Convert Japan Post Bank passbooks and statements to Excel

How to download Japan Post Bank transactions as CSV

CSV download is part of ゆうちょダイレクト, Japan Post Bank's online banking, in a computer or smartphone browser. These are the steps on Japan Post Bank's 入出金明細照会 help page:

1. Log in and choose 入出金明細照会 (transaction details inquiry) from the menu. The most recent transactions appear.
2. Press 表示条件を変更 (change display conditions), choose 入出金 (deposits and withdrawals) as the type and 日付を指定 (specify dates) as the period.
3. Press データダウンロード（CSV形式） (data download, CSV format), select a file and press ダウンロード (download).

Yucho Direct creates one CSV file per 3,000 transactions. The bulk download packs several files into a ZIP — unzip it and upload the CSV files, because ZIP files aren't accepted.

How far back you can go: passbook vs. Yucho Direct+

How much history you get online depends on whether the account still has a paper passbook. Japan Post Bank's Yucho Direct+ page lists these windows, and its business manual gives the Biz Direct limits:

Transactions from before you signed up for Yucho Direct can't be viewed online at all. For older history you can ask at a Japan Post Bank counter for a printed transaction history; it's sent by post and a fee applies.

Why the passbook is usually the record you need

With a passbook account, last year's transactions for a 確定申告 (annual tax return, covering January to December) are long gone from Yucho Direct by the time you file. The paper passbook is also the only record for:

• Any period before you signed up for Yucho Direct
• Closed accounts, and passbooks of a relative's estate
• Old, filled-up passbooks kept in a drawer for years
• Clients who bring their 通帳 to a tax accountant (税理士) or bookkeeper instead of a file

How to photograph ゆうちょ passbook pages

Photos are read like any scanned bank statement and checked against the printed balances, so you don't type a single line. A few habits help:

• One spread per photo. Lay the passbook flat and fill the frame with both pages. Each photo counts as one page, however many lines it holds.
• Even light, no glare. Daylight or a desk lamp, no flash reflecting off the printed figures, camera held parallel to the page.
• JPG or PNG, up to about 3.5 MB. iPhone HEIC photos aren't accepted — set Settings → Camera → Formats → Most Compatible, or export the photos as JPG. A scanner's PDF works too.
• Keep the order. Shoot the pages in sequence and include the first line of each new passbook, where the balance carried over (繰越) is printed.
• Printed lines only. Handwriting isn't read, so pencil notes in the margin are ignored — set categories during review instead.

Passbook and CSV quirks to know

• Era-year dates. Japanese passbooks commonly print the year in the Japanese era calendar, often as two digits (Reiwa 7 is 2025). Check in the preview that the first rows show the right Western year.
• Separate columns. Withdrawals and deposits are printed in separate columns, with the running balance next to them. The export turns them into one signed amount: negative for money out, positive for money in.
• Katakana names. Transfers usually show the other party in half-width katakana (e.g. ﾔﾏﾀﾞ ﾀﾛｳ), and card or utility payments as short codes. The original text stays in the Description column next to the cleaned payee.
• Whole yen. Amounts have no decimals, e.g. 12,345.
• CSV encoding. Japanese bank CSV files are usually saved in Shift_JIS. Open the file in Excel and save it as CSV UTF-8 before uploading, so the Japanese descriptions come through intact.

Convert to Excel, CSV or accounting software

Every transaction gets a clean payee and a category, and the balance check proves the result: opening balance + deposits − withdrawals = closing balance, with the running balance checked on every row. Rows that don't add up are highlighted with their page number, and statements that don't balance are free (up to 30 pages a month).

Combine a year of photos and CSV files into one export, limited to January–December if you like:

• Excel: a Transactions sheet with real dates and numbers, plus a Summary sheet with totals by category and month
• CSV with YYYY-MM-DD dates, to import into freee, Money Forward Cloud, Yayoi or a spreadsheet
• QuickBooks Online CSV, Xero CSV, OFX or QIF if you keep your books outside Japan

Filing a return? See tax preparation. Also bank with SMBC? See SMBC statements to Excel.

Questions