Credit Cards in Japan for Foreigners: Rakuten vs Epos & How to Apply

The most common story goes like this: you apply once, get rejected, and assume Japanese credit cards are closed to foreigners.

That is usually the wrong lesson.

Card issuers do not publish their screening formulas. What they do publish is what a normal application assumes you already have — and that part is much less mysterious than people think. SMBC’s explainer for foreign residents says mainstream applications assume a residence card (在留カード) or a Special Permanent Resident Certificate (特別永住者証明書), a Japanese address, a domestic bank account, and a Japanese phone contract. (That page is SMBC’s own guide article rather than the card’s formal terms, which are shorter — see the next section.) After that, many failures come from messy application details, not from nationality itself.

If you do not have the bank account or phone-number side ready yet, fix those first. Start with the Japan First Bank Account guide and the Japan SIM / phone-number guide.

Best Credit Cards for Foreigners in Japan (2026)

There is no official “foreigner approval ranking,” and it is worth being precise about why, because most comparison pages imply otherwise.

In July 2026 I went through the published application conditions of seven issuers — Rakuten, Epos, GTN-Epos, SMBC, Aeon, JCB and Saison — looking for what each one actually states as a requirement. Not one of them publishes which residence statuses qualify, a minimum income, a minimum time in Japan, or anything at all about credit history. SMBC’s stated condition for its mainstream card is one line: 18 or over, excluding high school students (満18歳以上の方（高校生は除く）). That is the whole published rule.

So when any page tells you a particular card is “easy to get” for foreigners, that is someone’s guess. It may be a well-informed guess — mine below included — but no issuer has published the thing being guessed at, and you should treat confident-sounding approval rankings accordingly.

What issuers do publish is what they will ask you for: documents, a Japanese phone number, a bank account at a particular kind of institution, a residence card with time left on it. That is checkable, it is what actually stops applications, and it is what I have stuck to below.

With that said, if you are choosing a first card, this is the comparison I would start with:

Card	Annual fee	Why you’d start here	Overseas / FX fee note
Rakuten Card	¥0	Simple online application, and Rakuten publishes no foreigner-specific restriction — so your bank, phone and address details are the part you control. No issuer publishes its approval criteria, so nothing here makes approval a given	Good enough for normal use, but not a travel-optimization card; check Rakuten’s current overseas usage terms before relying on it abroad
Epos Card / GTN-Epos	¥0 for standard Epos	Counter support if Japanese online forms make you nervous; GTN-Epos is built for foreign residents — note it requires you to already use a GTN service	Better for application support than FX optimization; check Epos’s current overseas usage fee before travel
SMBC Numberless (NL)	¥0	Rewards are concentrated in eligible convenience stores and chain restaurants, so it suits a specific routine rather than general use	SMBC publishes an overseas administrative fee of 3.63% for Visa / Mastercard credit-card shopping
Aeon Card	¥0 for the standard WAON-integrated card	Makes sense if your everyday life includes Aeon, MaxValu, Daiei, or Aeon Mall	Choose it for Aeon-group benefits, not for overseas spending; check Aeon’s current overseas conversion terms before travel

If you want the shortest answer: Rakuten Card first, Epos / GTN-Epos if you want more process support, SMBC NL if your spending is mostly convenience stores and chain restaurants, and Aeon only if Aeon-group shopping is part of your real routine.

The Best First Move for Your Situation

Your situation	Best first move	Why
You are a foreign resident with a Japanese bank account and voice number	Rakuten Card	Simple online application, ¥0 annual fee, and a rewards system that is easy to use
Your salary is paid into MUFG, SMBC, or another major bank	That bank’s affiliated card	Practical shortcut if the bank account and withdrawal setup are already in place
You want in-person help or a more foreigner-oriented application flow	Epos Card or GTN-Epos Card	Epos offers eligible same-day pickup at card centers; GTN-Epos is built for foreign residents and offers multilingual support
Regular cards keep rejecting you	Nexus Global Card	Deposit-backed fallback that can still function as a real Japanese credit card

The table above is a starting point, not a filter. If you want the conditions each issuer actually publishes — checked against your own situation and quoted in Japanese with the date they were verified — the Japan Credit Card Finder asks nine questions (age, phone, Japanese ability, bank account, time left on your residence card, time since you arrived, family card) and sorts seven issuers into what fits, what fits after one step, and what fails a stated condition. It does not predict approval and says so: none of these issuers publishes approval criteria, which is exactly why the guide below focuses on what breaks applications rather than on your odds.

The one card I would usually not start with is SMBC Numberless (NL) — not because of anything it publishes about eligibility (its stated condition is just 18+, excluding high school students), but because its rewards are concentrated in eligible convenience stores and chain restaurants. That makes it a strong second card for a specific routine rather than a good general first one.

What Usually Breaks an Application

These are not guaranteed rejection rules. They are the most common practical failure points.

Issue	Why it matters	Best move
Residence period is close to renewal	One issuer publishes something concrete: the GTN-Epos FAQ requires at least 2 months remaining on your period of stay when you apply. The others publish no rule about renewal timing	If timing is flexible, apply after you receive the renewed card — but treat this as removing a known obstacle, not as a documented screening factor
050, data-only, or overseas number	Some issuers want a Japanese voice number; SMBC’s NL page says 050 IP numbers cannot be used for phone verification on instant issue	Use a 070 / 080 / 090 Japanese voice number
Bank-name mismatch	Auto-debit setup can fail if your application name does not match the bank record exactly	Copy the bank-registered name exactly, including order and spacing
Several recent applications	CIC says application inquiry information remains visible for 6 months from the inquiry date	Apply to one issuer first, then wait before trying another

One more useful detail from SMBC’s foreigner guide: if you do not need cash advances, keep the cash advance limit (キャッシング枠) at 0. It makes the application simpler.

The Cards That Make the Most Sense

Rakuten Card: no annual fee, simple application

For most foreign residents, Rakuten Card is still the cleanest default first application.

The official Rakuten Card page says the standard card has no annual fee, base earning of 1 point per ¥100, and standard eligibility of 18+ excluding high school students. Rakuten does not publish a foreigner-specific restriction on that page, so the practical job is to make the application look clean: correct bank details, reachable Japanese phone number, stable address, and honest income information. If you’re unsure of your net monthly take-home — which is what these forms ask for — the Japan Salary Calculator converts your gross to net after taxes and deductions.

Rakuten is especially easy to justify if you already use Rakuten Ichiba, Rakuten Mobile, or other Rakuten services. The rewards are not exotic, but they are straightforward.

I also keep it high on the list because, in my own friend group, Rakuten Card is often the first Japanese credit card foreign residents manage to get. After approval, there is also the official Rakuten Card Lite App, which is currently available in English and lets you check payment history, statements, and available balance without relying entirely on the Japanese app.

One thing to understand before you rely on it for travel: Rakuten’s overseas travel insurance page says the standard Rakuten Card does not have automatic overseas travel insurance. Coverage depends on qualifying card usage.

Apply for the Rakuten Card (opens in a new tab) Referral link. Rakuten's campaign pays both sides unevenly: 1,000 limited-time points to you, 8,000 to me. Campaign-scoped — the current terms run to 2026-08-10.

MUFG Card (三菱UFJカード): built around its own store list

My own first card in Japan was an MUFG Card (三菱UFJカード), but I would not recommend it just because “your salary account is MUFG.” The stronger reason to consider it now is the targeted-store reward program. The official MUFG Card page lists the standard card as no-annual-fee, and the official MUFG Card reward page says eligible stores earn 7% equivalent Global Points, with the point-up program going up to 20% if the conditions and caps are met.

It is the more interesting of the two if the eligible supermarket and restaurant list matches how you actually shop — that list is the whole case for the card, so read it before applying rather than after.

Apply for the MUFG Card (opens in a new tab)

SMBC Numberless (NL): built around a few chains

SMBC Numberless (NL) is also no-annual-fee, and it is the cleaner choice if your spending is mostly eligible convenience stores and chain restaurants paid with smartphone touch payment or eligible mobile order.

It is worth being clear about why this is not my default first-card suggestion, because it is not about eligibility — SMBC’s only published condition is being 18 or over and not a high-school student. It is that the rewards are concentrated in a specific set of shops, which makes it a strong second card for a particular routine rather than a general-purpose first one.

Apply for SMBC NL (opens in a new tab)

MUFG vs SMBC NL: the numbers side by side

The numbers below are official headline numbers, not guaranteed returns on every transaction.

Card	Official reward number	Strong when your spending is…	Watch before choosing
MUFG Card	7% equivalent at eligible stores; up to 20% with point-up conditions	Lawson, 7-Eleven, Sushiro, Matsuya, OK, Tokyu Store, 肉のハナマサ (a wholesale-oriented supermarket chain), Japan Meat	Entry, eligible stores, payment methods, caps, and point-value assumptions matter
SMBC Numberless (NL)	7% point return at eligible convenience stores and restaurants	7-Eleven, Lawson, McDonald’s, Mos Burger, KFC, Yoshinoya, Sukiya, Saizeriya, Gusto, Doutor, Excelsior Caffe	Includes the normal point portion; usually needs smartphone touch payment or eligible mobile order

Epos Card or GTN-Epos: application support for foreign residents

The Epos Card same-day page says eligible Epos Card Centers can handle same-day pickup, which is useful if Japanese online forms make you nervous and you would rather complete the process with staff support.

The trade-off is rewards. Epos’s own point page says the base return is 1 point per ¥200, or about 0.5%.

The GTN-Epos Card is the more foreigner-oriented version. The official GTN-Epos FAQ says the card is for foreign residents and provides a multilingual flow. It is still subject to screening, but it is a reasonable fallback if Rakuten feels too opaque.

Nexus Global Card: your deposit becomes the credit limit

Nexus Global Card is a deposit-backed card for foreign residents. Its official FAQ says you place a deposit (保証金), that deposit amount becomes the credit limit, the deposit itself cannot be used as payment, and the application still goes through screening.

That makes Nexus useful for one narrow case: you want a real domestic credit card relationship, but ordinary unsecured cards keep rejecting you. It is not a guarantee that Rakuten, SMBC, or anyone else will approve you later. It is simply a cleaner fallback than giving up entirely.

Apply for the Nexus Global Card (opens in a new tab)

How to Apply: Before You Press Submit

1. Confirm you are applying as a resident, not as a short-term visitor: Japanese address, Japanese bank account, Japanese phone number, and a residence card (在留カード) or a Special Permanent Resident Certificate (特別永住者証明書).
2. Copy your bank-registered name exactly. Do not guess.
3. Use a Japanese voice number. 070 / 080 / 090 is the safe path.
4. If you do not need cash advances, leave the cash advance limit (キャッシング枠) at 0.
5. Apply to one issuer first, then wait for the result instead of shotgun-applying everywhere.

What to Do After Approval

Use the card normally and pay on time. You do not need to chase premium cards immediately.

Once you have some clean history, a second card can make sense for specific use cases: SMBC NL for convenience-store spend, or a more family-focused setup if your household spending is becoming more complex. The follow-up guide is Japan Family Credit Card Setup 2026: Points, Insurance, Upgrades.

If you also send money home regularly, keep that separate from your card strategy. The Japan remittance guide covers the transfer side so you can optimise both payments and remittance fees.

How the Paid Links on This Page Work

Two of the links above pay me: the Rakuten referral in that card’s section, and the Epos banner in its own. Both are marked where they sit, and the details are next to each.

What is worth saying once, here, rather than inside either section: neither of them decided anything above. The comparison, the table, and the order the cards appear in were written before either link existed, three of the five cards named have no paid link at all, and the card finder that ranks these same issuers by their published conditions carries no paid links of any kind. If a paid partnership ever did change what this page recommends, the honest version of that page would say so — this one does not, because it did not.