Closing an old bank account

Hi all,

has anybody ever gone through the process of closing an old japanese bank account after not having lived in Japan anymore for some time?
I used to live there for a couple of years and left a bank account open that only had/has a couple hundred yen in it. I don't have my old Alien Registration Card. I have all other things though (bank documents, passport, health insurance cards, etc.). I will visit Japan sometime end of the year an will want to close it - has anybody ever done this before and did it go smoothly? They are always very vague over the phone (but at the same time seem like they want to help) and I just wanted to hear some experiences from others

My husband closed his at Shinsei bank and it was no problem at all. Just bring your bank card , passport and go to an office.
What I found is that you either need to totally empty your account (eg with a transfer ) prior to closing it or be prepared to donate a few hundred yen. At least at the branch we were they could pay out only in 1000 Yen increments. But they had a form available to donate the rest to the Red Cross so that�fs what we did with the remainder below 1000 yen.

Dear Likebike,

thanks so much for your fast answer. So it was the same case as mine that he could only show his passport and no form of "japanese" ID? I hope that will work for me as well. Unfortunately I am not with Shinsei (they are used to handling foreigners I guess), but I hope that my bank will do the same thing. Also thanks for the tip with the remainding balance. In my case it is really low so I will check what I can do about it.