Is it difficult to send money home?
It isn’t difficult, but it can be expensive. We recommend that you keep a checking account open in your home country so that you can pay any bills or loans that you have by check. It also gives you somewhere to send money to if you want to make an electronic bank transfer. It is also a good idea to get a credit card (Visa not MasterCard) if you can before you leave. There are no international banks in Obihiro, but Citibank has branches in Tokyo and Sapporo. You can also send a money order via the post office to someone other than yourself in your home country, it is relatively cheap but takes up to 4 weeks. It is also possible to use some ATM cards at the post office machines. It can be a hit or miss operation and it is impossible to tell before hand which ones will work, so bring yours with you.
