Departure Checklist: The 90-Day Run-Up
This Leave Japan checklist orders every departure task by dependency across a 90-day run-up, from landlord notice to airport return.12 It is built for residents planning a permanent move out of Japan who need to know what must happen while still resident and what can only happen after deregistration or departure.
Procedures, fees, and requirements can change. Confirm current details at the Japan Pension Service, the National Tax Agency, the Immigration Services Agency, Japan Post, and your local ward office. This article is general information, not legal, tax, or immigration advice; for your specific case, consult a licensed tax accountant (zeirishi) for filing and reclaim questions and confirm bank and brokerage consequences with each provider.
Overview
Permanent departure runs through different counters that do not talk to each other. The landlord, the ward office, the tax office, the Japan Pension Service, banks and brokerages, utility providers, and airport immigration each own one piece.12
The sequence matters because timing gates sit on both ends. Some steps need a valid Japanese address and lead time, while others are rejected if filed too early or can only be filed once residency has ended.345 This article follows the order that avoids repeat visits and stranded refunds.
Ward offices handle the same notification under locally different counter flows, so confirm details with your local office where this article flags a municipal step.6 Lease, bank, and brokerage steps are contract or institution specific, so confirm each agreement rather than treating one provider's rule as universal.2
90 to 60 days out: lock the date and open the exit path
Fix the departure date first. Every notice period, pickup window, and filing window below anchors to that date, and moving it later forces rebooking.12
The dependency shape for the full run-up looks like this.
Confirm departure date and book flight
Choose the flight date and treat it as fixed once notices go out. Landlord notice, mover pickup, utility end-dates, and the ward-office filing window all count back from this day.12
If employment or school timing is still fluid, hold shipment booking until the date firms up. Movers and airlines both reprice changes, and the ward filing cannot be done months early in any case.52
Give landlord move-out notice
Check the lease (賃貸借契約書, chintaishaku keiyakusho, "rental contract") for the required notice period. Resident guides describe 1 to 2 months as the typical range, with longer negotiable leases sometimes requiring the upper end and shorter ones accepting 30 days.12
Give notice in writing and keep a copy with the receipt date. Late notice can leave rent accruing after the rooms stand empty, because the contract clock runs from proper notice rather than from moving day.2
| Item | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Notice period | Contract-driven; typically 1 to 2 months | 12 |
| Form | Written notice; retain dated copy | 2 |
| Next step | Schedule inspection and cleaning-fee settlement with landlord or agency | 2 |
A notice filed after the contract deadline does not backdate to moving day. File in the 90-day window even when the exact flight hour is still open, then confirm the vacating day separately.
Start pension lump-sum withdrawal planning
Residents who paid into the pension system and will not qualify for a pension can plan the 脱退一時金 (dattai ichijikin, "lump-sum withdrawal payment") while still in Japan, even though the claim itself is filed after departure.73
Eligibility requires every one of these conditions: non-Japanese nationality, 6 months or more of coverage, no Japanese address when the Japan Pension Service receives the claim, no existing pension eligibility, and filing within 2 years of losing the Japanese address.73
Gather the packet early. The claim form, passport copies, pension-number document, bank evidence in the claimant's own name, and proof of deregistration are easier to assemble with the pension book and residence record at hand.3
| Document | Why it matters | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Lump-sum withdrawal payment claim form | Official application | 3 |
| Passport copy | Identity, nationality, and departure evidence | 3 |
| Pension-number document | Links the claim to contribution records | 3 |
| Bank evidence in claimant's name | Directs the remittance | 3 |
| Deleted residence record where needed | Proves no Japanese address | 3 |
The payment calculation counts up to 60 months of enrollment for periods from April 2021, with earlier-only periods under the older 36-month cap.3 A passed law would raise the cap toward 8 years, but its enforcement date was unfixed at last review, so plan on 60 months until the new schedule takes effect (as of 2026-07).1 Residents near the 10-year qualifying line should weigh claiming now against preserving coverage under a totalization agreement before filing anything.3
Engage a tax representative if applicable
Appoint a 納税管理人 (nozei kanrinin, "tax agent") before departure wherever post-departure filing or payment may remain.48 The trigger is losing domicile and residence for tax purposes while still subject to return or payment procedures.4
The appointee must reside in Japan and may be a trusted individual, an employer, or a professional such as a tax accountant. File the notification with the district tax office that has jurisdiction over the place for tax payment, not over the agent's address.48
Withholding on the Employees' Pension lump-sum portion runs at 20.42 percent (as of 2026-09; confirm current figures with the National Tax Agency and the Japan Pension Service).1 The National Pension lump-sum has no equivalent withholding step.1 The representative later reclaims the withheld portion through a return, so the appointment is the channel that keeps that refund reachable from abroad.41
Without a Japan-resident appointee and a pre-departure notification, the departure-year and withholding-reclaim filings have no one to receive documents or refunds in Japan. With an agent appointed, the departure-year return runs through the agent between February 16 and March 15 of the following year; without one, a quasi-final return must be closed before departure.4
Get final shipment quotes and set pickup timing
Request international mover quotes in this window. Full-service movers and Japan-side overseas services need lead time for surveys, quotes, and pickup slots.12
Sea freight for a full household runs about 1 to 2 months in resident-guide reporting (as of 2026-09), while courier options run in days at higher cost. Treat both bands as route and carrier dependent and confirm the sailing or flight schedule for the specific destination.1 Small parcels can go by EMS or surface mail, while a full household needs a booked mover rather than parcel post.2
60 to 30 days out: close loops while still resident
This is the window for tasks that need a Japanese address or a live account. Once deregistration and closures start, each correction costs a separate trip or a favor from abroad.12
Cancel subscriptions and update addresses before mail forwarding sunsets
Sweep every sender before departure: banks, insurers, subscriptions, employers, and any office that mails paper. Forwarding expiry returns mail to sender, and re-filing from overseas is difficult.2
Japan Post forwarding runs for 1 year from the notification date (as of 2026-09; confirm current terms with Japan Post), and registration takes 3 to 7 business days after filing (as of 2026-09).9 Mail forwarding covers the interim only, so update senders directly. File early enough that the registration is live before moving day, and update senders directly rather than relying on forwarding as the address-change mechanism.9
Plan banking keep-versus-close strategy
Most Japanese banks require closure when resident status ends, with only limited non-resident tiers at some institutions, and closure commonly requires an in-person branch visit.2 Repatriating balances at departure covers the same keep-versus-close tradeoff in depth. Confirm the rule with each bank rather than assuming one bank's practice applies elsewhere.
Late money is the reason to plan early. Final salary, deposit refunds, and utility overpayments commonly arrive after departure, and closing every account in the final week leaves each refund without a landing place.12
Cancel or migrate automatic debits (口座振替, koza furikae, "automatic bank transfer") before closing the funding account. Electricity, gas, insurance, and subscriptions tied to a closed account bounce rather than transfer.2
Plan brokerage closure if non-resident status triggers it
Confirm each brokerage's non-resident rule directly, since policies differ by institution. Where closure or transfer-out is triggered by residency loss, sell or transfer positions and move cash before the account is closed.1
Residency-linked tax-advantaged accounts cannot be kept as a non-resident and should be unwound on the same timetable, with sale and cash-transfer sequencing confirmed with the provider (limitation: confirm account-level treatment with each brokerage; practitioner sources describe the pattern without a uniform primary schedule).1
30 days to departure: file and cancel on schedule
This window holds the ward-office filing and the contract end-dates. Filing too early creates a registration gap, while filing too late compresses cancellations into the final days.5
File tenshutsu at the ward office
File the 転出届 (tenshutsu todoke, "moving-out notification") inside the pre-departure window. Student and municipal guidance puts the opening at 14 days before the planned departure date.5
Bring the residence card plus the National Health Insurance card, My Number card, and seal-registration card where held. The Shinjuku City procedure illustrates the pattern: appear before moving out with those documents and clear related counters in the same visit, though exact counters differ by municipality.6
Skipping this step leaves the resident register active. Billing for tax and insurance continues, and the pension-refund path blocks because the claim requires no Japanese address at receipt.31
File tenshutsu, settle health insurance and pension counters, and request the deleted-record copy in a single trip. One visit with the full document set replaces three separate queues in the final week.6
Align utility and mobile cancellations to move-out
Set a closure date with each provider aligned to move-out day, following standard move-out utility procedures. Electricity, gas, water, phone, and internet each close separately, and gas disconnection commonly needs a technician present for meter reading and shutoff.62
Broadband contracts commonly require 30 to 60 days notice (as of 2024-11 to 2026-05; confirm current terms with each provider), with early-termination or device-return charges where the term is unexpired.2 ISP cancellation rules add the renewal-window detail. Check the contract rather than assuming a uniform notice rule, and return rental routers or modems on the provider's instructions.2
Final bills may be estimated from the meter and settled by card, remaining auto-debit, or paper bill through a Japan-side contact where remote payment is unavailable.2 Confirm the payment path when setting the end-date so no balance survives the account closure.
Settle health insurance and pension counters in the same visit
Return the National Health Insurance card at the ward office, or to the employer for employees' insurance, with premiums settled to the departure date.62 Self-paying National Pension enrollees deregister at the pension counter in the same visit.6
Request a copy of the 住民票の除票 (juminhyo no johyo, "deleted residence record") before leaving the counter. The copy preserves proof of deregistration for the later pension packet, and obtaining it later from abroad is a separate ordeal.1
| Item | Amount | As of | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deleted residence record copy, per-copy fee example | Around JPY 300 | 2026-071 | Municipality-set; confirm locally |
The copy fee is municipality-set; the around JPY 300 example is reported as of 2026-07.1
Week of departure and departure day
The final week is for evidence and handover. Photograph meter positions, room condition, and card details before each item leaves your hands.12
Final meter readings, move-out cleaning, and walkthrough
Providers run a meter check on moving day to close utility accounts.6 Be present or confirm the remote-reading arrangement so the final bill reflects actual use rather than an estimate carried forward.
Complete move-out cleaning and walk the rooms with the landlord or agency before handover, using the move-out inspection sequence as the checklist. Photo evidence of condition protects the deposit position where cleaning-fee treatment is disputed.2 Oversized garbage (粗大ごみ, sodai gomi, "oversized garbage") needs advance booking with paid stickers on designated days, so finish disposal before the final day rather than stacking it at the curb.2
Residence-card airport return on departure day
Return the 在留カード (zairyu kado, "residence card") to an immigration inspector at the port of departure when leaving without re-entry permission.1011 The return is immediate on departure in that case, not within a grace period.10
Departure with valid re-entry or special re-entry permission preserves status within its validity window. Failure to re-enter within validity lapses status and moves the return to a 14-day mail or in-person procedure instead.1011
Photograph both sides of the card before surrender. The copy preserves details referenced in later pension paperwork, and the punched card itself is worth keeping where it is handed back.12
After departure: what only happens from abroad
Departure does not end the paperwork. The pension claim and the withholding reclaim can only complete once residency has ended, so calendar them before flying.74
Pension claim window and tax reclaim via representative
Mail the pension packet to the Japan Pension Service after departure and within 2 years of losing the Japanese address.73 Processing takes months before payment and issuance of the payment notice (as of 2026-07; confirm current timelines with the Japan Pension Service).1
Send the original payment notice to the tax representative on arrival. The representative files the refund return at the tax office covering the last Japanese address, receives the refund to a Japan-side account, and forwards it abroad.41 Residence tax billed in arrears on the June cycle may still fall due after departure and runs through the same representative or through employer withholding from final pay.1
Good to know
Late landlord notice means paying rent on an empty room
Notice periods run from proper written notice, not from the day boxes leave. A late filing leaves rent accruing past vacating day even when the rooms stand empty.2 File notice in the 90-day window and keep the dated copy.
Filing tenshutsu too early creates a registration gap
The overseas moving-out notification opens 14 days before departure.5 Filing months early and remaining in Japan creates a period with no valid registration, so time the filing inside the window rather than treating earlier as safer.
No tax representative means the pension withholding refund stalls
The 20.42 percent Employees' Pension withholding (as of 2026-09) has no filing channel from abroad without a Japan-resident appointee and a pre-departure notification to the correct tax office.481 Without an agent, the departure-year position must instead be closed by quasi-final return before departure.4
Closing every bank account before late refunds land
Final salary, deposit refunds, and utility overpayments commonly post after departure.12 Where the bank permits, keep the landing account until those flows settle, then close; closing everything in the final week turns each refund into a separate international recovery.
Brokerage positions left open past residency loss
Non-resident status commonly triggers forced closure or transfer-out at Japanese brokerages.1 Unwind positions and move cash before departure on a timetable you control, confirming each brokerage's rule directly since policies differ.
Mail forwarding does not reach abroad
Japan Post forwarding runs 1 year from the notification date to a domestic address (as of 2026-09) and takes 3 to 7 business days to activate (as of 2026-09).9 It does not forward outside Japan, so pair any forwarding filing with a domestic contact or mailbox service and a full sender sweep before departure.92
See also
- Filing the Tenshutsu (Move-Out Notification)
- Residence-Card Surrender at the Airport
- Final-Year Tax Filing and the Nozei Kanrinin
- Closing or Maintaining Bank and Brokerage Accounts
- Mail Forwarding, Pet Repatriation, Cargo Shipping
- Leaving Japan: The Emotional Offboarding