u/shizukadane

Arrived in japan recently and I need to open a bank account on monday/tuesday morning and take some proof of the account number (like a cash card or passbook or anything else that has the account number written on it) to the ward office by tuesday to apply for the child care allowance.

please tell me which bank can give such a thing immediately, i.e. on the spot (or worst case in 24 hours) when i apply for the account?

1. i checked the statistics of the average application timelines given by ISA here. From what i understood (referring the march 2026 pdf), the review of the application (for change of residence status) took 28.2 days while the notification took 65.1 days. Does this mean that on average a person got his visa 65 days after his application at the immigration office? (if yes, then side question - why did it take additional 30+ days to send a notification after the review was completed?)
2. would you recommend the online application process instead of physically visiting the immigration office and applying in person? It saves 500 yen, but more importantly it saves a lot of time. the downside being that in the in-person application i could make some corrections on the spot in case i realise/am notified of something at the last moment, whereas in the online submission i may end up with a wrong application and could face rejection of longer times due to further correction/documentation requests.
3. my residence is in yokohama city. in case i go for an in-person application, would recommend applying to the yokohama office or the shinagawa office?

basically i need my japan home address in English and attested by the embassy. Need it for banking purpose.

Also do banks and KYC agencies (CVL KRA etc.) need the original attested paper (posted to them) or do they accept a scan copy over email? If they need the physical copy then i may have to make multiple copies at the embassy and that multiplies the cost as well.

I need 2 SIM cards (or even contract phones, if cheaper) for me and wife, both newly arrived in japan. i checked on kakaku dot com website and it shows pretty cheap plans for 5GB, 10GB per month for under JPY 2000. The companies are also unheard of like mineo, nuro, lineMO etc, but they use docomo, NTT networks i guess.

I was wondering if there is any catch in this, like poor network quality, low speeds etc or anything else that i should be aware of?

And say, I decide to go with one of these plans then do I need to apply via the kakaku website itself to get this plan? Or can i get the same plan if i visit a shop directly (like say yodobashi, yamada denki etc.)? Since its my first time taking such a plan I would prefer to have a face to face discussion at a shop to clarify my doubts.

hello all, moved to Japan a few days ago and got a UR contract signed, but the move in date is a week away.

Usually the jyuminhyou application is accepted on the move-in date or any time after it, but I have heard of people often applying in advance (by telling the ward office person that their move in date is “today”, i.e. the day the apply for the jyuminhyo).

my question is does this create any kind of a problem?

The reason why I want to apply early is that, unless I get a jyuminhyou (and new address updated on my residence card) all my other applications, like a bank account and everything that further depends on it gets delayed by a week, basically making me loose time.

Consider this case -

1. I am unemployed since the start of this FY, soon to be NRI, but currently a resident Indian.
2. I no longer have any income in India, other than some capital gains that I earned due to recent redemptions of mutual funds.
3. I moved some of my funds abroad to pay for education expenses. I used LRS and had to pay some TCS as i sent more than Rs 10 lakh.
4. Say the TCS amount is Rs 20,000 and my tax liability (for the current FY) due to the capital gains mentioned above is Rs 30,000.

Can I consider that I have already paid 66% of my tax liability and hence do not need to pay advance tax for the 15%, 45% portions due on june 15, and sep 15 respectively?

assume I will no longer do any redemptions for the rest of the FY.

Are there any instruments in NISA that can be used for a short-term (6-12 months) where the capital will be protected?

If nothing, then I’m ok to invest outside NISA too.

One option is a bank term deposit.

I had initially thought of a US treasury bill, however, that comes with currency risk.

Any other suggestions are welcome.

I have a home server in my house in my home country currently and want to set up the same once I move to Japan (in a UR apartmen).

I just wanted to know if there are any restrictions (mainly on the network side) that can create some hurdles which otherwise would not exist.

Also in that case, would like to know any recommendations for the internet service provider.

me and wife will be NRI in Japan soon, where they tax global income. specifically mutual funds and stocks gains are taxed at 20% flat.

our current equity mutual funds are as below -

1. wife's portfolio - market value 30L having gain of 8L
2. my portfolio - market value of 32L having gains of 4L

most of these gains are long term and hence will be taxed at 12.5% after the 1.25L deduction in India. But if i redeem them once i am in japan then i will have to pay 20% tax on the gains that too without any deduction.

so either i redeem now, pay some taxes but increase the cost basis. or do nothing but pay more tax later and that too on a higher gain.

we may not need these funds for another 5 years at least, possibly even more.

any advice what should we do and why?

note -

- our plan is to stay for long term, possibly get PR as well.

- we will be investing around 50:50 in india and japan, so the above amount is india side only.

- also we have completed 5+ years in japan in our previous stint as nri so we cannot take advantage of the NPR system.

I’m entering Japan soon and have an apartment blocked in a UR. While I complete the paperwork and get to move in, I need to stay at a hotel (toyoko inn) which I have already booked for 10 days.

however, in case I get to move in to the UR on the 6th day, for example, and cancel my stay at the hotel for the remaining days, do I still need to pay for the entire 10 days?

I am asking this here since I am outside Japan, and cannot make international calls, else I would have called the hotel directly.

Do we have to go with the default providers, or can we choose as per our preferences? UR will be in Yokohama.

Also which providers do people here recommend for electricity, gas and water? (I assume water would be a fixed one but I’m asking anyway.)

Soon to be NRI in Japan for 10+ years and I already have a HDFC and SBI bank account both of which I’ll convert to NRI accounts.

Other than these I’m considering either IDFC or DBS. Also open to any other suggestions.

my requirements are as below -

1. Max once or twice INR to JPY transfer of large amounts (few 10s of lakhs) for making investments and other expenses in Japan, in the initial year. (Currently using Wise to do this as a RI as its much cheaper than bank rates.)
2. Bank accepts all documentation and change requests (such as mobile number, address etc.) over email and does not need physical visit to Indian branch, or posting documents to their branches.
3. Preferably accepts self translated, self attested documents for Japan address proof in case the original document is in Japanese language.
4. Not mandatory, but better if I can use UPI when in India to do payments.

I do not plan on doing frequent INR <=> JPY transfers as I will set up enough funds on both sides to take care of local needs in either country.

I am about to enter Japan in a few weeks and have already lived here in the past for 5+ years.

I have some equity mutual fund investments from 2023 November in my home country India where I have done monthly investments (rupee cost averaging) and sitting on a gain right now.

I want to decide -

A. whether I should redeem them all right now, while I am still not a Japan resident, and reinvest them in one lumpsum transaction, OR

B. whether I should keep them invested and redeem later while I am a Japan resident.

In case of B, the key point that I am considering here is that how easy or difficult it is to show gains from each single transaction from 2023 Nov, considering the INR/JPY exchange rate on each purchase date, to the NTA when filing the taxes. The calculation is fine for me, I can do that in a spreadsheet. But I do not have any idea of what the NTA expects me to show/submit and what proof/evidences to give it. And what happens if any calculations/method goes wrong etc..

If its going to be too complicated to do by myself or too costly to hire some Japanese tax agent/advisor who could do this, then I would rather go with option A. and have just one single 'buy' transaction for my home country investments. (I do not plan to invest any more there any way.) and thus have a relatively easier time filing the tax return in Japan. Also on option A, the taxes I would pay in India are a manageable Rs 80-100k ($950) or so.

Any guidance is appreciated, as i need to decide this quick and act on it in a matter of a week.

Soon to be Yokohama resident after re-entering Japan in next few weeks. House will be in Hodogaya ward most probably.

This will be my first year in Japan after a couple of years away in my home country.

So my RC card should have a hand written address (if i am not wrong), and written in English hopefully.

What other options do I have to get an address proof in English. Do ward offices in Yokohama provide Jyuminhyou in English?

Another option is the tax residency certificate from NTA, which i have heard does have your address in English. But can I get this in a few weeks upon entering Japan?

Any other guidance is appreciated!

I remember they used to take JPY 1000 to attest one single document, many years ago. And it was quite the loot. Is it the same now?

I may need it for converting zerodha account to NRI account.

Also if there is any other way to convert the account to NRI without having to go to the Indian embassy in tokyo, please tell me.

I need bank statements in English for some formalities in my home country. So I plan to have at least one bank account which gives out its monthly statement (the downloadable PDF file) in English. Even better if the passbook is in English too.

I remember it used to work few years ago. Just want to check if it does now as well.

Currently a resident India and I want to transfer some Rs 60-70L to Japan as I will shift there soon and want to continue some of my investments there.

As a resident I can use the LRS scheme without TCS upto Rs 10L so I plan to use that right now. Some of these funds will also be used for kid's education there so I will have to pay only 2% TCS even if I transfer more than Rs 10L using LRS. So far as a resident I have used Wise for sending money to Japan and can continue to do the same. Say I transfer total 25L using LRS and end up paying some TCS on it.

But the rest of the amount I want to transfer after I shift to Japan and I understood that I can use Wise to send in INR only if I am Indian resident. So that door gets closed.

What other options do I have?

The only option I know is that of opening/converting a bank account to NRO and using that by providing 15CA, 15CB forms etc. and then using the bank itself to do the forex.

Questions

1. Can the above be done entirely online while I am in Japan. I will have access to OTP on email and phone.

2. I assume that bank forex rates will be worse than Wise's rates. Which banks do you suggest for better rates? I already have a HDFC bank account.

3. Is there any other better way?

I am looking for confirmation regarding my understanding of the Japanese tax implications of withdrawing my Indian Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) balance. (EPF is basically India's pension for private company employees).

Details are:

• I have been a tax resident of Japan for more than 5 years and I am currently employed in Japan.
• I am planning to withdraw my Indian EPF corpus (approx JPY 1.84 million) since I am no longer employed in India. (I have worked in India previously for 16 years).

1. Who gets to tax it?

Based on my understanding of the Japan-India Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) under Article 18 (Pensions), Japan retains the taxing rights private pension payouts for Japan tax residents.

2. How does Japan tax it?

Because it is a lumpsum retirement payout, it should fall under Retirement Income (Taishoku shotoku) rather than Miscellaneous income.

My initial calculation looks like this:

1. Retirement Deduction: 16 years × ¥400,000 = ¥6,400,000.
2. Taxable Amount: Since the pension amount (~¥1.84M) is less than the deduction (¥6.4M), the taxable income drops to ¥0.

My Questions:

1. Is my categorization as Taishoku Shotoku and the calculations correct under NTA guidelines?
2. Even if the calculated taxable amount is ¥0, do I still need to proactively report this on my annual tax return in Japan, and what kind of documentation is typically requested by the local tax office to prove the duration of service? Will a experience certificate (in English) work? This is the first time I will be filing a tax return in Japan myself so I am completely unaware at this point.
3. Has anyone here processed an Indian PF withdrawal while living in Japan? If so, did you face any unexpected issues?

Note - I have asked this query to a professional chartered accountant in India, but since there can be people here with practical experience I thought of checking here too, just in case they have something different to share.