It seems this blog has turned into a place for me to vent about the challenges I’m facing in Japan. Anyway, here’s the latest one.

As some of you may know, this isn’t my first time in Japan. While preparing for my time at Kanagawa University, I was told not to open a bank account on my own because the International Center (IC) at the university would help with that. We were also informed that we needed to bring 200,000 Yen (€1.241) since opening a bank account was necessary to pay rent.

The 200,000 yen was supposed to cover the first two months of rent. The easiest way to get that much cash was through ATMs, but of course, you have to pay the fees that ATMs charge for withdrawals. Since most credit cards have a daily or monthly withdrawal limit, I had to max out my card over multiple days to get the full amount.

Now, this was unnecessary.

First of all, I didn’t actually need that much cash for the first two months, but they insisted that we had to bring this amount. Because I maxed out my credit card, I couldn’t use it for the rest of the month.

Secondly, you need a Japanese phone number to function in everyday life here. But how do you get a Japanese phone number without a bank account? You ask a friend to open one for you and promise to pay them back once you have your own bank account—an account that, supposedly, the IC would help open.

So, we were told that we would pay the first two months of rent in cash directly at the dorm. At the end of the first month, however, we were taken to a special bank, which has very limited hours, and told to make a bank transfer instead. This meant more fees—not only for withdrawing cash from a foreign bank but also for the transaction at the bank’s ATM.

I understand why the dorm management wouldn’t want to handle large amounts of cash, so I paid. After that, I asked when we’d finally open our bank accounts. That’s when I was told that the IC would no longer assist with opening accounts. Instead, we were to continue paying as we had been.

Now, I’m stuck with these extra costs for every transaction I make here, all because they didn’t follow through with what was originally promised. So, not only do I have to repay my friend for helping me get a phone number, but I’ll also be dealing with extra fees for every transaction I make.

As you can see, I’m not at a loss for words, but I am exhausted from facing these kinds of issues every two weeks.

I’m hoping I can ask a Japanese person to help me open a bank account soon, and hopefully, that won’t cost me extra. Anyway, more rant posts to come, so I’ll leave it at that for now.