Life in Tokyo

Contents

  • Bank Account
  • Mobile Phones
  • Transit Pass

Bank Account

Setting up a Japan Post Bank Account

Go to the counter of a Japan Post Bank (JP Bank) branch with the following documents.

  1. Residence card or a copy of your residence certificate
  2. Passport
  3. Personal seal [If the JP Bank accepts a personal signature in lieu of a personal seal, please mention it here as foreign students may not have personal seals.]

Setting up a bank account

If you need to open a bank account to receive scholarship payments etc., open an ordinary savings account (futsu-yokin).

To open a savings account (futsu-yokin) at a bank, take the following documents to the bank:

  1. Residence card or a copy of your residence certificate
  2. Passport
  3. Personal seal

For more details, inquire at your bank counter.

Mobile Phones

Required Documents

  • Your passport (with your visa for Japan stamped)
  • Your Residence Card (zairyu kyoka sho)
  • A bank card or credit card linked to your bank account in Japan

Mobile Phone Service Providers

There are three major mobile phone service providers in Japan – Docomo, au, and Softbank. Generally speaking, Docomo has the highest quality of phone calls and internet connections, au has the cheapest monthly payments, and Softbank has the largest reception area.

There are some cheaper mobile service providers in Japan (ex: Willcom, Yahoo mobile). Willcom is the cheapest for phone calls and Yahoo mobile has the cheapest internet connection. If these are suitable for you, they may be a good choice.

Monthly costs

Calling plans in Japan are very expensive and complicated. In some cases, you may register for a useless service and pay for it for some time before realizing you do not need it.

This is an example monthly basic mobile phone payment. This example does not include a bill for phone calls (phone calls are on a pay-per-use system).

Basic payment :2700 yen / month

ISP cost: 300 yen / month

Internet connection pack: 5000 yen / month (5 GB pack)

-> 8000 yen / month in total + phone calls (40 yen / minute)

This is only an example. Your bill may be more or less expensive. If your monthly bills are significantly more expensive than this, however, you may need to review your plan.

Transit Pass

The railways in East Japan have transit passes called “Suica” and “PASMO.” These are prepaid transit cards for JR (Japan Railways), subways, and buses. There is almost no difference between the two. Monthly passes (called “teiki”) are available. If you would like to use one of these passes to commute to the lab, you must use a Suica (PASMO cards cannot be registered as monthly passes). You can purchase a Suica card at a JR office or from a ticket vending machine in a train station. 500 yen is required for deposit, plus an initial charge amount.