The 18-Step Guide to Moving Out of Japan
Note: This guide is an English-language translation of a guide I received from my contracting organization in May, 2024. The following contents are translations of the original contents plus original commentary and advice from me.
For those leaving Japan, you can find more comprehensive resources from Fukuoka JET’s Departure Handbook.
When you’re a JET, you will eventually leave the program. While many of us, myself included, leave Japan to return to our home countries, some of us stay for new employment within. While this guide is intended to help those leaving Japan, you may find it useful if you are moving elsewhere within Japan.
Assumptions
This guide is tailored for JET Program participants located in Fukuoka Prefecture. While this guide is available for all, please adjust accordingly depending on your location within Japan.
This guide also assumes you are completing your contract, and your last day of employment is July 31st.
This guide also assumes you will be leaving Japan. If you are relocating within Japan, consider leaving your Japanese bank account open instead.
Lastly, this guide assumes the ALT (or CIR) is responsible for purchasing their airfare to their home country, while your contracting organization reimburses you later. Some contracting organizations will purchase your return flight for you, while others will ask you for your preference, then purchase it for you.
Parties Involved
You, the JET Program Participant
Your Supervisor
Your Designated Office Staff Member
Now, let’s get onto the guide!
Part 1: Actions to be Performed by You (Due May 31st)
Step 1: Acquire Return Airfare
In Fukuoka Prefecture, departing JET Program participants are responsible for purchasing their airfare home. Your supervisor will give you a budget for your return flight. In 2024, the budget for flights between Fukuoka and Los Angeles was 132,390 yen, which at the time was quite low.
The flight must depart within 30 days of the end of your contract. Since most JET contracts end July 31st, you must leave Japan no later than August 31st.
You must also purchase the most direct flight home possible. This means the fewest number of layovers and the shortest amount of time. For Fukuoka JETs, it is common to have one layover in either Tokyo or Seoul. If you are from Hawaii, Hawaiian Airlines offers direct flights from Fukuoka to Honolulu. If you are from the U.S., it is worth inquiring about having your layover in Hawaii as while it may not be the most direct in distance, it’s more efficient in terms of customs clearance and cost.
Make sure you purchase your flight home using the Japanese website of either the airline or the travel agency (such as Expedia). This is because you need to provide a receipt showing the purchase amount in Japanese Yen, as you will be reimbursed via direct deposit before you depart. If you have a Japanese debit or credit card, use that to purchase your flight. If not, just make sure the receipt shows Japanese Yen as the used currency.
Once you purchase your return flight, you will submit your receipt to your office staff and complete some paperwork. You may also get reimbursed for transportation costs from your base location (school, city office) to the airport, up to 500 yen. I don’t understand why they do this, but it’s free money.
Step 2: Notify Your School (or Landlord) of your Moving Out Date
Once you’ve purchased your airfare, choose what day you plan on moving out of your home and notify your school or landlord.
You can choose whichever day you want to move out, as long as it is no later than the day you fly out of Japan. I chose to move out one day before my flight and book a hotel as I wanted to have a low-stress move-out day.
Your supervisor may be required to be with you at the time of move-out to ensure proper utility shutoff and communicate with the inspector.
Step 3: Coordination of Move-out Inspection
Your supervisor will need to contact the landlord and coordinate your move-out inspection. This is usually the same day as your official move-out.
Step 4: Payment of Resident Tax
This is kind of my specialty. Resident Tax must be paid in full before you leave Japan. Since I lived in Japan on January 1, 2024, I was responsible for paying 2023 resident tax.
Since I had my resident tax deducted from my salary, my 2023 resident tax was deducted in one lump sum from my final paycheck.
If you do not have resident tax deducted from your pay, you will receive four (or more) payment slips from your municipality in June. You must pay at a conbini, in cash, in full, before your scheduled departure date.
Since I no longer live in Japan, I am not liable for 2024 resident tax as I did not reside in Japan on January 1, 2025.
Point is, make sure your resident tax obligations are properly settled with your municipality as this can cause trouble if you ever return to Japan.
Part 2: Ensuring Proper Moving Out (Due between May 31st and July 31st)
Step 5: Schedule Cancellation and Shutoff of Utilities, Credit Cards, Subscriptions, and so on.
Contact your utility providers, over the phone, and schedule cancellation of services by your scheduled move-out date.
When doing this, ensure you can settle final expenses at the time of move-out. Try requesting a person come to your residence and bill you on the spot.
This can be tricky due to the language barrier. If you struggle, ask your supervisor or a Japanese speaking friend for assistance.
The following are my experiences with shutting down my respective utilities.
Electricity
My electricity was provided through Kyushu Electric Power Company (Kyuden). Shutoff was handled remotely, but ensuring proper settlement took a few phone calls. First, I needed to change my payment method from bank transfer to payment slips. Second, I needed to request what’s called an “approximate payment,” which was texted to me on the day of shutoff.
On the day of shutoff, I turned off my circuit breaker before handing the keys to the landlord. A few hours later, Kyuden texted me a link with a QR code I could scan at Lawson’s Loppi machines. From there, I printed out a barcode and receipt and paid my final electricity bill at Lawson. The bill was settled then and there.
Gas
My gas company was a local home appliance store which provided liquid propane gas to my building. They were the easiest utility to deal with. All I had to do was schedule my shutoff, which had to be before move-out inspection. They sent a worker to shut off my gas, who then read the meter and charged me on the spot. I paid in cash, the bill was settled then and there.
Note I also had bank transfer for my payment method. However, I paid my final bill in cash. In this case, I did not need to request a payment method change.
Water
Water was unusual in my case as it was handled by my resident association. All I had to do was notify the association of my move-out date. They then gave me my final water bill for the last two months and I paid in cash. The bill was settled with little effort.
Internet
I used SoftBank Hikari and I have a guide just for cancelling this one properly. In short, first, change your payment method to your home country’s credit card if you do not use this. Second, call their English phone line and schedule cancellation of service. This is handled 100% remotely. They will mail you a box to return their equipment. Mail the equipment back and that’s it. You will be charged your final bill over a period of two months from the date of cancellation.
Phone
I used Mobal Japan for my phone service and cancellation was easy. Once I left Japan, I logged into my account and cancelled my SIM card. I changed my payment method to my American credit card. That’s it. All done.
It’s really important to properly cancel your utilities as failure to do so will result in unpaid bills and trouble reentering Japan.
Step 6: Confirm Procedures for Returning to your Home Country.
Personally, I didn’t understand this step as Americans only have to show their passport upon entering. This step may be applicable to residents of certain countries, such as permanent residents entering their home country. Regardless, ensure you are able to reenter your home country.
Step 7: Begin preparing your Lump Sum Pension Withdrawal Application
If you are a public school ALT, or CIR, go to the Japan Pension Service’s webpage and download the latest version of the lump sum pension withdrawal application. If you are a rare private school ALT, go to PMAC’s webpage and download their application.
From there, follow either TokyoJET’s guides (public)(private), or my guide on how to properly complete the application.
Part 3: Things To Complete Before Your Last Day (Due July 31st)
Step 8: Return your Health Insurance Card
You are required to return your Japanese health insurance card to your office by the last day of employment, usually July 31st. Your school may ask you to stamp a document confirming receipt of the insurance card.
Step 9: Designate a Tax Representative for Tax Matters in Japan
This step ties in with Step 7 mentioned above. Your tax representative (Japanese) is responsible for settling tax-related matters after you leave Japan. In some cases, your supervisor may be tasked with this, or you can designate a trusted friend to handle this.
Your supervisor may give you a copy of the tax representative form for you to complete, and your office may submit to your tax office on your behalf.
If you are not as lucky, or you want to choose your own representative, print the form from the NTA’s website.
Next, find your local tax office by entering you address into this website (in Japanese, see image below). Then, go with your representative to the office and complete a copy of the form together. Once you are finished, the tax office will keep one copy while your representative keeps the other copy.
Your tax representative will need this to file a final tax return if you complete the lump sum pension withdrawal. This is so you can get a refund of the 20% withheld from your pension withdrawal. More on that from TokyoJET and myself.
Step 10: Complete documents regarding loss of employment.
Your office staff or supervisor will give you documents to sign confirming your “retirement” date. Stamp with your inkan and you are good to go.
Step 11: Procedures for Lump Sum Resident Tax Collection.
As described in Step 4, you are responsible for paying resident tax. If you were like me and had your resident tax payments deducted from your salary, you may be asked to stamp a form confirming one lump sum payment to be deducted from your final paycheck. This is an important form.
Step 12: Year-end Salary Adjustment Procedures
Normally, you’d receive some tax-related documents in October or November to complete. These documents are used by the office to determine the appropriate amount of income tax to be deducted (or refunded) at year’s end. Since your last day of employment is on or around July 31st, you will be asked to complete these forms in June in order for the office to adjust your tax obligations accordingly. This usually results in a sizable refund in income tax.
Step 13: Closing your Japanese Bank Account.
Most banks in Japan have policies regarding residents and bank accounts. For example, Fukuoka Bank will freeze your account once your Zairyu Card expires, meaning you will have no access to your funds.
Therefore, it is advised you properly close your bank account before you leave Japan. In order to do this, you must go to the bank branch you originally opened your account at to avoid potential handling fees. Note that some banks, including Japan Post Bank, allow you to close your account at any branch.
Bring your current bank book (if your bank still issues those), your Zairyu Card, your Cash (ATM) Card, and if you have, your debit card to the branch. Explain you are leaving Japan and want to close your account. Give them your documents and they will process account closure.
Personally, I moved my money to Wise before closing my account. If you have a balance (or unknown interest), you will receive your balance in cash once your account is closed. The bank may return your documents and give you a receipt confirming account closure. That’s it!
Note: Fukuoka Bank requires you to close your debit card separately, and before closing your bank account. To do this, call JCB using the number on the back of your card and cancel over the phone. Once you’ve completed this step, you can close your bank account at Fukuoka Bank.
All bank’s procedures and policies are different. Some Japanese banks allow foreigners to leave their accounts open indefinitely (including those in Ishikawa Prefecture), while most banks will freeze accounts belonging to foreigners with expired Zairyu cards. Regardless, I recommend closing your Japanese bank accounts before leaving Japan.
Step 14: Notify your Municipality of your Move-Out Date
Remember when you first arrived in Japan, when your supervisor took you to your town hall (or ward office) to help you get registered? Now you get to do the opposite!
Within two weeks of your move-out date, return to your town hall and complete a Tenshutsu-Todoke (転出届)(Moving out notice). This form is similar to the moving in form you completed at the beginning of your JET journey.
Fill in the required fields and ask questions if you need help. Some town halls may not ask you for your new address if you are leaving the country. In fact, I simply wrote “America” under the new address field.
Once you complete the form, try asking for a certificate of moving out (転出証明書)(Tenshutsu shomeisho). Not all municipalities will give this to you as you are leaving the country. If you are moving elsewhere within Japan, the town hall will most likely give you one.
Step 15: Commuting Expense Reimbursement for July (your final month)
Towards the end of June, you may be asked by your office staff to list your nenkyu (paid time off) days for the month of July. This is so they can calculate your commuting expenses for your final month as it has to be entered into their system in advance.
In addition, you should also be reimbursed for your return flight expenses. Your flight reimbursement will be paid out separately from your regular salary and commuting reimbursement.
Step 16: Provide your Workplace with your Home Country’s Bank Account Details
This one weirded me out, and it may make you feel uncomfortable. All I’ll say is only provide this if you are explicitly asked to.
You may be asked to provide your home country’s banking details as you may have reimbursements paid out after you leave Japan. For example, many JETs receive generous reimbursements from our health insurance providers for expensive procedures. These reimbursements are often paid out months later. Since your Japanese bank account will be closed by then, your school may try to get this money to you. In order to send you this money, they will need your home country’s banking details.
They can only send money, not take money from you.
If you are uncomfortable doing this, open a bank balance in Wise and provide the banking details for that account instead.
Step 17: Affinity Settlement
I have no idea what this step refers to. I believe this step is in regards to settling reimbursements after leaving Japan, which I already covered in Step 16.
Step 18: Return Loaned Furniture Items to your School.
In Fukuoka Prefecture, the BOE is required to lend JETs a refrigerator, a washing machine, and a gas burner for cooking. You must make arrangements for returning these items to your contracting organization, or in most cases, ensure these items get passed down to your successor properly.
Also, check your successor packet from your predecessor to see if there are any other loaned items you may not be aware of. Ensure these items are passed down to your successor and not sold.
Loaned items will have a seal of some kind. This seal may be Gold in color, or a simple label-maker label. If it has a seal or label, DO NOT DISPOSE OR SELL.
In Conclusion
Well, that was a lot of information, even for me! I hope you find this guide helpful for when you depart Japan.