Quote Originally Posted by Vespar View Post
This is completely false. I am currently in Japan and despite having language barriers, I have been able to withdraw funds from any and all ATM's I have attempted to withdraw funds at.
I, too, lived in Japan and about half of the ATMs i used would accept neither my mastercard nor my domestic (Japanese) ATM card, despite the ATM card being issued by JP national. It made paying my bills considerably difficult.
So no, this is not completely false. Some of my classmates had to have 2 or more bank accounts just to be able to pay their bills.
Also note I didn't live in Tokyo, Kyoto, or Osaka areas, however.