Sending money home during a short Tokyo stay

Before choosing a service to send money home from Tokyo, identify where the money is held. Yen in your Japanese bank account, a balance in a payment app and cash in your wallet need different routes.

Then check whether the service supports your account country, source currency, destination and funding method. Your physical presence in Tokyo doesn't automatically make a Japan-specific product available to you.

Start with the source of the money

If your salary remains in a foreign bank account, you may simply be making a transfer from that account while abroad. Check its security and overseas-access arrangements before travel. There is no need to move the money through Japan solely because you are staying here.

If the funds are in a Japanese bank account, compare the bank's overseas-transfer service with a supported remittance service. Verify both the account holder's name and the permitted source of funds. If you hold cash, find a service that explicitly accepts cash; don't assume it can be deposited into a payment app.

For a deposit refund due after checkout, agree the refund route with the rental company before you leave. Its supported methods determine what you can arrange next.

Wise: check the funding instruction carefully

Wise's JPY-transfer guide says yen funding must come from within Japan and that the sender name must match your Wise account. It doesn't accept cash deposits or third-party payments for that funding process.

That distinction matters if you plan to ask a landlord or employer to send money to the bank details Wise supplies for topping up your own transfer. Confirm a supported receiving method instead. Don't send money first and rely on sorting out the name mismatch later.

Use the quote in your account for the actual destination and amount. It should show the funding choices, fee and expected arrival. A past rate from a blog isn't a current offer.

Revolut or your bank: compare the product you hold

With Revolut, check the current plan and country-specific terms in your account, including conversion limits, transfer fees and any conditions tied to timing. Don't apply a Japanese plan's fee table to an account registered elsewhere, or vice versa.

With a Japanese bank, ask whether overseas transfers are available on your account, whether the recipient needs advance registration and what documents the bank wants for the purpose and source of the money. An account-opening approval doesn't by itself confirm remittance approval.

A transfer review may require statements, income evidence or a contract. Keep those ready and use a service's requested secure channel. Ask for the expected timeframe for your transaction rather than assuming every first transfer has the same hold.

Compare what the recipient actually gets

Enter the same source amount into each quote close together in time. Record how much leaves your account, the transfer fee, the exchange rate and what the recipient should get. Ask whether other banks may deduct further fees.

For example, suppose you have an illustrative ¥500,000 budget. Route A deducts ¥3,000 then converts ¥497,000 at ¥150 per US dollar, producing about US$3,313.33 before any other deductions. Route B deducts ¥1,000 then converts ¥499,000 at ¥152 per dollar, producing about US$3,282.89. The lower fee alone doesn't give the better result.

These rates are deliberately illustrative. Use the amounts shown for your own transfer and check whether the rate is guaranteed for a period or determined later. Include a paid plan's subscription cost if you are considering it only for this transfer.

Prepare the recipient details before moving money

Ask the receiving bank or recipient for the exact required details: account name, account number or IBAN where applicable, bank and branch information, and SWIFT/BIC if the route requires it. Follow the sending service's fields rather than adding a guessed code.

Confirm unfamiliar or changed instructions through a trusted contact. A small test transfer can be useful when supported, but it may have its own fees and doesn't guarantee a larger transfer will bypass checks.

Save the confirmation and reference. If the estimated arrival passes, contact the sending service with that reference and ask whether the transfer is waiting for funding, conversion, review or receipt. Avoid sending a duplicate while the first is unresolved.

Before closing an account

Contact the bank early about moving abroad. Follow its closure or nonresident-account requirements rather than leaving an account open solely for a refund. Japan Post Bank, for example, tells customers moving outside Japan to complete closure procedures.

If the bank requires closure before your refund arrives, agree an alternative with the rental company in writing. Confirm currency, fees and the payment date, and keep enough funds for final bills until the arrangements are settled.