Your First Week in Japan: Address, Insurance, Bank, Phone, Movement
A 7-day handling order—address registration, NHI / pension, bank, phone, utilities, transport—that produces the proof chain everything else builds on.
Treat the first 7 days as a paperwork sequence rather than a convenience sequence. The useful order is address, municipal registration, health insurance and pension, resident record, bank, phone, utilities, and commuter route. Starting with the phone shop or the bank before the address exists wastes two or three visits to the same counter, because the same missing proof blocks each one.
Fix the Address Before Chasing Services
Your zairyū kādo (residence card) is issued at the airport for medium- and long-term residents, but the back of the card—the address field—is blank. It only becomes a complete daily-life document once the municipality writes the address there. Once you move into a ward, city, town, or village, file the tennyū todoke (moving-in notification) within 14 days. Late filing carries a recorded violation that surfaces at the next residence-card renewal.
Bring passport and residence card; have the lease, dormitory certificate, or management-company address details ready. Ask for at least one jūminhyō (resident record copy) if you plan to open a bank account or sign a phone contract that week. Most municipalities charge around ¥300 per copy. Check the romanized name, apartment number, and address order before leaving the counter—a small mismatch returns later as a bank or carrier rejection that costs another trip.
Handle Insurance and Pension at the Same Counter Visit
With the address registered, the next windows usually sit on the same floor. National Health Insurance (NHI) and National Pension are best handled in the same counter trip, because the staff already has your jūminhyō on hand and a single missed counter risks double the queueing on a different day. Students and low-income residents may need exemption or postponement guidance for pension contributions, but the application itself becomes a record—keep copies or photos of every notice, because later renewal, tax, or school paperwork can ask why a period was unpaid or exempt.
My Number information normally arrives by post within 2–4 weeks of registration, sent by simple registered mail to the address on file. Make sure your mailbox can receive an official envelope: the post office needs to see your full registered name on the slot, and shared mailboxes in dormitories require following the property manager’s labeling convention. A returned-to-sender My Number letter restarts the issuance loop and easily takes another month.
Open the Practical Accounts
Once the public records are in place, private services can finally process you. For banking, start with the provider most likely to accept a new resident—Japan Post Bank (Yūcho) commonly serves as the first account, issuing a passbook the same day and a cash card by mail in 1–2 weeks. Major banks (MUFG, SMBC, Mizuho) often ask for 6 months of residence unless a salary account or school arrangement supports the application. Bring residence card, passport, jūminhyō, Japanese phone number, and personal seal where the branch requests it.
For mobile service, the eligibility check looks at three things together: identity, address, and payment method. Disconnect in any one and the application stalls. Major-carrier large-data plans (NTT Docomo, au, SoftBank) run ¥6,000–8,000 per month with strong in-store support. Sub-brands (ahamo, povo, LINEMO), Rakuten Mobile, and MVNOs (IIJmio, mineo, UQ Mobile) drop the price to ¥800–3,000 but generally require a credit card, Japanese-address input, and delivery in the registered name—an address mismatch sends the SIM back to the carrier.
Set Up Utilities and Transport
Power, water, and gas decouple in installation speed. Electricity and water typically activate the same day or the next via online application; gas requires an on-site visit (3–5 days from booking) because the technician must be present to open the valve. Fiber internet installation takes 1–4 weeks normally, stretching to 8 weeks or more during peak moving seasons (March–May, September–October). Save account numbers for TEPCO-style electricity, gas, water, internet, and rent payment—these become the proof trail at your next move and at residence-card renewal.
For movement, load an IC card (Suica, PASMO, ICOCA) for the first week, then buy a commuter pass only after the actual route stabilizes. In Tokyo and Osaka, transfer count and station crowding affect daily fatigue more than straight-line distance. Walk the route at the actual 8:00 morning and 19:00 evening rush, and once in rain, before committing to a 1- or 3-month pass. A pass bought for the wrong route requires settling the difference or restarting paperwork at the station office.
What to Avoid in Week 1
Working through the chain, the most common failures happen near the end. Do not let the tennyū todoke slip past the 14-day deadline—the violation is logged and surfaces at the next renewal, with extra questions and sometimes a six-month residence period instead of a one- or three-year one. Do not assume that a single bank rejection means every bank will reject you; ask exactly which condition blocked the application, whether jūminhyō, phone number, residence-card validity, or months in Japan. Do not sign a 24-month phone or internet contract for the simple reason that the counter staff speak English—early convenience can become an expensive cancellation fee, sometimes ¥10,000–20,000.
The other systemic mistake is assuming records synchronize automatically. A new address must be updated separately at the ward office, school, employer, bank, phone carrier, insurance office, pension record, and the Immigration Services Agency. Keep one consolidated checklist with the date each place was updated; missing one (the bank, typically) makes a salary deposit fail or a renewal letter end up at the old address.
Sources: Immigration Services Agency: Residence Procedures, CLAIR: Multilingual Living Information.
Glossary
- zairyū kādo: residence card, the primary ID for medium-/long-term residents
- tennyū todoke: moving-in notification, filed within 14 days at the municipality
- jūminhyō: resident record, the certificate municipalities issue from the registry
- National Health Insurance (NHI): public medical insurance for self-employed, students, unemployed
- My Number: 12-digit individual number for tax, social security, and disaster admin