Hey everyone,
I am in the process of moving to Japan for my company (so I’ll be working for the same company).
I am trying to wrap my head around everything I need to prepare/know etc…
1. Visa
– I live in Thailand at the moment, from what I saw, I will need to apply for the visa at the consulate/embassy here. I saw that I need to move within 3 month after receiving the visa. I don’t know if anyone have done it in Thailand but I would be curious to know how long it took to be delivered.
2. Driving License
– My driving license was done in France, I see that I can translate it using JAF. From what I understood, I can then use that paper for 1 year to drive around japan (or until my driver license is expired, whichever comes first). To have a real driving license I did not understand the process at all. I saw that I need the translation + my passport + my driving license, and a ton of other stuff I did not understand at all. If anyone can point me in the right direction here.
3. Apartment/House
– I’m leaning toward renting nice houses in setagaya (for around 250-300k per month) as I like having space. However I’m wondering if detached houses are a good idea or if there are things I need to take into account ? (for example I’m shit scared of roaches or any insects, could that be a problem in a house, even newer ones ?)
4. Bank
– I see that there are a lot of features limited the first 6 month when you open an Account and as such lots of banks might just flat out refuse applicants. I saw Japan Post Bank is a good option for foreigners, is it still the case ? Or are there any other good recommendation that are good options for foreigners ?
5. SIM
– Do you guys recommend a good plan (20+GB or unlimited) for phone ? I saw docomo seems to be an expensive option but reliable. Am I correct ?
If there are anything I need to know before moving please let me know 😀
5 comments
This is a copy of your post for archive/search purposes.
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**Moving to Japan for work in my 30s**
Hey everyone,
I am in the process of moving to Japan for my company (so I’ll be working for the same company).
I am trying to wrap my head around everything I need to prepare/know etc…
1. Visa
– I live in Thailand at the moment, from what I saw, I will need to apply for the visa at the consulate/embassy here. I saw that I need to move within 3 month after receiving the visa. I don’t know if anyone have done it in Thailand but I would be curious to know how long it took to be delivered.
2. Driving License
– My driving license was done in France, I see that I can translate it using JAF. From what I understood, I can then use that paper for 1 year to drive around japan (or until my driver license is expired, whichever comes first). To have a real driving license I did not understand the process at all. I saw that I need the translation + my passport + my driving license, and a ton of other stuff I did not understand at all. If anyone can point me in the right direction here.
3. Apartment/House
– I’m leaning toward renting nice houses in setagaya (for around 250-300k per month) as I like having space. However I’m wondering if detached houses are a good idea or if there are things I need to take into account ? (for example I’m shit scared of roaches or any insects, could that be a problem in a house, even newer ones ?)
4. Bank
– I see that there are a lot of features limited the first 6 month when you open an Account and as such lots of banks might just flat out refuse applicants. I saw Japan Post Bank is a good option for foreigners, is it still the case ? Or are there any other good recommendation that are good options for foreigners ?
5. SIM
– Do you guys recommend a good plan (20+GB or unlimited) for phone ? I saw docomo seems to be an expensive option but reliable. Am I correct ?
If there are anything I need to know before moving please let me know 😀
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>From what I understood, I can then use that paper for 1 year to drive around japan (or until my driver license is expired, whichever comes first)
***Absolutely not***. The JAF translation is only for the process of converting your license to a Japanese one.
The situation you’re referring to requires an International Driving Permit (IDP), which you need to get from an agency in the country that issued your license. In this case: France.
* bank – I and a lot of foreigners I know use Prestia. benefits are, if you have a full time job (and I presume a reasonably decent salary) you can get the bank acct starting on day 1. literally, I flew in on a Sunday and got my bank account on Monday – they let me sign up with international phone number, temporary 1 month address and everything. also you can do all transactions in English. downsides are, they charge an acct maintenance fee if you don’t meet certain criteria (I think 1 of them is to keep 500,000 yen deposited in the account), and Prestia I think still can’t be connected to some services like PayPay
* SIM – I would just avoid the budget providers like Y Mobile which is what I currently use. it’s not super bad or anything but I think basically, they share the network with Softbank but Softbank users get priority when the network is experiencing high traffic or whatever. I’ll randomly have really slow 4g/5g and people around me with Docomo, Softbank etc. don’t have any issues.
Definitely a house. Less bullsh*t.
I mean, insects are just a thing everywhere, and it’s warm in this part of Japan. I’m seeing the 20mm wood roaches in my neighborhood now– far preferable to Herman roaches though.
But with a house you have control over your own cleanliness.
Apartment: dirty neighbors upstairs? That’s just your life now.
Just chatted with a coworker whose apartment even charges them for bike parking and won’t let him take his bicycle into the apartment. Crazy (to me).
The only reason I’d choose an apartment is proximity or value– closer to work and cheaper.
Where I live specifically, the apartments get me only 3km / 10 minutes closer to work and the rent is nearly the same, so I gain almost nothing. Your situation may be quite different of course
>1. I live in Thailand at the moment, from what I saw, I will need to apply for the visa at the consulate/embassy here. I saw that I need to move within 3 month after receiving the visa. I don’t know if anyone have done it in Thailand but I would be curious to know how long it took to be delivered.
Usually you start with applying for a CoE (your employer would do this). This can take 3-6 months. You then use this CoE to apply for a visa, and this usually takes 1-2 weeks. The visa application is usually very quick, since all the heavy work is done during the CoE application.
>1. My driving license was done in France, I see that I can translate it using JAF. From what I understood, I can then use that paper for 1 year to drive around japan (or until my driver license is expired, whichever comes first). To have a real driving license I did not understand the process at all. I saw that I need the translation + my passport + my driving license, and a ton of other stuff I did not understand at all. If anyone can point me in the right direction here.
No. You can use an IDP for up to a year. The JAF translation can be used for converting your existing licence to a Japanese one.
To convert you need the stuff you said, and proof that you have lived in France for at least 3 months since you got your license.
>1. I see that there are a lot of features limited the first 6 month when you open an Account and as such lots of banks might just flat out refuse applicants. I saw Japan Post Bank is a good option for foreigners, is it still the case ? Or are there any other good recommendation that are good options for foreigners ?
Limitations during the first 6 months are for those who are not employed in Japan, so that shouldn’t be applied to you. Your employer can usually help you with setting up a bank account.