Before you start

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

Step-by-step

1
Complete ward registration first
Your address must be printed on the back of the residence card, which happens only at registration. Banks refuse applications without it. This is the practical reason the fourteen-day deadline matters so much.
In personWho: YouBefore the bank visit
2
Open with Japan Post Bank or an online bank
Yūcho, Sony Bank, Rakuten and SBI Shinsei reliably open accounts for newly arrived foreign residents without a waiting period, and the account is accepted for salary payment. This is the standard first Japanese account.
In personWho: YouWeek 1–2
3
Add Minato Bank or a megabank once you are settled
Minato Bank is Hyōgo's regional bank and part of the SMBC group, with the branch network small landlords and older employers assume. Sumitomo Mitsui and MUFG both have strong Kansai coverage. Which you need depends on who is paying you and who you are paying.
In personWho: You
4
Ask your employer which bank they pay into
Some Japanese employers pay salary only into particular institutions and some arrange the account during onboarding. The foreign multinationals headquartered here are usually flexible; the older Kobe industrial employers frequently are not.
Via employerWho: You
5
Get an inkan and know when the registered one is needed
A cheap unregistered seal covers everyday banking. A registered jitsuin, recorded at your ward office and evidenced by a seal certificate, is required for property contracts, a car purchase and some leases. Non-Japanese names can be registered in katakana or roman letters.
In personWho: You
6
Get an ICOCA and keep a cash reserve at home
ICOCA covers the JR, Hankyu, Hanshin, subway and bus networks and is interoperable nationally. Separately, keep two or three days of cash somewhere safe — the standard local disaster advice, and the reason for it is that in January 1995 the card networks and the ATMs stopped working across this city for days.
In personWho: YouDay 1

Documents you’ll need

Residence card with the 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.

It is internal policy, not law, it varies by bank and even by branch, and it is never explained. People walk into a big-name bank in their first fortnight and are simply refused. Japan Post Bank and the online banks do not apply it, which is why nearly every foreign resident's first Japanese account is one of those and the second is whichever one their employer or landlord requires.

Source: community-reported

Keeping cash at home is standard local advice here, and 1995 is why.

When the earthquake struck in January 1995 the electronic payment infrastructure across this city stopped for days — ATMs without power, branches structurally unsafe, card terminals dead — while shops that were still standing could only take notes. Japanese disaster guidance recommends a household cash reserve for exactly this reason, and in Kobe it is advice people give from memory rather than from a leaflet.

Source: community-reported

ATM fees outside your bank's own 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 charge. Convenience store ATMs are everywhere and price accordingly. It is small money that becomes irritating quickly, and spending five minutes matching a bank's fee structure to how you actually withdraw cash pays for itself within a year.

Source: community-reported

Close the accounts and settle the tax before you leave, not after.

Closing a Japanese bank account from overseas is close to impossible, and residence tax obligations survive your departure. Anyone leaving should appoint a tax representative or settle the outstanding residence tax, claim the pension lump-sum withdrawal — which needs an account or a representative to receive it — and close the accounts in person. Each item is dramatically harder once you have left.

Source: National Tax Agency

Common mistakes to avoid

Attempting a bank account before ward registration has put your address on the residence card.
Walking into a major city bank in your first week and being refused without explanation.
Holding no physical cash at all in a city with this seismic history.
Using a Japanese bank for international transfers rather than 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.