LIFE IN JAPAN, EXPLAINED
Life in Japan costs more when nobody tells you the rules.
Residence status, health insurance, rent, part-time work, tax, sending money home. The rules are not complicated — they are only written in Japanese. So every guide here exists twice: in English, and in Japanese simple enough to practise on.
The order is decided too. Protect your visa, cut your costs, then earn more. It works while you are still a student.
JUST ARRIVED?
Do these three first. Everything else waits for them.
- Register your address — within 14 days, or you can lose your status
- Join National Health Insurance — it is not optional, and it caps what a hospital can charge you
- Open a bank account — your part-time job cannot pay you without one
Where are you right now?
Pick your situation. The five skills are below, if you would rather read in order.
Still outside Japan?
These five cost you money — or your visa — if you find out too late.
Five skills, and the order is the point
Skill 1 protects the other four. Skill 3 is where the money actually changes — moving from a student job to a work visa is worth about 2.1 million yen a year. Skills 4 and 5 only make sense after that.
SKILL 1ProtectLose this and the other four stop working34 guidesSKILL 2SaveCutting a fixed cost beats earning more19 guidesSKILL 3 ・ THE JUMPEarnYour visa and your Japanese set your ceiling16 guidesSKILL 4GrowSome of these accounts exist only while you live here2 guidesSKILL 5Spend WellMoney is for your family and your life1 guides
Latest guides
Work Injury in Japan: Rosai Insurance Covers Foreign Workers Too18 September 2026
Visa Renewal Denied in Japan: Why It Happens and What to Do Next17 September 2026
Japan Minimum Wage 2026: All 47 Prefectures and Start Dates16 September 2026
Unemployment Benefits in Japan for Foreigners: 80% Pay From Day 415 September 2026
Leaving a Job in Japan as a Foreigner: What to Do in 14 Days14 September 2026
Hanko for Foreigners in Japan: Do You Need One, and How to Register13 September 2026
Every guide below is written for people living in Japan on a visa. Each one also has a simple-Japanese version, so you can read the English first and then practise the Japanese.
Protect Visa, contracts, health 34 guides
- Protect — visa, contracts and health in Japan (Skill 1)
- Work Injury in Japan: Rosai Insurance Covers Foreign Workers Too
- Visa Renewal Denied in Japan: Why It Happens and What to Do Next
- Unemployment Benefits in Japan for Foreigners: 80% Pay From Day 4
- Leaving a Job in Japan as a Foreigner: What to Do in 14 Days
- Hanko for Foreigners in Japan: Do You Need One, and How to Register
- Kakutei Shinkoku 2026: Who Must File a Tax Return in Japan
- Visa Cancelled in Japan: What Really Triggers It and What Happens Next
- My Number Card in Japan: It Expires With Your Period of Stay
- Residence Tax in Japan: It Starts in Year Two, Even After You Leave
- Lost Residence Card in Japan: Police, Then Immigration Within 14 Days
- Nenmatsu Chosei 2026: Japan’s Year-End Tax Adjustment Explained
- Re-Entry Permit Japan: Who Needs One, Fees, and the One-Year Trap
- How to Bring Your Family to Japan: Spouse and Children, Not Parents
- Japan Visa Fee Increase 2026: Permanent Residence Now 200,000 Yen
- Student Part-Time Work in Japan: Why Social Insurance Does Not Apply
- Having a Baby in Japan: The 30-Day Rule and the 500,000 Yen Grant
- Spouse Visa Japan and Divorce: The 6-Month Rule Explained
- Dependent Visa Japan: Working Hours and the 28-Hour Work Permit
- Do I Have to Carry My Residence Card in Japan? Rules, Fines, Renewal
- Can Permanent Residency Be Revoked in Japan? The 2027 Rules
- Japan National Pension for Students: 17,920 Yen and How to Defer It
- Visa Renewal in Japan: Timing, Documents and the 1 October Fee Rise
- How to Choose a Japanese Language School: Check Accreditation First
- Certificate of Eligibility (COE) Japan: Timeline and Why Some Fail
- Permanent Residency in Japan 2026: Rules and the 2027 Changes
- Medicine in Japan 2026: What You Cannot Bring, and the New Rules
- Converting Your Foreign Driving Licence in Japan (2026)
- Rent Increase in Japan: Why You Can Say No (Tenant Rights 2026)
- Student Visa to Work Visa in Japan: 97% Are Approved, Why Some Are Not
- Leaving Japan for Good: The Checklist That Saves You Money
- Seeing a Doctor in Japan 2026: Clinics, Hospitals and What You Pay
- Move-Out Costs in Japan: What You Really Owe (and What You Don’t)
- Residence Registration (Juminhyo) in Japan: The 14-Day Rule
- Health Insurance in Japan for Foreigners: Which One You Are In
Save Lower your costs 19 guides
- Save — cut your costs in Japan (Skill 2)
- National Health Insurance Japan: The 70% Reduction You Must Ask For
- JASSO Scholarship 2026: 30,000 Yen a Month, Language Schools Included
- Living Costs in Japan for International Students 2026: 199,000 Yen
- Renting in Japan Without a Guarantor: 3 Routes That Work in 2026
- Monthly Apartments in Japan: Costs and the 3-Month Break-Even
- Finding an Apartment in Japan in English: SUUMO Has None, 3 Ways
- Claiming Overseas Family as Dependents on Your Japanese Tax 2026
- Japanese Language School Cost 2026: The Real 2 Million Yen Breakdown
- Buying a Laptop in Japan 2026: Keyboards, Tax and Where to Buy
- Share House in Japan 2026: No Guarantor, Under 100,000 Yen
- Income Tax in Japan for Foreigners 2026: Get Your Refund
- Bank Account in Japan as a Foreigner: The 6-Month Rule, Fastest Route
- Lump-Sum Withdrawal Payment from Japan: How Much You Get Back
- Moving House in Japan 2026: Why March Costs Double
- Credit Cards for Foreigners in Japan 2026: Check This Before You Apply
- Best SIM in Japan for Foreigners 2026: No Credit Card Needed
- Home Internet in Japan 2026: Fibre, Router or Pocket Wi-Fi, No Wait
- Sending Money Home from Japan 2026: Wise vs Banks vs IME
- Renting an Apartment in Japan 2026: Costs, Documents and Guarantors
Earn Work, language and the jump to a work visa 16 guides
- How to Make Money in Japan as a Foreigner: What Your Visa Allows
- Japan Minimum Wage 2026: All 47 Prefectures and Start Dates
- Rirekisho: The Japanese Resume Template Is Free From the Ministry
- Hello Work for Foreigners: The Four Free Centres With Interpreters
- Specified Skilled Worker Japan: How to Change Jobs Safely
- How Foreigners Actually Find Jobs in Japan: 37.8% Through Friends
- After Japanese Language School: 4 Roads and What Each Needs (2026)
- Where International Students Actually Get Hired in Japan (2026 Data)
- Work Visa Japan: Salary Data by Visa Type and the Equal-Pay Rule
- Social Media for Foreigners in Japan 2026: X, Instagram and LinkedIn
- Learn Kanji With Japanese School Drills 2026: 1,026 Free to Print
- Work in Japan Without a Degree 2026: The Three Visa Routes
- Getting a Driving Licence in Japan as a Foreigner (2026)
- Start a Blog in Japan 2026: Practice Japanese, Build a Portfolio
- Keigo vs Casual Japanese 2026: What to Say at Work
- Part-Time Jobs in Japan for Students 2026: The 28-Hour Rule
Grow Pensions and investing 2 guides
Spend Well Family and culture 1 guide
What this site is really trying to hand you
Rules change with the country and the decade. So these guides also set out the principles underneath them — the part that still works after you leave Japan. Who writes this, and why, is spelled out honestly.