Money Orders through the Japanese Postal Service

Sending money from Japan overseas via the Japanese Postal Service

I had to send money overseas for the first time today. Needless to say, my searches have been uneventful in providing up-to date information.

Hopefully this blog post can help anyone else looking to how to remit money internationally from Japan.

1. Go to the post office and ask for the 国際送金請求書兼告知書（kokusai soukin seikyuusho danshinn chisho) This is the form to remit money from the post office. 

There are two types - one that directly wires money into the payee's bank account and one that allows you to send a check to an address. This time, I wanted to send a check so I chose the 住所あて送金用　(jyuusho ate soukinnyou) form.

2. Filling out the form is easy enough as there are English translations throughout the form. Do not forget to bring some sort of identification along as they will verify your identity. I simply used my Alien Registration Card (外国人証明書, gaikokujinn shoumeisho）
3. They will convert your currency at the post office with the daily exchange rate in addition to a processing charge which is now 2000JPY per transaction. Once you pay, you must take the check to the window that deals with mail in order to send the check.
4. I chose to be cautious and sent the check by EMS, which incurs an additional 1200JPY. This way, you can track the status of the shipment through the EMS website which can be accessed at: http://www.post.japanpost.jp/int/ems/index_en.html
5. Once that is done, all you have to do is wait for the money order to arrive at its intended destination!