I almost didn't get the 20,000 yen from MyNa points.

I assumed it would be a pain and take ages and be difficult.

It wasn't. It didn't. It wasn't.

It was easy.

I already had a plastic My Number card. I got it because opening investment accounts in Japan is much more difficult without one. It is possible, but you need to print a 住民票 and send it in. With a plastic card you can do everything online.

To claim the points you need to connect an account to your My Number card (I used Paypay). That gets you the initial 5,000 points.

Then you need to connect your health card. That gets you 7,500 points.

Finally you need to register a bank account. That gets you 7,500 points.

If you have a modern smartphone with a NFC reader you can do everything on there.

I was stunned because I was able to complete the whole process in under ten minutes.

Some people don't like the idea of My Number cards. I used to be one of them.

I refused to get one or use the number at first. I thought they were unsafe, intrusive, and ill-thought out.

I have changed my mind.

The system is so established now, and the cards are becoming necessary for so many things, that they are difficult to avoid.

It's not worth fighting it anymore, at least for me.

And once you have a card, you may as well get your 20,000 yen while you can.

More information on the MyNa point system here: https://mynumbercard.point.soumu.go.jp/