Filing the Tenshutsu (Move-Out Notification)
Filing the tenshutsu move-out notification is the ward-office step that closes your residence record when you leave Japan.12 Without it, the register still shows you as resident and downstream bills keep coming.
Procedures, fees, and requirements can change. Confirm current details at your current ward or city office and the Immigration Services Agency site.
Overview
The overseas tenshutsu, or 海外転出届 (kaigai tenshutsu todoke, "overseas move-out notification"), tells your current municipality that you are leaving Japan rather than moving to another Japanese address.12 The ward then closes your 住民票 (juminhyo, "residence record") as transferred overseas.3
This filing covers only the municipal register. Your 在留カード (zairyu kado, "residence card") is surrendered separately at the port immigration counter on departure day, and tax and pension steps run on their own tracks.45 Plan the ward visit as the first of those tracks, not as the whole departure.
Domestic move vs leaving Japan
A domestic move between municipalities runs in two parts: a tenshutsu at the old office, then a move-in filing at the new office within the statutory window.32 The old office normally issues a 転出証明書 (tenshutsu shomeisho, "move-out certificate") to carry to the new office.3
Leaving Japan has no receiving office, so there is no certificate to carry onward. The record simply closes as an overseas transfer, and the immigration-layer card surrender happens later at the airport or seaport.34 The counter visit looks familiar, but nothing follows it at another ward office.
When and Where to File
File before you go, at the municipality you are leaving. Municipal guidance phrases the timing as "before moving out," with acceptance opening from about 14 days before the planned departure date.62
Timing: the 14-day window
The Basic Resident Registration Act, or 住民基本台帳法 (juminhyo kihon daicho ho, "Basic Resident Registration Act"), requires anyone moving out to notify the municipal mayor in advance with name, destination, and scheduled moving date.6 In practice, ward offices accept the tenshutsu from about 14 days before the move.2
Filing is free of charge.2 If advance filing proves impossible, file post-move as soon as possible rather than skipping it; postal filing exists for exactly that situation.3
Where: the resident registration counter
File at the resident registration section of your current ward or city office. In Shinjuku this is the Resident Registration Section of the Family and Resident Registration Division, with routine filings also accepted at branch offices.27
Counter names and branch coverage vary by municipality, so confirm with your local office. What is uniform nationwide is the structure itself: the current municipality owns the filing, and no second municipality is involved.31
A proxy from outside your household needs a letter of proxy.2 Online filing through Myna Portal covers domestic tenshutsu but Shinjuku explicitly excludes overseas tenshutsu from the online path, so departing residents file at the counter or by mail.8
The diagram above shows the ward-visit sequence this article follows: register the move-out, then handle the related counters before leaving the building.29
What to Bring
Bring originals. The counter verifies identity in person, and mail filings require ID copies instead.32
Identity and residence documents
| Item | Notes |
|---|---|
| Residence card or special permanent resident certificate | Core ID for foreign-resident filers 2 |
| My Number Card where held | Listed among tenshutsu items at the counter 2 |
| Official photo ID of the filer | Residence card, My Number Card, driver licence, or passport 2 |
Supporting items some offices ask for
| Item | Notes |
|---|---|
| NHI eligibility confirmation or card | Needed at the insurance counter in the same visit 2 |
| Seal-registration card | Only where a seal is registered 2 |
| Departure-date proof | Some offices ask for a ticket or itinerary; office-dependent 10 |
A personal seal (inkan) appears in departure checklists as conditional, not universal.10 When in doubt, bring the insurance card and the My Number Card alongside the residence card; an extra document costs nothing while a missing one costs a second trip.2
What the Ward Office Does
The ward closes the register entry and updates the municipal layer that insurance and pension administration keys off. Each related cancellation still needs its own notification, covered in the next section.911
Residence record transfer overseas
On an overseas tenshutsu, the municipality closes the juminhyo as transferred overseas.31 You no longer hold a registered address in Japan.
No move-out certificate is issued in this path, because there is no next municipality to receive it.3 No separate address-loss notice to the Commissioner of the Immigration Services Agency is needed either; for a long overseas stay without a Japanese address, the municipal tenshutsu is the required filing.12
Health insurance and pension record updates
The tenshutsu updates the residence-record layer, but National Health Insurance (NHI), or 国民健康保険 (kokumin kenko hoken, "National Health Insurance"), withdrawal and National Pension, or 国民年金 (kokumin nenkin, "National Pension"), loss-of-eligibility each require their own notice at the relevant counter.911
NHI eligibility and billing run from the date coverage should have started or ended, not from the filing date alone.9 National Pension compulsory coverage applies to residents aged 20 to 59 with a Japanese address, so departure without an address ends that basis; treaty-exempt categories file separately with the Japan Pension Service.11
The resident registration counter closes the record, but the insurance counter and the pension counter each need an explicit request. Plan one visit that hits all three before leaving the building.
Related Cancellations: Automatic vs Explicit
The distinction that matters is simple: the record closure propagates on its own, while the insurance, pension, and card-validity consequences each need you to say so at the right counter.3911
Handled alongside the filing
The residence-record closure itself needs no second filing for the record layer once the resident registration counter accepts the tenshutsu.3 My Number Card validity handling is processed in the same municipal visit on the card track.1310
Requiring explicit mention at the relevant counter
NHI withdrawal is explicit: moving out of the municipality and leaving Japan are each listed as withdrawal triggers, with a 14-day procedure window and the household head as filer.9 Return the eligibility confirmation or card at withdrawal; using the old ward coverage without notifying leads to later repayment of medical costs to the ward.14
Pension loss-of-eligibility is a separate notification track from the tenshutsu, handled at the municipal pension counter or pension office depending on category.11 The later lump-sum claim additionally requires showing non-coverage at claim time.5
My Number Card continued use abroad is a pre-departure switching procedure completed by the day before departure; without it the card invalidates on the scheduled departure date.13 The overseas continued-use path opened 2024-05-27 for Japanese nationals, while foreign residents without a family register return or invalidate the card, so finish card-dependent tasks before the visit.1310
Documents to Collect Before You Leave
Collect these at the ward office while your record is still open. Reissuing from abroad is slower and sometimes impossible without a proxy.15
Tax and income certificates
Residence-tax certificates, the 課税証明書 (kazei shomeisho, "taxation certificate") and the 納税証明書 (nozei shomeisho, "tax-payment certificate"), are issued at the Tax Affairs Division counter or a branch office on presentation of official ID.215 Each copy costs 300 yen (as of 2026-07-01; confirm current figures with the Tax Affairs Division).15
| Item | Coverage | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Kazei shomeisho | Current through past 3 fiscal years where tax info exists | Reflects prior calendar-year income 15 |
| Nozei shomeisho | Assessment-year payment status | Check the assessment year on the copy 15 |
Each fiscal-year certificate reflects the prior calendar-year income (for example, the FY2026 certificate reflects 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 income).15 Unfiled persons may need to file at the tax division before any certificate can issue.15
Before leaving, a resident-taxed person who departs before the June billing notice must either designate a payer or prepay; after receiving the notice, the remainder must be designated or prepaid.2 The person designated for post-departure obligations is the 納税管理人 (nozei kanrinin, "tax representative").2
Insurance and pension records
Keep the NHI withdrawal and payment records from the ward counter as proof that coverage ended on the departure date.910 Keep pension coverage records, including category, periods, and basic pension number, since the lump-sum claim requires showing non-coverage after departure and must be filed within two years of leaving Japan.5
Lump-sum eligibility requires non-Japanese nationality with short coverage under National Pension or Employees Pension Insurance and no current coverage at application.5 Contribution-history documentation collected now supports treaty-totalization checks or claims from abroad later.511
Foreign-Resident Experience
The counter visit closely resembles a domestic move: same form family, same ID presentation, same resident registration section.32 The difference is the implication: no onward registration follows, and the residence card stays in your pocket until the port immigration inspection.4
Large-city offices route foreign-resident, interpreter-needing, and group filings to the main Resident Registration Section rather than branch counters, so head to the main counter if anything about the case is non-routine.2 English-language forms and foreign-language living guides exist at major wards, but counter names and mail handling still vary by municipality.27
Staff may ask for a "new address." For an overseas departure, the answer is the country of destination, not a Japanese address. Confirm the form is marked as an overseas transfer before leaving the counter.
Good to know
Filing late or after departure
Missing the pre-departure window does not void the obligation. File post-move as soon as possible, using mail or a proxy with a letter of proxy where the office offers it.32 A late filing still closes the record and stops the downstream billing that an open record generates.9
Assuming one filing cancels everything
The tenshutsu alone does not complete NHI withdrawal or pension loss-of-eligibility. Each needs its own counter notification, ideally in the same municipal visit.911 Treat the resident registration counter as step one of three, not as the whole errand.
Leaving without settling NHI premiums
Staff check premium status to the departure date and issue a payment slip for arrears, so settle before leaving.10 Using the old ward coverage after transfer without notifying leads to repayment of the medical costs to the ward.14 Some offices ask for departure-date proof to anchor the settlement, so bring the itinerary even where it is not listed.10
My Number card handling at departure
Card-validity handling at overseas transfer differs by eligibility. Japanese nationals may switch to overseas continued use by the day before departure, while foreign residents without a family register return or invalidate the card.1310 Finish card-dependent tasks such as tax filing and account authentication before the visit, and keep a private record of the 12-digit number itself for any future return.13
See also
- Departure Checklist: The 90-Day Run-Up
- Residence-Card Surrender at the Airport
- Final-Year Tax Filing and the Nozei Kanrinin
- Closing or Maintaining Bank and Brokerage Accounts
- Repatriating Pension and Investment Balances at Departure
- Mail-Forwarding at Move and Departure