Hello!

First off, thank you in advance to this community; you've provided so much helpful information! I'm happy to say that my wife and I recently received our COEs that were issued for 1 year. We're about to submit them to the local Japanese consulate for visas and are planning to arrive in Japan on Jan 20. Whoop whoop!

I have a few questions (ha ok actually an endless list, but these are the priorities) that I was hoping to run by this community to see if you have any ideas. Any info would be deeply appreciated. If you have experience with any of these, I'd love to hear from you!

Our overarching goal is to attain permanent residence in Japan.

1. My wife's COE is for "Child of Japanese National"; mine is for "Long Term Resident". We see that as a Child of Japanese National she is potentially able to live in Japan for a year and then apply for permanent residence. Will I be able to get permanent residence at the same time as my wife or do I need to wait for hers and then apply as a spouse? We have been married for over three years.

2. Under our circumstance, at what point do we need to start paying taxes in Japan? We will both be working remotely for companies in the US and being paid in our US accounts.

3. Since our COE is for 1 year, is it a problem that we’ll need to renew our visa while applying for permanent residence? Also, we've heard that it should not be an issue to renew our visas once we are already in Japan as long as we don't have any legal trouble and follow all the rules. Is that right?

4. I've read that there is no definitive written rule about leaving Japan while residing there (other than all the exit paperwork). The general guideline appears to be don't leave for more then 90 consecutive days or cumulatively over 6 months. Does that sound right? I don't want to do anything that would risk our permanent residence, but we do have family we'd like to visit abroad.

5. My wife's passport will expire in July 2026. Should we plan to renew that during a trip to the US or is it possible to do that through the US embassy in Tokyo? Is one easier than the other?

6. For some reason, our COEs list my wife's mother's address in Shodoshima under the "Profession or Occupation/Organization to be employed or to study in Japan" section. She is the one who helped us attain our COEs through the Takamatsu office. Is that a problem? We don't actually live or work at her mom's place in Shodoshima, but I know that Japan is strict with form accuracy and paperwork. 😅

7. We aren't sure where we will live yet. Is it a problem if we move regularly (across Japan) and would it impact our opportunity for permanent residence? We are thinking of spending our first two months in Okinawa, then moving to Tokyo. Will that be a problem, residing in different places in Japan over the next year? Will it create a lot of extra paperwork to switch locations?

Thank you so much!!

Hi everyone,

I’m a 23-year-old student from Hungary (an EU country, so no visa required for short-term visits). I’m currently finishing my bachelor’s degree in landscape architecture and garden design this December 2024. I’ve applied for a finding employment course (1 year) at a Japanese language school starting in April through GaijinPot.

The application process required gathering a lot of documents:

Application Documents

1. Application form
2. Reason for Study
3. Diploma / Certificate of expected graduation
4. Transcript / Exam result certification
5. Employment certificate (in case of work experience)
6. Copy of certificate of learning Japanese / Copy of certificate of JLPT
7. Copy of Residence card (if there are relatives in Japan)
8. Copy of your passport
9. Recent photo × 5 pieces

Financial Guarantor

1. Financial guarantor document
2. Document which certifies the relationship between financial guarantor and the applicant
3. Certificate of deposit balance
4. Employment certificate
5. Salary certificate / Tax payment certificate

The school and my GaijinPot coordinator have already reviewed everything, and the documents have been submitted to Japanese immigration. They said everything is fine, and I don’t expect any issues.

However, I’m really considering buying my plane ticket soon because I know prices will get very expensive if I wait until I get the COE, which is usually issued about a month before the school starts. But I can’t help worrying—what if they reject my COE or Visa?

Do you think there’s a real chance of rejection? Have you heard of cases where people were denied even after submitting everything correctly?

Also, for those of you who’ve already gone through this process, did immigration ask for any additional documents after you submitted everything(all I listed)?

Thanks in advance for your advice!

Hi, I have a few questions about the visa application form.

My wife’s dad is the guarantor so would that mean he is also the inviter or would that be my wife?

My wife gave birth in September so I applied for my COE myself while I was in Japan on a tourist visa, my dates and duration of previous stays in Japan and entry date will be different than what was on my COE application, would this affect my visa application?

Thank you

Hello, my girlfriend is about to do an internship in Japan. The internship will be located in Tokyo. For her study she has to make atleast 720 hours over a time period of 6 months. So our plan is to stay in Japan for 6 months.

She has contact with the company she wants to do the internship at. They told her she can come "on a tourist visa" and do "a visa run" to stay in Japan for 6 months. She also gets a compensation.

To my knowledge you are allowed to do an internship on a tourist visa but not if you get paid. Is compensation the same as getting paid? Is this standard practise for internships in Japan? I don't want my girlfriend to be banned from Japan or send back home because she has to do the internship on a tourist visa. I also know you can extend your tourist visa in Japan itself instead of doing a "visa run"

I just don't want my girlfriend to do something illegal. So I am asking for your experience and knowledge in this matter. Since I am a bit overwhelmed in all of this.

Thanks you in advence

Im currently enrolled in Computer Science at a well respected Canadian University in Toronto.
Im in my first year of study so I will graduate with Co-Op in 3.5-4.5 more years.
The job market and housing market in Canada (and the US) is looking to get worse and worse. Finding a job in North America for computer science is few and far between, I know people continuing to study and do Interns and Co-Ops (6-7 years in school) simply because the market is so bad.

My Canadian uncle and his Japanese born wife and daughter are moving out to Japan in 2026. It got me thinking about the potential job market in Japan. I heard a lot of FAANG companies have headquarters in Japan, and from prior posts (although years ago) people on this sub have stated the market was great.

Ide obviously have to learn Japanese, which would take (I assume) my entire time in Uni and a few more years after that.

After that does it look feasible for me with Great Grades, a Computer Science degree, a relative already living permanently in the country to seek work in Japan assuming I learn the language by then.

Will the job market and housing markets be affordable, will there be good work, is the pay good, ect.

Im thinking a bit ahead here, but Canada and the US in my option are screwed for computer science and I have to look elsewhere as older classmates who graduated with computer science are struggling to find jobs, and everyone is struggling with housing.

Hi guys, I am 29. I scored 89% in 10th, and then was going through a really bad phase of depression. My scores dropped to 50% in 12th, 57% in undergrad.

I have over 8 years of work experience mostly working with start-ups in Sales and Product Management in the Payments domain. Undergrad was in Hotel Management.(Hospitality)

I scored 680 in GMAT FE. Will I be eligible for scholarships or good universities in Japan?

Hi, I’m a sophomore CS student from the US!

Next summer, I plan to do a completely free study-abroad program I was awarded (Nanzan University CJS, unknown outside of that region according to my friends lol). I'm planning to choose this over a potential (not 100% guaranteed) internship (which I know is a dumb move professionally / practically speaking, but I have personal reasons. Main reason is I will have to forfeit this award if I do not accept it this year, no exceptions). I’ll take language and marketing/accounting electives, but the classes are only part-time (~3.5 hours/weekday).

I already feel confident in Japanese (Taking the N1 test tomorrow and have taken a couple of practice exams), so I’d like to use my free time to do something impactful/practical — idk: travel (fun), network (practical), or learn in a way that aligns with my career or interests (practical). I’ve got enough stipend money to extend my stay for an extra month as well (from 2 months to 3 months).

Any suggestions for leveraging this experience personally or professionally? Or more generally, how to make this summer as fulfilling as possible?

With this in mind, would you recommend that I consider studying at Handai? I have heard that it is a bit slower pace, and the crowds are not nearly as big, but living in Osaka still feels like you are living in a big city right? From what I understand, the public transport is also comparatively great, and I will save more money on food and housing. I am just a bit more hesitant, as I haven't had the chance to visit the area myself.

Hi everyone, I would be grateful if you can you can offer some insights about Sendai and it's weather in particular.

I come from Bavaria Germany and I just got accepted for an international semester at tohuku University. And Since I've never been into Japan before , I would take your opinion as arguments whether I start my exchange semester during fall or spring.

I would like to have the most of time while being in Japan, in oder to explore the country and embrace the culture. And the weather is a big factor to consider

Fall semester : October - March Spring semester : April - September

The pros of the spring semester: are the festivals that take place during the time. While fall semester really highlights how colorful Sendai nature will be. Besides the easier access to Winter sports.

Any general tips are also appreciated.

For work-related reasons I may be getting sent to Japan. I've been looking through several bank websites, phone websites, etc. and I seem to be running into some circular 'chicken-and-egg' related requirements for setting up an account.

For example - For setting up a Shinsei Bank account, the B-type documents requested include things like an original copy of a utility bill receipt. I don't see how I'd be able to have one of these prior to opening the account, given that I'd need a Japanese bank account in order to set up the necessary payment(s).

I'm also aware of the Hanko system (and that it is being somewhat phased-out). I'm given to understand there are different tiers/types of Hanko an individual might have - is there a way to simply have one, that you use for everything, both formal and informal document(s)?

Is there a particular order I should follow, i.e. Hanko->Banking ->Lease-> Phone? Are Hanko stamps necessary for foreign workers?

The company I work for is quite large and we have a Tokyo branch, so I'm sure there are internal resources that will provide some guidance on this process, but in the interest of getting a head start I wanted to see if there were any recommendations regarding pitfalls to avoid, common mistakes I can sidestep, etc.

Hi everyone,

Long story short, I’m moving to Japan in February for a one-year company exchange program. While my company will help with agency interactions, I was recommended places like Sakura House, Oak House Apartments, and Fontana as starting points for finding housing.

I’m specifically looking for a private space, not a share house, as I’ll need to work remotely a couple of days a week. While browsing, Oak House seems to have decent options in terms of size, location, and aesthetics. That said, I’d love to hear about others’ experiences with these companies or if you have any alternative suggestions.

I understand that renting through platforms like Suumo or similar is generally more cost-effective, but since I’m only staying for a year, I’m prioritizing convenience. These agencies seem appealing because they help bypass initial housing fees and the hassle of setting up utilities like Wi-Fi, water, and gas. Plus, their English support is a huge plus since my Japanese is... well, nonexistent (this move was quite sudden!).

Here’s what I’m looking for:

• Around 130,000-150,000 yen monthly (including everything if possible).
• Since I’m staying for just a year, I assume two-year contracts are (sadly) a no-go...
• : My office is currently in Toranomon but will relocate to Nihonbashi, so areas that balance convenience and a good lifestyle for a foreigner would be ideal.

Any advice or shared experiences with these companies—or suggestions for better alternatives—would be greatly appreciated. Also, if you’ve lived or stayed in nearby areas, tips on the best neighborhoods for a foreigner would be amazing!

Thank you so much in advance!

Hello,

I understand this is not recognized/allowed in Japan and it's in the grey zone, but does anyone know or know of someone who has successfully renewed their Japanese passport after acquiring a foreign passport/nationality as an adult? My Japanese passport is expiring next year and ideally would like to keep my Japanese passport along with my Canadian passport. I'm willing to fly to Japan to renew it, but I wanted to know if people have been able to renew it recently without an issue.

TIA!

Japan's new digital nomad visa sucks since it lasts only 6 months without options to extend or any path to a residence permit.

If you freelance outside Japan and earn more than USD150K/year, what would be the best way to obtain a longer-term visa to stay in Japan for an extended period? Having a path to permanent residency would also be great.

Should I just find a chill language school to attend for two years and see how things go?

Hi, im currently finishing a profesional formation degree ( senmon gakkou simil) in europe spain, we need to work for 2/3 months at the end of our professional formation to be able to get our degree, and erasmus gives the option to do it in another countries, on my request i added japan as i have previosly worked there(working holiday) and i plan to move there and do university for the same purpose.

talking with the erasmus representative ive been told that he has not seen anyone going to japan that he has managed, but that its doable and i would need to present a presetantion letter and a curriculum vitae along with the erasmus form, in general its in english but he also requested to have it made in japanese on this case
as far as my knowledge goes, professional formation wont give you the needed requirements to give you a work visa, so im asuming i wont have the chance to stay working there even when i finish, im also curious abaut what kind of work contract would i have in japan, as in general profesional formation contracts are not work contract perse, more like non paid internship contracts.

my questions are, does anyone have similar experiences or know of any case of a professional formation( senmon gakkou) from abroad working in japan?
is there any good source or contact i could check that its relevant to my situation?

Hi! I’m from Canada, and I’m currently in eighth grade. I just started learning Japanese, and since the school year has just begun, I’d say I have about five years to become fluent. My grades are pretty strong, with a 90+ average. I’m also involved in several extracurriculars and plan to join even more soon. What do you think my chances are of getting into a nursing program in japan? I want to become a labor and delivery nurse.

4o

Hello,

A few years ago when I was young I was looking around out of curiousity what people do in countries like Japan, Korea, China, etc seeing as it is the other side of the world. A lot of people are doing English teaching which seems to be the "easiest" way to get into the country with employment. Back then (5 years back) a lot of people were talking about how they use it as an entry into the country and move up from there because it's easier to look for something while being in the country.

I'm browsing on sites like Reddit these days and I keep seeing threads about English teaching being the most miserable thing ever to do in Japan (idk about other countries), yet there are still people moving to Japan often to teach. I assume all the people are not suddenly finding their calling in educating the Japanese youth so I was wondering do people use this method to get inside the country and look for more then? Has anyone done this and how was the expeirence? Is English teaching really that bad?

1. im trans (ftm) and my partner is a cis male. i am legally female in my country, so if i didn't change my gender marker at all, would we be able to get married in japan, or would a marriage in our home country be recognized in japan?

2. are there any places outside of the biggest cities that have relatively positive attitudes towards queer people? i would like to avoid the higher cost of living in the city, but would also like to avoid discrimination as much as possible.

3. how hard is it to get hrt if youre legally female? ive seen some guys say they had an alright time getting testosterone in japan because they're legally male and their doctor assumed they were cis, but im not sure about my case.

4. this is the one im most concerned with because its pretty niche and i haven't seen any answers for it anywhere. how hard would a pregnancy be for a trans man in japan? i would like to conceive naturally for a few reasons, but i fear i would experience a fair amount of medical (and social) discrimination for the duration of my pregnancy, as i pass as male when out and about the majority of the time.

5. how is japan generally towards the children of gay parents, especially those that are foreigners? i wouldn't want to put my child through crazy bullying from their peers or even adults because they look different of have a different family structure.

would totally appreciate any help anyone can give!

Hi everyone, I'm a 25-year-old Mexican about to graduate in July with a degree in Software and Networks. I'm currently completing my CCNA certification, required by my university, and starting AWS certification in two weeks. I also started learning Japanese a few weeks ago.

I dream of living and working in Japan in the near future. What would be the best plan to achieve this goal?

Right now, I'm focus on specific certifications, Learning Japanese

what would be the best plan to do it,

I plan on going to Ueda-shi in Nagano-ken to study for roughly 2 months and the student dorm charges 250.000 yen for 10 weeks which seems insane to me but it is within my budget so i will do that if i can't find anything better but im not paying nearly that much for an entire apartment where i live so paying that much for a tiny room with shared kitchen and bathroom seems like a scam.

I don't know the price but i do know there is at least one sharehouse in the city since i had a classmate who lived there when i studied there last time but i can't find it and almost all the resources on this sub is just tokyo and some other big cities.

I also checked leopalace and similar comapanies but they all said "contract length 2 years", seems like a great long term option but not for 8-10 weeks.

I just need a tiny room with a place to sleep and thats it, no fancy stuff just wanna cut down on the costs as much as possible

I’m applying for a working holiday visa to volunteer over there and get some work experience whilst I’m traveling.

Just wanted to know if it’s hard to get accepted because I saw that only 6000 get accepted a year and it’s a £130 train ticket to London

From my understanding I will need to fill out and print off my visa application form and then write my signature in pen.

I need to write and print off my month to month plan of what I intend to do month by month but I don’t have to follow it just a rough idea.

I need my passport

A passport picture

A cv? Is this a cv that’s printed out you will use to apply to jobs there ?

Need a printed out reason why I want to travel and work in Japan

I then need to take all of this with me to the interview and then they send me my passport back in 5 days ?

My main questions are -

does it matter if I mess up a question or two on the visa application like for instance I accidentally mistype a number or missed one of my middle names like how strict are they? Will they let me print out another there and then or just decline me and tell me no it’s not right.

I ask this because there’s questions like when is your Japan flight and what port are you arriving at. Am I meant to have booked a flight in a few months time to show I am wanting to go and say when that is and like the port question can I just put a “-“ to answer as I’m not going by boat?

Another question is I saw that you need to prove you have the funds to support your stay and need to show the last 3 bank statements to show this and the 2500 has to have been in for the last 3 months to show you don’t need it ?

Only thing is I don’t keep my money in my main bank in case I lose or someone steals my card and they spend on it so I always transfer to my stocks that I invest in or my spending account. My main account is mostly to just pay off monthly things like my car insurance and food.

So will I be able to transfer my full £10k into my bank and just say look these are my out goings and I have no debts, this is my money and it will stay unless I spend in Japan. (Maybe the 3 months thing isn’t a rule and I’m being stupid)

I’m 20 btw if that matters

I‘ll be attending TCJ school from January in Tokyo. Does someone have experiences they can share? Or perhaps any useful tips?

Me and my partner are residing in Europe at the moment. Have a 1 year old baby in common. We thought of getting married here but the process is going to take more than 1 year .

This means we are expending all our savings for longer than expected.

If I prepare all the documentation ahead and go to Japan to get married there, would it be ready in 3 months (the max time as a tourist) ? As a mother of a japanese citizen is there any legal way to stay in Japan while the process of getting married finishes and I get the spouse visa?

I know i could get into a language school, but we want to save up in costs . He's not finding a job in my country and even if he did, the renting situation is crazy.

Thanks.

Im moving tokyo in april to start 2 years of language school and im struggling with the question of where i should be looking to live.im 28, male, American. I like the idea of having my own apartment and privacy but im told its a process you not only have to be present in person for but also im worried about furnishing costs and having to navigate everything new to living in a new society on my own.

On the other hand ive looked at alot of social residences aswell because thats what my contact at the school suggested i like the advertised community theyre supposed to foster aswell as the shared amenities they seem to all have. But im anxious about living with so many strangers sharing the same toilets and showers and never having any time to be alone unless im locked in my tiny room.

I know with most leases in japan being 2 yrs once i make a choice im locked in for the whole time im on my student visa until i can get a working visa, since if i choose apartment im on a 2yr lease and if i choose a social residence i wont have the required time left on my current visa to sign a apartment lease if i want to move. So if i could have input from people who have lived the experience it would be so helpful!

Ive done as much looking and research as i can think to do ive looked at several sites including oak house, borderless, fontana, begood japan, apts.jp, and a few other sites ive read through this sub reddit and a couple other message boards, but after all that what im really lacking is the testimony of someone whos gone through this and can point me in the right direction to either try and ramp up my saving to eat the cost of furnishing a place or settle for a shared space.

Hi! I’m a musician (drummer and music producer) and i’m gonna study abroad in japan in one year, i’ll be 2 full years over there, with the hopes of getting a job to stay there making a living in music. The exchange program only has access to schools in tokyo and osaka, so which city do you believe is best for a musician to make a living?

Obviously the first one to come to mind is tokyo, it’s like saying, go to NY or LA in the US, but i’ve heard that osaka is a much cheaper and relaxed city, but do you know if the music industry is big enough in osaka to make a living? Maybe something like austin tx, or atlanta ga?

I've spoken to some family friends whose daughter had been a therapist who worked as a govt contractor at military bases in several countries, honestly an option I never once considered but am seriously considering now, that I've got a few years of experience and can broaden my career.

Does anyone have particular experience working on a US base as a non-serviceman? What are the restrictions, for instance, for leaving the base? Using the internet? Using one's phone? Purchasing goods off-base? Is it a pipedream to expect any kind of reasonable freedom, or would I more or less be confined to the base?

Hello, does anyone have any knowledge on applying for jobs in japan before officially graduating? basically i finish university in April and that’s when my classes end, but i don’t officially graduate until probably around August. would it be okay to start applying for jobs now and would companies offer me a job before i’ve officially graduated, ( im just looking for english teaching ALT type jobs) I’d rather be ready to move by April/May than waiting until then to start applying. Any insight would be appreciated :)

Hello

I am a student that will do an internship in japan from March to August. I will have the paperwork done for the visa by the time I will be there.

Now I am an european citizen so in theory I can stay up to 90 days without a visa. I would like to get to Japan one week prior to avoid jetlag and to visit a bit, but my visa would start right on the day of the internship. Similarly, I would also like to stay longer after my internship even if my visa ends on the last day of the internship.

So I would like to know if anyone managed to switch visa without leaving the country?

Hello, has anyone been to Kyoto minsai language school? and if so could you please share your experience and say if you liked it or not and why

Hi There! I have a working holiday visa which i'm planning on activating when I arrive in japan on December 1st. It says it is valid for 1 year. Due to some changes of plans I have to leave japan sometime in January but will definitely be able to get back to japan before december 1st next year. Would it be possible for me to get a re entry permit when i'm leaving japan in January then when I return, sometime in October or November, get an extension so the visa is valid for 18 months in total and I can actually work and explore the country a bit. Or is there a chance they don't give me an extension because I spent the majority of the visa's time period outside the country. Thank You!

Hello All,

I will be relocating to Tokyo in about a month. I have taken elementary Japanese in university and did well but its been almost 10 years since and I haven't used Japanese as much since then. I want to learn more before I move because I'mm worried I wont be able to communicate well if ever I were to run into some kind of emergency. My husband (Japanese) says that I can learn easily when I get there.

Is anyone able to share some experiences living in Japan and learning the language? Did you already know the language or none at all?