Using old Japan post bank card

Hi everyone,

About six months ago, I had to leave Japan very abruptly (for work). My last month's salary was deposited into my Japan post bank account after I had already left.
In a week, I'll be going back to Japan for a short holiday. I intend to get my money while I'm over there. However, I can't find my passbook. My Japan post bank card is a few years old, and very scratched up. It was working fine when I left, but all the printed info has been scratched off, so I don't know the expiry date. I'm worried, that it will have expired and I won't be able to access my account.

So I would like to ask, do Japan post cash cards expire?

Also, if my card has expired, or doesn't work for whatever reason, will I be able to get a new one by showing my passport to JP bank? How long would it take? I only have a few days in Japan.

As far as I know, no, they don't show any expiry date. If you remember the PIN, and as long as the magnetic stripe on the card is intact, you can try and it should be ok at an ATM.
If you need a new one, that would take a bit of time - your passport as ID, and your signature (or seal if you used it st signing up) should do. They will probably want to send you the new one to an address, though. I hope the card still works :)

Basically no expiry date is set.

Whether a cash card without an IC chip can work
depends on whether the data can be read from the magnetic stripe.
If your cash card is with an IC chip, it highly likely still works.

When exactly will you be in Japan?
On Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays,
Japan Post Bank windows are closed,
and you have much fewer chances to withdraw cash via ATM.
(No public holiday will be in the rest of this month.)

You have lost your passbook, and your cash card is worn out.
It sounds better to get a new passbook re-issued and renew your cash card.
(You will be recommended a cash card with a small IC chip.)
When you use your new cash card first at a machine,
your old cash card becomes void.

Good luck!

the new card will not be given by hand. it has to be sent to the pre-registered address where you did (with registered mail). that is another proof that you are a genuine account holder.