Address and residence
Register the address when the rule applies to you, then keep residence-status dates and change notifications visible.
Municipal office + Immigration Services AgencyFor people starting life in Japan—and those welcoming them
Live and work in Japan
A calm starting point for foreign residents and the people welcoming them: the first 30 days, daily systems, workplace questions and official help.
Last reviewed:
A HOME, A JOB, A NEIGHBOURHOOD
After the journey, everyday life begins.
A move does not become manageable because every rule has been translated. It becomes manageable when you know what belongs to today, who can answer it and what can wait until tomorrow.
FOR RESIDENTS
I am starting life in Japan
Turn the first month into a sequence: address, health cover, pension, work, home, neighbourhood and one place to ask for help.
Open the 30-day guide →FOR EMPLOYERS
I support international employees
Build one guide an employee can actually use, without mixing company instructions, public procedures and personal data.
Open the employer guide →WHEN LIFE BECOMES SPECIFIC
The difficult part is usually a moment, not a system.
At the letterbox, over a first payslip, on a feverish evening or inside a new flat: these guides begin where the question actually appears.
01〒02給03診04家
Read your first letters, bills and deadlines
A calm way to sort unfamiliar Japanese mail by sender, deadline, amount and next action—without sharing private documents or ignoring an important notice.
Prepare for this moment →Read your first payslip and tax notices
Read gross pay, working time, deductions and net pay as one story, then know what to ask before a tax or insurance amount becomes a surprise.
Prepare for this moment →When you feel ill: finding care and explaining what is wrong
Choose emergency or ordinary care, find a suitable clinic or pharmacy, and confirm language support, insurance and costs.
Prepare for this moment →Make a rented home work: contract, rubbish and neighbourhood
Turn a key handover into a working home: understand the contract, record the move-in condition, find local rubbish rules and prepare for repairs and disasters.
Prepare for this moment →SIX HAND-OFFS
Six hand-offs make a new life workable.
Neither the resident nor the employer can complete every step alone. Match each question with the person or organisation that can answer it.
Health and pension
First find out whether your employer enrols you. If not, ask the municipality which procedures apply to your household.
Employer + municipal office + Japan Pension ServiceWork and pay
Keep the written conditions you agreed to, and identify working hours, pay day, deductions, overtime and the route for questions.
Employer + labour authorityHome and utilities
Photograph the move-in condition, learn the key and emergency rules, and confirm every contract before paying.
Landlord or manager + utility providerNeighbourhood life
Save the actual rubbish calendar, evacuation map and municipal contact for your address. These are local, not national.
Your municipality and neighbourhoodA place to ask
Know one company contact and one independent public route. A question is easier before it becomes an emergency.
Company contact + public consultation serviceLOCAL INFRASTRUCTURE
Some information becomes useful only when it is local and specific.
National systems should lead to official information. The guide then adds the actual municipality, rubbish day, commute, housing manager and workplace contact. Local Japan is designed to bridge the space between a nationwide explanation and the place where someone really lives.
Design a guide an employer can share