Last updated: July 2025. Credits to Jason Yang.
If you’ve never had a credit card before coming to Japan, you may be asking yourself why you would want or need one, especially given that debit cards also exist here. It is definitely an optional thing and not everyone would require one.
One of the main advantages is being able to get a ETC card, which let you go through toll gates without stopping (and required at many on/off ramps in the prefecture). Many Japanese banks and financial institutions offer this but they are usually attached with a debit/credit card. Because debit cards are somewhat known to be difficult for JETs to acquire (especially with a smaller bank), the only alternative option is get one attached to credit cards. The second is that unlike in some other countries, if fraud happens, the bank is not obligated to credit you what you lost while it’s being investigated, meaning you could be stuck waiting a month or more for your money back if your card is compromised. Using a credit card instead of a debit card for online spending reduces this risk. Lastly, many “recurring billing” merchants, like streaming services or budget phone providers, won’t accept debit cards, especially foreign-issued debit cards either. For this reason, a small selection of “easy to get” (by Japanese standards) credit cards will be provided below. This should cover a broad range of uses.
Things to note before reading on:
- Many credit card companies have phone support in English, but only Rakuten has an app available in English. If an English-language app is a must, then they’re your only choice.
- Having a long name can be a barrier when applying for a credit card. Check the maximum name length before applying.
- If a credit card application asks if you want cash advance capability, say no. It’s considered riskier to give to foreigners and will increase the internal score required to pass your application, decreasing your chances of approval. If you think you’ll need it in the future, you can apply for it separately later, after you’ve built up a few months of successful payments.
Rakuten Card
Annual Fee: Free
Rewards: 1 Rakuten Point per 100 yen spent (1 point = 1 yen)
Signup bonus: 5000 points online, up to 12000 points when applying together with Rakuten Mobile
Max name length: 10 characters each for first and last
Rakuten Card is probably the most well-known foreigner-friendly card. Approvals generally come easily, they have some English language support, and it earns a consistent 1% rewards rate (1 point equals 1 yen). It can also be issued as a MasterCard if you want to shop at Costco. However, it charges extra for ETC cards (the others don’t), the Rakuten point system is a bit hard to navigate due to having both “standard” and “limited use” points, and approval takes a few days, meaning it takes a bit longer to get the card and start using it. When combined with Rakuten Mobile, you do get quite a good point earning rate when shopping with Rakuten online as well as a much larger signup bonus. Points can also be used to pay for your Rakuten Mobile bill. However, if you want to collect airline miles that can also be used like money…
ANA JCB Card First
Annual Fee: Free
Rewards: 10 ANA Miles per 1000 yen spent (1 ANA mile = 1 yen if used through ANA Pay)
Signup bonus: 3000 ANA Miles
Max name length: 19 characters combined
This card is specifically targeted towards the 18-29 year old crowd, so it’s more forgiving of younger people on their first job in Japan. JCB is accepted at most stores and online services in Japan except Costco. There is generally good value in domestic flight redemptions- for example, 6000 miles one-way for short-hauls like Osaka to Tokyo or Fukuoka or 7500 miles one-way for Osaka to Okinawa, and taxes are between 600-2000 yen. International flights are generally not as good value, since taxes on those are much higher. ANA also releases last-minute Toku-Tabi Mile specials every Tuesday, which discounts selected routes by 3000 miles for the rest of the week, meaning you can fly within mainland Japan for the weekend for as little as 3500 miles one way or to Hokkaido or Okinawa for 5500. You can also exchange at 1 mile to 1 yen for a spending balance on ANA Pay, which is a virtual card that can be used at any store or vending machine that takes Visa or iD debit.
EPOS Visa
Annual Fee: Free
Rewards: 1 EPOS Point per 200 yen spent (1 point = 1 yen)
Signup bonus: 2000 EPOS Points
Max name length: Any (in-store application)
This is the Marui department store’s store card, so it’s also considered more forgiving of first timers. Since it’s a Visa card, it’s accepted at most stores and online services across Japan, and EPOS points are easy to redeem for various gift cards (including Visa gift cards) or at 1 point to1 yen at Marui department stores across the country. The main selling point for EPOS is that if you apply at a Marui store (say, in Osaka), they make credit decisions on the spot and if approved, you’ll walk out the door with your Visa card (your ETC card will come in the mail later). However, the lower base earning rate (effectively 0.5%) means it isn’t the best choice unless you need the physical card right away, you plan on shopping at Marui or stores within Marui a lot (for bonus points), or your name is too long for the other options and you don’t want to pay the annual fee for a full AmEx card.
Saison AmEx Pearl
Annual Fee: Free
Rewards: 1 Saison Point per 1000 yen spent as AmEx, 4 points per 1000 yen spent as QuICPay (1 point = 5 yen statement credit)
Signup bonus: 1600 points after spending 50k yen in a month
Max name length: 30 characters combined
This is Credit Saison’s entry-level AmEx-network card. Unlike in many other countries, in Japan AmEx cards are accepted at most places (and the card also supports QuICPay tap, which is accepted at almost all physical stores and vending machines), so you don’t really lose out on acceptance by having this over any of the others. However, Saison is a third party so they can’t carry over credit history from AmEx in other countries, only AmEx proper can (see below). Its main selling points are that it earns equivalent to 2% cashback if you tap your phone with QuICPay (ask for “QuICPay”, not “AmEx” or “credit”) up to the first 300k yen of spend each year, and that you get a decision same-day if you apply on a weekday before 5pm. If you’re approved you can view your card number in the app right away so you can add it to Apple or Google Pay or spend online with it, and your physical card will arrive in a week.
This one will cost you more, but if you have an AmEx card from home (if you’ve had an AmEx in your home country for at least 3 months, you can carry over your history when applying), may be your surest bet:
AmEx Delta Blue
Annual Fee: 13,200 yen
Rewards: 1 Delta Mile per 100 yen spent, 2 per 100 on Delta (1 mile = US$0.01 when used on Delta plane tickets, variable partner reward rates)
Signup bonus: 5000 miles + 1 year Delta Silver status
Max name length: Any (may require phoning in, phone support available in English)
This card has an annual fee, and the miles are a bit harder to use, but if you have an AmEx card from home you can carry over your credit history when applying. Just log in to the AmEx Japan website with your login details from home, then click through to the application page. Alternatively, go through the application as normal, and when asked if you already have an AmEx card, say “yes” and type in your card number. You get all the benefits of Delta Silver status (priority check-in, priority boarding, priority luggage loading/unloading, priority assistance in the event of cancellations or delays, not just on Delta but also on partners like WestJet, Air France/KLM, Korean Air, China Eastern, or Virgin Atlantic) and you can use your miles on domestic Skymark flights (most of which depart from Kobe Airport) as well as flights on Delta, Korean Air, China Eastern, Air France, etc. In addition, AmEx has fully English-speaking support if you bump into any issues with your account. If the annual fee is a bit much, hold it for 1 year to build up a local credit history, then go for another card and cancel this one.
And as a last resort, if you can’t get approved anywhere else, secured cards are an option.
Life Card (Secured version)
Annual fee: 5,500 yen
Security deposit amount: 30,000/50,000/100,000 yen (only 100,000 will get you an ETC card if you drive)
Rewards: 1 point per 1,000 yen spent up to 500,000 yen a year, then 1.5 points per 1,000 yen (1 point = 4 yen deposited to your bank account)
When you apply online, specify the security deposit amount you want to put down. When your card is ready, the mail carrier will also collect your security deposit and the first year’s annual fee in cash. At that point, your card is ready to use. It doesn’t offer much in the way of rewards or benefits, but they’ll almost always approve you. The one downside is, they take two months to refund the security deposit to your bank once you’ve canceled the card. This means either keeping your Japanese account open after departure until you get your deposit back or having to cancel the card three months before departure (to account for possible delays). For short-term JETs, it’s generally not be worth the bother.
Using Credit in Japan
If you’ve been approved for credit, there are a few things to keep in mind. Unlike in most other countries, credit cards in Japan usually require you to pay the full balance owed each month. One exception is, JCB enables revolving payments by default, and you’ll need to go manually disable it once you’ve received and activated your card if you don’t want to pay interest (unlike in other countries where there’s a grace period, in Japan purchases made on revolving credit start charging interest from day 1).
You can also make purchases in installments, however this usually comes with fees/interest, starting at 12% annual interest for 3 installments increasing to 15% for 12 months or revolving payment. (However electronics store cards usually offer 0% on up to 24 installments for purchases made at that store and Aeon will sometimes have 0% 24-month promos) Try to avoid this unless you absolutely need it or you’ve got a 0% promo to take advantage of.
| Payment Terminology | Romanji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 一括 | ikkatsu | single payment |
| (n)-回払い | (number)-kai barai | pay in (number) of installments |
| リボ払い | ribo barai | revolving payment |
However, splitting a purchase into 2 installments (nikai barai, 2回払い) is free; no fees, no interest. You’ll pay half of your purchase on the next bill and half on the bill after (but the entire amount will be held against your available credit). If you’ve been approved for a credit card, you might want to take advantage of this the first couple of months for things like appliances. This can only be done at the time of purchase, by saying “nikai barai” when you pay. Not all stores support this, so don’t be surprised if you’re refused, but most places that sell appliances, electronics, etc will.
The way paying your credit card bill works in Japan is that you provide your bank account information when you sign up (for Olive Credit, this is automatically pulled from your SMBC profile). If approved, you’ll have payments taken out of your linked bank account on a fixed schedule.
In most cases the amount withdrawn will be the sum of your purchases the month before (or half, if you use 2-installment payment). Sometimes purchases made close to statement closing don’t post before the statement closes, so they will go on the next month’s statement instead. There’s no advantage to paying it ahead of time, so don’t worry about trying to send payment before the due date.
