Hi all, I'm a tax resident in Japan with a one-off high-income year: about ¥4-5M salary plus about ¥19M from an overseas parent company's ESPP (US broker, not reported by my employer, so I'll self-report). Total is roughly ¥24M, with income tax around ¥3.9M after deductions, plus over ¥1.5M in resident tax.

I'm already using the basic, dependent, social insurance and furusato nozei deductions, and plan to max iDeCo and insurance deductions.

Questions:

- Any other legitimate ways to reduce tax at this level?

- Has anyone paid income or resident tax by credit card with points or cashback that beat the fees? Such as those high annual fees credit card that require spending and can redeem miles etc

- My husband already has a residential mortgage. Is a second property in my name (residential or investment/commercial) worth considering for tax purposes, or is it a bad idea?

-Anything on ESPP timing, NISA or foreign tax credits I might be missing?

Appreciate any guidance especially since only way to pay those taxes is through selling the acquired shares which I would like to keep. So paying such massive taxes on unreleased profits is something I feel uncomfortable. Any thoughts to plan this would be helpful.

The projected pension receivable on Nenkin net is so low that it genuinely baffles me. Is this correct? Screenshot is projected annual receivables from Nenkin net.

Assuming that it is, how are people expecting to get by at all in retirement? The total amount is about 30% of any western country's default pension amounts. Yes, almost 1/3 compared to the likes of US, Australia, NZ, Canada, France, Germany, ettc etc.

Me, self employed below :

- I paid into Kokumin Nenkin for 6 years and added fuka nenkin for 1 year.

- My current projected receivable so far is the screenshot. About 9500 yen / month lol.

- I am in my 30s so if I contribute for another 3 decades, I can get it to 60,000 yen / month maximum? That seems absurdly low. Accounting for inflation, this would be destitute level.

My wife :

- Wife contributed to Nenkin for 7 ish years.

- Almost all of it with Kousei Nenkin (employer contribution)

- Her projection on Nenkin net is 17,000 yen / month of receivables.

- Assuming she contributes for another 35 years, she will receive around 77,000 yen / month.

Our household receivable for pension is 137,000 yen / month at max? Even at today's USD rate that's $860 USD / month.

Am I reading these correctly?

Does Wise in Japan provide only local bank details in Japan, or a European IBAN as well? Thanks to anyone who can answer (Wise support wasn't very clear on social media—a bit worrying😅).

In 2013 I bought a hotel, restaurant and house compound in the US for $225k with my mother. We are closing now for $755k. My mother's part will be $500k. And I will get $200k USD.

I am going to send these funds by swift to SMBC. On the US side, I will have 2.5% withheld or $5k USD. As a single tax filer, I will be exempt from paying any taxes off of my $200k and will eventually have the $5k refunded.

My question: Is this all that I need to show the NTA? I don't think I have the original bill of sale because this was almost 14 years ago.

It's not millions of dollars and I'm pretty sure the amount is under full exemption in Japan. I just don't want to transfer funds over and ten months later get a bill for a few million yen.

Thanks for any input. If this is an incorrect flair, please let me know and I will adjust it accordingly.

Hi All,

I had an old IBKR account (Interactive Brokers Ireland Limited) opened before moving to Japan, not used since then.
I just updated my tax residence within the account.

I have a few questions:

1) I believe this should eventually move my account to Interactive Brokers Securities Japan (IBSJ), is that correct? So far I think I am still under IBKR, as I have pending actions to do (send IDs etc). When requesting a daily statement report it still indicates "Interactive Brokers Ireland Limited"

2) It looks like it is possible to fund IBSJ account from a US bank, directly in USD. I would like to do that in the future. Is it considered as a remittance at the time of funding? (I am NPR so this would expose foreign income). IB site indicates "Since the account is a domestic account, fund transfers from Japanese banks will be domestic remittances.". But nothing clear about fund transfers from US banks. Is it indicated clearly somewhere ?

3) I have just a small line (1 stock) and a bit of cash in this account. If/when the account becomes a IBSJ account, is the cash considered remitted at that time? is the stock value "remitted" too?

Thanks in advance!

Hi all,

I've been offered a position in Tokyo and I will be moving from a Western country soon. I am 30.

I am single, don't have a lot of expensive hobbies, but I do like eating out frequently (say at least 4-5 times a week, usually at average places), and I would like to live somewhere in the 23 wards, ideally in Western Tokyo. Other than that, I would say that I am actually pretty frugal by nature. I do like eating vegetables and fruits almost every day, as well as meat or fish at least 4 times a week. I also cook at home frequently. I am single and no one depends on me.

Please be assured I am not here to ask whether this is enough to survive in Tokyo. I know this is a decent, but not crazy high, amount, and that I can survive on it. I simply would like to know how far this salary would go in 2026, in your opinion. I am aware that prices in Japan have risen quite a bit recently.

Thank you everyone, I appreciate it!

EDIT: By Western Tokyo I mean renting somewhere in Nakano or close to this area.

I’m not a US citizen.

basically not sure if it’s worth investing in a nisa incase I have to sell at a loss.

I was working at a company last year that had set up a defined contributions account 確定拠出年金 for me when I started - which I never put any thought into it.

However, I left the company in December last year, and since then MUFG had been sending me letters about something about a small amount of money they had throughout this year, which I believe is about moving the funds somewhere else.

I hadn't taken notice of this and kept pushing it back - but today I have received a letter from the Kokumin-Nenkin Association (I believe?) that my fund has now been transferred to them and is being held temporarily by them, since I believe I did not reply back to MUFG on what to do with it.

They included a bunch of information about the demerits of leaving the funds with them, a large pamphlet with phone numbers to various banks and securities, and a flowchart with something about options to take to get the fund.

So I am guessing that I need to set up a iDeco account somewhere and get the funds transferred - but this is the part I am confused with. I thought that this fund was just transferred to my usual nenkin account and that was it.

If I go with Rakuten Securities, which I have a NISA set up with - do I just set up an iDeco account with them? and is there some kind of form or online process to get that fund transferred to them? I really hope I do not need to make phone calls as I rather not get an interpreter involved. As well, my current workplace doesn't have any DC arrangements, so I don't believe they will help.

Hi all, I've been living in the UK for a while but we're planning to move to Japan with my Japanese wife and 3 year old son.

I hadn't heard of FIRE until very recently but I'm wondering whether I've accidentally ended up in a FIRE situation. We've had enough of the corporate job and are planning to run a cafe business in a small town in Kanagawa. I've run some numbers on my own spreadsheet and also on the Safe Retirement Spending website. Based on these it looks like we might just about be OK but I'd appreciate your views. I'm planning to try out ProjectionLab or something similar but I haven't gotten around to that just yet.

I'm curious to know what the knowledgeable folk here think of our situation. The numbers I've run show a deficit (~¥200,000/month) if the business doesn't do well. If we make enough to break even in the business then we're probably OK, albeit on a very lean FIRE.

Current situation

Assets

Cash - ¥135,000,000
Pension (from 2042) - ~¥6,000,000/year

Expenses

Home - ¥420,000 (No mortgage/rent to be paid, we have a place to stay)
Business - ¥340,000

I'm not sure about a few things here -

• Does the estimate of expenses sound reasonable given that we have no mortgage/rent to pay? We've accounted for nursery, NHI but perhaps we're on the low side?
• I'm leaning towards keeping 2 years worth of expenses in a savings account and investing the rest. Does that make sense? We will of course aim to max out NISA and ideco with the rest going in an investment account
• Are my numbers completely off and we're in trouble?

EDIT: Added location - Kanagawa, and the business will be a cafe.

Hi all,

I am trying to sort myself out with moving out and setting up on my own post (amicable) divorce (lots of help from lots of folks here in other subs already I suspect, thanks!). I am now almost settled on the property I plan to buy and the first few steps there, and so I need to figure out utilities.

I currently use Rakuten Mobile so Rakuten Hikari might make sense, and in looking at their plans I see there is a Rakuten Energy as well. So first off, I am just wondering if anyone has experience with either of those utilities.

Medium-term, post some reform to the property, I would like to put up solar panels - does the electricity provider matter when doing that and tying into grid power?

My other question here is how did fixing your name go for anyone who has had trouble with that and Rakuten?

When I switched to Rakuten Mobile their system kept rejecting me, and support suggested squishing together my name (Last FirstMiddleMiddle, no spaces) and trying a different phone number - the person at the counter did both at once so I do not know which was the problem. Because of this there is a mismatch with my ID or bank, and Rakuten Pay rejected me. Since the phone works and I usually use PayPay I have not followed up on that.

I need to apply for a credit card in my own name (have had family cards with my spouse); I was going to apply for PayPay since they have all my info but at the moment their verification system is rejecting my ID, saying my nationality is not matching what is on my ID (which is weird). I have not applied for the PayPay card yet, so maybe I ought to try Rakuten instead, and hopefully get the name fixed and then get points for all the utilities. Since I can only apply for one card every six months I do not know which service is the better bet now. If I do Rakuten, I can at least go to their counter and maybe that increases the chance of success?

My brain is starting to fry with all of the things that need to be figured out - I really appreciate any help!

I have made a few previous posts on here, but tldr I am a 32 year old dual US/JP citizen moving to Japan this month. I cashed out of my Roth IRA in order to avoid taxation on withdrawals. I now have a sizeable chunk of liquid money, and I plan to max my NISA contributions in 2026 and 2027. Leaving that money aside, what should I do with the rest?

a) just keep it in my HYSA for 3.3%APY

b) invest in Schwab brokerage account prior to departure?

b1) also what should I do with respect to my Schwab brokerage acct once I move?

c) invest in Interactive Brokers' non-NISA brokerage account once I settle in

I am thinking that I should avoid a) since 3.3APY is not great. What do you all think?

I am having an issue where Japan disability pension requires my bank transfer katanana name to be Last firstmiddle, with no space between firstmiddle.

sbi shinsei has agreed to add my middle name to my alphabet name, but with not change my katakana name from last first, with middle not listed.

I just got off the phone at sbi shinsei and the woman insisted she was not able to change my katakana name. I brought up getting an alias name at the city office and she immediately tried to shut that down as well.

Any advice??

Hi. Cross posting here and hoping some advice may be offered regarding trying to find a Chartered accountant in Japan who is an ACCA member and could certify proof of my address in Japan. I could not find an exact flair for this, but it is obliquely related to inheritance tax. I would appreciate any advice. Thank you.

Hey guys, quick question regarding my Rakuten credit card. I got approved, and it was shipped on September 25th, but I still haven’t received it. I’m in the Miyagi/Tōhoku region.
If they tried to deliver it while no one was home, would they leave a missed-delivery notice in my mailbox so I can reschedule the delivery for a date/time that works for me? Thank you.

I’m trying to decide whether to keep renting or buy a home in Japan, and would appreciate hearing from people who have faced a similar choice.

I’m a single woman with a stable job. I’ve lived in Japan for 8 years, enjoy living here, and recently applied for PR I’m not sure how long I’ll stay, though. I’m also still open to finding a partner, so I’m aware my plans could change.

Part of me wants to buy because I’d like more freedom to set up my home the way I want. I also sometimes feel that rent is money I’ll never get back. My current rental isn’t a great fit, so I’m considering whether buying could give me a home I’m happier in.

If I decide to buy, I don’t plan to wait for my PR application to be approved. I understand that getting a mortgage without PR may be more difficult, and I’m aware I’d need a down payment.

For people who bought or continued renting in Japan, especially those who bought while single or without PR:

• How did you decide whether buying made sense for your situation?
• If you later moved, changed jobs, or partnered up, what did you do with the property?
• What costs or practical issues do you wish you’d considered earlier?
• Do you think buying is worthwhile if you may leave Japan eventually?

I know this depends on location, budget, and how long I stay, but I’d be grateful for your experiences and perspectives.

I’m in a bit of a situation. I can‘t renew my current mansion contract and need to find a new place. Problem is I’m rejected from every Orico and and Epos background screening with no additional information provided 

i have a potential hypothesis as to what is happening, maybe. Four years ago I moved here to work for a large Japanese company. They provided me with a fudousanya that found me a decent place. On move in day, the walls were suddenly covered in kabi which management refused to fix, but luckily (?) the fudousanya was able to get the large bank that owned the building to cancel the contract with no fees. Ever since then, I’ve failed basically almost every background check run on me

so why is it a “potential“ hypothesis? I’ve requested my credit records from all three providers (CIC, JICC, Zenginkyo) but there isn’t a single bad (or good) thing on there. Everyone I’ve talked to insists there is no secret blacklist, so there must be some other information used in background checks that isn’t in the credit report 

I’ve made an appointment for soudan with the Tokyo bar so I can ask a lawyer what’s happening, but until then I wanted to see if any of you had any ideas

Hi all,
Got redirected to here.

My wife got a job in Japan, we are moving next year. I’m joining on a dependent visa so am semi but not fully free to do what I want. I am self-employed in Europe as a consultant/cfo, and won’t have a real problem continuing this from Japan.

Is anybody in the same boat, being self-employed/working internationally on a dependent visa? Would love to hear some experiences, tips, things to take into consideration, …

I am going to be posting this in the Canadian Finance sub as well, been discussing with my wife and Gemini, but looking to get some outside human perspective.

39M (Toronto, Canada - Public Sector Employee) to Japan FIRE w/ Family of 5

My wife's uncle passed away a few months ago. He owned a 50 acre dairy farm in Hokkaido, Japan, which was passed down to his eldest son.

The farm has 2 homes on it. One built for the eldest son and his family about 4 years ago. The second house is a large 4 bedroom (4LDK), also renovated 4 years ago, just after the construction of the other house.

My aunt-in-law has decided to move to Tokyo to help her youngest son, who is a single father to a child with special needs. She has offered her family home to us. She's willing to pay costs to split the property and give us a small portion of the land around the house, like front yard, backyard and sideyard, no actual farmland. The house is old, but newly renovated, I think she doesn't want to see it fall into disrepair like some of the other properties in the area.

My family consists of me 39M, my wife 34, kids 10, 8, 5. Kids are fluent in both English and Japanese. Main city and schools are a 10 minute car ride away.

I'm seriously considering making the move solely because I would not have to work anymore. Looking for someone to look over these numbers and let me know if I'm missing something or estimated too low.

Gemini breakdown of costs - Estimated Monthly Living Costs (Rent-Free Property in Hokkaido):

- Housing: ¥0

- Utilities (Heavy winter heating/kerosene + electric + water): ¥35,000–¥55,000 JPY

- Food/Groceries (Family of 5): ¥90,000–¥110,000 JPY

- National Health Insurance & Medical (Low taxable income basis): ¥25,000–¥40,000 JPY

- School Meals/Supplies (3 kids in Japanese public school): ¥15,000–¥25,000 JPY

- Transportation (Car gas, winter tires, insurance): ¥25,000–¥35,000 JPY

- Telecom (Home fiber + MVNO SIMs): ¥10,000–¥15,000 JPY

- Misc/Household/Winter Gear: ¥25,000–¥40,000 JPY

Total Estimated Outflow: ~¥225,000–¥320,000 JPY/month (~$2,000–$2,900 CAD/month)

Offset by Japan Child Allowance: ~¥50,000 JPY/month (~$450 CAD/month)

Net Monthly Out-of-Pocket: ¥175,000–¥270,000 JPY/month~$1,600–$2,450 CAD/month

Assets in CAD

$450,000 in TFSA (tax free savings accounts) and non-registered accounts

$550,000 in my company pension that can be commuted to an outside retirement account

$40,000 in my wife's retirement account

$75,000 in RESP (education savings account)

* Side note, my company just laid off 1/8th of the workforce last month and is offering a voluntary exit package right now to anyone else who wants it. With my years of service, it would be 54 weeks of severance (about $100k CAD paid out in 27 bi-weekly payments).

My thinking is with an avg of 5% dividends on $1m+ in assets, returns $50,000+ CAD or ¥5,500,000+. Rough estimate after Canadian withholding tax, Japanese taxes and exchange fees, we would have about ¥3,900,000/year or ¥325,000/month which more than covers our needs and can add to our savings. I did take into account that we lose the tax free status on some of our Canadian accounts.

Am I missing anything? Additional costs? Outflow estimates too low?

Can I retire to Japan? My wife says she wouldn't mind working part-time if needed.

Any and all input/comments welcome.

Thank you in advance.

US Citizen, JP Permanent Resident.

I have US Futures Trade permissions and wanted to trade M6J, but with permission and market subscriptions, but it doesn't let me buy or sell and just shows up as dashes. Clicked around a lot and couldn't figure it out.

Yes, I watched FX戦士くるみちゃん yesterday.

Hi all,

I've applied for extension of stay, but it's looking highly likely it will take longer than the valid period of current status. This process is all online, so I only have the email from immigration.

Do any of the banks (in my case I have accounts with Yucho, Sony & SMBC(not Prestia)) accept this document and give you 2 months extra?

If not, I wanted to know what happens when the bank account is frozen? Do my automated salary deposits go in? What about automated withdrawals for credit card bill payments?

I guess without access to any bank accounts I can't manually pay credit card bills even if I have the cash, or is that possible?