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Japan essentials

Living in Japan

What it really costs, and how to sort a tax number, bank account, SIM, and healthcare once you land in Japan.

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Cost of living →Banking →SIM & connectivity →Healthcare →Tax & work number →
Cost of living

What you'll spend

Indicative
Min funds to show
Varies by nationality (see the route page)
Rent (shared room)
Share house, typically well below a private one-bed
Rent (1-bed, city)
About JPY 103,800/mo outside the city centre, Tokyo (indicative)
Average wage
JPY 1,226/hr in Tokyo; JPY 1,121 national average (FY2025)
Casual meal
About JPY 1,200 at an inexpensive restaurant, Tokyo (indicative)
Monthly transport
About JPY 12,250/mo commuter pass, Tokyo (indicative)

Cost figures are indicative, from MHLW (wages) and Numbeo (Tokyo market data). Visa facts and fees are verified against official sources.

Verified on 23 June 2026 by the WHE research team · Source: mhlw.go.jp · How we verify →

Tax / work number

My Number (the individual number) is assigned after you register your address; employers and banks ask for it. Income tax is withheld from your pay, and a roughly 10% residence tax is billed the following year on the previous year’s income, so it can land after you leave.

Banking

Open a local account soon after you arrive in Japan so you can get paid and skip foreign-card fees. Most banks let you start the application online before you land.

Providers: Wise, Revolut
Read the banking guide →

Mobile & connectivity

Set up a Japan number or eSIM for data and calls. The major networks have the widest coverage; budget MVNOs run on the same towers for less.

Providers: Airalo, Holafly
Read the SIM guide →
Healthcare

Staying healthy in Japan

Access

If you stay more than three months you must enrol in National Health Insurance at your city or ward office when you register your address. You then pay 30% of treatment costs at the counter and the scheme covers the rest.

Seeing a doctor

Go to a local clinic for everyday illness or a hospital for anything serious. Take your insurance card, and some cash, as smaller clinics are often cash-only.
Emergency
110 (police), 119 (fire and ambulance)
Police, fire, and ambulance in Japan.
Insurance
Health & travel insurance
The working holiday visa has no reciprocal public-health agreement, so hold private travel or medical insurance for the gap before your National Health Insurance is active. Irish applicants must hold insurance as a visa condition and Canadian applicants need a doctor’s note (see your route page).