Money/Budget › Newcomer's Guide


Money/Budget


 


 

Yes, Japan is fairly expensive, but the exorbitant JET salary allows you to spend frivolously, carelessly and endlessly – perhaps not!! The JET salary is pretty good, especially considering it may be a first job for many of you; however, do not be lulled into thinking that your money will never run out – it can!! Therefore, you might try to take it easy on the spending until you get used to the prices and to just how far your money will go in Japan. However, once you are in the swing of things you’ll find that you should be able to start paying off university loans, credit cards etc. and still have enough left over to travel the region in style. Depending on your housing situation and other factors, you’ll usually find yourself having a pretty comfortable disposable income.

Japan’s banking system is pretty backward; most banks have very short opening hours for both the counter AND the ATM machines. This takes a lot of getting used to if you are from a country with 24-hour banking and it’s pretty common for first year JETs to get stranded on the weekend with no access to money. Always carry much more cash than you think you need. The streets are very safe here, so the only risk of carrying a lot of money is losing your wallet, but actually, if you have your name and address in it, it’ll probably be posted back to you anyway, even if it holds 25,000 yen (unbelievable, but true!). Also, if you get your office to set up automatic withdrawal systems to pay your monthly bills directly from your account, it will help keep face to face bank visits down to a minimum and save you a lot of hassle.

As far as credit cards or cheques are concerned, Japan is a cash society and so the use of debit or credit cards is minimal, even in the bigger cities. Get used to carrying a wad of money around with you as most places you go aren't going to accept plastic, and it can be pretty hard to find a cash machine that will allow you to withdraw against a credit card from home. However, do bring along at least one trusty credit card from your home bank because you will want to use it if you travel outside of Japan, or for internet shopping. Don't forget to change the billing address!

With regard to how much money you should bring to Japan with you, you’ll be fine with between 100,000 and 150,000 yen, until you get your first pay check. This is plenty of money and should be enough to cover any "emergency expenditures." If you do end up running a little short in your first month, your office may give you some money in advance, but don’t count on it! It’s best to bring your money in yen cash if possible. Traveler’s checks are accepted in theory (only in yen or US dollars) but if you don’t live near a main branch of the bank you could find it a bit inconvenient exchanging them.