ATM Hassle

July 8th, 2008
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So, ATMs in Japan are wonderful and all. It’s true. They automatically balance your account book, printing everything carefully and even turning the pages for itself. They accept cash deposits. They can make bank transfers. They’re really convenient. Except that they have ridiculous open / close times on occasion. Some banks even consider ATMs to be employees of the bank, having them operational only during actual banking hours. Luckily, my bank isn’t one of these. My bank, Iyo Ginko, does have weird hours though. ATMs generally open at 9 am and close at 5 or 7 pm, depending on their location. In any event, it’s a far cry from my instant banking 24 hours a day ATM availability all over the city back home in America. So once in a while I forget about a necessary run to the ATM, and it bites me in the butt. Today I had to borrow ¥2000 from a fellow English teacher because of this situation. I had a special day yesterday, which I hadn’t accounted for in my normal withdrawals. I bought a sack of mikan oranges for a student who forgot his for show and tell (without being reimbursed) first. Then we had a surprise lunch at the most expensive restaurant on the island for some visitors. I knew about the lunch – the surprise came when they asked me for money…because I had been told it was on the school. Anyway, I then accompanied the visitors on to Yuge High School, which is one of my schools. I hadn’t planned on that either, so the ferry cost me ¥1280 for a return trip. And since it wasn’t on a scheduled visitation day, that’s on my tab too. Ha ha. All in all, I spent about ¥5000 yesterday that I hadn’t planned on spending. That’s life here, really. But I neglected to hit an ATM before retiring for the evening. This resulted in my arriving at Yuge Port this morning with a total of ¥43 left in my pocket. After consulting with some teachers, I learned that there is an Ehime Ginko ATM (not within walking distance, though), and a post office (also not within walking distance), but no Iyo Ginko ATM. I was out of luck. I sighed, accepted my fate, and borrowed the money from my JTE. Thank goodness I work with cool people who have my back, huh? Anyway, the moral of the story is: DO NOT forget that Japan is still a hugely cash-based country, and make sure you have plenty of cash on you at all times. :-)

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  • Jonadab - Personal checks do not really exist in Japan. Seriously. They wouldn't know what you're talking about if you were ask. Totally not an option. Not to mention that I personally dislike using checks anyway. I prefer cash or debit cards. :-)
  • Ha. I meet most of my cash needs by just keeping some out, instead of depositing everything, when I take my monthly paycheck to the bank. But this is stateside, so most places will take a check. Although, in the last couple of years a lot of places have started to make you show ID when you write a check in person, which is slightly odd considering nobody requires that when you send a check by mail... still, it's way more convenient than having to hunt down an ATM every time.

    Jonadab the Unsightly Ones last blog post was: Bad Analogies 101
  • Tudza - I agree with you. I hope that Japan gets on the ball. (But it's not likely. It seems like removing the conveniences makes companies seem more noble in the eyes of consumers for being "green." Or something.)
  • Tudza
    This ATM thing is just silly. I worked for 6 years as a service person for our ten ATM machines. Most problems were very easy to handle, and if the machine was down and required expert service, well then it at least had been running longer than these machine in Japan are allowed to run.

    So if you are required to have experienced service people on call and not just volunteers from your own hard working staff, how many people do you need on call for some number of ATM machines that usually work flawlessly transaction after transaction.
  • Aileen - I was asked for advice about what to show this year's EPIC interns from Hawai'i. Both of them are very high level Japanese speakers who studied pretty extensively in college, so I told them that it would probably be lame if they showed them chopsticks and tea ceremony. (Which is, after all, the sort of thing they were going to do.) I said to do something local instead. We had presentations on mikans, Iwagi "blue" lemon cake, Hakata salt sweets, Uzushio taiko drums (sans performance), 8 sightseeing spots on the island, a mini-tour of the school, and Iwagi sweet potato snacks. And no, I didn't get the oranges after word - we gave them to our guests! (So yeah...that kid owes me.)
  • Aileen
    Also, did you get to eat the oranges after? If not, that kid owes you!
  • Aileen
    Why was your student doing show and tell with a bag of oranges?!

    When I was in Primary 5, a boy in my class did Show and Tell about his baby sister....had his Mum bring her into school and everything!

    Totally ace
  • Brian - nope. The nearest 7-11 is about an hour away from me, over at least one bridge. We have a Lawson on my island. And it's cool, anyway, I just need to adjust. These kinds of problems are pretty few and far between - they're just a big hassle when they do rear their ugly heads. :-)

    Mom - awww. Crime happens in Japan, too. But just like I don't usually worry about it stateside, I don't usually worry about it here either. I feel pretty safe overall. But like I said, I won't be using 7-11 ATMs anyway. Too far away.
  • Mom
    Beware of the 7-11 atm....I just read an article about how those are the easiest ones for thieves to rig so they can steal your info.....Or maybe that doesn't happen in Japan??
  • Brian
    Is there a 7-11 near you Deas? I know they work 24/7, and I use them frequently while in Japan (especially since they all take foreign cards now).
  • Didn't know the reason for the short hours for the machines so thank you Alex for that. Someone called you when you were at the machine?

    I know that some banks have a deal with 7-11 and so you can withdraw money from their machines later than usual. Then again, if the convenience stores aren't open as late that won't make a difference.

    I learned a while back that if I'm ever going anywhere that isn't within walking distance from my home, I better have at least enough money to get a taxi back.

    lost in ubes last blog post was: Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest Sort of Liveblog!
  • Alex - wow, you just enlightened me, my friend. It makes sense, I guess. I don't mind the ATM thing so much, but I am going to be annoyed if and when the convenience stores seriously slash their hours. They won't be so convenient anymore. (And we only have one on my island...)
  • I was told that the reason ATMs have operational hours is because in order for them to be legally in operation there has to be someone on the clock in the event that some problem arises. (Have you ever noticed there are phones on the ATM machine? I've been called while trying to withdraw cash...last month, actually)

    With odd night-shift hours, the banks would have to pay potential tech-staff higher hourly wages, and they aren't willing to fork out the cash, apparently. Customers nationwide take a hit on convenience so the banks can save a dime.

    Alexs last blog post was: Me encanta estudiar
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