Leaving Japan for Good: The Checklist That Saves You Money

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Last updated: 18 October 2026

Amounts, fees and conditions were checked on 18 October 2026 against the Japan Pension Service pages on the lump-sum withdrawal payment, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications page on resident tax, the Immigration Services Agency page on returning the residence card, the National Tax Agency page on tax agents, and a city office page on the moving-out notice. They can change, so always check the latest conditions yourself before you apply or file anything.

Knowing this, you leave in the right order – moving-out notice first – and the pension refund and the tax bill do not follow you home as losses.

Leaving Japan at a glance: deadlines, offices and amounts

Here are the steps before and after you leave, in order, in one table. Office names follow the wording on the official pages.

When	What to do	Where	Deadline, numbers, what to bring
1 to 3 months before you leave	End your lease, tell your employer	Landlord or management company, your employer	Many contracts say “give notice at least one month before” (check yours)
From 14 days before your departure date	Moving-out notice (転出届 / tenshutsu todoke)	The office of the city where you live	Residence card, passport, something showing your departure date (such as your flight ticket)
The same day as the moving-out notice	Leave National Health Insurance and National Pension, return your My Number card	The same city office	Health insurance premiums keep coming until you leave it. Company health insurance and Employees’ Pension are handled by your employer, so tell them your last working day
Before you leave	Pay resident tax, or file the notice of a tax agent (納税管理人 / nozei kanrinin)	City office (resident tax), tax office (income tax)	If you lived in Japan on 1 January and earned above a certain amount, you pay that year’s tax, even if you leave on 2 January or later. If you cannot pay before you leave, appoint a tax agent before you go
Departure day	Return your residence card	Exit inspection at the airport or port (immigration officer)	When you leave without using a re-entry permit, you return it there and then. If you leave on a re-entry permit and do not come back before it expires, return it within 14 days of it becoming invalid
Within 2 years of leaving	Claim the lump-sum withdrawal payment (脱退一時金 / dattai ichijikin)	Japan Pension Service (by mail or e-Gov online application)	The deadline is 2 years from the day you no longer have an address in Japan. If you filed the moving-out notice, you usually do not need a document showing you have no address (people insured since July 2012 or earlier may still need one)
After you receive the payment	File for a refund of the tax withheld	The tax office, through your tax agent	Rates and steps are in the lump-sum withdrawal payment guide

The conditions and caps of the lump-sum withdrawal payment are in the table below (Japan Pension Service, Japanese, checked 18 October 2026).

Item	Details
Who can get it	People without Japanese nationality who were in National Pension or Employees’ Pension for 6 months or more. For National Pension, months you did not pay do not count
Who cannot	People who meet the 10-year qualifying period for an old-age pension, people who have ever had the right to a disability pension or similar, people still in a public pension, and people with an address in Japan
Months counted	Up to 60 months (5 years), worked out in 6-month steps
National Pension amount	If your last paid month is between April 2026 and March 2027: 53,760 yen for 6 months, 537,600 yen for 60 months or more
Employees’ Pension amount	Your average standard pay (monthly pay and bonuses) multiplied by a rate for your period (0.5 to 5.5). It differs from person to person by salary
What you need to claim	The claim form (14 languages), a copy of your passport, a document showing the account to receive it, a document showing your basic pension number
Accounts that cannot receive it	Japan Post Bank and some online-only banks. A Japanese account must have the holder’s name registered in katakana

The moving-out notice (転出届 / tenshutsu todoke) is how you tell the city where you live, “I will no longer live here.” For a foreign resident leaving Japan, every other step starts from it.

Most guides give you a list of things to do before leaving Japan. The problem is that a list does not tell you what breaks if you do things in the wrong order – and in Japan, the order genuinely matters. This guide walks through it as a timeline, from three months before your flight to after you land at home.

Why does the order matter so much?

Because several steps depend on each other. The clearest example: you cannot claim your pension refund until you have filed your moving-out notice, because that refund requires you to no longer have a registered address in Japan.

The timeline: what to do and when

Work backwards from your flight. Three months out, sort your housing and job. Two weeks out, go to the city office. On the day, hand back your residence card at the airport. After you land, claim your pension refund.

Not sure you want to leave? If you would rather stay after you stop working, first check which statuses allow it in our guide to retiring in Japan. A work visa does not.

Three months before: housing and work

Give your landlord notice as early as you can. Most contracts require one month, and late notice means paying rent for a month you do not live there.

• Your rental contract: check the notice period in writing. Take photos of the room’s condition on the day you leave – this protects you from unfair charges. See our guide on move-out costs.
• Your job: your employer handles the social insurance paperwork on their side, but only if they know your last day. Tell them early.
• Utilities and internet: schedule cancellations for the day after you move out, not before – you need power and internet until the end. If you had a TV, the NHK fee contract has to be cancelled by you, or it keeps running. NHK takes the cancellation by phone from the month before you leave.
• Suica and PASMO: return plastic cards at the issuing company’s station to get the 500-yen deposit back. A Mobile Suica refund reaches your bank account 2 weeks to 1 month later, so do it before you close the account.
• Phone installments: cancelling your line does not end the payments for the phone. Pay off the rest and see the last debit go through before you close your bank account. Each carrier’s steps are in finishing a phone installment plan before you leave.
• Mail: Japan Post does not forward domestic mail abroad. To stop delivery to your old address, file Japan Post’s change-of-address form with the new-address box left blank, yourself, at a counter or in a post box.
• Packages: to ship your things home, make the label on Japan Post’s International Mail My Page, because handwritten labels are not accepted. SAL is suspended, and prices go up on 1 February 2027. Which service to choose and what it costs are in sending a package home from Japan (EMS, airmail, sea mail).
• Furniture and appliances: in some cities oversized-rubbish pickup comes about two weeks after booking, and fridges and washing machines cannot go out as rubbish at all. Work out what goes where with the garbage disposal guide, then book back from your flight date. Anything that still works can also be sold to a licensed second-hand shop or given away.

Two weeks before: the city office visit

This is the visit that decides whether the rest goes smoothly. You can file the moving-out notice from 14 days before your planned departure date, and everything else at the city office can usually be done the same day.

• Moving-out notice (転出届): bring your residence card and passport. This is what tells Japan you no longer live here.
• National Health Insurance: cancel it and return your insurance card, or premiums keep accruing. See the health insurance guide.
• Pension: complete the withdrawal paperwork. You claim the actual refund later, from your home country. With 10 years or more there is no refund: you get a pension, and you claim it yourself from 65 (how to receive your Japanese pension abroad). A company DC pension is a separate claim: with 5 years of contributions or less, or 250,000 yen or less, you can withdraw your corporate DC after leaving Japan.
• My Number card: hand it back at the same counter.
• Resident tax: settle what you owe, or appoint a tax representative (see below).

Bring proof of your departure date, such as your flight booking. If you have family members registered as dependents, their notices need filing too.

The resident tax trap that follows you home

You fly home in March, so this year’s tax should hardly concern you. In the country you come from, perhaps you only pay for the months you actually lived somewhere. Japan’s resident tax is charged to whoever lived in the city on 1 January and earned above a certain amount, so leaving in March still means the full year’s bill, and it arrives after you have gone.

Resident tax is charged based on last year’s income, to whoever lived in the city on 1 January and earned above a certain amount. So if you were in Japan on 1 January and leave in March, you still owe the full year’s tax, and the bill arrives after you have gone.

If the tax comes out of your salary, when you leave your job the unpaid part can be taken in one go from your last salary or your retirement pay. If you leave between January and May, your employer must take it this way even if you do not ask (Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Japanese). If you pay it yourself with payment slips, the slips arrive around June each year.

You have two ways to handle it before you leave:

• Pay in advance before you leave: ask the city office to calculate your estimated amount and settle it at the counter. Simplest option if you can afford it.
• Appoint a tax representative (納税管理人 / nozei kanrinin): a person or company with an address in Japan who receives your tax notices and pays on your behalf. Resident tax and income tax are filed in two different places, both before you leave. A friend, your former employer, or a paid service can do this. To see how filing income tax yourself works, read how to file a tax return in Japan.

Do not simply leave without doing either. Unpaid resident tax can cause problems in a future residence review, such as a visa renewal (Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, resident tax for foreign residents, Japanese). If you ever plan to come back – to work, to study, or even to visit – this matters. The same tax representative can also handle your pension refund tax reclaim, so appointing one often solves two problems at once.

Your bank account: close it, do not abandon it

You leave your Japanese account open, just in case you come back one day. Where you come from, plenty of people might do the same. In Japan, a forgotten account can be sold or stolen and used for fraud, and that can lead to you being refused entry to Japan in the future.

Close your Japanese bank account before you leave. An account left open and forgotten can be sold or stolen and used for fraud, and if that happens, you can be refused entry to Japan or deported in the future. Selling or giving the account to someone is itself a crime, with heavier penalties since 10 July 2026 (see things that are illegal in Japan for foreign residents).

• Bring your passbook, cash card, residence card and personal seal if you registered one
• Move any remaining money out first – sending it home is usually cheaper before you leave than after
• If you genuinely need to keep the account open (for a Japanese salary, for example), confirm the conditions with the bank directly – see our bank account guide

Departure day and after

At the airport, hand your residence card to the immigration officer during exit inspection. That is the official return. Then, once you are home, claim your pension refund within 2 years. Only up to 60 months (5 years) are counted, so even if you paid for more than 5 years, you get back 5 years at most.

• Residence card: when you leave without using a re-entry permit, you return it there and then at exit inspection. If you leave on a re-entry permit and do not come back before it expires, it must be returned within 14 days of it becoming invalid.
• Pension refund: file from your home country. It cannot be claimed while you are still in Japan, and the deadline is 2 years from losing your Japan address. The full process, the 5-year cap and the 20.42% tax reclaim are in the lump-sum withdrawal payment guide.
• How to claim: send the claim form and documents to the Japan Pension Service by mail or by e-Gov online application. The form comes in 14 languages, including English and Nepali, on the Japan Pension Service site. The documents are a copy of your passport, a document showing the account to receive it, and a document showing your basic pension number. If you filed the moving-out notice, you usually do not need a document showing you have no address; people insured since July 2012 or earlier may still need one (Japan Pension Service, how to claim, Japanese).
• Tax refund on that payment: file through your tax representative after you receive it. In most cases, most of the withheld tax comes back.

Official sources: Shinjuku City, moving-out notice (example of the 14-day rule, Japanese) / Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, resident tax for foreign residents (Japanese) / National Tax Agency, tax agent when leaving Japan / Japan Pension Service, Lump-sum Withdrawal Payments / Immigration Services Agency, returning the residence card (Japanese) (checked 18 October 2026)

Frequently asked questions

What happens if I leave Japan without filing the moving-out notice?

Japan continues to treat you as a resident, so resident tax, pension and health insurance bills keep being issued to your old address. You also cannot claim your pension refund, because that requires no longer having an address in Japan.

Do I still owe resident tax after I leave Japan?

Yes, if you were living in your city on 1 January and earned above a certain amount. Resident tax is charged on the previous year’s income to whoever was resident on that date, so leaving mid-year does not cancel it. Pay in advance or appoint a tax representative before you go.

Can I claim my pension refund before I leave Japan?

No. The lump-sum withdrawal payment requires that you no longer have a registered address in Japan, so you file it from your home country after departure – within 2 years.

When do I return my residence card?

At the airport during exit inspection, you hand it to the immigration officer. This applies when you are leaving for good without a re-entry permit.

Is it really a problem to leave my bank account open?

Yes. An abandoned account can be misused for fraud, and that can lead to being refused entry or deported from Japan in the future. Close it properly before you leave.

Is there anyone who cannot get the pension refund?

Yes. People with Japanese nationality, people in the pension for less than 6 months, people who meet the 10-year qualifying period for an old-age pension, and people who have ever had the right to a disability pension or similar cannot get it. People still in a public pension cannot claim it either.

What do I need to claim the pension refund?

The claim form, a copy of your passport, a document showing the account to receive it, and a document showing your basic pension number. If you filed the moving-out notice, you usually do not need a document showing you have no address (people insured since July 2012 or earlier may still need one). It cannot be paid into Japan Post Bank or some online-only banks.

Summary

• The moving-out notice is the key: the pension refund and the end of your bills both start here
• Resident tax follows you home if you lived here on 1 January and earned above a certain amount: pay in advance or appoint a tax representative
• Close your bank account: an abandoned one is a risk to your future entry
• Return your residence card at the airport, then claim your pension refund within 2 years

Related guides

• If you want to know how much of your pension you get back → Lump-Sum Withdrawal Payment: how much you get back
• If a bank turned you away because little time was left on your residence card → Opening (and closing) a bank account in Japan
• If you are worried how much of your deposit will come back → Move-out costs: what you really owe

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