Japanese service is the best in the world in many areas, no doubt about that. At the bank however, things can be a little different. A friend of mine wanted to pay the bill for his son’s school the other day. Now, the form was to be filled out in kanji and my friend asked the clerk for help to write the name of the school for him. “Sorry sir, can’t do that” was the answer. Turned out that the bank had a rule, “forms are to be filled out by the client. Only”. A manager was called, but the answer was the same. No. Since his kanji writing skills was not good enough he had to leave to bank, bill unpaid.

I went to the bank myself the other day to cash a check that I had got from abroad. If you are about to get money sent to you from outside Japan my advice is to make sure they deposit the funds directly to your account. I had this done with another job I did and it worked very well. It’s quick and the money can be had in a number of currencies that can easily be changed into yen or whatever you want.

For a check it’s a different story. First they have the check photo copied with your id card and of course there is a form to fill out. Then you sit down and wait with your paperwork neatly clamped to a plastic board they have provided you with. I had at this point also been informed that it would be a 4000 yen charge to cash the check and put it in my account. So make sure you don’t get too small checks sent to you, it’s not going to be worth cashing.

As I was waiting I had time to think about why there was such a big charge for cashing the check. One of the reasons I thought was all the people working in the bank. First there was the two guards. Typical Japanese security guards. Older men, very polite, guard uniform and armed with a telescopic stick. Seems like the risk for robbery is very small, so what is their purpose working there? Then there was an information “front” desk with at least two persons working. Not to forget the actual cashiers that I was waiting for. It was three of them, seemed liked they were not to busy.

Finally it was my turn and I was presented with another form to fill out. This was for the withdrawal of the 4000 yen as charges for cashing the check. Now, why couldn’t the charges just be deducted from the amount on the check you might ask. The answer is that it is because it takes two to three weeks before the money is actually in my account!

So, long story short. Always prefer a wire transfer straight into your account rather than having a check sent to you. You’ll save money and time. Mahalo.

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