The first urgent task is to register your Japanese address—not to wait for a plastic My Number Card. If you have entered Japan as a mid- to long-term resident and established a place to live, you generally must report that address to your municipal office within 14 days of establishing it. Then check who is responsible for your public health insurance and pension. These are related administrative systems, but they have different applications and different clocks.
This guide is for people moving to Japan to work, study or live with family. Short-term visitors should not follow the resident checklist as though they were moving into Japan.
Official requirements reviewed: 18 October 2026.
The first-month checklist at a glance
| When | Your task | Who handles it |
|---|---|---|
| At entry | Check the status and period of stay you were granted; retain your residence card or any passport endorsement saying it will be issued later | You and immigration at entry |
| Once you establish an address | Report your residence within 14 days; check whether you also need municipal moving-in procedures | Your city, ward, town or village office |
| At the same municipal visit | Ask whether you need to enroll in municipal National Health Insurance and National Pension, or whether an employer or spouse's employer is enrolling you | Municipality, employer or spouse's employer, depending on eligibility |
| Following registration | Watch for your Individual Number Notice, usually mailed in roughly two to three weeks; apply for the optional My Number Card if useful | Japan Agency for Local Authority Information Systems (J-LIS), municipality and you |
| Before your first medical appointment | Confirm whether you should present a registered My Number health insurance card or a Qualification Confirmation Certificate (shikaku kakuninsho) | Your insurer and medical provider |
| Before month-end | Check actual enrollment dates, contribution or premium notices, household records and gaps in coverage | You, payroll, insurer and municipality |
The 14-day address rule is triggered by establishing a residence, not by receiving the My Number letter. The insurance and pension timeframes may arise on different dates depending on when you qualify.
1. Identify which arrival category applies
Many foreign nationals staying in Japan for more than three months under eligible statuses become mid- to long-term residents and receive a residence card (zairyū kādo). That is not a description of everybody who stays longer than a holiday: there are exclusions, including Temporary Visitors and certain other status/period combinations.
If your residence card was issued at the airport, inspect it for the correct name, status and period of stay. At some arrival points, the passport is endorsed to show that a residence card will be issued later. Do not assume the lack of a card in your hand excuses you from municipal reporting; show the endorsed passport at the municipal office and ask about the correct registration procedure.
Worked example: A new employee arrives on 3 November, stays briefly in temporary accommodation, then establishes their actual residential address on 10 November. The immigration rule measures the 14-day notification period from establishing the residence, not automatically from 3 November. But do not use a hotel stay as an invented exemption: the facts of where you actually live matter. Ask the municipality promptly if the address situation is uncertain.
The Immigration Services Agency's new-address procedure explains the applicable resident category and deadline. Later changes of address have a separate 14-day notification rule.
2. Register your address at the correct municipal office
Go to the office for the municipality in which your home is located: a city hall, ward office, town hall or village office. In Tokyo's 23 special wards, that usually means your ward office or its authorized service counter.
Start by saying: “I have moved to Japan and need to register my address” (jūmin tōroku / ten'nyū todoke). Take your residence card, or passport with the relevant deferred-issuance endorsement, and your passport. A municipal office may request additional evidence or a household member's details. Check its checklist before visiting, especially for family registration, students, minors or names that use different scripts.
The municipal moving-in notification normally also fulfills the Immigration Services Agency's residence-address notification when you present the required residence documentation. You generally do not need a second, duplicate immigration-office address form for the same registered move. Still verify that the address has been correctly recorded and ask for a resident-record certificate (jūminhyō) if you need one for a bank, employer or another service. Request the version that includes your Individual Number only when you specifically need it, and keep it secure.
If you move again, use the appropriate moving-out/moving-in procedure, which differs for moves within one municipality and moves to a different municipality. Update the residence card address and any linked municipal records.
What if you have not found a permanent apartment?
Do not ignore the clock while looking for housing. Determine whether you have already established your actual residence, even if the lease is short, and ask the municipality how to register it. Do not claim an address at which you do not really live. Our Japan renting guide explains the housing-search side; this guide concerns the legal record after you move in.
3. My Number, the mailed notice and the plastic card are three different things
This distinction prevents a great deal of unnecessary waiting.
| Item | What it is | What you should do |
|---|---|---|
| My Number (kojin bangō) | Your individual 12-digit administrative number, assigned through the resident-registration system | Keep it confidential; provide it only for legitimate procedures |
| Individual Number Notice (kojin bangō tsūchisho) | A mailed notice telling you your number; not accepted as proof of identity or formal proof of the number | Watch for registered mail after address registration |
| My Number Card (My Number Kādo) | Optional photo ID and electronic credential; it can be registered for use as health insurance identification | Apply if useful; expect a separate application and collection process |
J-LIS says a newly registered resident's Individual Number Notice is typically delivered by simplified registered mail about two to three weeks after registration. It may include an application form with a QR code. The notice is not a substitute for the actual card. If the letter never arrives, contact the municipality rather than posting your number or address publicly.
Applying for the physical My Number Card is not legally mandatory. There is no general deadline to apply. You can apply online with the application ID or by another supported route, then wait for a municipal issuance notice and verify how to collect it. It commonly takes about a month or longer; it is not sensible to promise a new card within your first 30 days. If you lose the Individual Number Notice, ask for an appropriate municipal resident-record document containing your number rather than assuming the notice can be reissued.
Read the J-LIS FAQ and notice explanation.
4. Which Japanese health insurance applies to you?
Japan's public health coverage normally follows your work and residence eligibility. There is no universal rule that every newly arrived foreign national must buy National Health Insurance at city hall.
| Situation | Likely route | Verify with |
|---|---|---|
| You work for a covered employer and satisfy employee eligibility requirements | Employees' Health Insurance (kenkō hoken), usually enrolled through the employer | HR/payroll; insurer |
| You are an eligible resident not covered through an employer or another qualifying public arrangement | Municipal National Health Insurance (kokumin kenkō hoken, NHI) | Municipal NHI counter |
| You qualify as a dependent under another person's employer health insurance | Dependent coverage, if the insurer accepts you under its conditions | Spouse's/family member's employer and insurer |
| You are on a short visit, have certain excluded statuses, or fall under a specific international agreement | Ordinary municipal NHI may not apply | Municipality and relevant agency |
Ask your employer the effective date of Employees' Health Insurance enrollment, not only whether “insurance is included.” The Japan Pension Service says eligible employers enroll covered workers in Employees' Health Insurance and Employees' Pension Insurance together; coverage cannot simply be opted out of when compulsory.
If you need municipal NHI, register within 14 days of becoming eligible. Toshima City's guidance confirms this deadline and warns that late notification can mean premiums for the period you should have been enrolled.
Foreign residents granted a period of stay of three months or less are generally excluded from municipal NHI. Exceptions can apply where the municipality accepts evidence that you will reside in Japan for more than three months, such as a school enrollment certificate. Ask its NHI counter to check your residence status and documents: proof of a longer intended stay does not override other eligibility exclusions.
Important 2026 change: how you prove health-insurance eligibility
The old conventional health insurance card is no longer the default document. MHLW says the old cards' validity ended on 1 December 2025, and the temporary accommodation for presenting an expired card ended on 31 July 2026, as confirmed in MHLW's press conference that day.
At medical facilities in October 2026:
- If you have a My Number Card registered for health insurance use, present it as your Myna Insurance Card (Myna hokenshō).
- If you are enrolled in public health insurance but have no My Number Card, or have not registered it for health insurance use, your insurer issues a Qualification Confirmation Certificate (資格確認書) (shikaku kakuninsho) free of charge and without a separate application under current arrangements. This proves existing coverage; it does not enroll you in insurance.
- A Qualification Information Notice (資格情報のお知らせ) is different: it cannot be used alone for insured care. If electronic eligibility checking fails, present the paper notice together with your My Number Card.
- Having a 12-digit My Number, receiving the Number Notice, or merely applying for a card does not by itself activate your insurance benefits.
MHLW's certificate guidance distinguishes automatic issuance from cases requiring an application, including a lost card or a registered-card holder who needs assistance using it. The insurer sets the certificate's format and validity period. Ask HR or your insurer what you should show if an appointment occurs before your document arrives. Do not postpone medically necessary care simply because the physical My Number Card is still pending. See MHLW's current eligibility-document instructions and our broader healthcare guide.
5. Pension enrollment: check your category, not just your age
The Japan Pension Service (JPS) generally requires residents aged 20–59 to belong to the National Pension system regardless of nationality. The way you join and pay depends on which category you enter.
| Category | Typical resident | Who arranges enrollment? |
|---|---|---|
| Category I | Eligible self-employed person, student or unemployed resident who is not Category II or III | You apply at the municipality within 14 days of becoming subject to this category |
| Category II | Employee covered by Employees' Pension Insurance | Employer submits the enrollment paperwork; no separate Category I application for that covered period |
| Category III | Eligible economically dependent spouse of a Category II participant, generally aged 20–59 | Spouse's employer arranges the registration process |
Students are not automatically exempt from pension coverage. If eligible, they may apply for the student special payment postponement arrangement. Other financially eligible residents may apply for contribution exemption/postponement, but approval is not automatic; ignoring bills is not an application.
JPS also cautions that the period between entering Japan and becoming an eligible Category II or III participant may require Category I coverage. Ask the pension counter and employer to reconcile any gap. Certain residence statuses (for example, specified medical-stay/long-stay sightseeing situations) are excluded from particular pension categories, and a valid bilateral social security agreement with a certificate of coverage can alter contributions for qualifying assignments.
Start with JPS's enrollment categories, employer enrollment rules, contribution relief and international agreements.
Three first-month scenarios
Salaried worker arriving before the job begins. Register the address after establishing it. Ask HR exactly when health and employees' pension coverage begins. If there is a period before those arrangements apply, ask the municipal insurance/pension counters which interim registrations are required; do not assume employment paperwork retroactively covers every day. If you enrolled in NHI for that gap, notify your municipality to end NHI enrollment within 14 days of joining employee health insurance; Toshima's withdrawal instructions specify this deadline and request evidence of the new coverage. Ask your municipality which documents to bring.
University student aged 24. Register the address, check municipal health insurance eligibility and Category I pension registration, then ask about the JPS student payment system. A student ID alone does not mean premiums disappear.
Spouse joining an employee. Register the household/address, then ask the spouse's employer whether dependent health insurance and Category III pension are available. Being married or holding a family residence status does not by itself confirm either enrollment. Check financial dependency and insurer conditions.
Documents and questions to take to city hall
- Passport and residence card, or qualifying passport endorsement.
- Full address, move-in date and any municipal documents requested in advance.
- Employer or school details; insurance enrollment confirmation if already issued.
- Relevant family/household details if registering together.
- Question: “Is my move-in registration complete, including the address on my residence documentation?”
- Question: “Do I need municipal NHI, and what is my coverage start date?”
- Question: “Am I Category I for any period? If so, how do I register and pay—or apply for relief?”
- Question: “What do I show a clinic before I receive my My Number Card?”
- Question: “Where will my Individual Number Notice be mailed, and how do I handle failed delivery?”
Save a copy or photograph of the submission receipts that you are permitted to retain, note the official you spoke with and confirm the registered address is correct. Review actual letters and payment demands when they arrive rather than assuming the first municipal visit completed every separate process.
Not covered here: Immigration status applications, eligibility for a particular job or pension benefit, and municipality-specific forms. The work and long-stays guide handles the immigration route; official links above govern the resident steps.
For a later employer change or unemployment, use the Japan job-change and residence-status guide.