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.)

-- 
Jim Breen        http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/
Clayton School of Information Technology,
Monash University, VIC 3800, Australia
ジム・ブリーン@モナシュ大学