Japan, topic by topic
Seven chapters that apply to everyone. Start at the beginning or jump to what you need.
Bureaucracy
Your first weeks run on three documents — the Residence Card, your My Number, and a City Hall registration — before health insurance, banking or a phone contract will work.
14 days City Hall registration window Read bureaucracy 02Banking
Opening an account used to require a hanko, a Japanese phone number and months of residency — none of that is really true anymore if you pick the right bank.
¥1,000 Typical minimum opening deposit Read banking 03Visas & Immigration
Japan runs one of Asia’s most tiered visa systems — a blue-collar Specified Skilled Worker track, a six-month Digital Nomad pass, and Highly Skilled Professional fast-tracks that shrink a 10-year PR wait to one.
70 / 80 HSP points: 3-yr / 1-yr PR track Read visas & immigration 04Work
Wages just had their biggest jump in Japanese history, but hiring still runs on seniority and the job market for experienced foreign hires narrows fast without conversational Japanese.
¥1,280/hr Tokyo minimum wage Read work 05Education
Public schools are free and legally open to every foreign child, the daycare shortage has eased dramatically nationwide, and a national university is startlingly cheap compared to almost anywhere else.
2,254 Children on hoikuen waitlists nationwide (2025) Read education 06Housing
Renting still means clearing a wall of non-refundable up-front fees, but a housing surplus and guarantor companies have made this far easier for foreigners without a Japanese cosigner than it was a decade ago.
1–2 mo Key money (reikin) — non-refundable Read housing 07Cost of Living
Tokyo’s reputation as one of the world’s priciest cities is largely nostalgia now — a weak yen and two decades of flat domestic prices have pushed it into the global middle of the pack.
82% NYC consumer prices higher (ex-rent) Read cost of livingSources & how current this is
Japan changed a lot in this cycle — a new Digital Nomad status, an expanded 16-sector Specified Skilled Worker program, and stricter naturalisation screening from April 2026 — so confirm point thresholds, income floors and fees on the government source above before you file anything.