Unfortunately, there isn’t an exact answer to this, as Every Situation Is Different. You will have to bring enough money to survive your first month. Enough to pay rent and utilities, buy groceries, and furnish your new apartment.
So, how much do you need? The General Information Handbook doesn’t mention a specific amount but current and past participants have mentioned ¥300,000-¥400,000 as an ideal amount. Of course this does depend on how much your rent, possible rental deposits, and the other costs before the date of your first paycheck. Your contracting organization and your predecessor should be able to give you an estimate on rent and other costs, so be sure to ask them. We have heard tales of new JETs surviving on only ¥50,000 or ¥100,000, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.
With physical cash, you can prepare in advance and bring around ¥30,000-¥50,000. Japan is a relatively safe country, and it is typical to carry around this much money. You generally get a better rate in your home country when converting to Japanese Yen, but there are also currency exchange shops here in Japan that offer a good rate. The rest can be withdrawn via an ATM card from your home country bank. You can withdraw money from your bank account in all postal ATMs, all ATMs in 7-11s, and some other ATMs.
