Before you start

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

Step-by-step

1
Complete address registration before attempting a bank
Your address must be printed on the back of the residence card, which happens at registration. Banks will refuse an application without it.
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. In a prefecture of islands and peninsulas, Yūcho's branch and ATM reach is genuinely useful rather than merely convenient, and the account is accepted for salary payment.
In personWho: YouWeek 1–2
3
Expect the regional bank rather than a megabank
Nagasaki's banking is dominated by the regional institutions, principally Eighteenth Shinwa Bank, with the megabanks present only thinly. If your employer is local, that is almost certainly where your salary will be paid. Ask before opening anything.
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 with the city.
In personWho: You
5
Get a transport IC card on day one
Nagasaki's trams and buses accept nationally interoperable IC cards, so a Suica or ICOCA works here as well as anywhere. The tram runs a flat fare that is among the cheapest in Japan, and the card also works in convenience stores and vending machines across most of the country.
In personWho: YouDay 1
6
Keep cash on you despite the digital progress
QR and IC payments are widespread in the centre, but small counters, older shops in the slope districts 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 or enrolment 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.

Source: community-reported; Financial Services Agency framework

The regional bank is not optional here in the way it is in a big city.

Megabank branch coverage in Nagasaki Prefecture is thin, and the local financial ecosystem runs on Eighteenth Shinwa Bank and the shinkin institutions. Landlords, guarantor companies and small employers deal with them daily and with a Tokyo megabank rarely. A Yūcho account covers everything legally required; the regional bank is what removes friction, and in a small city friction is more visible.

Source: community-reported

Yūcho's reach matters more in an island prefecture than almost anywhere else in Japan.

Nagasaki Prefecture includes the Gotō islands, Tsushima, Iki and a long indented coastline, and post offices reach places private banks do not. If your work or your weekends take you out of the city, that reach is a practical argument rather than a sentimental one.

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. Appoint a tax representative or settle the outstanding residence tax, claim the pension lump-sum withdrawal, and close accounts in person.

Source: National Tax Agency

Common mistakes to avoid

Attempting a bank account before registration puts your address on the residence card.
Assuming a megabank branch will be convenient in a city where they are thin on the ground.
Opening a national account when your local employer pays into the regional bank.
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.