Gaijin Story #7 - Paying Electricity, Gas and Water Bill in Japan at Convenient Store

When I came and started living in Japan for the first time, one of my biggest worries is about how to do money transactions for daily living. As a foreigner, I imagined many troublesome things due to the language barrier. After living for almost one year though, I've finally realized that Japan has one of the most sophisticated online transaction systems in the world, which means, you have so many options for money transactions. You could pay almost everything by credit card, debit card, bank transfer, net bank and convenient store. And for this post, I would like to specifically share my experience for paying utilities bill at konbini (Japan pronunciation for convenient store), which is in my opinion, the most "friendly" option for foreigner.

Utilities such as electricity, gas and water are the most mandatory for houses in Japan. They are also interconnected with each other for specific purposes, for example, water heater is a must during winter and it needs water (of course), gas (for heating) and electricity (for power). So, you practically won't survive without all of them. Therefore, it's very important to pay the bills in time to avoid trouble with the utilities companies (they can stop the service if you're late).

For my case (3 members family), I usually pay around 3000-6000 Yen/month for electricity. The most expensive periods are usually in summer and winter, due to the extensive use of air conditioner and heater. For gas, I usually pay around 2000-6000 Yen/month. The most expensive period for gas is in winter, due to water heater (nobody wants to take a bath with freezing water). Finally, the water usually costs me 5000-7000 Yen/2 months, which means around 2500-3500 Yen/month. Water costs usually not fluctuated much as electricity and gas.

Electricity bill

Gas notice (Left) and Water bill (Right)

Gas bill

I live in Kashiwa and as other cities, the electricity and gas bills come to the mailbox once a month, while water bill comes once every two months. Sometimes, the company will send notice before the real bill comes. The notice may look similar with bill, but its purpose is just to inform you the upcoming amount of payment and you could not use it to pay utilities. Meanwhile, the "real" bills will have a specific bar code which could be use for utilities payment. So far, I have paid electricity bills at 7/11 and Familymart, but I suppose any konbinis (Sunkus, Lawson etc) will do so.

Konbini cashier display. Ask the cashier staff about utility payment, give the bills and push the button in the center to confirm bill payment.

Bill receipts. From left to right: water, gas and electricity.

For paying bills, just give the them to the cashier counter and they usually understand even if you don't talk about it. The cashier will ask you to press a specific button on the cashier machine for payment confirmation. After you pay, they will give you give one part of the bills as receipts with specific date and place stamp of the payment. That's all, very easy and convenient.