Japan
Tokyo · Eastern Asia
A large economy with a structured system of residence statuses, a points-based route that can lead to permanent residence in as little as a year, and a deliberately short six-month status for remote workers that cannot be renewed.
- G7
- OECD
- CPTPP
- Capital
- Tokyo
- Currency
- JPY ¥
- Language
- Japanese
- Population
- 123.0M
- Long-stay routes
- 4
- Route to permanent residence
- Yes
- Unemployment
- 2.5%
- Drives on the
- Left
Japanese yen
2024 estimate
Soonest, 1 years
2025, indicative
+81
Entry and short stays
What your passport allows before any long-stay permission is involved.
Reading your passport selection…
Can I live here?
Every long-stay route this country publishes, checked against what you tell us. The checking happens in your browser.
About you
Stored in this browser only. Never sent anywhere.
Before tax, in the currency you earn.
Reading your answers…
Nothing here is an approval, and nothing here is advice. Only the authority deciding your application can tell you the answer, and it will weigh things this tool does not model.
Long-stay routes
Stored as structured records, so the same data drives the checks above, the comparison view and the checklists.
Digital nomad status
Remote workA six-month status for remote workers earning at least ¥10 million a year. It is not a residence permit: holders do not get a residence card or become residents, cannot renew, and must spend six months outside Japan before applying again.
- Income needed
- JP¥10,000,000 a year
- Leads to settlement
- No
The workhorse employment status covering most professional office roles. It requires a Japanese employer, who obtains a certificate of eligibility before the visa is issued.
- Income needed
- Not stated
- Leads to settlement
- After 10 years
Highly Skilled Professional
EmploymentA points-based status scoring education, income, age and Japanese ability. At 80 points permanent residence becomes available after one year, which is the fastest route Japan offers.
- Income needed
- JP¥3,000,000 a year
- Leads to settlement
- After 1 years
Business Manager
EntrepreneurFor people establishing or running a business in Japan. Requires genuine capital, a physical office and, in practice, a credible plan — requirements were tightened in 2025.
- Income needed
- Not stated
- Leads to settlement
- After 10 years
Cost of living
An estimate you can shape. It is not survey data and it is not a quote.
| Category | Monthly range |
|---|---|
| Housing | JP¥70,000 – JP¥160,000 |
| Food | JP¥40,000 – JP¥75,000 |
| Utilities | JP¥12,000 – JP¥25,000 |
| Internet | JP¥4,000 – JP¥6,500 |
| Transport | JP¥8,000 – JP¥20,000 |
| Healthcare | JP¥5,000 – JP¥40,000 |
| Everything else | JP¥25,000 – JP¥60,000 |
| Total | JP¥164,000 – JP¥386,500 |
| Suggested monthly buffer | JP¥463,800 |
Modelled from a baseline for one adult and scaled, not sampled from households. Figures are shown as ranges because that is the honest shape of the data.
Worth knowing. Modelled estimate. Initial rental costs in Japan are unusually high: key money, agency fees, a guarantor company fee and deposits commonly total four to six months of rent before you move in.
Housing
Japan places no nationality or residence restriction on buying property, which is unusual among developed economies. Financing as a non-resident is the practical difficulty, not the legal right.
What landlords usually ask for
- A guarantor, or more commonly a paid guarantor company
- Residence card and Japanese phone number — which is why the digital nomad status makes renting hard
- Key money (reikin), a non-refundable gift to the landlord
- Agency fee, usually one month of rent
SUUMO (opens in a new tab)At Home (opens in a new tab)
Worth knowing. Market conventions, which are firmly established and rarely negotiable.
Healthcare
Universal statutory health insurance with a standard co-payment, generally around 30 per cent, and strong outcomes. Registered residents must enrol.
- If you live there
- Residents staying more than three months enrol in either employees’ health insurance or the national scheme. Digital nomad status holders are not residents and cannot enrol.
- If you are visiting
- Visitors pay in full and should carry insurance; costs are high without cover.
Tax
- Tax residency threshold
- 183 days
- Taxes worldwide income
- Yes, for residents
- Income tax range
- 5% – 45%
- VAT or sales tax
- 10%
Japan distinguishes non-residents, non-permanent residents and permanent residents for tax. Non-permanent residents — under five years of residence in the last ten — are taxed on Japanese-source income plus foreign income remitted to Japan.
Remote workers. Digital nomad status holders are treated as non-residents, which is the reason the status is capped at six months. The requirement that your country hold a tax treaty with Japan exists to prevent double taxation during the stay.
Social insurance. Health insurance, pension, employment insurance and long-term care contributions are deducted from employment income, with the employer matching much of it. Local inhabitant tax of around 10 per cent is levied on top of national income tax.
Capital gains. Listed share gains are taxed at a flat combined rate. Property gains are taxed at different rates depending on how long the asset was held.
Special regimes
Non-permanent resident treatment
For the first five years of residence within any ten-year window, foreign-source income is taxed only to the extent it is paid in or remitted to Japan.
Worth knowing. Orientation only. The non-permanent resident rules are intricate and worth professional advice.
Work and the labour market
Conditions in the labour market, which is a different claim from how many jobs are open right now. This product does not pretend to know the second from static data.
- Unemployment
- 2.5%
- Youth unemployment
- 4%
- Average earnings
- JP¥340K / mo
- Minimum wage
- JP¥180K / mo
Worth knowing. Unemployment is structurally low. Minimum wages are set prefecturally as hourly rates; the figure shown is a full-time equivalent of a mid-range rate. GDP per capita in US dollars has been depressed by yen weakness.
Sectors
- Nursing and elderly caregrowingThe most acute shortage in the country, with dedicated immigration routes attached to it.
- Information technologygrowingSustained demand, and one of the few sectors that hires in English.
- ManufacturingstableStill a large employer, with an ageing workforce.
- Language educationstableA common entry point for English-speaking arrivals, with modest pay.
Cities
A country-wide average hides a lot. Where we have city data, use it instead.
Tokyo
The largest metropolitan economy in the world and the centre of almost all English-language professional hiring in Japan. Rents are high by Japanese standards but below London or New York for comparable space.
One adult, monthly: JP¥230K – JP¥380K
Osaka
The commercial centre of western Japan, cheaper than Tokyo with a substantial manufacturing and trading base.
One adult, monthly: JP¥175K – JP¥280K
Fukuoka
A compact city on Kyushu with an explicit startup policy, a mild climate and costs well below Tokyo.
One adult, monthly: JP¥155K – JP¥250K
Sources
Every claim on this page traces to one of these. If something here matters to a decision you are making, read it there.
Authorities for Japan
- Immigration Services Agency — statuses of residence and application procedures (opens in a new tab)Immigration Services Agency of Japan · National immigration authority
- Visa information, including short-term stay exemption arrangements (opens in a new tab)Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan · Foreign ministry
- Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act — statuses of residence (opens in a new tab)Ministry of Justice · Government department