I've known ever since a kid that US banks weren't the only ones greedy, if not the US pales in nickel-and-diming its customers compared to Japanese banks.

Until recently, Japan didn't have 24 hour ATMs and if you withdrew cash past the banks closing hours you got dinged with convenience charges. Let alone that Japan loves to do things their own proprietary way that up until recently, you couldn't even use foreign ATM/debit cards at Japanese banks or almost anywhere because their entire ATM system was incompatible with the rest of the world.

And as for bank transfers, there's pretty much a fee even within their own bank. The only time it's free is if the recipient account holder is also within the same branch. http://www.bk.mufg.jp/tesuuryou/furikomi.html

Even US banks aren't that conspicuous in nickel-and-diming their customers. At least BofA account holder in Los Angeles allows free transfers to any BofA account holder in New York. In Japan, Mitsubishi-UFJ account holder in Tokyo sending a transfer to a Mitsubishi-UFJ account holder in Osaka, the sender and recipient gets raped with transfer fees even though they both bank at Mitsubishi-UFJ.

And at least the US offers choices from lots of competitors. If you dislike BofA, you can go with Chase or Citi, or you can join a credit union. In Japan, the entire banking industry is run like an oligarchy that there really is not much difference in banking from Mitsubishi-UFJ to Resona. The only one that is reasonably acceptable is Japan's Postal System savings (Yucho) or if you're lucky, join their credit unions which is far more restrictive than the US (you are part of the Japanese Agricultural Farming system, etc.).