HSBC/CitiBank for bank account in Japan?

I am moving to Nagoya, Japan soon. I was told by my Japanese friend that CitiBank is very popular in Japan. Does anyone have any experience with CitiBank or HSBC in Japan? Any recommendations as to which bank I should go with to open an account? Thank you for your help.

Actually relative to other banks Citibank and HSBC have very few branches and ATMs. I would recommend going to an ordinary Japanese bank (Resona, Mizuho, Tokyo Mitsubishi etc), as those banks have branches near every station, so it's a lot easier to access your money.

If you're going to people wire you money here while you're in Japan, Citibank would be the most convenient for that. From what my friends tell me, people in the US can deposit money and after the exchange rate, you can withdraw the money here in Japan easily.

Otherwise, as Sira said, stick with the big Japanese banks. Stay away from UFJ right now though, it seems like they shut down their ATM machines at least once a month!

I have a Citi bank in the USA and was wondering the same thing when I first arrived in Japan. I found out the Japan Citi bank is a totally different entity from the USA Citi. I was told by the Japanese Citi bank staff that it would be easier to transfer money to another bank from USA Citi, so I opened a Sumitomo bank and wire transfered my money with no problems. I even did a on-line wire transfer from my USA Citi bank to my Japan Sumitomo bank. The exchange rate was low, but the transaction was smooth.

I also heard that the US and Japan Citibanks aren't connected enough that you can make a deposit in one country and withdraw money in the other.

Shinsei is another good bank, although their branches are rarer they have a lot of ATMs in subway and non-JR line stations in Tokyo. They also have online banking in English, and you can set up an account by going to their site and then posting the necessary documents, without going to a branch. You must be resident in Japan though.

7-11 ATMs work perfectly with Shinsei Bank. So if you don't need to go to a actual branch all the time to do your banking, Shinsei Bank offers the basics. You can deposit, withdraw, do online banking (in English), and it doesn't require you to maintain a minimum monthly balance without charging you like CitiBank.

Again branches outside of Tokyo are lower in number (only one branch in Nagoya).

Aside from my opening my account (which can by done by mail as well), I've never needed to step into an actual Shinsei Bank branch, instead everything I need done is done via online, or via partner ATMs (eg 7-11/JP Post).

As mentioned you need to be in Japan under a visa status other then "temporary visitor".