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Japan's injury and sickness allowance pays people in employee health insurance who cannot work because of an illness or injury outside work. There is no nationality condition. After 3 days off in a row, from day 4 it pays two-thirds of your 12-month average standard monthly pay divided by 30, for up to 1 year 6 months (3,780 yen a day on a 170,000 yen average). National Health Insurance pays it only if your city does. Plus eligibility after leaving a job (a year of cover, no work on your last day), payment within 10 working days, unemployment benefit, and what to check before leaving Japan.

You renew a Japanese driving licence in the month either side of your birthday. Since 1 October 2025, foreign nationals cannot apply without showing a residence card or equivalent. The reminder postcard goes to the address on your licence, so report a move to the police. Lectures run 30 minutes to 2 hours; in Tokyo you pay 3,350 to 4,250 yen. Plus early renewal before a trip abroad, getting a lapsed licence back within 6 months, and the penalty for driving on it.

When you quit or join a company in Japan on a work or study status, you must tell the Immigration Services Agency yourself within 14 days (Immigration Control Act, Article 19-16). Engineer/Humanities and Specified Skilled Workers file the notification of the contracting organization; Business Managers and Students file for the organization of affiliation; permanent residents and spouses of Japanese nationals do not file. The 14 days run from the day you quit and the day you join, and you cannot file early. Online filing is open 24 hours with no documents. Your employer's Hello Work report does not replace it, and not filing can mean a fine of up to 200,000 yen.

International students in Japan with no job offer by graduation can change to Designated Activities (continued job hunting): six months, renewable once, up to one year, plus one more year if a local government job-support programme covers them. It is open to graduates of universities, junior colleges, graduate schools and technical colleges, and to vocational graduates with the senmonshi title in a course related to a work status. Japanese language school graduates without a degree are not eligible; the only exception is an overseas degree holder who graduates from an approved language school with about 90% attendance. You need your school's recommendation letter and proof that you were job hunting before graduating. Part-time work up to 28 hours a week with permission. With an offer, a separate Designated Activities status lets you wait until you start, if hired within one year of the offer and 18 months of graduating. From 1 October 2026, a six-month grant costs 18,000 yen at the counter or 15,000 online.