Today, I closed my Japanese bank account.

When I left Kumamoto in 2013, I kept my bank account. Part of me thought that I would return to live in Japan again someday. Actually, I wouldn’t have thought of withdrawing all my money from this account if it weren’t for the fact that I tried to withdraw some cash from the ATM in vain. It seemed that I had to go to the bank counter and update my particulars or something. But it pushed me over the edge. I have been ignoring the fact that my account hasn’t grown at all in the last decade (since ordinary accounts don’t benefit from any interest). However, if I have to jump through hoops in order to withdraw my own money, I might as well close it in case the bank seals off this super inactive account in the future haha.

I didn’t have much. About 0.01BTC. Rationally speaking, if I had used it to buy Bitcoin, I would have gotten much more for my bucks now. But I guess I view this $1k differently. I don’t think of it as capital to grow; I frame it as my last tangible connection to the previous life I had led. Severing all ties was a forceful reminder that I had closed this memorable chapter of my life and needed to move forward. I feel kinda lonely in all honesty.

I should pump this “unexpected windfall” into sound money to generate some excitement to balance this inexplicable sense of loss I’m feeling. That will be my stretch goal in 2025.