I got my PR and I am considering opening a NY-style pizza by the slice joint. Its going to be one of those places with minimal seating and a large outdoor facing customer window. Not a yatai but similar to what you see in Harajuku and Shibuya, except in a less touristy area. I can speak English and Japanese

- Thinking of offering just 3 options, cheese, pepperoni, and veggie, to keep complexity low and pizza turnover quick (therefore keeping everything fresh)

- Slices priced at ~600 yen.

- Making ordering fast and easy with tap to pay, QR code scan and order, and even an automated point of sale system similar to this(https://www.elotouch.com/news/elo-pay-15-inch-tap-to-pay-for-pos-and-self-service) if possible, so that people aren't kept waiting.

- I'm targeting the lunch crowd, students and people on a budget who could have this instead of a bento, folks looking for an afternoon snack or an after drinks food, stuff like that. And people on a rush. I want customers go from "they see my joint and decide they want it" to " a warm pizza slice in their hand" in 2-5 mins.

- Would try to pilot it in some way, like a food stall or something at a festival, to see reception, and iterate accordingly.

Of course, the restaurant business is tough (I worked at a pizza place as a kid in the US a long time ago, so some experience. Pizza restaurants run well are lucrative since ingredient costs are low and its hard to screw it up) but I am making sure I test my concept out, don't keep the menu ridiculously complex, and thinking about the target market, customer experience, and competition.

Prepare for heavy inflation and much higher borrowing costs. This is not going away anytime soon unless serious changes are made. Has anyone noticed much changes in their daily life & costs over the last couple years? When I moved here I was lucky to stipulate in my contract to be paid in foreign currency but I'm curious how much of a difference these rising rates have already made on daily life.

I just got permanent residency and I am thinking about buying a house in kita-ku (80million yen very nice place). The price of houses is going up and the interest is still only about 1.5% or less on a 35 year flex loan. I also make over 8million yen a year, as does my wife, and have 120k USD in savings + 150k USD in retirement fund.

However, with all the xenophobia and economic instability, is it really a good idea?

I worry what might happen with the yen in the future and if I should be saving my USD instead and investing or something else. I'm just tired of paying rent instead of owning my home when I intend to stay until retirement anyway.

I guess I'm just curious what you would do or how you think things will be going? Worried mostly about PR revocations or flexible mortgage rates skyrocketing.

It's been three years since I applied for a corporate Amex CC. My KK is in it's 6th year. Once again, I was rejected. I understand that they look at the director's personal credit. My personal CC burns through about 1,000,000 yen a month and has never been late on a payment in a decade. I have no outstanding debts or loans. Our company's revenue exceeded 5000 man last year... I even went to get my CIC info just to be sure. After subjecting myself to their online humiliation ritual, it failed due to some middle-name-full-width-kana bullshit... So I had to apply with snail mail instead.

I was filled with the white hot anger of 1000 suns for a few minutes,... but honestly now... I just feel completely and utterly defeated. I'm so sick of trying to run a business as a third-class citizen. Opening bank accounts and getting a line of credit, let alone any loan have been pure hell.

My CPA says that it's fine to use my personal CC but obviously I want to separate them because I'm a normal human being.

Like, what do these demonic forces want? A blood sacrifice? A note from my 3rd grade teacher? Sorry, I guess I ended up ranting after all. I know the best advice people can likely offer is "better luck next time" but I thought I would post here about it anyway to see if anyone could offer me a sliver of hope.

​

I’m planning to leave Japan permanently at the end of the year. I’ll move out, deregister my address, and have my residence card punched/cancelled.

However, I’ll still have one month of salary that my company will transfer to my Yucho account about a month after I leave. I’ll also receive a retirement allowance, which may take some additional time to process and transfer.

I’ve heard that Yucho Bank has recently become stricter about managing bank accounts held by foreign residents/non-residents.

For anyone who recently left Japan recently (especially in 2026):

Does Yucho freeze or close your bank account/ATM card immediately after you deregister your address and leave Japan?

Thanks

I’m trying to confirm the Japanese tax characterization of a U.S. §338(h)(10) transaction.

Facts:

• Individual is a U.S. citizen and Japanese tax resident.
• Individual directly owns shares of a U.S. corporation taxed as an S corporation.
• A buyer purchases the corporation’s shares.
• Legally, this is a stock acquisition.
• Buyer and sellers make a U.S. IRC §338(h)(10) election.
• For U.S. federal income tax purposes, the target is therefore treated as having sold its assets, with the resulting income passing through to the S corporation shareholders.

My question is only about the Japanese tax treatment of the selling shareholder:

Does the U.S. §338(h)(10) election change Japan’s characterization of the shareholder’s legal disposition of the U.S. corporation’s shares?

Or would Japan disregard the U.S.-only deemed asset-sale treatment and continue to treat the Japanese-resident shareholder as having disposed of foreign shares, calculating Japanese capital gain based on the consideration received for the shares less the shareholder’s Japanese tax basis and applicable selling costs?

I understand that Japan does not have an equivalent §338 election. I’m specifically trying to determine whether there is any Japanese authority, published guidance, case law, or practitioner experience addressing how Japan treats the seller when a U.S. §338(h)(10) election is made.

If anyone has dealt with this fact pattern, I’d especially appreciate citations to Japanese authority or commentary.

I left Japan in June 2025 after working there for couple of years. Before leaving I completed all the necessary procedures including notifying the pension office, and paying my residence tax through a friend after i left japan. I also paid all my utility bills including electricity and water before leaving.

However I have two concerns I am hoping someone can help clarify.

First, when I left my last company in Japan I did not explicitly notify them or immigration that I would be leaving Japan entirely. I had a one year re-entry permit stamp but the one year period has now passed without me returning. I genuinely intended to go back at the time but circumstances changed. Will this cause any issues when I apply for a new tourist visa (my passport requires to apply)? As much i know, there should not be pending taxes. am i supposed to pay anything else other than resident tax

Second, I did not pay the internet cancellation fee when I left. The provider sent me an email about it but due to financial difficulties at the time I was not able to settle it. This has been sitting unresolved for over a year now. Will this affect my tourist visa application in any way? And is there a way to pay it now without facing a large penalty or making the situation worse by contacting them after such a long time?

I want to sort everything out properly but I am not sure how to approach it without drawing unnecessary attention or making things more complicated than they need to be.

So my deadline is August 31 this year literally yesterday,now September 1,i kinda forgot to go to the convenience store,will i be in trouble?
Thank you.

First time posting.

Hoping someone here can share their experience or point me in the right direction.

I'm on a 技術・人文知識・国際業務 visa (技術 category), working full-time at an IT company in Tokyo. For the past while, I've been doing some freelance work on the side for a Japan-based business , specifically SNS management, customer messaging, and quote preparation.

All done online from home, no physical work involved.

I never applied for 資格外活動許可 before starting this. I declared the income in my 確定申告, so it's not hidden but I'm now second-guessing whether I needed the permit all along.

I've seen some opinions online suggesting that this type of online admin work might not require the permit, but I've also seen the opposite view.

I've already booked a consultation with an immigration 行政書士 to get a definitive answer, but in the meantime the anxiety is real.

Has anyone been in a similar situation? Specifically wondering:

・Does online freelance work (SNS, admin, messaging) typically require 資格外活動許可 under a 技術 visa?

・Does declaring the income in 確定申告 help or hurt in this kind of situation?

Not looking for legal advice、 just personal experiences or general knowledge from the community while I wait for my consultation.

Thanks in advance.

So, I have officially left Japan. I cancelled my bank account for Yucho/JP bank. But the problem is I need to verify a transfer I made to Wise. Wise needs an official bank transfer statement to verify it. How do I request a bank transfer statement when I have left the country and cancelled my bank account?

Please help me🫠

It's been a little over a month since the last update, and we have some new features to share on the sub's Take-Home Pay Calculator.

Age updates

The age input has been updated to be more fine grained in support of the various rules that apply depending on the taxpayer's age. The calculator now fully supports the following rules:

• People under 18 (未成年者) are exempt from residence tax if their prior year's total net income is ¥1,350,000 or less. See, for example, Tokyo's residence tax exemption explanation.
• Pension
  • National pension enrollment is required for ages 20 to 59.
  • Employees' pension enrollment is required up to age 69 for applicable employees.
• Health insurance
  • Long-term care insurance premiums (介護保険料) are billed as part of health insurance premiums for people age 40 to 64.
  • From age 65, long-term care insurance premiums are billed directly by the municipality¹.
  • From age 75, health insurance switches to the Medical System for the Elderly (後期高齢者医療制度)².

¹ When an age range 65 or older is selected, an input for this separately billed long-term care premium total will show. By default, an estimated premium is used based on prefecture average base premiums and standard income tier multipliers. Switch off the estimate and input the exact annual premium from the premium notice (介護保険料決定通知書) if possible. The estimate can be significantly off from the actual premium because the base premium and tiers vary by municipality.

² The premiums for this depend on prefecture. Select the prefecture and premiums will be calculated based on input income.

Public pension income

The calculator now supports inputting public pension income (公的年金等) as one of the income types in the "Advanced" income mode. The calculator will calculate the net income from the entered gross income, applying the public pension income deduction rules. This may be useful to see (under current rules, which may change) how much the take-home would be at different amounts of public pension income in retirement. Make sure to set the age selection because the deduction is larger from age 65. In addition to national pension and employees' pension, iDeCo and corporate DC plans received as an annuity and foreign public pension annuities also qualify as public pension income and thus receive the applicable deduction.

Pension income may also be input for dependents now, which may affect the ability to claim a deduction for that dependent.

Personal deductions

Support for the disability (障害者控除), widow (寡婦控除), and single parent (ひとり親控除) deductions was added. These can be selected in the Additional Deductions & Credits modal. Beside the deduction that reduces taxable income, people who qualify for any of these may also qualify for residence tax exemption if their previous year's total net income is ¥1,350,000 or less, the same as minors mentioned above. These personal deductions also contribute to the residence tax adjustment credit (調整控除) calculation. See the corresponding tooltips for details.

Thank you to u/upachimneydown for feedback on an early version of the features mentioned in this post. Feedback on current features and desired features is welcome from everyone. We hope the calculator continues to be useful and cover more tax situations, while maintaining as much accuracy and simplicity as possible.

​

I have a building that js 60sqm outfitted garage space and 30sqm office/gym for personal use.

Insurance is costing me like 150k a year.

Its new construction.i spent about 17m+6m.land.

Its adjacent to a residential home and a large commercial shop that sells gifts for funerals etc.

Sometimes i think about dropping insurance on it because.... Whats the worst that could happen? Probably nothing ever.

Im 4m elevation and 15 minutes from the coast in a bay that doesn't get earthquakes often let alone tsunami.

Let's say you're a permanent resident (immigration status), and permanent tax resident in Japan with a couple of 100M yen in stocks in an overseas, declared brokerage account.

You have been paying capital gains, and dividend taxes (minus overseas tax credits) in Japan on your global investment income. Also, you have been submitting your annual asset statement.

Then you decide you want to leave Japan for an indefinite period. You do plan to move back to Japan someday, but you're not sure when.

You're sitting on a lot of unrealized gains, and if legally possible, you'd like to avoid the exit tax.

Is it possible to move overseas, become tax resident elsewhere, and not pay the Japanese exit tax?

Specifically, is it possible to become a dual Japanese/country X tax resident with country X tax residency taking precedence, creating a situation where you don't pay income taxes in Japan, and exit tax liability isn't triggered either?

Would it be possible to keep a second home in Japan? And would you still need to submit a yearly asset statement?

Just asking for your experience and thoughts, not looking for professional advice.

Title basically. I come to japan 3.6 years ago as masters degree student. 2 years of school and i got a job at japanese company after that with 5 year visa. For 1.6 years, i have been working in that job with 3.8mil salary. Starting from tomorrow, i got a new job and my salary is 5.5 mil from now on.

I have been using 2 credit cards for the past 3 years. and for the past 1 and a half year, i have been paying 200,000 jpy average for my credit cards. never late payments, never had any problems.

My question is, is it gonna be possible for me to get a loan to buy an akiya? Instead of renting small one room apartment, i realized buying a full house then paying the loan will be much cheaper and i get to live in a large house. I am thinking an akiya for about 400万円 give take 100万円

It will be possible for me to make %50 down payment. but i would take if i can just loan all of it and pay it like i am paying rent. Also, how can i confirm this? should i call my bank?

Also, do any of you have any webpages or recommendations when finding an akiya?

Hello. I will be getting married soon.
We will move to my fiancé's country in the future.
So, i am planning to start putting money into his European account so i will have my own money when we move.
Will it raise any flags? He is currently a phd student. So i am worried it might raise flags for me and him.

I have PR. I’ve been here 16 years. I have an elderly dog.

After she passes I’m thinking of taking a break from Japan for at least a year. Maybe 🤔 up to five. Decide if I want to come back.

I am completely retired and I pay a lot of National and ward tax to Japan.

Can I leave and not continue to pay tax? Will I pay an exit tax? Can I return if I miss my old life here?

Thank you all for any info.

I'm looking at a house in japan and the brokerage fee has me confused. from googling it says the fee is 4% +60k which makes sense but the property is 400kyen and the agent says the brokerage fee is 330k. Is that the min fee because shouldn't the fee based on 4% only be 16000 yen? I cant find anything saying theres a min just that the max is 4%

This is probably a dumb question but based off posts I've seen online an apartment rent of 10万/month is too much on a 30万/month budget, but I've also seen that when renting you should expect rent to take up about a third of your income, so why is this too big a portion to spend on rent? Possibly moving for work and trying to figure out how I should budget my rent as a homebody who really values having personal space. Not the most financially literate so kindness and patience appreciated!

EDIT: This post blew up a lot more than I expected 😅 But the TL;DR seems to be, for anyone seeing this later: if the 300,000 is gross then 100,000 is way too much, but if the 300,000 is your net take-home pay then 100,000 is a rent cap you can work with. Thank you to everyone for the responses!

Hello and thanks in advance.

I have PR and may be taking a job overseas for a couple of years and then deciding if I want to leave Japan for good or stay for the rest of my life as I had initially planned. If I hate it, I'd come back in a year or two, but if I love it I might come wrap up my affairs. I've read several things here and on other forums, but had some questions on a couple of fronts:

• I own a home. How would I deal with property taxes?
• Does it generally make more sense to turn off water/electric/septic if coming back for a couple of weeks a year? (I'm leaning yes here, but thought I'd ask in case I might be missing something)
• I could have family check the mail once a month or so, but is there a better way to handle that?
• I would have a couple of vehicles that would be stored in the garage. I don't think I'd have enough time to come back and deal with all the shaken. Do people usually let it expire and get new shaken when coming back (i.e. hiring one of those pricey services to pick up the vehicle and do all the nonsense)?
• The country allows transfer of driving license. Is there anything I should expect if I transfer to that country, do decide to come back, and then transfer back to a JP license (I remember the "I've previously held a Japanese driving license" box on all the forms when I initially got mine).

Thanks again!

Hey everyone,

It has been a while since I posted here. I got a new job with a significant increase in my income. I live in the middle of nowhere too so I don't really spend a lot on my daily life.

I've been thinking of getting a big motorbike or car (will have to pay for car driving school), because living here without either is miserable. For a bike I'm budgeting around 1.5m jpy and if I get a car it'd be ~2.5m. So my questions are:

1. My take home is around 380.000 per month after tax (no rent), if I were to get a car/bike, theoratically what's a healthy amount of maximum monthly payments? I'm also curious on how to estimate monthly fees in repairs, insurance, etc too so I can have a rough idea on how many % of my monthly income goes into the vehicle. The take home is before overtime

2. I've read about SOMPO マイカーロン. I seem to be eligible if based just off the requirements on the website. For getting a car, what's a healthy APR? I plan to use a 3 year loan. However for this I'm not sure because I don't have PR. I'm here with a gijinkoku visa until 2030. I really don't want a 10% APR dealer loan

My personal financial goal is to save at least 200.000/month and for my bonus I want to save half of it and use the rest freely, whether on making bonus payments on the loan or for vacations. I'm 23 so I can still afford to be reckless... basically I have 180.000 per month for living cost + loans/hobbies/savings etc.

This will be my first vehicle purchase ever in my life so I'd appreciate any insight to avoid bad financial decisions 🙏🏻 thanks everyone

Does anyone know any tax accountants / zeirishi that are familiar with international cases? Not pertaining to US taxes but European.

My case is not complicated, but I would like to get some advice so it's done the right way.

The ones I've seen online seem very much catered for the US and also cost more than I think is needed.

She has Rakuten NISA (TOPIX). Is she not supposed to have this if she has a greencard? We file jointly each year with the IRS. She hasn’t sold any of her stocks and was wondering what the best path forward would be

I’m a US citizen(SOFA status)

Got a surprisingly welcome email yesterday, saying that the updated SBI Shinsei app now let's you withdraw from 7/11 and Lawson ATMs without the need for your cash card (info here). I'm more than happy to be rid of one more card from my wallet.

Hi, I departed from Japan last year and back then, I assigned my friend as my tax agent to claim the 20% pension tax.

As of today, my agent unfortunately had departed from Japan as well due to unavoidable reasons. And I just recently received my pension refund and now wanted to proceed with the remaining tax claim.

My concern is can I assign a new tax agent?

Anybody have experience reassigning new tax aget to replace departed previous tax agent?

Would love to hear it.

Thank you.