Your first two weeks in Japan: the order that actually works

The loop everyone gets stuck in

The bank wants a Japanese phone number. The phone company wants a bank account or a card. Both want your address on your residence card. And the landlord wants a phone number and a bank account before you have an address. Nobody tells you which comes first.

The good news: there is an order that works for almost everyone, and the first step only needs the documents you landed with.

1. 1Get your residence card at the airport (or by post, see below).
2. 2Find a place you can register as your address. Even a temporary one.
3. 3Register at the ward office within 14 days. Health insurance, pension and My Number start here.
4. 4Get a phone number. Now your card shows an address.
5. 5Open a bank account. Now you have an address and a number.
6. 6Everything else: utilities, internet, a card for the train, the apps.

Day 0: the residence card

If you arrive on a mid- to long-term visa at one of the big airports (Narita, Haneda, Kansai, Chubu, New Chitose, Hiroshima, Fukuoka), immigration hands you a residence card (在留カード, zairyū kādo) at the counter. Check the spelling of your name and your birthday before you walk away. Fixing it later is a separate trip to immigration.

Arrived at a smaller airport or port? Your passport gets a stamp saying the card will be issued later. It's posted to you after you register your address at the ward office, so step 3 matters even more.

Carry the card at all times from now on. Police can ask to see it, and it's a legal requirement for anyone over 16. A photo on your phone doesn't count.

Step 2: an address you can actually register

The ward office registers where you live, not where you're staying for a night. Most hotels and hostels won't work. These usually do:

• An apartment you've signed for (bring the contract or a copy).
• A share house or monthly apartment that lets residents register. Ask before you book. Many say yes, some don't.
• A friend's or relative's home, if they agree and you'll really live there.
• Company housing or a dorm. Your school or employer will usually walk you through it.

The trap: booking a cheap hotel for your first month and planning to find an apartment "later". The 14-day clock and the bank and phone steps all wait on an address. A monthly share house that allows registration often saves you a month.

Step 3: the ward office, within 14 days

You have 14 days from moving in to register at your city or ward office (区役所 kuyakusho, or 市役所 shiyakusho outside the big cities). It's the one deadline in this list that's set by law, and it unlocks everything else. Plan for half a day. Several things get done at the same visit, often at different counters.

Bring: residence card, passport, your lease or the address written down in Japanese, and any family members who are moving with you (or their cards).

Students: ask about the pension payment exemption for students, 学生納付特例 (gakusei nōfu tokurei). It means you don't pay the pension while you study, and it doesn't count against you.

• Go early on a weekday morning. Avoid Mondays, the days after a holiday, and late March to mid-April, when the whole country moves house at once.
• Many offices have an English-speaking member of staff or a video interpreter on a tablet. Ask: 英語は話せますか? (eigo wa hanasemasu ka? Do you speak English?)
• Take a numbered ticket at the entrance desk first. Tell them 転入届 and they'll point you to the right counter.

My Number is your 12-digit ID for tax, insurance and work. The number arrives by post a few weeks later. The plastic My Number card is optional, but in practice you want it: it's now your health insurance card at clinics and pharmacies (paper insurance cards stopped being issued in December 2024). The letter that brings your number includes a QR code to apply for the card online. Allow about a month.

Step 4: a phone number

With your address now on your card, the phone companies can sign you up. You have three kinds of choice:

Ask for a plan with a real phone number (音声通話, onsei tsūwa), not a data-only SIM. Banks and many apps send codes by SMS to a Japanese number, and data-only SIMs often can't receive them.

The trap: some carriers only take Japanese credit cards or bank accounts for payment. If yours doesn't, look for one that accepts foreign cards, or a prepaid plan, so you're not stuck waiting for the bank.

Step 5: a bank account

Now you have an address and a number. Japan Post Bank (ゆうちょ銀行, yūcho ginkō) is the usual first account: there's a branch at almost every post office and they're used to new arrivals. Some banks won't give full accounts to people who've been in Japan less than six months. That's a bank rule, not the law, so another bank may say yes.

Your employer may require a particular bank for your salary. Ask before you open one.

Full walkthrough: Opening a bank account in Japan.

Week two: everything else

• Electricity, gas, water. Electricity and water usually just need an online form or a call with your address. Gas needs someone to come and turn it on with you there (開栓立会い, kaisen tachiai), so book it early.
• Internet. Fibre installation can take 2–4 weeks in busy seasons. A pocket Wi-Fi or a big data plan covers the gap.
• A transit card. Suica or PASMO, on your phone or as a card. Works on trains, buses and in convenience stores.
• Your hanko question. Most places now take a signature. Some banks and landlords still prefer a personal seal (印鑑, inkan). A cheap one costs about ¥1,000–3,000.
• Garbage day. Find your area's rules before you put anything out. How garbage works in Japan.

The mistakes that cost a second trip

• Going to the ward office without your passport. Bring both the passport and the residence card.
• Writing your address in English only. Have it in Japanese exactly as on the lease, including the building name and room number.
• Skipping health insurance "until you need it". When you do join, the premiums are charged back to the month you moved in anyway.
• Leaving the ward office without asking what letters to expect. Ask them, and keep every envelope they mention.
• Moving within Japan and forgetting to re-register. Moving to another city? Tell your old office before you go (転出届, tenshutsu todoke) and register at the new one within 14 days.