# Moving to Tokyo Soon - how much cash do I need to bring to start in Japan for the first couple months?



## ft1222

hi, i am new here. we are a family of 3 (1 child) and we will be moving to Tokyo soon under work visa. Since we don't have a local bank account and we figure it may takes time before opening one in Japan, how much cash I can bring in to Japan without having any custom issues? Any tax implication at custom if I have more than 1 million yen in hand carry when arriving at the airport please? Thanks.


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## Xelchan

Looks like you can bring any amount you want, but anything over 1million yen you’ll need to fil out a customs declaration. The other thing to be aware of is that while Japan may not care how much cash you carry, your home country might have limits or you may need to declare how much cash you’re taking out of the country.

Also if you have a foreign bank account, it might be easier to just take some cash with you and then use an ATM to take out more money as needed. You can always use Postal ATMs and (generally) you should also be able to use ATMs at convenience stores to withdraw more money. Your withdrawls will probably be more limited by your home bank daily withdrawl limit than the Japanese atm limit. So plan accordingly?


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## ft1222

I see. Thanks a lot for your detailed explanation. One last question: I would assume Japanese ATM are linked to most international network like Visa / Mastercard / UnionPay, but is there any service charge (from Japan side) to withdraw money from the ATM in Japan using my foreign bank debit card please? Thanks again.


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## Xelchan

Yes, they’re linked to the network. If you’re doing just an ATM withdrawl from your bank account, you should be charged your “outside your bank” ATM fee, whatever the conversion rate is and an ATM usage fee (usually ¥108-216). There might be a higher fee if you try to take out more than ¥100,000 (shouldn’t be more than ¥500?).

If you have a major CC, you also just charge things. Visa is your best best. Mastercard is also fine. I don’t know about UnionPay, but might be okay?


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## ft1222

thank you.


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