You are not the first — 4,125,395 foreigners already live in Japan
We publish the official Japanese data behind that number in eight languages, with the source on every figure.
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Visa Path Planner
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Browse by topic
Visas
Which status of residence fits you, and how to get it
Work
Finding a job, contracts, and your rights
Salaries
Realistic pay ranges by occupation
Study
Language schools, JLPT, and student life
Cities
Where to live and work in Japan
Cost of Living
Monthly budgets by city
Housing
Renting an apartment as a foreigner
Life in Japan
Residence card, insurance, banking and more
Permanent Residency
Staying in Japan for the long term
Popular pathways
The study route
Enter with little Japanese, build credentials at school, then switch into a work visa.
The engineer route
Start on a degree-holder work visa, score HSP points, and reach PR in as little as 1–3 years.
The skilled-worker route
Pass the SSW exams, upgrade to SSW (ii) to remove the time limit, then bring family and settle.
Popular cities
Tokyo
Tokyo's job market, salaries, rent, foreign community and daily life — and how to decide whether Japan's capital is the right base for you.
Osaka
Osaka's job market, rent levels, atmosphere and how Japan's second city compares with Tokyo for foreign workers and students.
Fukuoka
Fukuoka's job market, startup scene and daily life: rent 45–55% lower than Tokyo, the airport ten minutes from downtown, and a national strategic zone that keeps the startup pipeline full.
Kyoto
Kyoto's real job market — tourism, universities and quiet tech — plus the housing quirks, tourist-economy wages and what living in the old capital actually costs.
Data you will not find elsewhere
Official records we parsed and translated ourselves — the ministries publish them in Japanese and English only.
Officially Flagged Schools
Once a year Japan names the universities where too many international students dropped out because of the school. The FY2025 list has two names — and the five criteria behind it tell you what to check anywhere.
The 適正校 Rating
Immigration grades every language school on how many of its students go wrong, and that grade decides how much paperwork your visa needs. The names are never published — so here is the rule, and the question to ask.
Do You Need a School?
Language schools mainly sell a visa, not teaching. If you already hold a work visa, the free community class plus self-study plus the JLPT is a legitimate route — here is where that stops being true.
Why you can trust this site
- Official government sources cited on every high-risk page
- Every page shows when it was last reviewed
- No paid rankings, no fake reviews
- General information, not legal advice
Recently reviewed
Health Insurance & Pension
How mandatory health insurance and pension work for foreigners — employee vs national systems, what the 30% copay really means, student exemptions, the lump-sum refund when you leave, and the PR connection.
Leaving Japan
An ordered checklist for leaving Japan for good, from official sources: the move-out notice, resident tax and the tax agent, health-insurance withdrawal, the pension lump sum, returning the residence card at the port, and how to time the lease deposit and bank account so money can still reach you.
Pension refund when leaving
The lump-sum withdrawal explained from the Japan Pension Service's own rules: who qualifies, the FY2026 amounts, the 20.42% withholding you can reclaim through a tax agent, the free multilingual form, and the two mistakes that cost people years of contributions.
Residence Card
How the Japanese residence card works — when you receive it, address registration, the carry obligation, and what to do when your details change.
SSW (i) in Detail
The Specified Skilled Worker (i) status explained — the 5-year cap, mandatory employer support plan, job change rules and what happens when time runs out.
Taxes
How Japan taxes foreign residents — what payroll already withholds, why residence tax arrives a year late, who actually needs to file a return, and what to settle before leaving the country.