Address Change in Japan: Tenshutsu, Tennyu, Tenkyo

Every move in Japan means a ward-office filing, and the filing has a 14-day statutory deadline. Three notification forms cover every case: move-out, move-in, and within-city moves.¹ For mid- to long-term residents, the same counter visit also satisfies a separate immigration-law duty to report the new address.²

Confirm current details with official sources

Procedures, fees, and requirements can change. Confirm current details at the ward or city offices of the municipalities you are leaving and entering, or at the Immigration Services Agency site. This article is general information, not legal, tax, or immigration advice; for your specific case, consult a licensed administrative scrivener (gyōseishoshi, 行政書士), or an immigration lawyer (bengoshi, 弁護士) where a missed notification may affect your status of residence.

Overview

Japanese resident registration tracks where you live, not just who you are. When the address changes, you tell the system through one of three filings: 転出届 (tenshutsu todoke, "move-out notification"), 転入届 (tennyū todoke, "move-in notification"), or 転居届 (tenkyo todoke, "within-municipality change-of-address notification").¹³ The ward office updates your residence record and records the new address on your residence card in the same visit.¹⁴

The Three Forms at a Glance

Cross-municipality moves pair two filings: tenshutsu at the office you leave, then tennyu at the office you enter.¹⁵ Same-municipality moves need only tenkyo at that one office.¹⁶ The notifications themselves are free at the counter; fees apply only to certificates you request afterward.

Form	Filed at	Deadline	Certificate
Tenshutsu (move-out)	Old municipality	Before moving, or within 14 days after6	Produces the 転出証明書 (tenshutsu shōmeisho, "move-out certificate")5
Tennyu (move-in)	New municipality	Within 14 days of moving in	Bring the move-out certificate5
Tenkyo (same-city move)	Same municipality	Within 14 days of moving	None needed1

The 14-day tennyu and tenkyo deadlines are statutory under the Basic Resident Registration Act and apply nationwide. Everything else about the visit (form layout, online options, counter names) follows local practice.¹⁵

Moving Out: Tenshutsu

File tenshutsu at the old office shortly before the move, or within 14 days after it.⁶ Yokohama accepts counter, mail, and online filings, with online filing reserved for My Number Card holders (as of 2026-09).⁶ Channel availability beyond the counter varies by municipality, so confirm with the office you are leaving.

Since February 6, 2023, every municipality accepts online tenshutsu through the My Number Portal. The old office forwards the certificate data to the new office in advance, so the new office can prepare acceptance before you arrive.⁷ On the counter channel, the old office hands you a paper move-out certificate to carry to the new office yourself.³⁵

Moving In: Tennyu

File tennyu at the new office within 14 days of moving in, presenting the move-out certificate plus your residence card.¹⁵ The clerk creates your residence record at the new address and updates the address on the card in the same visit.¹⁴

Tennyu stays in person even after an online tenshutsu. At least one member of the moving household presents a My Number Card at the new-office counter to complete the move-in.⁷ Budget extra time: the tennyu queue plus the insurance, pension, and card-address updates that follow it can fill a morning at the ward office.

New arrivals from abroad file the same tennyu within 14 days of settling. Bring the residence card, or the passport marked "residence card to be issued later" where the card has not yet been issued.¹⁴⁵ Late filing can draw a fine, and failing to register an address within 90 days of landing without a justifiable reason is a ground for revoking status of residence.⁸

Moving Within the Same Municipality: Tenkyo

Tenkyo is the simple case: one filing at the same office within 14 days of moving, with no certificate pair involved.¹⁶ Bring your residence card; the clerk updates the record and the card on the spot.¹⁴

The simpler form does not mean a shorter visit. Insurance, pension, and My Number Card updates still ripple from the move, and clearing them at adjacent counters in the same trip saves a return visit.

The Residence Card and the 14-Day Immigration Duty

Alongside the resident-registry filing, Article 19-9(1) of the Immigration Control Act requires residents who change address to notify the Commissioner of the Immigration Services Agency (ISA), through the municipal office of the new address, within 14 days of the move.²⁸⁹ The duty is the 住居地の変更届出 (jūshochi no henkō todokede, "notification of change of residence"), and it binds every mid- to long-term resident who moves, regardless of status type.²¹⁰

Neighboring provisions cover the first address fixed after landing (Article 19-7) and the address fixed after a change of status (Article 19-8); the everyday moving case runs on 19-9.⁹ On a cross-municipality move, the 14-day immigration window applies on the arrival side, at the tennyu office.²

When you present your residence card with the tennyu or tenkyo filing, that registry filing counts as the immigration notification. No separate ISA form or follow-up is needed, and no fee applies.²

The card must be in your hand at the counter

The deeming rule presumes you present the residence card with the registry filing. A filing without the card may not satisfy the immigration duty, so carry it to the counter.²

The filing cannot be made at a regional immigration bureau. ISA's own Q&A states that address changes are handled at the municipal office only, so a trip to the bureau for this purpose ends in redirection.⁸

The clerk writes the new address in the address field on the back of the card at filing time.⁸¹¹ No new card is issued for an address change, so the card number stays the same; a notification changing any other item on the card, such as name or nationality, does produce a newly issued card.⁸

Each mid- to long-term resident in a household carries the duty individually, including children who hold a status of residence.² A household member aged 16 or older can file for a child under 16 or for a member who cannot appear in person, so one counter visit can cover the whole household.²

Missing the 14-Day Window

Failure to notify within 14 days can draw a fine of up to ¥200,000 under the Immigration Control Act.⁸ Separately, failing to notify a new address within 90 days of leaving the old one, without a justifiable reason, is a ground for revoking status of residence.⁸

A missed window is repaired by filing late with the true move date, not by waiting for the gap to surface later.⁸

Backdating the move date compounds the breach

Writing a false recent date to hide a missed window turns a late notification into a false one. A false notification can bring up to one year of imprisonment or a fine of up to ¥200,000, and can lead to revocation of status of residence. File with the true facts and dates.⁸

Ripple Procedures After the Address Change

National Health Insurance does not carry across a municipal border by itself: after moving out, you enroll anew at the new ward or city office, and settling an outstanding premium requires an in-person visit (as of 2026-09).¹² The residence-card update covers the immigration side, so no separate immigration visit is needed for the address itself.²

Update the address field on your My Number Card at the counter during the same visit.¹ File a separate mail-forwarding request with Japan Post, since mail does not follow the residence record automatically. Then work through the private ripples: bank, employer, insurer, and mobile carrier, each on its own timeline.

Good to know

File tenshutsu close to the move-out date

The sweet spot is the move-out date itself or a few days before.⁶ Filing late compresses the 14-day tennyu window at the other end, because the counter-channel tennyu needs the move-out certificate that tenshutsu produces.⁵

Tennyu needs the certificate, so guard it during the move

The paper move-out certificate is a small slip that is easy to lose in moving boxes. Without it, the new office cannot complete a counter-channel tennyu.⁵ Online filers are covered by the forwarded data instead, which is one more reason to prefer the portal channel where available.⁷

Overseas moves use tenshutsu alone

Leaving Japan means filing the move-out notification before departure and returning through tennyu if you come back to live again.¹ Short trips abroad need no filing at all. The departure checklist sequences tenshutsu with the tax, banking, and card-surrender steps of a permanent exit.

Where no Japan dwelling remains, for example during a long overseas stay with the address cleared, no immigration address notification is owed. The municipal move-out filing is still required.⁸

The 14-day clock ignores your renewal date

The immigration window runs from moving day regardless of where your renewal sits. A move two years before expiry triggers the same duty as a move two weeks before.²

Pack the residence card where you can reach it

The duty to carry the card continues across moving day, and every counter filing during the move presumes you present it.¹⁰ Carrying it to the move-out visit, the move-in visit, and any related errand keeps each filing to one trip.¹⁴

See also

• Jūminhyō: Japan's Residence Record Explained
• Departure Checklist: The 90-Day Run-Up
• Mail-Forwarding at Move and Departure
• NHI Enrollment at the Ward Office
• Yakusho: Japan's Ward Office as Universal Interface
• My Number Portal: Online Procedures

References

Footnotes

1. Immigration Services Agency. "Procedures at Municipal Offices" (Guidebook chapter PDF). https://www.moj.go.jp/isa/content/001453455.pdf ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³ ↩¹⁴ ↩¹⁵

2. 出入国在留管理庁. 「住居地の変更届出（中長期在留者）」. https://www.moj.go.jp/isa/applications/procedures/nyuukokukanri10_00023.html ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰

3. Obihiro City / Hokkaido CIR newsletter. "Process for Leaving Japan or Moving" (English PDF, Feb 2025). https://www.city.obihiro.hokkaido.jp/_res/projects/default_project/_page_/001/001/394/pioneer2025-02.pdf ↩ ↩²

4. Immigration Services Agency. "When you decide or change the place of residence" (PDF leaflet). https://www.moj.go.jp/isa/content/930001396.pdf ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

5. Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. "Basic Resident Registration System for Foreign Residents: Move in / Move out" (English). https://www.soumu.go.jp/main_sosiki/jichi_gyousei/c-gyousei/zairyu/english/move-in_move-out.html ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹

6. City of Yokohama. "Procedures for when moving house" (English). https://www.city.yokohama.lg.jp/lang/residents/en/notifications/default.html ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

7. Digital Agency. "Online Service for Moving Procedures" (English). https://www.digital.go.jp/en/policies/moving_onestop_service ↩ ↩² ↩³

8. Immigration Services Agency. "Answers (Q80-Q149)" new residency management Q&A (English). https://www.moj.go.jp/isa/publications/faq/newimmiact_4_q-and-a_page3.html?lang=en ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰

9. Immigration Services Agency. "Notification of the Address" reference form (Articles 19-7/19-8/19-9). https://www.moj.go.jp/isa/content/930004178.pdf ↩ ↩²

10. e-Gov法令検索. 「出入国管理及び難民認定法」. https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/law/326CO0000000319 ↩ ↩²

11. Arakawa City. 「外国人住民の方の住居地の届出」. https://www.city.arakawa.tokyo.jp/a010/todokede/gaikokujintouroku/jukyochi_todokede.html ↩

12. University of Tokyo. "Necessary Procedures When Moving-in/out" (English). https://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/adm/inbound/en/life-housing-moving.html ↩