Victory at the Ginkoo!

After 12 years, I finally got my last paycheck from the Japan Times. I worked at that English language newspaper in Tokyo for about three months just after graduate school. When I left Japan, I did not have means to get my money out of the ginkoo. The bank since merged, once if not twice. I tried to get out that last paycheck several times over the past 12 years, but the bank kept telling my Japanese-speaking friends that I would have to either use an ATM card (I did not have one) or come to the bank in person.

Yesterday, with the help of my friend Hisayo, I got my 189,000 yen (if only that was in dollars!) out of the bank. The interest accumulated after 12 years? A mere 10,560 yen (about $10!).