Glossary

Deposit — money paid into an account; the deposit date/amount label on statements and certificates.

The label used on passbooks, certificates, and ATM screens for money going INTO an account. On a time-deposit certificate, 預入日 (azukeire-bi) is the date the principal was deposited — the start of the deposit’s life.

Ordinary deposit account — the standard everyday Japanese bank account for salary, transfers, and ATM use.

The default Japanese bank account type: passbook or app, cash card, near-zero interest. Salary deposits, utility debits, and day-to-day banking all run through a 普通預金 account. Equivalent in role to a US checking account, though technically a savings deposit.

A consolidated passbook row — many unprinted transactions collapsed into one line, hiding the detail between them.

When a passbook goes unprinted for a long stretch, the bank may collapse the accumulated transactions into a single 合算 ("combined total") row, sometimes labeled 合算9 for nine combined transactions. The intermediate activity — including any balance peaks — is invisible on the passbook itself; a transaction history from the bank is the only way to recover it.

Payout / withdrawal — money paid back out of an account; marks the true close of a time deposit.

The label for money paid OUT — 払戻金額 is the payout amount. On a time-deposit record, the payment row carrying 払戻金額 (or お支払金額) marks the deposit’s actual close: principal plus accrued interest returned to the holder. That row, not the lockup-expiry date on the deposit row, is the deposit’s real end date.

The running-balance column in a passbook — the account balance after each transaction.

Literally "balance after deduction" — the rightmost column in a passbook, showing the account balance after each transaction posts. When working out an account’s maximum value for a year (for FBAR, for example), this is the column you scan for the largest figure.

Japan Post fixed-amount savings — 6-month lockup, then redeemable any time within a 10-year maximum term.

A Japan Post Bank time deposit common in older household savings. It earns the rate posted at deposit, can’t be touched for six months, and then stays redeemable at any time for up to ten years. Reading the certificate has a trap: the second date on the deposit row is the lockup-expiry date (deposit + 6 months), NOT the maturity date — the true close date appears only on a separate payment row when the deposit is finally paid out. One certificate often bundles several separate sub-deposits.

Time deposit at Japan Post Bank — the postal equivalent of a bank time deposit.

Japan Post Bank’s fixed-term deposit product. Functionally the same as a bank 定期預金: fixed term, fixed rate, principal locked. The 貯金 (chokin) wording marks it as a postal product — banks say 預金 (yokin), Japan Post says 貯金.

Time deposit at a bank — money locked for a fixed term at a fixed rate.

A fixed-term deposit (one month to ten years) at a commercial bank. Funds are committed for the term; early withdrawal usually forfeits most interest. Japanese time-deposit rates have been minimal for decades, so the balance stays approximately equal to the principal for the deposit’s whole life — which is what you report as its maximum value each year it exists.

Current account — a non-interest-bearing account used mainly by businesses for checks and bills.

A checking/current account used primarily by businesses to settle promissory notes and checks. Pays no interest by law. Individuals rarely hold one, but they appear in business and sole-proprietor contexts.

Bank passbook — the small booklet that records every transaction in an account, updated at ATMs or tellers.

The physical passbook issued with most Japanese bank accounts. Insert it into an ATM and the machine prints every transaction since the last update: date, description, amount, and running balance. For US reporting purposes the 通帳 often serves as your account statement — many Japanese accounts have no mailed statements at all. Banks are gradually replacing passbooks with app-only records, but decades of old 通帳 remain the primary evidence of account history.

Postal savings — pre-privatization Japan Post accounts, often found as old dormant passbooks.

The old postal savings system that predates Japan Post Bank’s 2007 privatization. Old 郵便貯金 passbooks turn up in drawers decades later, sometimes still holding a balance — and a dormant balance still counts for reporting purposes. Note: certain pre-privatization fixed deposits left unclaimed too long have been forfeited to the state under the old postal savings law, so old books deserve prompt attention.

Japan Post Bank — the post-office bank, one of the most widely held account types in Japan.

The banking arm of Japan Post, with branches inside post offices nationwide. Many residents — and nearly all longtime residents’ families — hold ゆうちょ accounts, and grandparents commonly open them for children. Accounts opened before the 2007 postal privatization may appear in records as 郵便貯金 (postal savings).

Hometown tax donation — donate to a municipality, receive gifts, and credit most of it against Japanese tax.

Donations to participating municipalities reduce your Japanese resident and income tax above a ¥2,000 floor, and the municipality sends a thank-you gift (typically worth ~30% of the donation). The annual limit depends on income. It’s a donation system rather than an investment, which is why it’s one of the few Japanese tax strategies with no PFIC problem for US persons — though the US-side treatment has its own wrinkles.

Withholding at source — tax taken out of pay before it reaches you.

Japan’s pay-as-you-earn withholding: employers deduct income tax from each paycheck and remit it directly. For most employees, withholding plus the employer’s year-end adjustment (年末調整) settles the year’s Japanese income tax without any filing.

The withholding statement your employer issues each January — Japan’s W-2 equivalent.

Issued by employers in January for the prior calendar year, showing gross pay, tax withheld at source, the year-end adjustment result, applied deductions, and dependents. Multiple jobs mean multiple 源泉徴収票. For US-person filers it’s the document reconciled against the US return when computing foreign-source income.

Resident registration at the city office — the event that makes you a Japan tax resident.

The official resident record filed at your municipal office when you take up residence. Registration is the binary line that switches the tax math: once registered you’re a Japan tax resident, subject to Japanese national and local tax, NHI premiums, and the multi-year residency clocks that drive exit-tax and inheritance-tax exposure. SOFA-status personnel are not registered and live on the other side of that line — which is why the window around registration matters so much for them.

Japan’s annual income tax return, filed mid-February to mid-March for the prior calendar year.

The annual Japanese income tax filing for the prior calendar year, filed February 16 – March 15 via e-Tax or on paper at the local tax office. Required for the self-employed, those with multiple employers or foreign-source income (which covers most US persons), and anyone claiming deductions not handled by employer year-end adjustment. For US persons it’s the Japan-side leg of dual-country compliance — the Japanese tax paid here typically feeds the Foreign Tax Credit math on the US return.

My Number — Japan’s 12-digit individual identification number, used for tax, social insurance, and banking KYC.

The 12-digit individual number assigned to every resident of Japan, used on tax filings, social insurance, and increasingly in bank account opening and securities procedures. Treat it like an SSN: institutions may legitimately require it, but it isn’t something to write down casually or store in shared documents.

Licensed Japanese tax accountant — the professional for Japan-side filings and inheritance work.

Japan’s licensed tax specialist, certified by the National Tax Agency — a different profession from a US CPA, and the only one who can sign and file Japanese inheritance tax returns. Cross-border households often end up with one professional on each side: a 税理士 for the Japan filings and a US-international CPA for the 1040, ideally talking to each other.

The National Pension — Japan’s flat-rate base pension, mandatory for residents aged 20–59.

The base layer of Japan’s public pension: a flat monthly contribution for residents aged 20–59 who aren’t covered through an employer, earning a flat-rate benefit from 65. Employees on 厚生年金 are enrolled in it automatically as part of their employee coverage. For US persons, years in the Japanese system interact with US Social Security through the US–Japan totalization agreement.

The Employees’ Pension — Japan’s earnings-related workplace pension, deducted from salary.

Japan’s workplace pension for company employees, layered on top of the National Pension. Contributions (roughly 18.3% of standardized pay, split employer/employee) come out of each paycheck, and the benefit from 65 reflects career earnings. The US–Japan totalization agreement coordinates these years with US Social Security so cross-border careers aren’t penalized twice.

The annual pension record notice mailed by the Japan Pension Service around your birthday.

The yearly statement from the Japan Pension Service summarizing your contribution record: months enrolled, standardized earnings, and projected benefits. It’s the document to check for gaps in your record — and the input for any serious projection of what your Japanese pension will pay.

The 1989–2019 era. Western year = Heisei year + 1988 (平成31年 = 2019).

The era from January 8, 1989 to April 30, 2019. Convert by adding 1988: 平成元年 = 1989, 平成31年 = 2019. Most older bank records and certificates in circulation are dated in 平成.

The current era, from May 2019. Western year = Reiwa year + 2018 (令和6年 = 2024).

The era that began May 1, 2019. Convert by adding 2018: 令和元年 (year 1) = 2019, 令和6年 = 2024. A common document-reading error is taking 令和5年 as "2005" — it’s 2023.

The 1926–1989 era. Western year = Shōwa year + 1925 (昭和63年 = 1988).

The era from December 25, 1926 to January 7, 1989. Convert by adding 1925: 昭和元年 = 1926, 昭和64年 = 1989 (a seven-day year). Old 郵便貯金 books and family records frequently carry 昭和 dates.

The Japanese era calendar — years counted within an emperor’s era (令和, 平成, 昭和) instead of Western years.

Japan’s official documents — passbooks, tax forms, certificates, licenses — commonly date events by era name and year-within-era rather than the Western calendar. Reading them requires knowing the era offsets: 令和 (Reiwa) + 2018, 平成 (Heisei) + 1988, 昭和 (Shōwa) + 1925. 元年 (gannen) means "year one" of an era. Misconverting era dates is one of the easiest ways to put a financial event in the wrong calendar year.