Living in Japan: What Is Actually Hard, and How to Handle It (2026 Guide to Housing, Paperwork, Trash and Neighbours)

Short answer (as of 26 October 2026): For most people the hard parts are not cultural mysteries but four practical things. Renting, because landlords can refuse and upfront costs are high. Paperwork, because you must register your address within 14 days and join health insurance and the pension system. Trash, because every city has its own sorting rules and collection days. And neighbours, because a lot of local life runs through small associations you are not obliged to join but will meet anyway. One cost went up this month: from 1 October 2026, renewing or changing your status of residence costs 10,000 to 75,000 yen depending on the length of stay granted, and permanent residence costs 200,000 yen.

Japan had 4,125,395 foreign residents at the end of 2025, according to the Immigration Services Agency, a record and up 9.5% in a year. This guide is for anyone planning to become one of them. Every rule below was checked against government pages on 26 October 2026.

Photo: Real Estate Japan (Scott Kouchi) / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.0 (15 October 2020)

What do I have to do in my first two weeks?

Register your address at your city or ward office within 14 days of moving in. At the same visit you can usually join National Health Insurance and the National Pension if your employer does not enrol you.

The Immigration Services Agency's page on address registration for mid- to long-term residents sets the deadline as 14 days from the day you settle on a residence, under Article 19-7 of the Immigration Control Act. You do this at the municipal office, not at immigration. If you show your residence card when you file the ordinary resident registration, that also counts as your immigration address notification. Do the same within 14 days every time you move.

A practical order for week one:

1. Residence card. Issued at the airport or posted later. Your address goes on the back at the city office.
2. City or ward office. Resident registration (jūmin tōroku). Ask at the same counter about National Health Insurance (if you are not in an employer's health insurance), the National Pension and your My Number.
3. Phone number and bank account. Many contracts ask for a Japanese address and phone number, so each step unlocks the next. Expect some back and forth.
4. Seal (hanko). Less needed than before, but some banks and landlords still ask. See why Japan still uses hanko.

Health insurance. Everyone registered as a resident for more than three months must be in a public health insurance scheme: the employer's scheme if you are a full-time employee, otherwise the municipal National Health Insurance. In general you then pay 30% of medical costs at clinics. The Immigration Services Agency's Guidebook on Living and Working (in many languages) covers this.

Pension. If you leave Japan for good after paying into the pension system for six months or more, you can usually claim a lump-sum withdrawal payment (dattai ichijikin). The Japan Pension Service says the claim must be made within two years of the date you no longer have an address in Japan. Rules are under review, so check before you leave.

Why is renting so hard for foreigners?

Some landlords refuse foreign tenants outright, many want a Japanese guarantor, and upfront costs include items that do not exist in many countries. All three can be worked around.

The most detailed national data is still a 2017 Ministry of Justice survey of 4,252 foreign residents (fieldwork in late 2016). Of the 2,044 respondents who had looked for housing in the previous five years, 39.3% had been refused because they were foreign, 41.2% because they had no Japanese guarantor, and 26.8% had seen a listing marked "no foreigners" and given up. That is old data, and guarantee companies have since become standard, but anyone who has searched recently will recognise the pattern.

Why it happens. A Japanese lease is a long relationship: tenants are hard to evict, and landlords worry about who to call if rent stops or a neighbour complains. A Japanese guarantor used to answer that worry. Guarantee companies now fill that role for a fee. Language and "will they follow the trash rules?" are the other common worries. None of this makes refusal on grounds of nationality acceptable, and MLIT publishes a guideline to help landlords and agents accept foreign tenants.

What helps.

• Use an agency that works with foreign tenants and say up front what visa you have, how long it runs, and who your employer or school is.
• Bring documents: residence card, passport, proof of income or enrolment, and a Japanese phone number if you have one.
• Read the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) Apartment Search Guidebook, published in 14 languages, which explains each step and the terms you will see.
• If you are refused because you are foreign, keep a record and consult your city's foreign resident desk or the Foreign Residents Support Center (FRESC) in Yotsuya, Tokyo (see below).

What are all the move-in fees, and which can I get back?

Typical items are a deposit (shikikin), key money (reikin), an agent's fee, a guarantee company fee, fire insurance, key replacement and the first month's rent. Only the deposit is designed to come back, minus legitimate repair costs.

The agent's fee has a legal cap. Under MLIT's notice on brokerage fees, the total an agent can take for a lease is one month's rent plus tax, combined from landlord and tenant. For a home, the agent can take no more than half a month's rent plus tax from either side unless that side agreed in advance. In practice many tenants are asked to agree to a full month. You can ask about this before you sign.

A worked example (illustration only, not an average): for a flat at 80,000 yen a month with one month's deposit, one month's key money and an agent's fee of 88,000 yen (one month plus tax, the maximum, payable only if you agreed to it), those three items alone come to 248,000 yen before the guarantee fee, insurance and advance rent. Add up every line on the estimate the agent gives you, and ask what each one is.

Getting the deposit back. MLIT's guideline on restoring a property to its original condition (genjō kaifuku) says the landlord bears normal wear and ageing, such as sun-faded wallpaper or marks where furniture stood. The tenant pays for damage beyond normal use, such as burns, pet damage or mould left untreated. Take dated photos of every room on the day you move in. That one habit settles most disputes.

How does trash collection work, and why does it matter so much?

Your city decides the categories and collection days, and trash goes out on the morning of collection to a shared spot on your street. Get the official chart or app for your area and follow it exactly.

Shinjuku City's 2026 English living guide, for example, asks residents to put most trash out by 8 a.m. on the collection day. Large items such as furniture are collected only by appointment, for a fee paid with special stickers. Other cities use different categories and times, so a chart from a friend in another city will mislead you.

Photo: 円周率３パーセント / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0 (14 August 2013)

Why it matters. The collection point is usually not a city facility. It sits outside someone's house, and the neighbours take turns setting it up, netting it against crows and sweeping it. A wrongly sorted bag is not collected. It stays there with a sticker on it until someone from the street deals with it. That is why trash is often the first thing neighbours mention about a new resident. Getting it right is less about rules than about not leaving your work for the people next door. Japan's clean streets are run the same way.

Common mistakes: putting bags out the night before (crows and complaints), using an unapproved bag where the city requires designated ones, leaving plastic bottles with caps and labels on, and dumping large items without booking.

Do I have to join the neighbourhood association?

No. Membership is voluntary. Japan's Supreme Court held on 26 April 2005 that a residents' association (jichikai) is not a compulsory organisation and that members may leave when they wish, unless its own rules restrict this. But it is often how a street organises trash points, notices, festivals and disaster drills, so it is worth understanding before you decide.

Most associations circulate a clipboard of notices (kairanban) from door to door, run a summer festival or a cleaning day, and coordinate during disasters. Fees are usually small. If you are asked to join, it is fine to ask what the fee covers and what duties come with it. If you decline, do it politely, and keep following the trash rules and any cleaning rota, since those affect everyone.

The "why". Much of Japanese neighbourhood life rests on reciprocity rather than contract: you take your turn because the person before you took theirs. Newcomers who greet neighbours, introduce themselves when they move in (a small gift is customary in many areas but not required) and turn up for the cleaning day are usually accepted quickly, whatever their Japanese. For what is said and what is meant, see honne and tatemae. For the home itself, see why the Japanese take off their shoes.

How much does it cost to renew my visa now?

Since 1 October 2026, fees for changing or extending your status of residence depend on how long a period you are granted, and permanent residence costs 200,000 yen. Before that, a change or renewal cost 6,000 yen at a counter (5,500 yen online) and permanent residence 10,000 yen.

Source: Immigration Services Agency leaflet on the revised fees. Applications received by 30 September 2026 pay the old fee, even if permission is granted later. Online applications are paid by convenience-store or bank payment only (not revenue stamps) and carry a separate payment fee. The amended law also allows fees to be reduced or waived for people in financial hardship.

What to do: budget for the renewal fee as a regular cost, apply online if you can (it is cheaper), and if you pay at a counter, buy revenue stamps for the exact amount at a large post office beforehand, as the agency advises.

Where can I get help in my own language?

Start with your city or ward's foreign resident desk. For anything about status of residence, work, or legal problems, the national Foreign Residents Support Center (FRESC) in Tokyo brings several government agencies onto one floor and takes consultations in many languages.

• FRESC, Yotsuya Tower 13F, Shinjuku, Tokyo; weekdays 9:00 to 17:00. Several government bodies are on one floor.
• Foreign Residents Support Portal (Immigration Services Agency), which links to the Guidebook on Living and Working.
• MLIT's Apartment Search Guidebook for housing.
• Emergencies: 110 for police, 119 for fire and ambulance. Learn your area's evacuation site in your first month; see how Japan prepares for disasters.
• Language: you can get by in big cities without Japanese, but daily life opens up quickly with even basic conversation. Language exchange meetups in Tokyo are a low-pressure start.

Is it worth it?

That depends on you, and we will not pretend there is a survey that settles it. What the numbers do show is that more people are choosing to stay: the foreign resident population grew by about 356,000 in 2025 alone.

What residents commonly describe is a trade. You give up some freedom to improvise: forms are on paper, rules are local and specific, and neighbours notice. In return, you get streets where things work because people quietly keep them working, a 24-hour convenience store that will take your bill payments, and a neighbourhood that, once it knows you, tends to look out for you. The people who settle best usually stop treating the rules as tests and start seeing them as a shared way of looking after a place.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a Japanese guarantor to rent? Usually not any more. Most landlords accept a guarantee company instead, for a fee. Some still ask for an emergency contact in Japan.

How much is the agent's fee legally? At most one month's rent plus tax in total. For a home, at most half a month plus tax from you unless you agreed to more in advance.

Will I get my deposit back? The deposit is meant to come back, minus repairs for damage beyond normal wear. Normal wear and ageing are the landlord's cost under MLIT's guideline. Photograph everything when you move in.

What happens if I miss the 14-day address registration? Register as soon as you can. Late notification can lead to penalties, and an unregistered address causes problems with insurance, tax and your next visa renewal.

Can I refuse to join the neighbourhood association? Yes. Membership is voluntary. You still have to follow the city's trash rules for your collection point.

Did visa renewal fees really go up? Yes, from 1 October 2026. A one-year renewal at a counter is now 33,000 yen, and permanent residence is 200,000 yen.

Sources and dates checked (all checked on 2026-10-26)

• Immigration Services Agency, foreign resident population at the end of 2025 (4,125,395; +9.5%) — moj.go.jp/isa/publications/press/13_0… (primary)
• Immigration Services Agency, address notification after new entry (14 days; Article 19-7) — moj.go.jp/isa/applications/procedures… (primary)
• Immigration Services Agency, leaflet "Fees for residence procedures revised from 1 October 2026" (fee table, transitional rule, online payment) — moj.go.jp/isa/content/001469200.pdf (primary); Kumamoto Nichinichi Shimbun (Kyodo), new residence fees published — kumanichi.com/articles/2009630
• Immigration Services Agency, outline of the amended Immigration Control Act (fee caps, reduction or waiver for hardship) — moj.go.jp/isa/content/001464339.pdf (primary)
• Ministry of Justice, Foreign Residents Survey Report (corrected edition; 4,252 respondents; housing refusal 39.3%, no guarantor 41.2%, "no foreigners" listings 26.8%) — moj.go.jp/content/001226182.pdf (primary); Japan Lawyers Association for Freedom (JLAF), statement on foreigners' housing (2021), quoting the same figure — jlaf.jp/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/…
• MLIT, brokerage fee rules summary (1.1 months in total; 0.55 months from one side of a residential lease without consent) — mlit.go.jp/tochi_fudousan_kensetsugyo/… (primary); MC Law, explanation of the residential lease cap — mc-law.jp/kigyohomu/16732
• MLIT, guideline on restoration to original condition (genjō kaifuku) — mlit.go.jp/jutakukentiku/house/jutakuk… (primary)
• MLIT, private rental housing for foreign residents (Apartment Search Guidebook in 14 languages, landlord guideline) — mlit.go.jp/jutakukentiku/house/jutakuk… (primary)
• Shinjuku City, Living in Shinjuku English guide 2026 (trash by 8 a.m., oversized garbage by reservation and fee) — foreign.city.shinjuku.lg.jp/en/wp-content/uploads/sites… (primary)
• Supreme Court, Third Petty Bench, judgment of 26 April 2005, case No. Heisei 16 (Ju) 1742 (residents' association is not compulsory; members may leave unless its rules restrict this). Commentary: Yuhikaku, Local Autonomy Law Casebook, "The legal nature of residents' associations and the freedom to withdraw" — yuhikaku.com/list/author/112608 ; Financial Field summary citing the case number — financial-field.com/living/entry-370978
• Japan Pension Service, lump-sum withdrawal payment for short-term foreign residents — nenkin.go.jp/faq/jukyu/seido/sonota-kyuf… (primary)
• Immigration Services Agency, Foreign Residents Support Center (FRESC) and Foreign Residents Support Portal — moj.go.jp/isa/support/fresc/fresc_3.h… , moj.go.jp/isa/support/portal/index.ht… (primary)
• Images: Wikimedia Commons file pages (licences checked) — commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Residential_stree… , commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aisai_City_garbag…

What we changed from the March 2026 version: the earlier title promised an expat's first-hand account that the article did not contain. We removed the unsourced "4 to 6 months' rent" figure, replacing it with a line-by-line breakdown and the legal cap, and removed two claims we could not support ("once you've lived in Japan you can't live anywhere else" and "quality of life overwhelmingly higher than other developed nations"). We added the October 2026 fee change and the public help desks.

By J-Times Editorial (information as of 2026-10-26)