wiring money to Japan from the US

[coffeespoon]

Hello everyone,

Here are some questions I would like to ask.

I am planning on wiring money to my Japanese bank (Mitsubishi) from the US to finance a down payment for a house (about $36,500, or Y4000,000). I have never transferred money to Japan before, and am wondering what sort of questions the Japanese bank is going to ask me/what documents they will need. Does anyone have experience with this?

In the past, I have sent about the same amount TO the US (over a period of time) through Mitsubishi, so I shouldn't really have any "problems", right? At the time, I remember telling Misubishi when they asked me why I was sending money to the US, that I wanted to have enough money in my US bank for US purchases, etc.

Also, is there a difference in transferring the entire amount in one go, versus having it sent to Japan in three or four parts? I don't need the money right away.

Thanks for reading.

[Beaglehound]

I have done it from the UK, with larger amounts than that. The Japanese bank (a regional one) called to ask what it was for and took a small percentage of the cash for their ‘trouble’. Beyond that, no paperwork was required. Using a currency broker like Wise will likely keep fees low and you’ll likely get a better rate than sending from your US bank direct. Sending in multiple chunks may mean the rate you get is lower, and if your bank takes a flat fee will incur more cost. Personally I would do it all at once, saves multiple calls from the bank too.

[coffeespoon]

Thanks for your quick reply! It is much appreciated!!

For some reason, I thought that (transfer)wise didn't work for large sums. Also, I just checked their website and it says, "At the moment, you can receive money directly into your account in Australian dollars, British pounds, Canadian dollars, Euros, Hungarian forints, New Zealand dollars, Polish złoty, Romanian leu (only available for residents in the EEA and Switzerland), Singapore dollars, Turkish Lira, and US dollars." So this means we can't receive yen?

If you have any insight, I would love to hear it.

[RetireJapan]

I would avoid breaking the transfer into smaller amounts, as that can seem like you are trying to avoid attention from the tax authorities, and thus get more attention

You can switch from US dollars to yen quite easily within your Wise account. You can also send the money to a virtual US bank account within Wise, thus avoiding the need for an international transfer.

[coffeespoon]

Thanks, Ben!

[captainspoke]

...
I am planning on wiring money to my Japanese bank (Mitsubishi) from the US ...

Does Mitsubishi have multi currency accounts? E.g., so you can wire in US$ and they will be received as such, and remain so, in your account?

I do know that Shinsei has this, but am not sure about Mitsubishi. You can then switch currencies whenever you choose to do so, and that would be unrelated to the receipt of the wired funds. (There's no way they should be taking a percentage of incoming funds!) There may be an incoming wire fee, maybe ¥3-4000, but nothing more than that (and some years ago Shinsei didn't charge anything for an incoming wire).

[captainspoke]

I would avoid breaking the transfer into smaller amounts, as that can seem like you are trying to avoid attention from the tax authorities, and thus get more attention ...

Breaking it down is called 'structuring', and it's a no-no. The other possible catch with breaking it down and using Wise, is that there may be a 'problem' with a successive transfer--it'd suck to get one or two transfers thru, and then have the next one refused for some reason.

[coffeespoon]

I will check with Mitsubishi, Captain Spoke. Thanks for the advice! Is the idea behind getting the money in dollars leveraging the exchange rate and converting to yen when the timing is good? Have a good day!

[captainspoke]

I will check with Mitsubishi, Captain Spoke. Thanks for the advice! Is the idea behind getting the money in dollars leveraging the exchange rate and converting to yen when the timing is good? Have a good day!

Timing the exchange rate is like market timing, so no, not really that (tho I'd have my fingers crossed and hope to get lucky).

While I've never heard of it happening, I wouldn't want the US bank to change the funds into yen. Conversion rates in japan--even at an airport--are better than what a US bank will do. And when you initiate this, I think it would be worth a clear statement to the bank there that they should send US$, and not do any conversion. Simple insurance.

Secondarily, if you hold the $ here for a little while (at shinsei), you'll qualify for their platinum rate, which you might not get if it is exchanged into a yen account on receipt. Yes, the benefit here would be pretty small, and you'd be taking a chance on the rate being stable in the meantime, or moving in your favor. Maybe not worth it?

[captainspoke]

I will check with Mitsubishi, Captain Spoke. Thanks for the advice! Is the idea behind getting the money in dollars leveraging the exchange rate and converting to yen when the timing is good? Have a good day!

This might be worth reading--accounts, fees, and so on. It's for sending in the other direction, but I think many aspects would still apply.

https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanFinance/w ... /transfers