Before you start

Residence card with your address printed on the back
Ward registration completed
A Japanese phone number
A personal seal (inkan), still requested by some institutions

Step-by-step

1
Complete ward registration before attempting a bank
Your address must be printed on the back of the residence card, which happens at ward registration. Banks will refuse an application without it. This is the practical reason the fourteen-day deadline matters so much.
In personWho: YouBefore the bank visit
2
Start with Japan Post Bank or an online bank
Yūcho and SBI Shinsei reliably open accounts for newly arrived foreign residents without a six-month wait. Yūcho branches and ATMs are everywhere, including in the outer wards, and the account is accepted for salary payment. This is the standard first account.
In personWho: YouWeek 1–2
3
Ask your employer which bank they pay into
Some Japanese employers pay salary only into particular banks, and in Hiroshima that is frequently Hiroshima Bank or Momiji Bank. Asking before you open one avoids opening two.
Via employerWho: You
4
Get an inkan if you will deal with traditional institutions
The personal seal is being phased out of government procedures but remains in use at some banks, for property contracts and for certain employers. A simple unregistered one is inexpensive; a registered jitsuin is needed for major contracts and is registered at your ward office.
In personWho: You
5
Get a transport IC card on day one
Hiroshima uses PASPY on the trams and buses alongside nationally interoperable cards; ICOCA and Suica work on JR and increasingly across the city's own network. Any of them also works in convenience stores and vending machines across most of Japan. Check the current arrangement when you arrive, because the local scheme has been in transition.
In personWho: YouDay 1
6
Keep cash on you despite the digital progress
QR and IC payments are widespread, but okonomiyaki counters, small izakaya, older shops and some clinics remain cash-only. Carrying ten thousand yen is normal and unremarkable.
In personWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Residence card with address printed on the reverse
Passport
Japanese phone number
Inkan, for some institutions
Employment certificate, sometimes requested

Things most newcomers don’t know

Several major banks will not open a full account until you have six months of residence.

Bank policy varies by institution and sometimes by branch, but it tracks a real legal line: under the Foreign Exchange Act a foreign national is a 'resident' only once employed at an office in Japan or resident here six months, and until then is limited to a restricted non-resident yen account. That is why nearly every foreign resident's first Japanese account is Japan Post Bank or an online bank rather than a megabank.

Source: community-reported; Financial Services Agency framework

The regional bank matters more here than it would in Tokyo.

Hiroshima Bank dominates local banking and serves the whole Chūgoku region, and local employers, landlords and guarantor companies deal with it routinely. A Yūcho account covers everything legally required, but having the local institution smooths interactions in a way that is easy to notice and hard to quantify. Ask your employer before opening anything.

Source: community-reported

ATM fees outside your bank's hours are a real recurring cost and Japan is unusual in this.

Withdrawing from another bank's machine, or from your own outside daytime hours, commonly attracts a per-transaction fee. Convenience-store ATMs are ubiquitous and charge accordingly. Five minutes comparing fee structures against how you actually withdraw money pays for itself.

Source: community-reported

Close your accounts and settle your taxes before you leave, not after.

Closing a Japanese bank account from overseas is extremely difficult, and residence tax obligations can survive your departure. Anyone leaving should appoint a tax representative or settle the outstanding residence tax, claim the pension lump-sum withdrawal, and close accounts in person. Each item is much harder to fix from abroad.

Source: National Tax Agency

Common mistakes to avoid

Attempting a bank account before ward registration puts your address on the residence card.
Walking into a megabank in your first week and being refused without a clear explanation.
Opening a national account when your employer pays into a Hiroshima regional one.
Using a Japanese bank for international transfers instead of a specialist service.
Leaving Japan without closing accounts, settling residence tax and claiming the pension refund.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.