Foreign Student in Japan: A Practical Guide to Studying, Living and Adjusting
Key Takeaways
- Register your address at the ward office within 14 days of moving in; the bank, phone and health insurance all depend on it.
- Enrol in National Health Insurance at the same visit, and ask explicitly about premium reductions for low-income residents.
- Apply for permission to work part-time at the airport on arrival rather than at an immigration office later.
- With permission, you can work up to 28 hours a week in term and up to 8 hours a day in designated long holidays.
- Apply for the student pension deferral at the ward office instead of ignoring the National Pension notices.
Table of Contents
- What do you need to sort out in your first week?
- The residence card
- Your address registration
- National Health Insurance
- What comes next in your first month?
- The hanko
- A bank account
- The pension notice
- What are the part-time work rules, exactly?
- What does adjusting actually involve?
- Which costs catch new students out?
- What should you do before you fly?
Most guides about being a foreign student in Japan stop at the visa. That is the part that feels hardest before you arrive, and the part that matters least once you do. The 90 days after you land are where people actually struggle — not with academics, but with a residence card, a ward office, a health insurance enrolment, and a bank account that will not open without the other three.
Japan hosted 408,069 international students as of 1 May 2025, according to JASSO’s annual survey, with 60,013 of them in graduate schools. The system that supports them is orderly and well signposted. It is also almost entirely administrative, sequential, and conducted in Japanese. This guide covers the sequence so it does not surprise you.
If you are still deciding whether to go at all, start with our complete guide to studying abroad in Japan. This post assumes the admission letter is already in hand.
What do you need to sort out in your first week?
Three documents unlock everything else: your residence card, your registered address, and your health insurance enrolment. Do them in that order.
The residence card
If you arrive at Narita, Haneda, Kansai, Chubu, New Chitose, Hiroshima or Fukuoka, immigration issues your residence card (zairyu card) at the airport. Keep it on you at all times. It is not a formality — you are legally required to carry it, and every later administrative step asks for it.
If you land anywhere else, your passport is stamped and the card is mailed to you after you register your address.
Your address registration
Within 14 days of moving into your accommodation, go to your municipal office — the ward office (kuyakusho) in a large city, or the city office (shiyakusho) elsewhere — and register your address. The office writes it on the back of your residence card.
Nothing else works until this step is done. Not the bank, not the phone contract, not health insurance. Students who delay it by even a month spend that month unable to finish the rest of their setup. Take your residence card, your passport, and your lease or dormitory confirmation letter.
National Health Insurance
Enrolment is mandatory for anyone staying more than three months, and you complete it at the same ward office — usually at a counter a few metres from the address registration desk. Do both in one visit rather than two.
The scheme covers 70% of your medical costs; you pay the remaining 30% at the point of care. Premiums are assessed on income, so a student with no Japanese income pays very little. Many municipalities also reduce premiums for low-income residents — ask about it explicitly on your first visit, because it is not always offered.
What comes next in your first month?
Money, a phone number, and a seal nobody warns you about.
The hanko
A hanko or inkan is a personal seal — a small cylinder with your name carved into it — that stands in for a signature on many Japanese forms. Banks, lease agreements and some university paperwork still ask for one, though the government has been steadily reducing the requirement.
Get one made early. A specialist shop will carve a basic seal in katakana within a day or two, at low cost. Ask your university’s international office where the nearest one is — this is exactly the kind of practical question they handle well.
A bank account
Japan Post Bank (Yucho) is the usual first account for international students: the branch network is enormous, and it tends to be more forgiving of a short residence history than most city banks.
You will generally need your residence card with your address on the back, your student ID, your hanko, and a Japanese phone number. That last requirement is where many students hit a circular dependency — the bank wants a phone number, and the phone carrier wants a bank account.
The way out is a prepaid SIM or an MVNO (a smaller carrier reselling network capacity) that accepts a residence card and a debit card. Get the phone number first, then open the bank account, then switch to a cheaper contract later if you want to.
The pension notice
Residents of Japan aged 20 to 59, foreign students included, are enrolled in the National Pension system, and you will receive a notice in the post. Students can apply to have their premiums deferred under the Student Special Payment System (gakusei nofu tokurei), and most should.
The deferral is not automatic. Apply at your ward office. If you ignore the notices instead, the arrears build up and follow you.
What are the part-time work rules, exactly?
A student visa does not permit paid work on its own. You need Permission to Engage in an Activity Other Than That Permitted — and applying for it at the airport on arrival is considerably easier than doing it later at a regional immigration office.
With that permission in place, you can work:
- Up to 28 hours per week during term time
- Up to 8 hours per day during the long holidays your university designates
The holiday rule is set per day, not as a weekly allowance you can bunch up, and both caps are checked against the hours your employer records. Exceeding them is a visa matter with serious consequences, not just an employment one. Some work is excluded entirely whatever the hours, including pachinko parlours, bars and adult-entertainment venues. Our guide to part-time jobs in Japan covers the kinds of work students actually find.
What does adjusting actually involve?
The administrative sequence takes about three weeks. The deeper adjustment takes longer, and it helps to know what to expect.
Your Japanese will be weaker than you expect, and that is fine. Even on a fully English-taught programme, the ward office, the bank and the hospital work in Japanese. Many municipalities run multilingual support desks or a phone interpretation line — ask on your first visit so you know it exists before you need it urgently.
The lab or seminar is the main social unit, particularly at graduate level. Your kenkyushitsu is where academic and social life overlap in ways that can feel unfamiliar. Attending the group’s regular events is not optional in the way it might be elsewhere — it is how supervision relationships are actually built.
Waste sorting is a real, enforced obligation. Rules differ by municipality, collection schedules are strict, and your building may add its own requirements on top. Collect the sorting chart from your ward office in a language you read fluently.
The international student office is consistently underused. Most Japanese universities staff theirs properly, and it exists to handle exactly the problems above. Students who treat it as a first resort settle in faster than those who treat it as a last resort.
For the longer view — what the degree builds and where it leads — see life as a student in Japan.
Which costs catch new students out?
Tuition and rent are easy to find. These are the costs that surprise people in their first month. For the full monthly picture, see our breakdown of living costs in Japan.
- The move-in outlay. Japanese rental practice can involve several upfront payments beyond the deposit — key money, an agency fee, a guarantor company fee and the first month’s rent in advance. Together these often reach several months’ rent before you have slept a night in the flat. University dormitories avoid most of this, which is the main reason so many international students start there.
- The guarantor. Private landlords usually want a guarantor, which international students rarely have. Guarantor companies fill the gap for a fee, and many universities have arrangements with specific providers. Ask the international office rather than approaching an agency on your own.
- Setting up a home. Flats are often let emptier than students expect — sometimes without light fittings, curtains or cooking equipment. Budget for an early trip to a recycle shop or a large household-goods store.
- Winter heating. Insulation in older housing is poor, and heating is usually per room rather than central. January and February utility bills can be several times the autumn figure, especially further north.
- Pension arrears. The notices you are tempted to ignore become debts. Apply for the student deferral instead — it takes one visit.
What should you do before you fly?
Most of this sequence can be prepared from home. Before departure, confirm whether your arrival airport issues residence cards, ask your university whether it offers dormitory places or a guarantor arrangement, and find out which ward office covers your address. Put the three first-week visits in your calendar for the days after you land, and carry the documents for all of them in one folder.
Working out whether Japan is the right destination, and which universities genuinely match your profile, is worth settling before any of this becomes relevant. Our counsellors can walk through your options in a free profile review.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to speak Japanese to study in Japan?
Not to study, if your programme is English-taught. You will still need functional Japanese for daily administration at the ward office, bank and hospital, for most part-time work, and for much of graduate lab life.
How long does it take to get fully set up after arriving?
About three weeks for the full sequence: residence card, address registration, health insurance, phone, bank account and work permission. The process is sequential rather than slow, so doing the steps in order is what keeps it short.
Is health insurance really compulsory?
Yes, for anyone staying more than three months. National Health Insurance covers 70% of medical costs and premiums are income-assessed, so it is inexpensive for most students and there is no practical advantage in trying to avoid it.
Can I work full-time during the summer holiday?
With valid work permission you can work up to 8 hours a day during your university’s officially designated long holidays. The limit is set per day, and your university defines which periods count as long holidays.
What is a hanko and do I still need one?
A hanko is a personal name seal used in place of a signature on formal documents. The requirement is being reduced across Japan, but banks and landlords often still ask for one, so having one made early is worthwhile.
Which bank should I open an account with first?
Japan Post Bank is the most common first account for international students because it tends to be the most forgiving of a short residence history. Get a Japanese phone number first, since most banks ask for one.
Do I have to pay into the pension system as a student?
Residents aged 20 to 59 are enrolled in the National Pension automatically, but students can apply to defer payment under the Student Special Payment System. Apply at the ward office rather than ignoring the notices.
What if I move to a different city during my course?
Report the move-out at your current ward office, then register at the new one within 14 days of moving, and update your health insurance at the same time.
Where do I get help if something goes wrong?
Start with your university’s international student office, which exists for exactly these problems. Many municipalities also run a foreign-resident consultation desk with interpretation.
How much money should I bring for the first month?
Enough to cover the move-in payments, basic furnishings and several weeks of living costs before any part-time income or stipend arrives. Private rentals can require several months of rent upfront, which is why many students start in a university dormitory.
