Cash & ATMs in Japan (using a foreign card)

Updated 5 September 2026 with the withdrawal limits and operating hours each bank publishes, the Japan Customs declaration rules for carrying cash, and the identity-check threshold for changing money.

Japan is more cashless than it used to be, but cash still matters — and not every ATM takes a foreign card. Two nationwide networks reliably do, each with its own per-withdrawal ceiling. And if you are bringing a large amount of cash with you, there is a customs form you are legally required to file. Everything below comes from the banks’ own pages, Japan Customs, the Ministry of Finance and JNTO.

Carry some cash

“In Japan, there are still many places where cash is required… many places, especially in rural areas, may still only accept cash, even hotels.” JNTO’s advice: “To be on the safe side, however, always have some cash on hand.” (JNTO)

The two reliable ATM networks for foreign cards

Seven Bank’s English page puts the scale plainly: at over 28,000 ATMs at 7-Eleven stores all across Japan, you can withdraw Japanese Yen day or night. Japan Post Bank covers the gaps — post offices everywhere, plus compact ATMs in FamilyMart. Here is how the two actually differ, using only figures each bank publishes itself.

Both banks note separately that your card issuer’s own fee is on top of anything the ATM charges, and that a card bearing the right mark can still be declined depending on the issuing bank. Because issuer fees and foreign-exchange margins are set by your own bank and change often, we do not publish a total cost here — ask your issuer what it charges for a cash withdrawal abroad before you fly.

Seven Bank hours are per card brand

This catches people out: the ATM is available round the clock, but each international brand has its own service window, and only Visa and Mastercard run a genuine 24 hours. If you land at 00:02 with a JCB card, you have an eight-minute wait. Seven Bank’s published windows:

Bringing cash in: the ¥1,000,000 declaration

Japan does not limit how much money you may carry in or out. It does require you to declare it in writing above a threshold, and the penalty for not doing so is severe. Japan Customs states the rule in English:

“When entering or departing Japan with means of payment exceeding ¥1,000,000 (0.1 million JPY in a case that you are bound for North Korea) or its equivalent, you are required to submit to Customs declaration prior to your entry or departure.” (Japan Customs)

What counts toward the threshold

Two valuation details from the same page. Foreign currency is converted using the rate Customs publishes for valuation purposes, not the rate you got at the airport. And for stock certificates you must declareeither its current price, book value, or trade value, whichever is higher.

Note what the list does not contain. Japan Customs names cash, cheques, promissory notes and securities — crypto-assets, e-money and prepaid cards do not appear anywhere on the customs pages we checked, in English or Japanese. We are not going to translate that silence into a claim that they are exempt: if you are carrying value in that form, ask a Customs Counsellor before you travel.

The declaration is not the arrival card — and it is not always at arrivals

This is a separate form, the “Declaration of Carrying of Means of Payment” (支払手段等の携帯輸出・輸入申告書), not the usual passenger declaration. Blank copies are stocked at customs desks in every airport and seaport, can be printed from the customs website in Japanese or English, or filed online through NACCS with prior user registration. Where you hand it in depends on the direction of travel — and on departure, on whether the money is in your checked bag:

「【出国時】（機内預けする場合）出発ロビー内等の税関事務室（※航空会社に預ける前に申告を行ってください）（機内手荷物の場合）出国審査場前の税関出国カウンター 【入国時】税関検査場」
“[On departure] (if checking it in) the customs office in the departure lobby or similar — please declare before handing it over to the airline. (If carrying it on board) the customs departure counter in front of the departure inspection area. [On arrival] the customs inspection area.” (Japan Customs, translated)

Customs also warns that they may ask to see the money itself when you file, which is the practical reason the checked-baggage rule exists — declare before the bag disappears down the belt.

The penalty, in the customs FAQ’s own words

「書面による申告をしないで輸出又は輸入をした場合には、関税法第111条の規定により、5年以下の拘禁刑若しくは1,000万円以下（※）の罰金が科されることがあります。」
“If you export or import without filing the written declaration, you may be punished under Article 111 of the Customs Law by imprisonment of up to 5 years or a fine of up to ¥10,000,000 (see note).” (Japan Customs FAQ, translated) The note: where five times the value of the goods exceeds ¥10,000,000, the fine may go up to five times that value.

The same answer adds that attempting it — being caught by a customs officer before you get through — and filing a false declaration carry the same penalties.

Travelling as a group does not split the total

「一括して携帯する現金の額が申告不要額を超える場合には、これを纏めて持って輸出しようとする方が申告義務者となります。なお、グループ内の各人への帰属先が容易に判明する場合には、当該判明分は帰属する各人の携帯するものとして取り扱うこととしています。」
“Where the amount of cash carried as a single bundle exceeds the no-declaration threshold, the person carrying it together is the one obliged to declare. However, where it is readily apparent which member of the group each portion belongs to, that portion is treated as carried by the person it belongs to.” (Japan Customs FAQ, translated)

So one person carrying the whole family’s ¥1.5 million declares it, in their own name. Money that is clearly each traveller’s own counts as theirs — but that is a rule about whose money it is, not a licence to hand out bundles at the check-in desk.

Changing money: who you are dealing with

Currency exchange in Japan is a deregulated business, which explains why quality and rates vary so widely between the counter at the airport, the one in a department store and the machine in a shopping arcade. The Ministry of Finance describes the position:

「外為法では、外国通貨又は旅行小切手の売買を業として行うことを両替業務といい、当該両替業務を行う者を両替業者といいます。平成10年の外為法改正前は、両替業務を行う場合には大蔵大臣の認可が必要でしたが、現在は自由に行えます。」
“Under the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act, buying and selling foreign currency or traveller’s cheques as a business is called money-exchange business, and a person carrying it on is a money changer. Before the 1998 amendment to the Act, a licence from the Minister of Finance was required to carry on the business; today it may be carried on freely.” (Ministry of Finance, translated)

Free to operate is not the same as unsupervised. Money changers sit under Japan’s anti-money-laundering regime, and that produces the one threshold a traveller can actually run into:

「1件当たり200万円相当額を超える両替取引を行う場合や、200万円相当額以下の両替取引であってもマネロン又はテロ資金供与の疑いがあると認められる場合等には、取引時確認等を行う義務があります。なお、200万円以下の取引であっても1回あたりの取引額を減少させるために取引を分割したものであることが明らかである場合、分割された取引を一つの取引とみなして取引時確認を行う必要があります。」
“Where a single exchange transaction exceeds ¥2,000,000 equivalent, or where — even at ¥2,000,000 equivalent or below — money laundering or terrorist financing is suspected, there is an obligation to carry out customer identity verification. Where a transaction of ¥2,000,000 or less is obviously split in order to reduce the per-transaction amount, the split transactions must be treated as one and identity verification carried out.” (Ministry of Finance, translated)

In practice: bring your passport if you plan to change a large sum, and do not bother breaking it into pieces. Note that this ¥2,000,000 identity-check line and the ¥1,000,000 customs declaration line are different rules with different thresholds — they are frequently confused.

What to check at the machine

Before inserting your card, look for a sticker matching your card’s network. If it is there you are almost certainly fine — though Seven Bank cautions that some cards with these marks may not be accepted, depending on your issuing bank. Don’t assume a random bank ATM will work; stick to Seven Bank or Japan Post Bank, and if a withdrawal is refused, try a smaller amount before assuming the card is the problem — you may simply be over the ¥100,000 or ¥50,000 per-transaction ceiling.

Frequently asked questions

General information, current as of 2026-09-05; not financial or legal advice. Fees, hours and card acceptance are set by each bank and issuer and change without much notice — confirm on the machine or the bank’s page before relying on a figure. Customs thresholds and the money-laundering rules above are set by law and apply to everyone, but if your situation is unusual, Japan Customs runs a free Customs Counsellor service at every regional customs office.