Unexpected Struggles Moving From Japan to the US
My wife and I recently moved out of Japan to Hawaii, USA, with the expectation that we’d be back in Japan from time to time.
She’s Japanese, and even though we did a lot to prepare for the move so we could maintain an international life, there are things that we forgot, didn’t know or just made mistakes with.
If you plan to do the same, I recommend you to make sure you avoid these issues better than we did so you can avoid future hassles.
1. Double check your bank status
Banking has been the biggest issue since leaving Japan because we can’t access our money. Here’s what happened.
Opting to not pay monthly international usage fees was a mistake
My wife’s main bank account is with Mitsubishi UFJ, one of the major banks. With most banks in Japan, if you’re going to be overseas, you’re supposed to opt-in to be charged a monthly fee, which we thought to was mainly so we could use functions such as international bank transfers.
The plan was to use Wise for these transfers since it’s a service that helps you transfer money overseas between accounts for a lot cheaper. Using it doesn’t require international bank transfers since you transfer money to their Japan account and they deposit that amount into the overseas one, meaning we wouldn’t be doing anything “international” with UFJ.
Unfortunately, you’re not allowed to even be overseas really and use your bank account normally unless you pay that monthly fee.
When my wife tried to make a domestic transfer while in the US, she was immediately locked out of her account.
Don’t forget going through the extra security checks
After doing away with my UFJ account (it was my main account, but long story), I decided to have my secondary account at Yucho Bank (Japan Post) be my main one.
I overlooked the fact that I hadn’t applied to use all of the features of my bank account.
Like at many banks, just because you’ve gone through the process of opening a bank account and are able to use online banking, it doesn’t mean you can use other functions such as sending and receiving money.
One part of the common security checks in Japan
In order to be able to do this, you need to go through additional security checks, and I overlooked the fact that I hadn’t done it. Because of this, my bank didn’t allow me to connect with Wise for domestic transfers.
2. Prepare for Apple ID Issues
As you may know if you’re an iPhone user, your Apple ID is not universal - it’s tied to a country.
Because I had an iPhone before moving to Japan in the US, that was my main account. I ended up getting a Japan Apple ID as well because there are certain apps that are useful in Japan and not available in the US App Store.
After moving back to the US, I needed to update my Japan apps and when I tried to login, Apple sent a confirmation code to my Japan phone number, the number I had cancelled when I left the country
Go through an account recovery with Apple
I had to make an account recovery request and go through a series of steps.
Once the request is successfully submitted, you’re told that you’ll be contacted exactly 2 weeks from the time of submission to finish up the process.
I went in and changed my Japanese Apple ID to my US phone number so that I could log in again. Thankfully all that worked out and I can access the Japan App Store.
The inability to switch county settings for accounts is not only an Apple problem
This is an issue with other apps as well. For example, for LINE, you have to go through a somewhat tedious process to change your linked phone number if you move countries.
3. Know that you can’t switch countries for Google AdSense
A lot of people will start a blog or YouTube channel when living abroad, and some will monetize it with Google AdSense.
This may lead to Google AdSense depositing payouts in your Japanese bank account. This was the case for me.
Despite registering my US tax info as required for US citizens, Google does not allow you to switch the country it’s tied to once it’s set.
How to switch countries for Google AdSense
Cancel your Google AdSense account
Open a new account in your new country
Submit a request to have your new account connected to your YouTube channel
It can take a little while and during this time, you don’t get paid. This is the only way I know of.
I hope this helps. Feel free to share or ask any questions you might have.
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I share my experiences and tips for dealing with money if you're traveling or moving to Japan. My preferred banks in the U.S and Japan, how to use Apple Pay, and the credit cards that I use.