Updated September 16, 2026
Housing, phone and banking in your first year in Japan
Leases, SIM contracts and bank accounts in Japan often ask for a guarantor, a credit history or six months in the country. These guides show which options are open to new arrivals, and what each costs.
Start here
What do you need?
Each guide starts with the options you can sign up for, then compares price.
Connectivity
I need a phone number
Which SIMs need no credit check, and which need a residence card.
Home internetI need internet at home
Which options need a Japanese credit card, and what is left if you have none.
Pocket Wi-FiI need a laptop online
Prepaid pocket Wi-Fi with no contract, or a monthly unlimited plan.
Housing
I need an apartment
Landlords that rent to foreign residents, English listing sites and the big Japanese portals, with the move-in costs of each.
Share housesI want a room in a share house
A furnished private room from 1 month. What each operator charges to move in and who can apply.
Furnished apartmentsI want a furnished apartment
Your own furnished place from 1 or 2 months, with move-in, exit and utility charges compared.
Settling in
I just moved in
What has a legal deadline, and what can wait.
Residence cardMy residence card is new
Which sign-ups refuse the new card, and what to do instead.
BankingI need a bank account
The six-month rule, and who it does not apply to.
AddressI need to write my address
Your address in Japanese order, in roman letters, and box by box for a form.
Credit cardsI need a credit card
Which Japanese cards accept foreign residents, what each asks for, and cards with no screening.
Permanent residencyI want to stay for good
The 10-year rule, the shorter routes, and what the application costs.
Japanese lessonsI want to learn Japanese
Free city classes, government courses, schools and online tutors for foreign residents.
JLPT N5I am taking the JLPT N5
The pass mark, the test dates, the fee and how to apply in Japan.
Money calculators
I need to send money home
Fees for ¥50,000 to Vietnam, Brazil, Indonesia and the Philippines, and the My Number rule.
SalaryWhat will I take home?
Your 2026 pay after income tax, resident tax and social insurance, line by line.
Monthly budgetWhat is left each month?
Your take-home pay minus rent and what a single person in Japan spends.
Health insuranceWhat will health insurance cost?
National health insurance in each Tokyo ward, against staying on your employer’s plan.
Furusato nozeiCan I use furusato nozei?
Who qualifies, how the donation limit follows your salary, and the One-Stop form.
What we found
What the Japanese sources say
Each of these comes from a provider's terms or a government directive published in Japanese.
Banking
You may not have to wait six months for a bank account
The rule comes from a Ministry of Finance directive. It treats you as a resident after six months or once you work at an office in Japan, whichever comes first. If you work here, you don't have to wait.
The directive, and what to bring →Home internet
GMO fiber will not take your card from home
GMO fiber accepts only credit cards issued in Japan and refuses debit cards. GMO’s home router takes credit cards only too. Card companies count having no Japanese credit history as one factor when they screen an application, the credit bureau CIC says.
What works instead →Residence card
New residence cards fail some online sign-ups
Cards issued from 14 June 2026 are second-generation cards, and some online identity checks cannot read them yet. You can still apply another way.
What to select instead →How this is written
Checked against the source, or it says so.
Some links are advertising links, and pages carrying them say so at the top. How we work · What we collect