GRPT

Follow up concerning recent news of spy cameras being installed at UFJ (and possibly other bank's) ATMs. The police picked up a guy who was acting suspiciously outside a UFJ ATM in Gotanda. The guy said he was doing a job (for a mere 10,000 yen/day) that was offered to him via a bulletin board on the Internet. He was instructed to first pick up a mobile phone, then pick up a hidden locker key, take out the contents of the locker (a bag containing various camera and other equipment), remove a camera from an existing location at an ATM in a convenience store (yep - conbinis also vulnerable)

Edy (electronic "prepaid" money) is becoming more popular in Japan. Although not an "international" debit card, the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi launched its multi-function "Super IC Card Tokyo-Mitsubishi VISA" last year. This is the card with the biometric "hand scan" ID verification technology that they have been heavily promoting on TV. The Super IC Card combines the functionality of a standard domestic cash card (meaning it should be J-Debit compatible - I think), a credit card (hence the VISA part), and Edy electronic money. As the card has credit card functionality, I wonder i

Sunrise, Sorry for going so off tangent re: J-Debit. I understand what you are talking about now - "international debit cards" - using the existing VISA/Mastercard structure etc. I checked out a site in Japanese and it confirmed what you said - despite rapid growth in international debit cards overseas, they have yet to take off in Japan, but are expected to in time. Me thinks maybe the banks have just got into the issuing of credit cards for themselves and want to milk this business for all its worth first. Pretty nice business model generating revenues from milking up t

That's right misorano. Sorry sunrise for not addressing that part of your question. The concept with debit cards, as opposed to credit cards, is that you can only make a transaction with the debit card provided that your acount has sufficient funds to cover the transaction. Otherwise the person at the cash register will probably give you a strange look as if to say, "not enough money in your account, hey?" The issue with the minimum account balance at Citibank is that they will charge you a monthly account managament fee of Y2,100 (I think) if you don't have at least Y500,000 or foreign c

I think most standard Japanese bank cash cards that you use at ATMs double as debit cards and you don't need to get a separately issued debit card as such. What you have to keep an eye out for though is the green and white "J-Debit" sticker that retailers and other businesses that have EFTPOS (electronic funds transfer at point of sale) capability display in the shop window or beside the cash register. If using J-Debit, or cash card ATMs for that matter, be vary careful about keeping your personal identification number (PIN) out of view of prying eyes (or discretely placed spy camera

I only joined the forum today so my reply is a little out of date, but here goes anyway ... The book that "me jane" could have been referring to in the first post of this thread is "Raising a child to be bilingual & bicultural" or "Bairingaru - baikarucharu kosodate-hou" in Japanese, written by Steven Verrier (published July 25, 2003) in association with the Hiragana Times. ISBN4-946492-28-3. English on the left page, Japanese on the right. In true Hiragana Times style, all the Japanese has the "furigana" readings of the kanji. Steven's wife Motoko translated the Japanese version

Hi Yamakashi, Is this a trick question? You can make money on the TSE or any other exchange if you buy a security at a lower price than that for which you sell it at. Picking the right security - i.e. one that is likely to go up in price after you buy it - is a different matter.

Hi Indosnm, You may already know the answer, but I'll jot down a few points just in case. You can open online brokerage accounts at any of the major securities companies (Nomura, Daiwa, Nikko, etc) or specialist online brokerages (Monex Beans, Kabu.com, etc). There are lots! The procedure is pretty similar to opening a bank account - you obviously need proof of ID and it helps to have a "hanko" name seal. You can even post the applications (and relevant copies of ID etc) and do not necessarily have to visit a branch in person. Be careful if you are an employee of a securiti