Reactivating a bank account in Japan

I lived in Kobe for 11 months in 2005-2006, and I have had a bank account opened at SMBC Rokko branch. This account is ''sleeping'' with some 1,000 yens on it.
I am back to Sendai for another 5 months next year and my questions are :
i/- Will it be necessary to reactivate my account ? What will be the procedure ?
ii/- Will SMBC Sendai branch ATMs accept my bank book and card ?
iii/- Will it be necessary to move my account to SMBC Sendai branch ? Is it easy, and how to do that ?
Thanks. GJP

Although a claim on a commercial bank account is legally extinguished by prescription if the account is not used for five years, I suppose commercial banks usually accept a request to refund the balance as long as both the account and its holder (or his/her Successor) can be strictly identified.
(The time frame is ten years as to a Shinkin bank account.)

It may depend on banks, but a bank account can be handled as a sleeping account earlier even when a claim is effective, probably in order to prevent it from being abused while its real holder is forgetting about it.

Will it be necessary to reactivate my account ?

You will have to either reactivate the account or, refund the balance and create a new account.
I recommend consulting with SMBC in advance, especially in a case where you have lost your personal seal or the alternative which identifies your current account.

Will SMBC Sendai branch ATMs accept my bank book and card ?

If your current account is reactivated, yes.

Will it be necessary to move my account to SMBC Sendai branch?

SMBC is a megabank. If you can reactivate your Rokko Branch account, you will not have to move it. If not, you can create a new account in Sendai Branch.

- Do you have the ATM card, remember your PIN, have the bank book, and have the seal (if used for the account)? Then it is likely that you can still use it.

However, did you report, when you left Japan, that you were going to move overseas? If in the meantime the bank tried to send you some notice to your old Kobe address and got it returned to them, they may have considered you gone, and placed your account in "dormant/sleeping" category. Yes, it is recommended you contact them in advance, possibly to re-activate it.

- Also you "might" have to be able to show your old address or whatever ID document you used to open the account back then, so that they can really establish your identity. You should be able to do this through the Sendai branch, as SMBC is a mega bank.

- If the old account is still usable, either with or without reactivating, you don't have to move it.