Life in Japan
Residence card, insurance, banking and more
Your first weeks
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.
Opening a Bank Account
How foreigners actually open bank accounts — the six-month rule, which banks are friendly on day one, what documents you need, and the traps that freeze accounts.
Phone & SIM
How newcomers get a Japanese phone number — airport data SIMs vs real voice contracts, which carriers accept foreign cards, typical monthly prices, and the traps in old-style contracts.
Money & obligations
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.
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.
Sending Money Home
How to remit from Japan — why bank wires lose to specialist apps, the real cost hiding in exchange rates, My Number and limits, and why informal carriers are never worth it.
Health, family & mobility
Seeing a Doctor
How the Japanese healthcare system works day to day — walking into specialty clinics directly, why big hospitals charge extra without a referral, emergency numbers, and typical prices with the insurance card.
Childcare & Kids
What the system pays families — monthly child allowance with no income cap, the ¥500,000 birth lump sum, free preschool for ages 3–5, near-free child healthcare — and how the daycare application actually works.
Driver's License
How gaimen kirikae conversion works now — the stricter 50-question test since October 2025, which countries skip the tests, what the practical exam really fails people on, and when driving school is the honest answer.
More guides
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.
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.