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 is not optional.
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 and there is no reason to fight it.
In personWho: YouWeek 1–2
3
Ask your employer which bank they pay into
Large Aichi manufacturers often have a designated payroll bank and will arrange the account during onboarding, sometimes at a branch inside the plant. Asking before you open your own avoids ending up with three accounts.
Via employerWho: You
4
Add a local institution if you will deal with small landlords
MUFG's Aichi network is unusually deep for historical reasons, and Bank of Nagoya and the Aichi Financial Group banks cover the region. Small landlords, older employers and neighbourhood organisations tend to assume one of these for direct debits.
In personWho: You
5
Get an inkan and understand the registered version
A cheap unregistered seal covers day-to-day banking. A registered jitsuin, recorded at your ward office and evidenced by a seal certificate, is required to buy a car — which in Aichi you may well do — and for some leases. Non-Japanese names can be registered in katakana or roman letters.
In personWho: You
6
Get a manaca and let your employer reimburse the commute
manaca is the local IC card, interoperable with Suica, ICOCA and the rest of the national network. It covers the subway, city buses, Meitetsu and convenience store payments. Load your commuter pass onto it — Japanese employers reimburse the commuting portion as standard.
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 rather than law, varies by bank and sometimes by branch, and is never explained at the counter. People walk into a big-name bank in their first fortnight and are simply turned away. 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 their second is whatever their employer wants.

Source: community-reported

MUFG behaves like a regional bank in Aichi because it used to be one.

Tōkai Bank was Nagoya's own city bank, and its merger route into UFJ and then Mitsubishi UFJ left the group with a branch and ATM density across Aichi that no other megabank matches. That matters when a small landlord, an older employer or a neighbourhood association assumes a particular institution for direct debits, and it is why local advice here differs from the same advice in Osaka.

Source: community-reported

A car purchase is where the registered seal suddenly becomes unavoidable.

Buying a vehicle in Japan needs a registered jitsuin plus a seal registration certificate from your ward office, alongside the parking space certificate from the police. In most Japanese cities a foreign resident can go years without registering a seal. In Aichi, where car ownership is normal rather than exceptional, it comes up in year one — so register the seal when you first visit the ward office rather than making a second trip.

Source: City of Nagoya

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

Closing a Japanese bank account from abroad is close to impossible, and residence tax obligations survive your departure. Anyone leaving should appoint a tax representative or settle 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 of these becomes dramatically harder once you have gone.

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.
Opening three accounts because you did not ask the employer which one they pay into.
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.