You got the offer. Now comes the hard part.
The job search is the easy bit. This is everything that happens after you accept: the Certificate of Eligibility, renting with no credit history, the ward office on day one, insurance and pension, getting connected, and bringing your family. Specific, current, first-timer friendly.
Follow the relocation timeline
From the offer letter to long-term settlement, in the order it actually happens.
Know your number before you fly
The biggest surprise is upfront cost: apartment move-in alone can be 4 to 6 times monthly rent. Estimate flights, shipping, deposits, and a survival buffer in 60 seconds.
All settlement guides
Certificate of Eligibility & arrival
The COE is the document that makes your visa happen. Who files it, the real 1–3 month timeline, the digital-COE shortcut, what to do at the airport, and the 14-day clock with a ¥200,000 fine attached.
Renting an apartment
Why your first apartment costs 4–6 months' rent upfront, every fee decoded, how guarantor companies work for foreigners, the zero-zero and UR shortcuts, reading a Japanese lease, and getting your deposit back.
Opening a bank account as a foreigner
The six-month rule, why Japan Post and Shinsei are the new-arrival wins (and that Sony Bank closed English signups in 2025), cash cards vs the credit gap, rent autopay, and sending money home cheaply with Wise.
The ward office & My Number
One visit sets up your residence record, health insurance, pension, and My Number, and there's a ¥200,000 fine for skipping it. Exactly which counters to hit, what to bring, what you walk out with, and the My Number Card worth applying for.
Health insurance in Japan
Enrolment is mandatory. The 70/30 split, how premiums come out of your salary, the high-cost ceiling that caps a catastrophic month at ~¥80–90k, finding an English-speaking clinic, and covering family for free.
The pension system & the lump-sum refund most foreigners miss
Why you pay in, the totalization agreements that protect your home-country contributions, the lump-sum withdrawal you can claim on leaving (and the 60→96-month cap reform), plus the tax-representative trick to reclaim the 20.42% withholding.
Phone
Why your phone number is the master key, the cheap-SIM route that skips contracts, the foreigner-friendly carriers that set up before you have a bank account, fibre vs pocket WiFi, getting gas turned on, and the cashless layer.
Bringing your family
How the Dependent visa works, the 28-hour spouse work limit and how to lift it, free 3–5 childcare and Tokyo's new free 0–2 daycare, the hoikuen waitlist, local vs international schools (¥1.5–3M/yr), and the allowances foreigners can claim.