Send Money from the USA to Japan
Fees and exchange-rate margins from the USA to Japan vary widely. Compare what your recipient actually receives, not the advertised fee.
What does your recipient in Japan actually get?
JPYBest checked payout · on $1,000¥152,564
At the mid-market rate · $1,000¥153,594
Wise · fee percentage of amount · checked September 2026
1 USD = 153.5940 JPY
30-day range153 – 160 JPY
Every provider pays your recipient less than the benchmark. The gap is the rate margin, and it is usually larger than the transfer fee. JPY has moved about 4% in the last thirty days, so treat stored amounts as a guide and confirm before you send. How the margin worksUSD→JPY reference rate for Sep 10, 2026, updated automatically · Rates By Exchange Rate API · 30-day series: European Central Bank
Compare 5 ways to send money to Japan
Checked recipient amounts cover 2 of 5 providers here, collected from the Wise Comparison API — which quotes its own operator among them. The rest show each provider's published terms, and are ordered by payout coverage rather than by amount.
Recipient amounts collected and stored, not fetched as this page loads. Exchange rates move daily. Fees below are quoted for bank transfer at 1000 USD.
| Provider | Recipient getsby bank transfer | What it costs | Arrives | Payout | Open provider |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ¥151,059 | $0.992.03% rate margin, measured | Minutes | Payout methods: Bank deposit, Cash pickup, Mobile wallet, Card payout | Go to Western Union |
 | Check provider | VariesRate not published — confirm before sending | Minutes to days | Payout methods: Bank deposit, Cash pickup | Go to Remitly |
 Flat-fee card and bank transfers | Check provider | Flat fee per transferRate not published — confirm before sending | Varies | Payout methods: Bank deposit, Card payout | Go to Paysend |
 Direct settlement on Japan's Zengin network — no correspondent bank | ¥152,564 | $11.670.00% rate margin, measured | Minutes to days | Payout methods: Bank deposit | Go to Wise |
 Bank deposits to a broad set of destinations | Check provider | VariesRate not published — confirm before sending | Days | Payout methods: Bank deposit | Go to Instarem |
- Most ways to receive
Multiple delivery options including cash collection
- Recipient gets (bank transfer)
- ¥151,059
- Cost
- $0.992.03% rate margin, measured
- Arrives
- Minutes
- Payout
- Payout methods: Bank deposit, Cash pickup, Mobile wallet, Card payout
- Best for cash pickup
Japan Post Bank delivery — the widest account network in Japan
- Recipient gets (bank transfer)
- Check provider
- Cost
- VariesRate not published — confirm before sending
- Arrives
- Minutes to days
- Payout
- Payout methods: Bank deposit, Cash pickup
Flat-fee card and bank transfers
- Recipient gets (bank transfer)
- Check provider
- Cost
- Flat fee per transferRate not published — confirm before sending
- Arrives
- Varies
- Payout
- Payout methods: Bank deposit, Card payout
Direct settlement on Japan's Zengin network — no correspondent bank
- Recipient gets (bank transfer)
- ¥152,564
- Cost
- $11.670.00% rate margin, measured
- Arrives
- Minutes to days
- Payout
- Payout methods: Bank deposit
Bank deposits to a broad set of destinations
- Recipient gets (bank transfer)
- Check provider
- Cost
- VariesRate not published — confirm before sending
- Arrives
- Days
- Payout
- Payout methods: Bank deposit
What it costs has two parts: the advertised fee, and the exchange-rate margin kept by paying your recipient less than the mid-market rate. The margin is usually the larger, and is never labelled as a fee. Figures are each provider’s published terms, plus bank-transfer quotes from the Wise Comparison API, a source operated by a company this site also ranks — open a provider for a live quote. Recipient amounts are shown only for the providers we hold a checked figure for, which is some of those listed here rather than all of them.
Too few checked amounts on this corridor to rank by money, so the order is payout coverage, delivery speed and published fees — a provider with a checked figure is not placed above one without. Affiliate arrangements never affect this order.
- Most ways to receive — Supports the most payout types on this corridor.
- Best for cash pickup — Offers cash pickup, with the widest payout coverage among those that do.
Where two providers tie, the one supporting more payout types is listed first, then the faster one, then alphabetically. A label is left unawarded whenever the data we hold cannot support it — we would rather show fewer claims than invented ones. We hold a checked amount for too few of the providers here to call any of them best on it, so no Best value is named — naming one would rank a field too small to be a comparison. The amounts we do hold are still shown. Those amounts cover some of the providers listed, not all of them, and the set is chosen by the source that supplies them rather than by us. Full methodology
Independent — providers cannot pay for placement or ranking · Consistent — every checked amount measured on the same corridor at the same send amount, and any fee quoted on a different basis says so on its own row · Transparent — the advertised fee kept separate from the rate margin
Quick verdict: the best way to send money to Japan
Each line names the provider that leads on one specific need, and why. There is no single winner because there is no single question — the lowest fee and the fastest delivery are rarely the same provider.
- If you are not sure how they will collect itWestern UnionMost ways to receivePays out 4 ways — bank deposit, cash pickup, mobile wallet, card payout.
- If they will collect it in cashRemitlyBest for cash pickupCash Pickup
Chosen by the same rules that order the table, from each provider’s published terms. A need with no clear leader is left out rather than handed to whoever happens to be first.
How much you send changes which provider is cheapest
A transfer costs two things: a fee you can see, and a cut of the exchange rate you cannot. They scale in opposite directions, so the best provider for $200 to Japan is often not the best provider for $5,000.
The flat fee is most of what you pay
On a small transfer a $5 fee is a real percentage of the money. A rate margin of half a percent on $200 is one dollar — small enough to ignore. Sort by the fee and take the lowest one you trust.
The exchange rate is most of what you pay
The fee stops mattering and the rate takes over. Half a percent on $5,000 is $25 — five times a typical fee, and no provider calls it a charge. A zero-fee offer on a large transfer is the one most worth checking.
USD to JPY at common amounts
| You send | Mid-market value | Load into calculator |
|---|---|---|
| $100.00 | ¥15,359 | |
| $250.00 | ¥38,399 | |
| $500.00 | ¥76,797 | |
| $1,000 | ¥153,594 | |
| $2,500 | ¥383,985 | |
| $5,000 | ¥767,970 |
Pick a row to load that amount into the calculator at the top of the page. These are mid-market values, not provider quotes — every service pays your recipient somewhat less, so use them as the figure to measure an offer against.
What is the fastest way to send money to Japan?
Western Union quotes the fastest delivery on this corridor at minutes. Published speeds describe the fastest route a provider offers, not every route: paying by card and sending to a wallet is usually near-instant, while a bank transfer funded by direct debit takes longer whoever you send with.
Japan at a glance
- Currency
- JPY · Japanese yen
- Payout methods
- Bank deposit · Cash pickup · Mobile wallet · Card payout
- Typical delivery
- Minutes to days
- Cash pickup
- Available from 2 of 5 providers
- 1 of the 5 providers can deliver within minutes, including Western Union.
- Cash pickup is available through Remitly and Western Union — no bank account needed.
Before you send to Japan
- Japan is a high-income economy with comparatively low remittance dependence, so the provider field is narrower than for developing-country corridors and bank deposit dominates over cash pickup.
- A 1% US federal excise tax applies to remittance transfers funded with cash, a money order or a cashier's check, effective January 2026. Transfers funded from a bank account, debit card or credit card are not subject to it — so how you pay can change the total cost.
More on the 1% tax — who owes it, when it applies, and how the funding method changes it: US remittance tax.
What it costs to send money to Japan
Sending money from the USA to Japan converts US dollars (USD) into Japanese yens (JPY). Most of the real cost is not the headline fee — it is the exchange-rate margin, the gap between your quoted rate and the mid-market rate banks use between themselves. Two providers can both advertise "no fees" and still differ by several percent on what actually arrives.
Japan Post Bank has the country's largest account network, which makes it an unusually important payout destination for a developed market.
That is why the comparison above leads with how your recipient can be paid rather than with a headline price: match the service to how they actually want the money, then check the final quote.
How to choose the right provider
Compare the amount received, not the fee
Enter the same amount with two or three providers and compare what your recipient in Japan actually receives in Japanese yens. That one number folds the fee and the rate margin together.
Match the payout method to your recipient
In Japan the common rails are bank deposit, including Japan Post Bank, plus limited cash pickup. A slightly pricier provider paying into the wallet or account they already use beats a cheaper one that means a trip to an agent.
Pay more for speed only when you need it
Western Union can deliver within minutes, but express usually costs more in fee or margin. If it is not urgent, the economy option on the same platform is often meaningfully cheaper.
Check cash pickup coverage before you send
Remitly and Western Union offer cash pickup in Japan. Check the specific branch is open and stocked before sending, especially outside major cities.
Verify the provider is licensed
Any service moving money out of the USA should be registered with FinCEN and state money-transmitter licences. Everyone we list is — worth checking for any service you find elsewhere.
Japan corridor insights
Researched figures for this corridor, each linked to its original source.
More than 1.2 million Japanese Americans lived in the United States, about 5% of the US Asian American population, concentrated in California (around 29%) and Hawaii (around 16%).
Pew Research Center · 2022
Wise became the first non-bank to go live directly on Japan's Zengin interbank network, letting it settle domestically rather than routing through a correspondent bank — a structural cost and speed advantage most competitors on this corridor do not have.
Finextra · 2025
Japan Post Bank holds the largest deposit-account network in Japan, which makes it a uniquely important payout destination — unlike most developed-market corridors where a handful of commercial banks dominate.
Remitly · 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
Other corridors to East Asia from the USA
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Before you send
Ready to compare your transfer?
See rates, fees and delivery options for 5 services side by side.