also, when the car is very old, it has an
official value of ZERO and you may actually have to PAY someone to take it
off your hands! After that it'll be either scrapped or sold to dealers in
Asia.
To buy a car, you can
always check the local dealers,or buy it from another
individual (a little more complicated--either you or the other person will
have to go to the Kensa Toroku Jimusho, or Inspection Registration Office
to submit the Re-registration (meigi henkou) and Massho toroku (owners
cancellation registration) papers). A change in registration fee also exists
and may be around 25,000 yen. You can also find several magazines on
people selling cars in your area. More info can be found
here.
"What's that red light in my mirror? UH-OH".
There are some
differences in Japan on driving that you should know. The
pedestrian always has the right of way, and you can NOT turn on a red
light. Also, they drive on the left side of the road and the steering wheel
is on the right (like in the UK) here. Also, in areas where the cops are
few, people routinely speed 30km over the speed limit (50kph), and taxi
drivers are notorious for their aggressive, some would say suicidal
driving. If you get a car be SURE to go to a bookstore and get the most
detailed street map of your area. City layout in Japan is a DISASTER--they
couldn't screw things up more here if they tried. Large streets will have
names in English, but smaller streets will not. Wearing a seatbelt is mandatory.
It's now also illegal to drive while talking on a cell phone, and a kid
under 6, with a few exceptions, must be in a child seat.
So let's say the cops decide to pull you over. Maybe if you start babbling in English they'll let you off with a warning, but not always. A driver here is given 15 points per year. One citation is worth one point, including a parking ticket. Bigger infractions mean more points, and a DUI is 15 points, or instant license revocation. The infraction depends also on the size of the car/bike. Every year, if you're not over 15 points you'll be cleared, but your insurance may go up/down accordingly.
On driving a car/motorbike, some other important facts to remember are that you must stop at a railroad crossing before crossing it.
So if you decide
a car isn't for you, there's always the trains, buses,
subways, and the old bicycle. Public transportation here isn't cheap
either, though, and if you ride a lot, the kaisuken or teikiken is a good
idea. With the kaisuken, e.g. if you buy say 10 tickets at once, you'll get one
free. The teikiken allows you to go back and forth all day for a
period of time, e.g. one month. In many cases a full-time employer will pay
transportation costs for you, in others it's negotiable. Another option
when you first come to Japan is a JR Rail pass, which
allows you to go anywhere in the country on JR trains, but you need to be a tourist and get it BEFORE you come to Japan.
For info on motorcycles and touring, please read The Japan Biker F.A.Q.
Go On To The Japan FAQ Part Three........ FAQ Me, Baby!
Or.... Take Me Home Now
