This article is a translation of the Japanese original. Where the two differ, the Japanese version prevails. Read the Japanese original（日本語版を読む）
Once you arrive in Japan, you need to check your Residence Card, notify your place of residence, join the National Health Insurance scheme and open a bank account without delay. In particular, the 住居地の届出 (Notification of Place of Residence) has a deadline of 14 days, so acting early matters.
A person who has arrived in Japan on a student visa wants to know which official procedures to complete first.
At the main airports it is issued during immigration inspection, and checking what is printed on it matters.
At the main airports, such as Narita, Haneda, Chubu, Kansai, New Chitose, Hiroshima and Fukuoka, your Residence Card is issued during immigration inspection. If you enter through another airport or seaport, it is sent to you later by post, after you have notified your place of residence at your city, town or village office. Check carefully that the details printed on the card you receive (name, date of birth, nationality, status of residence, period of stay and so on) are correct. If there is a mistake, you must tell the immigration inspector there and then.
Once your address in Japan is fixed, you must notify your city, town or village office within 14 days.
Once your address in Japan is fixed, you must go to the counter of the city, town or village office for that address within 14 days and file the 住居地の届出. What you need includes your Residence Card (the original), your passport, and a document proving your address (a tenancy agreement, a certificate of residence in a dormitory and so on). You fill in the prescribed form at the counter and submit it with the required documents. When the procedure is complete, your address is written on your Residence Card. This address becomes your official address in Japan.
Foreign nationals staying in Japan for at least 3 months are in principle required to join.
You go through the procedure at the National Health Insurance counter of the same city, town or village office where you notified your place of residence. What you need includes your Residence Card (the original), your passport, your student ID and a personal seal (a signature is accepted in some cases). You fill in the prescribed application form at the counter and submit it with the required documents. You then receive your National Health Insurance card, and the share of 医療費 (medical costs) you pay yourself normally becomes 3割, three tenths of the total.
It is convenient for managing living costs and receiving pay from part-time work, so opening one early is recommended.
You go through the procedure at the counter of each bank. What you need includes your Residence Card (the original), your passport, your student ID, a personal seal or signature, a Japanese mobile phone number, and the purpose of opening the account. The required documents and the procedure differ from bank to bank, and it can take time before the account is open.
Each of these procedures has a deadline, and the 住居地の届出 in particular is set at 14 days, so start as soon as you can after arrival. You can check the required documents in advance on the websites of the city, town or village office and of each organisation. If you are unsure of your Japanese, it helps to ask staff at your school's centre for international students, a friend who is fluent in Japanese, or a volunteer to come with you. Keep your copies of the documents you receive at each step in a safe place.
Within 14 days of your address in Japan being fixed, you must notify the city, town or village office for that address.
Foreign nationals staying in Japan for at least 3 months are in principle required to join the National Health Insurance scheme.
Neglecting the 住居地の届出 may affect the renewal of your status of residence, and without National Health Insurance you may have to pay the whole of your 医療費 yourself.
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This page is a translation of the Japanese original. Where the two differ, the Japanese version prevails.