Questions Before Leaving

The weeks before a long stay ends fill up with the same questions, asked in the same order, by people who have never done this before. This short FAQ collects those recurring questions, answers each in a few sentences, and points to the official page that settles it. The questions come first, the paperwork second, and the money third, because that is the order most leavers meet them.

Most of what follows comes from one place: the Immigration Services Agency of Japan. Its site runs through exit and re-entry procedures, residence procedures, online applications and a set of official English FAQ pages that answer the common procedural questions directly. Where a detail is not on that site, this page says so and stops there.

Do you need a re-entry permit if you are only going for a holiday?

Going home for a visit is not the same as leaving for good, and the agency treats the two differently. Its page lists a dedicated re-entry permit application for foreign residents who plan to come back, alongside the explanation of entry and return procedures. The permit is what keeps your status of residence alive while you are out of the country. If you are finishing your stay and not returning, no permit is needed, and the question changes to what happens to your residence card at the airport.

That second question is answered elsewhere: the airport step for a final departure is set out in the page on the Residence Card, which covers what happens to the card and to your status on the day you fly.

What happens to your visa when you leave for good?

A status of residence is tied to being in Japan. When you leave and do not come back, the status ends, and the card that carries it is dealt with at the point of departure. The agency groups the paperwork around this under residence procedures, reachable by status or by type of procedure from its home page.

Two practical points come up most often. The first is the timing of a final tax return and a moving-out notice, which have their own deadlines at city hall. The second is the airport itself: arriving early matters more than usual on a final departure, because the card is collected as part of the exit process. Arrive with the paperwork in one folder, not scattered across two bags.

Does the city hall visit come before or after the airport?

City hall comes first, and it comes weeks before the flight, not days. Leaving a municipality is a notice of moving out, and it triggers the end of several things at once: your residence record, your national health insurance, and your resident tax position. The notice has a lead time, and the last days before departure are too late.

Health cover is the piece people underestimate. The Health Insurance page walks through ending national health insurance and the card you hand back when you do. If you are still paying into the pension, the tax and pension threads are separate visits, not one.

How do you close a bank account and a phone contract?

This is the question that generates the most frustration, because the order matters and it is not obvious. Direct debits for rent, utilities and the phone come out of the bank account. If you close the bank account first, you break every automatic payment behind it, and the final bills bounce.

So the order runs the other way: settle the phone contract first, then the utilities, then the bank. Some accounts can only be closed in person, and a few require a Japanese address or a Japanese phone number to close, which is exactly what you are about to lose. The Closing Bank page lays out the order to follow and the traps in each step. Pick the date for the last direct debit before you hand over any closure form.

Do you still owe resident tax after you leave?

Resident tax is charged on the previous year's income, and it can follow you out of the country. If you leave before the billing year is paid up, a bill for the remaining amount may stay behind, and the municipality may nominate whoever is left at the address as the person responsible for it.

Two dates matter. The first is the date the municipality issues the bill, which falls in the summer. The second is the date you go to city hall to give notice of leaving. Leaving after the notice without handling the balance means the bill arrives with no one there to pay it. The Resident Tax page summarises the position and links the official page that settles it, including how a departing resident can pay the remainder in one go.

Can you get the pension money back after you leave?

Contributors who leave Japan can apply for a refund of the contributions they made into the national and employee pension systems. The claim is made after departure, not before, so it does not hold up the flight, but the paperwork can be started while you are still here, because some of the supporting documents come from the pension office in Japan.

Two limits are worth knowing before you plan around the money. The refund only covers contributions from a defined recent period, and the amount that comes back is reduced by tax. The lump-sum pension refund page sets out the procedure for departing contributors. Do not close the Japanese bank account the refund is to be paid into until the money has actually landed.

What about the tax you paid in your last year?

Resident tax covers the year before. Income tax on the final year's earnings is a separate matter, and a departing worker sometimes qualifies to have part of it returned. This is handled by the tax office, not city hall, and the form depends on whether you earned only as an employee or had other income.

If you are still employed on the day you leave, your employer usually files the final return on your behalf. If you have already stopped working, you file it yourself. The safe habit is to ask payroll which of the two applies, in writing, and to keep the answer until the flight. Do not assume the last payslip settles everything.

How much can you ship, and how much should you carry?

Shipping is a budget question with a deadline attached. Sea freight is cheaper per box and slower, air freight is faster and dearer, and the difference in cost is large enough to change what you keep. Most people discover the two options about three weeks too late to use the cheap one.

The other half of the question is what to keep at all. Furniture and electronics rarely survive the shipping cost relative to their value, while documents, photographs and things with records in them are the ones people regret leaving. Weigh, quote, then decide, in that order. A written quote from two carriers is the only way to compare honestly.

Is the moving-out notice the same as the final bill?

No, and the gap between them causes most of the arguments. The notice of moving out closes your residence record. It does not settle what you owe the municipality, the utility company or the landlord. Those are separate payments with separate dates.

The agency publishes its own FAQ page for the procedural questions, and it is the place to check before any of these steps, because the answers are updated there and not on third-party summaries. Work the list in order: city hall, then the contracts, then the tax, then the airport. Each step closes the door on the last.

About Immigration Services Agency of Japan (moj.go.jp)

The Immigration Services Agency of Japan is the body that handles entry, residence and departure procedures for foreign residents, and its site publishes the procedures, the online application routes, a consultation desk and a frequently asked questions page. Its home page groups the content by entry and return, residence procedures, support for foreign residents, and removal procedures, which makes it the first stop for anyone confirming what a departure actually requires.

Where the agency's site does not settle a question, the reader is left with the same shape of answer everywhere: a date, a form, and a desk that has to be visited in person. The questions above repeat for a reason. None of them is difficult on its own, and together they are why the last month feels shorter than it is.

The Leaving Ledger editorial team / contact@sayonarajapan.com

Contents of this page

1. Do you need a re-entry permit if you are only going for a holiday?1 min
2. What happens to your visa when you leave for good?1 min
3. Does the city hall visit come before or after the airport?1 min
4. How do you close a bank account and a phone contract?1 min
5. Do you still owe resident tax after you leave?1 min
6. Can you get the pension money back after you leave?1 min
7. What about the tax you paid in your last year?1 min
8. How much can you ship, and how much should you carry?1 min
9. Is the moving-out notice the same as the final bill?1 min