First 14 days in Japan: what is due, in order

What do you have to do in your first 14 days in Japan?

Only the city office visit has a legal deadline, and it comes in three parts. The 14 days start on the day you settle at an address (Immigration Services Agency), and Ota ward says you cannot file before you start living there. The order below is ours; the deadlines and fines are the official ones.

Every official page says "within 14 days". None we read says whether the day you settle counts as day 1, so go in the first week and keep a spare week for a missing paper. Sources are in each section below.

Does this apply to you?

It applies if you have a residence card or are due to get one (a mid- to long-term resident, 中長期在留者, chuchoki zairyusha). A short-stay visitor has no duty to report an address (Immigration Services Agency FAQ).

Where you land decides how you get the card. A new arrival is normally given it at the airport or seaport of landing, and at an airport that issues cards you cannot collect it later from the city office or your employer (Immigration Services Agency FAQ). If you landed anywhere else, the card is mailed by registered post to the address you register at the city office, so you file with your passport and the card follows (same FAQ). Children under 16 do not have to carry the card.

What do you bring to the city office?

Bring the residence card and the passport of everyone moving in. Ota ward lists exactly those two for a move-in from abroad (Ota ward), and Minato ward asks foreign residents for the same two at its health insurance counter (Minato ward). If you landed at an airport that does not issue cards, the passport carries a note that a card will follow, and Ota accepts a notification from abroad only with the card or that note (Ota ward).

• Filing the move-in notification with your card also counts as telling Immigration your address, so there is no second form, and Immigration charges nothing for it (Immigration Services Agency).
• Joining a household that already exists, such as a spouse's? Ota asks for a document proving your relationship to the head of household, translated, with the translator's signature and the date (Ota ward).
• You cannot file early: Ota will not take a notification before you start living at the address (Ota ward).

When is the counter open?

Ota takes move-in notifications Monday to Friday, 8:30 to 17:00, and is closed on public holidays and at New Year. Its evening and holiday counter cannot take a notification from someone arriving from abroad (Ota ward). Minato's insurance counter keeps the same weekday hours and is closed on weekends (Minato ward). Other offices differ, so read your own ward or city page before you go.

The forms ask for your address in Japanese. The Japanese address converter gives you the Japanese and roman-letter versions.

What happens if you miss a deadline?

You can still file late. Every penalty below is described by the source as something that can happen, not something that always does.

• Your address to Immigration. Ota ward says a fine of up to ¥200,000 is possible under the immigration law (Ota ward). A new arrival who reports no address within 90 days of the landing permit, with no good reason, can have the status of residence revoked (Immigration Services Agency).
• The move-in notification. A late notification can bring a non-criminal fine (過料, karyo) of up to ¥50,000 under the Basic Resident Registration Act, says Kawasaki on its page for moves from another Japanese city (Kawasaki). The same page warns that a resident who does not report an address without good reason can lose the status of residence.
• Carrying the card. A fine of up to ¥200,000 for not carrying it. Refusing to show it to an officer can bring up to 1 year in prison or the same fine (Immigration Services Agency FAQ).
• Health insurance. Premiums can be charged back to the month you became eligible, and benefits may be withheld in the meantime (Kobe). Toshima ward backdates by up to 2 years and says bills in that period are yours in full unless the delay had an urgent reason (Toshima ward).

The pages we read give maximum amounts. None says how often anyone is fined.

Do you need National Health Insurance and pension in week one?

You need National Health Insurance if no employer covers you, and Minato ward says to enroll within 14 days of moving in, at the same time as the move-in notification (Minato ward). Residents on an employer's health insurance are excluded (Toshima ward). A stay of 3 months or less still counts if documents such as a contract show you will stay longer than 3 months (Toshima ward). For the cost in each Tokyo ward, see the National Health Insurance calculator.

National Pension covers everyone living in Japan aged 20 to 59 who is not in an employer's pension, and you pay the contributions yourself (Japan Pension Service). You sign up at the city or town office where you live. The Japan Pension Service page asks for a document showing your My Number plus an ID such as a passport or residence card, or the My Number card itself. A new arrival has neither yet, so ask the pension counter what it accepts. The page gives a 14-day deadline only for people who have just left an employer's pension and names none for a new arrival, but doing it at the same visit saves a second trip.

When does the My Number letter arrive?

About 2 to 3 weeks after your first residence record is made in Japan, a letter with your My Number arrives at that address by registered mail (My Number guide, PDF). If you are out, the post office keeps the letter for about 1 week and then your city office keeps it for a limited time (Fukuoka Prefecture), so ask the city office if it does not come.

Phone, bank account and internet: what to do in the same two weeks

None of these has a legal deadline. They are the next things most arrivals need, and each has its own page.

• Phone. SIM cards for foreign residents compares the plans. Once you have a Japanese number, PayPay for foreigners lists what the app needs.
• Bank account. The six-month rule does not apply to everyone. Japan Post Bank's page for foreign customers names no six-month wait (Japan Post Bank, read 2026-09-30). If you open an account or a SIM online, check the residence card verification tracker first: some online ID checks do not accept cards issued from 14 June 2026.
• Internet and utilities. Home internet for new arrivals compares the options. Electricity and gas covers starting the supply.

For the apartment side of moving in, see what to do first after moving into a Japanese apartment.