I'm spending New Year's in Japan for the first time. I remember hearing that many shops and banks are closed around this time so you need to make sure to get money and groceries beforehand. But then I heard from other people that's not really true. So what's the truth?

It is true. Near the 東大学生寮, only one convenience store was open, and only until 5pm! If you can't get cash except from the Post Office ATM, you need to plan ahead.

While it used to be true that just about everything was shut down, I've found more things have been open the last few years. It still gets pretty quiet, but you shouldn't have to worry about starving to death those few days if you didn't buy a batch of groceries ahead of time.

Turns out the Seiyu near me is even open on New Year's day itself, so I don't have to worry.