Quote:
Originally Posted by WingsToDiscovery
So basically you buy most of what you need throughout the month on a credit card, and then when pay time for your work rolls around, the credit card just pulls from your bank account at the end of the month?
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No, I pay for most of what I need through the month with cash. You asked about debit, so I explained the way my card functions... But I pay for most everything using cash. I even said this;
"I rarely pay by card anyway as it`s pretty uncommon for me to just buy something out of the blue that I don`t have the cash on me for." You asked what people do if there is something they decide to buy on the spur of the moment when they don`t have the cash on them. The card is there for those rare out of the blue purchases where I do have the money but not on me for some reason (which is virtually never in my case).
You can withdraw as much as you like as often as you like, and never use a card even once while you`re in Japan - even for online purchases you can request a bank transfer form and just pay it at a convenience store or ATM. There is no reason you would
need a credit card. People generally carry around cash, and it`s not unsafe. 10,000 bills have the pocket feel of $20s.
I wouldn`t worry about getting a credit card in Japan for the auto withdraw. (For one, the chances that you`d be able to get one as a student are nil.)
Just open a bank account at a bank with ATMs convenient to you. UFJ is everywhere, but you may find some other local bank more convenient where you live. Post office accounts seem to be the easiest to open, but ATMs are really only as common as post offices.