Enter one of Tokyo Star Bank's four new branches, and you are soon ushered into booths arranged for private consultations with customers.
Stay long enough, and you'll see a few first-time depositors start at being greeted, hide their panic behind nervous giggles as they're led to a booth, then quickly head for the door.
Todd Budge, newly appointed president of the second-tier regional bank, is banking this will change. Maybe not this year, but soon. He figures the Japanese consumer is ready to try out more investment trust funds and foreign-currency deposits.