When you first move to Japan from another country, one of the first things you come to realize is the importance of your local city hall. The city hall (市役所) – or ward office (区役所) if you’re living in a major city divided into wards – is a central feature of local government in Japan where a large number of residential procedures are carried out. In fact, when you first move to Japan, one of the first things you need to do is to visit your local city hall in order to register as a resident. A visit is equally essential for things such as moving house and signing up for health insurance. While online options are available for some minor procedures, almost all major procedures still require an in person visit.
For many new foreign residents, this visit to the city hall/ward office is their first exposure to bureaucracy in Japan and can seem very daunting. For some, it can be a major culture shock. As it is something very important for foreign residents in Japan to do, we have prepared a handy guide for visiting your local city hall/ward office including how to best prepare and even some handy Japanese phrases that might help you during your visit.
City Hall Procedures
While this guide will focus largely on the most important procedures for foreign residents, there are a large number of things that are handled by the city hall/ward office. Larger cities that are divided into wards such as Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka and Yokohama will sometimes have both a city hall and ward offices, with all of the below procedures handled at the ward offices rather than the city hall itself. Some of the procedures that are handled at these offices are:
- Resident Registration
- National Health Insurance Procedures
- National Pension System Procedures
- Registration of births, deaths and marriages
- Personal seal registration
- Welfare services including childcare applications
- City and municipal taxation
- My Number Card applications
- Certificate issuance (tax certificates, residence certificates etc.)
The initial resident registration is extremely important and must be completed within 14 days of a resident moving into the city. This basically lets the city know your address and your residential status and is the key to most other procedures. If you move house while in Japan, you must file a move out notice and then also complete residence registration at your new city hall or ward office each time. This is a legal requirement and failure to do so can lead to penalties as well as severely impact your ability to do things in Japan such as renting an apartment or receiving health care.
Depending on your situation, during your initial visit you may also need to sign up for National Health insurance. If you are covered by a health insurance plan through your employer this is not required, however if not, joining the National Health insurance plan is mandatory and needs to be done at the city hall/ward office.
This also applies for the National Pension System. If you are enrolled in a pension plan through your employer, you will not need to do anything but if not, you will need to join the National Pension system through the city hall. This is something to be particularly vigilant about as it is sometimes overlooked by newcomers to Japan and can affect visa renewals later on.
During your initial registration, you will be assigned what’s called a My Number. This is a personal identification number used by all residents of Japan for social insurance purposes and taxation. It is also highly recommended that you apply for a My Number card. This is a separate process that grants you a physical card that can be used for multiple purposes and allows you to access various online services that will save you possible future visits.
Aside from your initial visit, you will still likely need to go to the city hall/ward office for things such as submitting moving out/moving in notifications or issuing certificates related to residence, health insurance and tax.
What to Prepare for Your Visit
There is no need to make an appointment to go to the city hall but it’s a good idea to check the opening hours before planning your visit. Most are only open on weekdays from 9 to 5 though the actual hours vary from pace to place. Many will have selected times where they are open extended hours or weekends, for example, one Saturday a month. It’s also best to make sure you have enough time set aside. Depending on how busy your local city hall/ward office is, your visit can sometimes take a number of hours, especially for your initial visit.
Always make sure you have all of the required documents before visiting as it can be particularly frustrating to get partway through a process and realize that you have to start again. For your first visit, you will need the following:
- Residence Card
- Passport
- Proof of address
- Dates that you moved in
Your address must be your permanent address. You cannot use the address of a hotel or AirBnB.
Perhaps the most challenging thing about a visit to a city is the language barrier. Support in other languages may be extremely limited, if available at all. If you’re not confident in your Japanese language ability, it is best to make sure you have a translation app or even better, someone who can speak Japanese to help you, especially with filling out forms.
Your Visit
Appointments generally aren’t available at a city hall/ward office. You typically just need to turn up, take a numbered ticket and then wait. Most of the time, there will be staff members inside the entrance to greet you and help guide you to the right section. Your visit may involve interacting with a number of different staff in different sections so don’t be surprised if you are given different numbered tickets and asked to wait again at different times throughout.
Helpful Japanese Words and Phrases for Your Visit
The language barrier can be a major hurdle when visiting the city hall. A reliable translation app will help you out tremendously, but even having a few Japanese phrases and words up your sleeve can make things smoother. When visiting for the first time, you can use the following phrases to help navigate around:
| English | Japanese | Romaji |
|---|---|---|
| Are there any staff who can speak English? |
英語が 話せる 人はいますか？ |
Eigo ga hanaseru hito wa imasu ka? |
| I’d like to register my address. |
住所の 登録をしたいのですが。 |
Jūsho no tōroku o shitai no desu ga |
| Where should I go? | どこに行けばいいですか？ | Doko ni ikeba ii desu ka? |
| What documents do I need? |
必要な 書類は 何ですか？ |
Hitsuyō na shorui wa nan desu ka? |
Some additional words that you may hear when visiting are:
- Residence card – 在留カード
- Address – 住所
- Phone number – 電話番号
- ID – 身分証明書
- Service Counter – 窓口
- Health insurance – 健康保険
- Pension – 年金
City Hall: An Essential Place for Residents
Visiting the city hall/ward office is something unavoidable as a resident of Japan, foreign or otherwise. These offices serve as an important part of governmental administration and many essential procedures require you to go there personally. It may seem like an intimidating place to visit but with the right preparation, you can ensure a relatively smooth and painless trip.
