Megabanks: When They Make Sense

Megabanks in Japan are the three nationwide city banks, MUFG Bank, SMBC, and Mizuho Bank, and this article explains when one of them is worth its opening friction for a foreign resident.¹ Open one for a mortgage, a corporate relationship, or high-value in-person banking; skip one for ordinary daily banking, where postal, regional, or online-only options clear faster.²³⁴⁵

Confirm current details with official sources

Procedures, fees, and requirements can change. Confirm current details at each bank's own site or the Financial Services Agency site.

Overview

The colloquial label メガバンク (megabanku, "megabank") covers three specific banks, MUFG Bank, SMBC, and Mizuho Bank; it is not a government license category.¹ The Financial Services Agency's own license list groups them as 都市銀行 (toshi ginkō, "city bank").¹ For how that license category maps to the five practical bank tiers, see Japan's Banking System: The Five Bank Tiers Explained.

All three run national branch networks at a scale no regional bank matches: MUFG counts 415 domestic branches or offices plus 100 overseas locations (as of 2025-03-31; confirm current figures with MUFG Bank), SMBC counts 455 domestic branches plus 20 overseas branches or representative offices (as of 2026-03-31), and Mizuho counts approximately 463 domestic locations (as of 2024-06-30; treat as approximate).⁶⁷⁸

The Three Megabanks at a Glance

Each of the three sells the same basic proposition, a full-line bank with a branch near most urban residents, at a slightly different scale and with different English-language support for newcomers.

MUFG Bank

三菱UFJ銀行 (Mitsubishi UFJ Ginkō, "MUFG Bank") is Japan's largest bank by most measures, formally MUFG Bank, Ltd., bank code 0005, wholly owned by Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and founded in 1919.⁹ It employs 31,427 people and runs 415 domestic branches or offices plus 100 overseas locations (as of 2025-03-31; confirm current figures with MUFG Bank).⁶

MUFG is the only one of the three with a dedicated English-language page for residents opening personal accounts. That page confirms the bank checks the purpose of account use, takes applications at branch offices, and decides conclusively on each application by its comprehensive judgement.² Completed-sample application forms are published in English, Chinese (simplified and traditional), Korean, Vietnamese, and Portuguese, though the branch-visit appointment page itself is Japanese-only.²¹⁰

SMBC

三井住友銀行 (Mitsui Sumitomo Ginkō, "Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation") reports 455 domestic branches, a count that includes online-dedicated and internet branches, plus 20 overseas branches or representative offices, with 28,030 employees (as of 2026-03-31).⁷ Its identity as one of the three megabanks is structural and stable; its network counts move with disclosures.¹

No dedicated English-language retail account-opening page was located for SMBC during research for this article. Treat its retail onboarding as Japanese-first unless a branch tells you otherwise.

Mizuho Bank

みずほ銀行 (Mizuho Ginkō, "Mizuho Bank") is the third megabank alongside MUFG and SMBC.¹ Its domestic network is approximately 463 locations (as of 2024-06-30), a figure that could not be re-verified against the bank's own site during research and should be treated as approximate rather than confirmed.⁸

As with SMBC, no dedicated English-language retail account-opening page was located for Mizuho during research. Its housing-loan documentation, by contrast, is detailed and public, and it anchors the mortgage discussion below.⁴

Bank	Domestic network	Overseas	As of
MUFG Bank	415 branches/offices	100 locations	2025-03-316
SMBC	455 branches	20 branches/representative offices	2026-03-317
Mizuho Bank	approx. 463 locations	not confirmed in this pass	2024-06-308

Network figures above move with each bank's disclosures (as of the dates shown; confirm current figures with each bank). Branch counts include online-dedicated branches in SMBC's case and should not be compared digit-for-digit across banks.

What Megabanks Offer Smaller Banks Do Not

Four capabilities separate megabanks from postal, regional, and online-only alternatives. Each one maps to a specific reader: the buyer, the founder, the foreign-currency user, and anyone with high-value business that must happen face to face.

Mortgage lending, especially for settled foreign residents

Megabanks are full-line mortgage lenders, which is what puts them in front of foreign buyers that smaller banks turn away. Mizuho states that housing-loan applicants must meet every listed condition, including in principle being a Japanese national or a foreign national with permanent residency or equivalent (other conditions include group-credit-life-insurance eligibility, stable income, and a guarantee company's backing).⁴ Branch practices vary, so confirm with the lending branch how it reads the "or equivalent" clause for your status.

Mizuho's published terms run 1 to 35 years and ¥500,000 to ¥300,000,000, with formal review results in about 1 week to 10 days after all documents are in, then about 3 weeks to contract via electronic signing; no-visit net loans need 30 days or more from formal application to borrowing (timelines current as of page fetch 2026-09-06; confirm current figures with Mizuho Bank).⁴ Expect a 2.2% loan-handling fee on the borrowed amount under the fee-in-rate plan type, plus stamp duty, registration costs, and fire insurance as applicable (as of page fetch 2026-09-06).⁴

Flat 35 sets the system baseline for foreign applicants

The public-conforming Flat 35 product accepts foreign-national applicants who hold permanent residency or special permanent residency, with lump-sum repayment if that status proves absent.¹¹ A megabank proprietary loan adds the bank's own screen on top of that baseline, so use Flat 35 eligibility as your floor, not your approval.

Corporate and business banking relationships

MUFG runs corporate onboarding as its own track, separate from personal accounts, with business internet banking (BizSTATION), business debit cards, foreign-exchange services, trade finance, and startup and IPO support lines.³ A founder who needs yen settlement, payroll, and a lender that knows the company is buying this relationship, not just an account number.

The document set is heavier than any personal opening. MUFG asks for the certificate of registered matters (within 6 months), the corporate seal certificate (within 6 months), and the transacting representative's official ID; where the representative or owner is a non-Japanese national, their residence card is required, and companies with dominant shareholders must also evidence beneficial owners.³

Some businesses cannot use web onboarding at all

Sole proprietors, associations, second accounts at the same branch, and non-Japanese corporations (other than Japanese entities or branches of foreign firms) must apply at a branch rather than online.³ Check the exclusion list before assuming the web flow covers you.

Foreign-currency services at branch counters

MUFG lists foreign-exchange and international-business services, including foreign remittance, foreign-exchange trading, and overseas-affairs support, as standing product lines.³ Its global product pages confirm the same capability set for cross-border business.² This is the counter-level operation, foreign-currency deposits, large conversions, and documented transfers, that app-only banks cannot serve face to face.

No megabank publishes an English-language counter-FX fee table for residents that this article could verify, so compare fees at the counter or against a specialist transfer provider before moving large sums.

Branch presence for high-value in-person operations

The three domestic networks, 415, 455, and approximately 463 locations respectively (as of the dates in the table above), are what make certified documentation, large transfers, and loan consultations available near most urban residents.⁶⁷⁸ No regional bank matches that footprint, and online-only banks have no counters at all.

Counter access comes with counter hours. Branch counters generally close at 3 p.m. on weekdays, so plan high-value errands as morning visits (practitioner-reported pattern).⁵ MUFG books branch-visit appointments through a Japanese-only page, another reason to bring Japanese support or a bilingual companion.²

Opening Friction: What to Expect

Megabank counters are the strictest personal-banking counters in Japan. Expect queues, Japanese-first paperwork, and questions that foreigner-friendly alternatives skip.

Longer queues and Japanese-first paperwork

MUFG confirms the purpose of account use when you apply and states the bank decides conclusively whether an account can be opened by its comprehensive judgement.² Application forms are completed at branch offices, with multilingual completed samples available but the appointment flow itself Japanese-only.²¹⁰ Practitioner guides describe megabank paperwork as usually Japanese-only in practice.⁵

More documentation than foreigner-friendly alternatives

The practitioner baseline set runs to residence card, residence certificate or utility bill, Japanese phone number, passport and My Number material, and a personal seal at many traditional banks.⁵ Japan Post Bank is reported to accept minimal documentation from short-term residents, which is why guides steer new arrivals there first (practitioner-reported pattern).⁵

The informal six-month filter

Many megabank branches informally expect around six months of Japan residence before opening a personal account, a practice reported by relocation guides rather than published by any bank or regulator (confirm current requirements directly with the branch you visit).⁵ MUFG's only published screen is its comprehensive-judgement statement on a page dated 2020-03-04, which contains no residence-duration threshold.² Read the six-month filter as branch-level practice that varies by counter, not as national policy.

Do not bank your arrival on one branch visit

A rejection at one megabank branch is not a verdict on your eligibility everywhere. Open a postal or online-only account first for salary and bills, then approach a megabank once you hold six months of residence or a concrete mortgage or corporate reason.⁵

Do You Actually Need a Megabank

Most foreign residents do not need a megabank for daily banking. Deposits, domestic transfers, and ATM cash are served by postal, regional, or online-only options with lower friction.⁵ The price signals point the same way: ordinary-deposit rates at the big three sit near 0.02% after the Bank of Japan's 2024 exit from negative rates, while out-of-network ATM use runs ¥110–220 and interbank transfers ¥200–500 per transaction (as of the 2025-07-10 practitioner guide cited; confirm current figures with each bank).⁵

You likely do need one when any of three conditions holds. First, you plan to borrow for property and need a lender whose foreign-applicant screen you can pass, typically with permanent residency or equivalent.⁴¹¹ Second, you run a company and need a branch-documented corporate relationship with seal and registry papers.³ Third, you regularly need counter-level foreign-currency or high-value in-person operations that app-only channels cannot do face to face.²³

Good to know

Opening the safest-looking account first can backfire

New arrivals often walk into a megabank first because the brand looks safest, then hit the strictest documentation, Japanese-first paperwork, and the reported six-month filter in one visit.⁵ Start with a postal or online-only account for salary and bills, and add a megabank later for a mortgage or corporate reason.

Talk to the mortgage desk before you need the loan

Waiting until purchase to discover the permanent-residency screen wastes the scarcest resource in a deal, time. Mizuho gates proprietary housing loans on Japanese nationality or permanent residency or equivalent as a principle, and formal review plus contracting takes roughly a month even after documents are complete; Flat 35 baselines permanent or special permanent residency too.⁴¹¹ Open the conversation while your status or timeline can still move.

A personal account does not unlock business banking

A personal megabank cash card buys no shortcut into corporate onboarding. MUFG runs the corporate track separately, with registry, seal, and beneficial-owner checks plus residence cards for non-Japanese representatives, and some categories must apply at a branch regardless.³ Budget a second, slower application for the company.

See also

• Mortgages for Foreign Residents
• Japan Post Bank for Foreigners: Opening a Yucho Account
• Bank Account in Japan for Foreigners: The Six-Month Rule
• Online Bank Alternatives for Foreign Residents
• Japan's Banking System: The Five Bank Tiers Explained
• The Visa-Bank-Phone-Apartment Chicken-and-Egg Problem

References

Footnotes

1. 金融庁 (Financial Services Agency). 「銀行免許一覧（都市銀行・信託銀行・その他）」. https://www.fsa.go.jp/menkyo/menkyoj/ginkou.pdf ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

2. MUFG Bank, Ltd. (English). "Personal banking services for residents of Japan". https://www.bk.mufg.jp/global/productsandservices/p_banking.html (page states "As of March 4, 2020") ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹

3. 株式会社三菱UFJ銀行. 「法人口座開設」. https://www.bk.mufg.jp/houjin/kouza_kaisetu.html ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸

4. みずほ銀行. 「住宅ローンのよくあるご質問」. https://www.mizuhobank.co.jp/loan_housing/faq/index.html ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

5. GaijinPot. "How to Set Up a Bank Account in Japan" (2025-07-10). https://blog.gaijinpot.com/how-to-set-up-a-bank-account-in-japan/ ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰

6. MUFG Bank, Ltd. (English). "Company Profile". https://www.bk.mufg.jp/global/aboutus/companyprofile.html ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

7. 株式会社三井住友銀行. 「会社概要」. https://www.smbc.co.jp/aboutus/profile/gaiyo.html ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

8. Mizuho Bank branch-network figures, as indexed from mizuhobank.co.jp store-locator pages. Cited via search index only; direct fetch was blocked during this research pass (limitation, see Open issues). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

9. 株式会社三菱UFJ銀行. 「会社概要」. https://www.bk.mufg.jp/kigyou/profile.html ↩

10. MUFG Bank, Ltd. (English). "Application form for opening account". https://www.bk.mufg.jp/global/productsandservices/opening_account_info.html ↩ ↩²

11. 住宅金融支援機構 (JHF). 「外国籍でも申込みできますか」Q&A番号 308. https://jhffaq.jp/jhffaq/flat35/web/knowledge308.html ↩ ↩² ↩³