Jim Breen wrote:
> Murgi wrote:
>>  > Yes, she should have gone to a post office rather than a bank.
>
> Yes, that's been the situation for many years.
>
>> The ATMs
>>  > there even have an English-language option. She could also have used  an
>>  > ATM in a 7-eleven convenience store.
>>  >
>>  > See here for future reference...
>>  > http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2208.html
>>
>> Thanks a lot! One more thing: Local post offices with ATMs don't work
>> either as we have experienced. Need to test  main post office.
>
> Correct. This was the case 7 years ago, and I'm not surprised it
> hasn't changed.
>
> 10 years ago I had to ring the Visa office in Tokyo to find out the
> banks that would actually do a cash advance, then make an appointment,
> so the post office arrangement was a great improvement.
>
>> Another advice was using a CitiBank or he Shinsei Bank.
>> Still, it's another proof that major Japanese banks are the joke of the
>> nation. They should be punished for using the term INTERNATIONAL in
>> their daily business transactions!
>
> Of course not. For a suitably large fee they are quite willing to
> make an absolute mess of a transfer to an international bank.
>
>> The same goes for overseas banks who
>> tell their customers that their credit cards can be used anywhere
>> without any problems.
>
> I have rescued a few gaigins who have arrived in Japan clutching
> Mastercards, and having been assured by their Oz/UK/etc. banks that
> they are "accepted at all banks in Japan".
>
>> Believe it or not, I used my Japanese issued Visa card to withdraw
>> amounts between 20,000 and 50,000 yen in various German towns as well as
>> in small Austrian and Italian villages. Traveler cheques by Citi
>> Corporation were cashed in in no time at tiny mountain villages in
>> Austria...
>
> Of course. The myopia is quite unidirectional. I remember hiring
> a car at an EkiRentaCar in Karuizawa in 1989. Despite the VISA sign
> on the front door, there was much teeth-sucking and ええとing, and
> finally someone asked did I have a card issued by a *Japanese bank*.
> I ground them down. (I think the acceptance of other bank's cards
> has improved in recent decades.)

And then, for no apparent reason, you'll come across ATMs like the ones
at Nagasaki-eki; they quite happily take your card and deliver cash,
asking no more than your PIN. Of course, the next, apparently identical
one that you see will stubbornly refuse to do anything but suck its teeth.

Dan

--
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