Moving to Japan

4 comments

1. What’s confusing? Perhaps outline what part of your move or search is confusing.

   If it’s renting; generally you need to be in Japan first, and get a bank account before you can sign a lease. You best bet; search for a monthly furnished apartment. Then once here, find a real estate agent to help you.

2. Suumo is a good resource for figuring out what the rental market is like, but once you figure out where you want to live you’ll need to visit a proper real estate agent to go over the available properties and pick one.

   Expect to live in temporary housing for at least your first month, and ask your employer for assistance in arranging this.

   Have a look at this Suumo guide for how the rental process works generally:
   https://suumo.jp/tokushu/foreigner/english/

3. I’m assuming you and your partner are foreigners?

   Well first get a Japanese phone number from something like Mobal. In most people’s cases, it has to be a travelers sim if you don’t have a Japanese bank account . Then, you’ll need to figure out how to get a registered address on the back of your residence card. This is the most critical step because you won’t be able to get a Japanese bank account. I just moved here in October and this was easily the hardest part. If you have a friend or family in Japan that you trust, then this is fairly straightforward, you just need to ask permission to use their address (which tbh I don’t know if that’s kosher 😬). OTHERWISE, your best bet is to get a short share home accommodation cause most of them let you use their address for this part. Sounds like living a share house might not work for you though cause you have a 2 year old so maybe others can offer more advice on this.

   Once you have a bank account then you need to answer some questions before I can help you fully.

   Do you or your partner know Japanese? Where are you moving to? Are you working remote or at an office/site? If office, how close do you want to be for commute?

   You’ll need to know these questions and reach out to a reality group/person in the major metropolitan cities.

   I hope this was helpful.

4. I made a similar move (US to Japan with toddler).

   Reserve furnished short term apartment for the first 1-2 months. When you arrive, use that address (if possible) to register and then open a bank account somewhere quickly like JP bank. 

   When you’re in the country, find a real estate agent in the area you want to live and work with a real estate agent to find an apartment that works for you. Sign contracts, transfer funds, move in. 

   You can use Suumo beforehand to scout out areas and get a general sense of prices, but the listings tend to be outdated and many won’t rent to foreigners. Which is why using an actual real estate agent is key.