How to Transfer Money Between Japan and the United States

When you’re a JET, you may need to transfer money back to the United States. This could be for a variety of reasons, such as paying off student loans, credit card debt, or even to save in a high-yield savings account. Regardless of the reason, what you should NEVER do is make the transfer using your Japanese bank.

When making international transfers, you may spend upwards of $100 USD when you factor in the fees charged by the Japanese bank, the fees your American bank will charge for incoming wire transfers, and currency conversion fees. Instead, I, along with many in the JET community, recommend using these services to send money overseas.

Use Wise (formerly Transferwise) to Send Money From Japan to the United States

Wise is a remittance service which makes transferring money between countries quick and easy. In addition, they are famous for offering some of the best rates for currency conversion, as well as low fees.

Wise works through a series of domestic bank transfers. In this case, when transferring money between Japan and the US, you’re actually sending money to Wise’s Japanese bank account. Once they receive your transfer, they will transfer money from their American bank account into your American bank account. That way, they’re able to avoid international wire fees as both transactions are domestic bank transfers. To put it in another way, it’s Venmo for international transfers.

Wise also offers a debit card and bank accounts which allow you to hold multiple currencies at once. This post will focus on how to use Wise for transferring money, so feel free to head to wise.com to learn more.

What You Need.

Since you’ll be living in Japan, I highly recommend setting up your Wise account after you move in and open your Japanese bank account. That way, you can use your Japanese address and banking details to get started.

When entering your banking details, be sure to use the name printed on your banking passbook. Since you’re a foreigner, it will be written in the Latin alphabet. Be prepared to also type your name in Katakana as well, as Wise requires it for proper pronunciation.

Next, you will want to enter your bank number, or 銀行コード (ginkou koudo). This is a four-digit number which identifies your bank. You can find this number inside your passbook, on your ATM card, or on the bank’s website.

Then, you want to enter the three-digit branch number, or 店番 (miseban). This number identifies the specific branch your account is located at. You can find this number on the cover of your passbook, or on your ATM card.

Finally, you want to enter your seven-digit account number, or 口座番号 (kouza bangou). You can find this on the cover of your passbook, or on your ATM card.

When selecting the type of account, select “futtsu,” or 普通. This is a basic bank account, which your contracting organization will have helped you create.

You will also need to enter your Japanese phone number, so be sure you already have one! If you don’t have one yet, I recommend Mobal’s Japan Unlimited Sim (link to Mobal’s JET-specific SIM plans).

Finally, before you’re able to transfer money to yourself, you need to provide proof of your identity. You need to upload pictures of your Zairyu Card (Residence Card), and your Individual Number (My Number) card. Once you complete this step, you can make transfers.

How Do I Make The Transfer?

EDIT: December 10, 2021: I created a guide on how to do bank transfers in Japan. Click here to learn more, then come back here to continue.

The Japanese banking system works differently than the US. When you want to make a Transfer, Wise will give you their Japanese bank account details. Next, you want to go to your bank’s ATM, or branch, and complete the transfer. While some ATMs offer English functionality, you may need to use Japanese to make the transfer. Don’t worry, even if you can’t speak, Google Translate and some genki-ness will get you far.

You enter Wise’s banking details into the ATM. While Wise charges low rates for currency conversion, your bank may still charge you for making a domestic transfer. You have been warned.

Now, Wise wants you to enter a reference number when making a transfer. Unfortunately, there was no place for me to enter said number, so I will have to trust that they receive my money soon (they got it). Regardless, the ATM will print a receipt, so keep that for a while in case something goes wrong.

If your bank issued you a Visa or MasterCard debit card, you can use that to transfer funds with Wise. For those of you with Japanese bank login details, you can make the transfer online as well.

All you have to do is wait a few days and you should see your transfer appear in your American bank account. Good job!

Use Charles Schwab’s High-Yield Investor Checking Account to Withdrawal US Funds in Japan

While you can send US dollars to Japan using Wise, it’s much more expensive than sending Yen to the US. That’s why I recommend opening a High Yield Investor Checking Account with Charles Schwab. Note, this must be done BEFORE departing for Japan, and you must maintain a US address for this to work.

Just go to Schwab.com and apply for the checking account. You are required to open a Schwab One brokerage account in order to do so, but you are not required to fund that account whatsoever.

NOTE: While Schwab used to do a hard pull on your credit score, this is no longer the case.

Once approved, Schwab will mail you a debit card. Make sure you receive this before leaving for Japan, because this debit card is your friend.

Schwab’s checking account is prime for expatriates and frequent travelers because they have no account maintenance fees, no account minimums, and no foreign transaction fees. Most importantly, they charge no ATM fees and will reimburse you for any fees the ATM operator charges you worldwide. In other words, you can withdrawal money at any ATM in the world free of charge.

Keep in mind Schwab may remove this perk, especially since they lose money on offering this benefit. The above information is accurate as of November 22, 2021.

All of this is to say, when you’re in Japan and you need money from the US, just take your Schwab debit card to any ATM and withdrawal. That’s it!

Conclusion

When you’re a JET, you should use Wise to send your Yen to your US bank account, and use your Schwab debit card to withdrawal money from the US in Japan. With these two tools, you will be able to move money across the Pacific Ocean for the lowest cost. Now you know how to transfer money between Japan and the United States.

Disclaimer

I am not affiliated with Wise or Charles Schwab, and was not compensated for such. There are no affiliate links in this post either.