Japan relocation guide 2026

01The country in 30 seconds

Japan means Tokyo with its endless neighborhoods, quiet Kyoto, food-loving Osaka and warm Fukuoka. It's very safe, everything runs on time, and food is tasty and affordable.

Russians need a visa, but it's usually issued without much trouble: you apply in advance at the embassy or a consulate. One trip can last up to 90 days.

Staying long term is harder. Japan has had a digital nomad visa since 2024, but only for citizens of about 50 countries, and Russia is not on the list. Realistic paths for Russians are a language school, a job at a Japanese company, or, for the wealthy, a business visa that became much more expensive in October 2025.

• A visa is required, there's no visa-free entry for Russians
• A nomad visa exists (6 months, income from ¥10 million a year), but Russian citizens can't get it
• No direct flights from Russia — people fly via China, Istanbul, Tashkent or Ulaanbaatar
• Budget is about $1,100-2,700 per month per person
• Mir cards and Russian Visa/Mastercard don't work

Facts checked as of November 2026. Rules change, especially visa fees and status requirements — check official sites before you go.

02Who it's for

Japan works well if:

• You want to live for a couple of months in the safest and most convenient country you can imagine
• You're fine combining 1-3 month visa trips with living in another country
• You want to learn Japanese — a language school is the clearest path to a long-term status
• You work in IT or engineering and are ready to look for a job at a Japanese company
• You love food, nature, mountains, hot springs and cities where just walking around is fun

What to explore in and around Japan:

• Tokyo and around — Kamakura, Nikko, Hakone and Mt. Fuji views from the Fuji Five Lakes
• Kyoto, Nara and Osaka — temples, old streets and the best street food
• Hokkaido — snow and skiing in winter, lavender fields and nature in summer
• Okinawa — warm sea and beaches, Japan's subtropics
• Kyushu — Fukuoka, Beppu hot springs, Mt. Aso volcano
• Nearby — South Korea (60 days visa-free, K-ETA needed), China (30 days visa-free), Hong Kong, Taiwan, Mongolia and all of Southeast Asia

Maybe not for you if:

• You need a simple residence permit for remote work without study or an employer
• You don't have starting money: renting usually takes 4-6 months of rent up front
• You struggle without English — daily life and paperwork need Japanese or a translator
• All your money is in Russian banks with no way to move it

03Entry & visa

There is no visa-free entry to Japan for Russian citizens. You need a visa in advance — it's not issued at the border.

If you live in Russia, you apply at the Embassy of Japan in Moscow or a consulate general (St. Petersburg, Khabarovsk, Vladivostok, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk). If you live in another country, you apply at the Japanese embassy there. Since 2017 Russians don't need a guarantee letter from a sponsor, and in autumn 2024 the Moscow embassy dropped the hotel-booking requirement for tourist visas.

A short-term visa (Temporary Visitor status) gives 15, 30 or 90 days — the embassy decides. You can't do paid work in Japan on this status. Extending it inside Japan is only possible in exceptional cases, like illness with a medical certificate.

Multiple-entry visas for 3 and 5 years exist for Russians — they came with the visa simplification. But the embassy decides, there's no guarantee.

Before you land, you can fill in Visit Japan Web — it has the immigration and customs forms, and you show a QR code at the border. It's optional, paper forms are still accepted.

04Residency & legalization

In short: for a Russian remote worker, Japan has no easy long-term status. Below are all the realistic options, from the most accessible to the most expensive.

Digital nomad visa (Designated Activities, digital nomad) — in place since 2024. Requirements:

• Remote work for a foreign company, or services to clients outside Japan
• Personal income of at least ¥10 million a year (about $63,000)
• Health insurance covering at least ¥10 million of treatment for the whole stay
• Stay of 6 months, not renewable; you can apply again 6 months after you leave
• No residence card is issued; your spouse and children can come with you
• Only for citizens of countries with both visa-free entry to Japan and a tax treaty with Japan

Language school (Student status) — the clearest path for Russians. The school applies for your Certificate of Eligibility (COE) with immigration, then you get the visa at the embassy. The status can last up to 4 years and 3 months; most people study 1-2 years. You must show you can pay for school and living — schools set the amounts. With permission you can work part-time up to 28 hours a week. Study is real: attendance is checked.

Job at a Japanese company (Engineer/Specialist in Humanities, Highly Skilled Professional) — for IT people and engineers. You need a contract with a Japanese employer and usually a relevant degree or long experience. Under the Highly Skilled Professional points system (70+ points), permanent residence comes faster than usual.

J-Find — for graduates of universities in the top 100 of at least two of three world rankings (QS, THE, ARWU), within 5 years of graduation. You need at least ¥200,000 in the bank. It gives up to 2 years to look for a job or prepare a startup. There's no nationality limit, but check that your university is on the official list.

Business Manager visa — since October 16, 2025 the requirements went up sharply:

• Capital of at least ¥30 million (about $190,000) instead of the old ¥5 million
• At least one full-time employee who is a Japanese citizen or permanent resident
• B2-level Japanese (JLPT N2) for you or your employee
• A relevant master's degree or 3+ years of business management experience
• The business plan must be checked by a Japanese consultant, CPA or tax accountant

For a regular remote worker, this is no longer realistic.

There is also a long-stay status for sightseeing and recreation (up to 1 year) for wealthy people, but as far as we can tell it's also only for citizens of visa-exempt countries — check with immigration.

What a Japanese status gives you for travel. Japan is not in Schengen, so a Japanese residence card doesn't help you enter Europe. But with it you can leave Japan and come back within a year without a separate permit (special re-entry permit). And there are many countries nearby that Russians can already visit visa-free:

• South Korea — up to 60 days, but you need a K-ETA online authorization
• China — 30 days visa-free (trial scheme until December 31, 2027)
• Hong Kong — 14 days, Macau — 30 days
• Mongolia, the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia — 30 days
• Vietnam — 45 days
• Taiwan — an e-visa is needed

05Work & taxes

On a tourist visa you can't work for Japanese clients or a Japanese company. Remote work for a foreign employer during a short trip is a gray area: it's not clearly allowed, but it's not enforced either. The nomad visa allows exactly this, but Russians can't get it.

Tax residency in Japan isn't based on 183 days. You're a resident if your "center of life" (domicile) is in Japan, or if you've lived here continuously for a year or more. Someone who moves with a residence card for a year or longer is usually a resident from day one.

How income is taxed:

• Non-residents pay tax only on Japan-source income
• Non-permanent residents (not Japanese citizens, in Japan 5 years or less out of the last 10) pay on Japan-source income plus foreign income paid in or sent to Japan
• Regular residents pay on worldwide income

Income tax rates are progressive, from 5% to 45%, plus about 10% local inhabitant tax. Residents also pay into national health insurance and the pension system.

In 2023 Russia suspended parts of its tax treaties with "unfriendly" countries, and as far as we know Japan is on that list. So you may not be able to offset Japanese tax in Russia. If you stay a Russian tax resident or work for a Russian company, sort it out with a tax advisor.

06Banks, cards & money

Mir cards don't work in Japan. Russian-issued Visa and Mastercard haven't worked abroad since 2022. UnionPay from Russian banks is a lottery: it may work or may not, so don't count on it.

Japan joined the sanctions against Russia. Transfers from sanctioned Russian banks to Japanese banks are practically impossible, and Japanese banks may take longer to check clients with a Russian passport.

You can't open a Japanese bank account on a tourist visa. Banks usually ask for a residence card (zairyu card), a Japanese address and a phone number. Some banks give foreigners only a limited account until they've lived in Japan for 6 months.

Japan still likes cash, although cards and QR payments (PayPay and others) are more and more common. ATMs at 7-Eleven and post offices accept foreign cards — but not Russian ones.

07Renting a place

For the first weeks, the easiest option is a hotel, an apartment rental or a "monthly mansion" — a furnished flat rented by the month. Another option is a share house: your own room, a shared kitchen, contracts from one month, often without a residence card.

A regular rental in Japan means a 2-year contract and a lot of upfront payments:

• Deposit (shikikin) — 1-2 months' rent, partly refunded
• "Key money" (reikin) — 0-2 months' rent, not refunded
• Agency fee — usually 1 month's rent
• Guarantor company — 50-100% of one month's rent

In total, moving in costs 4-6 months of rent. Without a residence card and a Japanese phone number, a regular flat is almost impossible to rent.

Rough monthly rent for a 1-bedroom flat (Numbeo, November 2026, about ¥158 per $1):

• Tokyo, center — about ¥205,000 ($1,300); outside the center — about ¥111,000 ($700)
• Fukuoka, center — about ¥84,000 ($530); outside the center — about ¥53,000 ($335)
• A studio (1K/1R) in Tokyo is cheaper — often ¥70,000-100,000

Sites to search: SUUMO, HOMES, GaijinPot Apartments, Oakhouse (share houses).

08SIM card & internet

Key rule: a SIM card with a Japanese phone number is sold only to people with a residence card. Tourists can only get data SIMs and eSIMs, without a number.

• Tourist eSIM — buy online in advance, it works as soon as you land
• Once you have a residence card — a plan with docomo, au, SoftBank, Rakuten Mobile or a cheap MVNO (IIJmio and others)
• A 10GB+ plan costs about ¥2,000-7,000 a month, on average ~¥3,600 ($23)

Home fiber costs about ¥4,000-8,000 a month ($25-50), usually with 1 Gbps speed. Setup can take a couple of weeks, and contracts are often for 2 years.

4G and 5G coverage is excellent across the country, even in the subway. Free Wi-Fi is available at stations, cafés and convenience stores.

09Healthcare & insurance

Healthcare in Japan is excellent, but expensive for foreigners without insurance.

If you live in Japan for more than 3 months with a residence card, you must join National Health Insurance (NHI). The premium depends on your income and city. With insurance you pay 30% of the cost of treatment.

Tourists need their own insurance. Check if your insurer has a "cashless" service that pays the clinic directly.

Doctors in big cities often speak some English, but small clinics work in Japanese. Translation apps help, and Tokyo and Osaka have clinics for foreigners.

Medicines: some drugs that are common in Russia and Europe are banned in Japan (for example, some cold medicines with pseudoephedrine). You can bring a 1-month supply of prescription drugs; more needs a separate permit.

10Transport

Getting there. There have been no direct flights between Russia and Japan since 2022. Popular options:

• Via China — Aeroflot and Chinese airlines to Beijing or Shanghai, then on to Tokyo or Osaka
• Via Istanbul — Turkish Airlines
• Via Tashkent — Uzbekistan Airways flies to Narita
• Via Ulaanbaatar — MIAT and Aero Mongolia
• Via the Gulf — Dubai or Doha
• Via Almaty — Air Astana launches a Narita flight from December 1, 2026

Inside Japan, everything works perfectly. In cities you use the subway and trains and pay with a Suica or PASMO card (you can add it to your phone). A Tokyo commuter pass costs about ¥7,500-17,000 a month ($50-110), depending on the route.

Between cities there's the shinkansen. It's fast but not cheap. The Japan Rail Pass costs ¥50,000 for 7 days (ordinary class) and is only sold to tourists with Temporary Visitor status. Budget airlines (Peach, Jetstar Japan) and night buses are cheaper.

Taxis are expensive. Uber exists but mostly works as a way to call a regular taxi; there's also the local app GO.

11Safety & important laws

Japan is one of the safest countries in the world. You can walk around at night, leave your phone on a café table, and lost wallets are often returned.

The real risks are natural:

• Earthquakes — frequent, mostly weak. Install JNTO's Safety tips app for alerts in English
• Typhoons — mostly from August to October, especially in the south and Okinawa
• Summer heat — in July and August it can go above 35°C with high humidity

Relations between Japan and Russia are cold right now, but in daily life people treat Russians normally — this usually isn't a problem.

By law, foreigners must always carry their passport (tourists) or residence card. Police may ask to see it.

In nightlife areas (Kabukicho in Tokyo, Roppongi) there are bar scams — touts take you to a place that later gives you a huge bill. Don't follow touts.

Emergency numbers are in the Health section.

12How much money you need per month

totalAround $1,100-2,700 per month per person: Fukuoka and Osaka near the low end, Tokyo near the high end

13Step-by-step moving plan

1. Decide on your plan: a visa trip of up to 90 days, or a long-term status (language school, job, J-Find).
2. For a long-term status, find a school or employer — they apply for your Certificate of Eligibility (COE) with Japanese immigration.
3. Prepare money in advance: move savings to a foreign account and get clear bank statements.
4. Apply for the visa at the Embassy of Japan in Moscow, a consulate general, or the Japanese embassy in your country of residence.
5. Book flights via China, Istanbul, Tashkent, Ulaanbaatar or the Gulf.
6. Get health insurance for the whole trip and buy a tourist eSIM.
7. Fill in Visit Japan Web before you fly to pass the border with a QR code.
8. Book housing for the first month — a hotel, a monthly mansion or a share house.
9. If you have a residence card, register your address at the city office within 14 days and join NHI.
10. After that, get a Japanese phone number and open a bank account.

14Useful links

• Immigration Services Agency — digital nomad status
• Digital nomad eligible countries (PDF)
• New Business Manager visa requirements
• J-Find — status for top-university graduates
• Embassy of Japan in Russia
• Visit Japan Web — entry forms
• National Tax Agency — who pays tax on what
• Numbeo — Cost of Living in Tokyo
• Numbeo — Cost of Living in Fukuoka
• Japan Visitor Hotline and emergency numbers

15Other countries

Every guide follows the same structure, so they're easy to compare. Comparison table: all countries.

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