I'm in the midst of applying for a Business Manager Visa in Japan, and will be setting up shop in 2025 with my wife. Our Japanese is minimal at this time. I'm looking for:
1) A business account with the lowest fees, that can hold CDN and US funds. I have a Wise account, from which I'll be sending approx 10K CDN a month (possibly 5K twice a month). From what I understand it can be better to transfer via SWIFT directly in CDN or US currency, and then have the exchange happen within the account. Bonus if there's support in English available. I was thinking Neo Bank, Japan Net Bank, or Shinsei. I'm fortunate to have a friend who will be helping set up my business, so they can open the business account.
2) A personal account that my wife and I can use for debit purchases and cash withdrawals. I was thinking Sony Bank would be good for this.
3) 1 personal account each for myself and my wife for our own spending money. Again for cash withdrawals and debit purchases. Since I doubt we can have multiple Sony Bank accounts, I was thinking Neo Bank or Japan Net Bank could be good for this purpose.
I'm sure others here have similar situations, so I'd love to hear your experience!
by mistermarve