Banking

I'm going to be studying in Tokyo come next April and I will be there for about a year and a half. I have a lot of cash in my bank account and am wondering what the best way to transfer it would be. I know that it would be wise to get a bank account in Japan, but what kind of rates do you get by wire transfer (compared to say doing TC's in an airport), how do I setup a bank account with limited Japanese (so that I don't get screwed by hidden fees). How will I even do a wire transfer from my US bank in Japan, will I need to setup a Japanese bank in advance? Sorry, I'm just really worried about getting things setup.

good question, I'm on the same as you planning to start a japanese language course for a year this April and as well I'll need to transfer my money, on my bank right now it's about 30 dlls for a international wire transfer, hopefully some one with some experience will share an advice.

p.d at what school are you going? I'll start the process this month and I'm deciding for yoshida institute http://www.yosida.com.

I'm planning on studying at KAI Language school in Shinjuku. Haven't heard anything about your school but it seems a bit cheaper in price, maybe I should check it out haha. Yeah, bank transfers are 30 US dollars here, but I'm more curious about what kind of exchange rate you get compared to getting Travelers Checks and exchanging them at an airport.

Kai it's the other school that I'm looking into but I'm inclining to Yoshida because of the textbooks minanonihongo, those are the same that I'm using right now,
as for the rate i don't know if this helps:

http://www.narita-airport.or.jp/exchange_e/index.html

it's the current rate at the airport.

You will not be able to open a Japanese bank account until you have proof of legal residence in Japan, i.e. you have applied for your alien registration card at your ward/city office.

There are not a lot of bank fees in Japan other than for using ATMs outside office hours- I don't recall being charged any for just having an account at all.

Once here you might want to set up an account with Shinsei Bank or Citibank as they have English speaking staff and will probably have come across your situation before.

i wouldn't go with citibank, they are less convenient than shinsei bank and their parent companies financial security is absolutely abhorrent, i'd feel as safe with them holding my money as i would with a career bank robber holding it.

as for transfering and etc. you may want to use forex to transfer your money in this case. you said you have a lot of money to transfer so i'm assuming you mean something like over 30,000$ US. if it's less use a service like globex or another low commission currency exchange service to wire it to a yen bank account.

don't try to carry all that cash over here or they'll give you hell at the airport and there's always the off chance that you'll lose it.