Anyway to get a japan bank account(shinsei/citibank) without going to japan? Or any payment service?

Question

Hi guys. Would greatly need your help in this. I would like to get stuff from japan(toys, magizines etc). I do not have a japan bank account and it greatly restricts the websites that I can buy from. Does anyone know of any payment service where the person will be able to help me pay for my items?

Another way would be to get a local japan bank account in japan(shinsei/citibank) but I don't have an ARC so I can't open one.

Anyone have any advise? thanks

Answer 1

Actually, PayPal isn't recognized widely in Japan, so that advice probably isn't going to help you much.

The short answer is no, you can not open a bank account or a postal savings account without an ARC. And the japanese people don't really use Ebay, so you can't look for much on there. Yahoo Japan is really popular for selling items (perhaps you can find magazines and such on there), but I believe everything is in japanese, so you must be able to read japanese. I'm not sure when japan is going to get on board with the rest of the industrialized world when it comes to Paypal and Ebay!

Answer 2

Are you fluent in Japanese (speaking, reading and writing)? If not then I would highly recommend that you do not even attempt to live there until you're fluent. Also, you need to establish yourself in your own country before you even think of moving to an entirely different one, especially seeing as youre younger than 20. To get a job you will basically NEED a college degree, but you may possibly get away with being an English teacher without one, but that job market is saturated at the moment. :/ But as long as there are jobs, it's definately worth a shot. Try the Japanese job website 'Gaijinpot' to look for some job listings for foreigners and tips on living and working in Japan as a foreigner. Maybe think about doing a Japan-based subject in college if possible so you will have a chance for a student exchange to get a taste of the country for a year before you make any long term commitments to living there. There may be other non-college based exchanges you could try too. There is also of course the choice of having a long holiday there for up to 90 days without a visa. Hope this helps :D

Answer 3

Your one question is based on many questions. If you are not in Japan but you can buy online. Have you tried Paypal. It is a free service you can open an account and can shop any where if the website from where you want accept that. There is another way pay by WesternUnion if I am not wrong. They could pay on your behalf.

To open an account here in Japan you have to be here.
If you like send me the name of the magazine I will call them and ask their condition for payment.

I am in Japan if you need any help send me e-mail with detail.
[e-mail]

Answer 4

Probably it's impossible. Today on-line shops in Japan distribute goods via automatic delivery systems.
We can receive the goods in a few days in Japan. Very efficient.
In their database, only Japanese (domestic) addresses and S/H fees are registered. If they accept the order from overseas, they have to handle goods with English and recalculate S/H.

As for opening bank account, I can say 100% impossible.

I think you better find someone, a partner, who ship and pay instead of you in Japan.

Answer 5

Many Japanese people buy stuff online by transferring money directly from their account into the merchant's account. It's actually better for them bc they are not spending money that they do not have (ala credit cards). If you aren't in Japan you're up a tree unless you have someone there to make payments on your behalf.