Moving to Tokyo from Australia: the complete guide

Getting into Japan is easy. Getting set up in Tokyo is a relay race of counters, and you have to run the legs in the right order.

The short version

Australians can visit Japan visa-free for up to 90 days, but tourists may not do any work, paid or unpaid, and you can't switch to another status from inside Japan [1][2].
If you're moving for longer, you need a proper status before you fly: a working holiday visa (ages 18 to 30), a work visa sponsored by an employer, or a student visa [2][3].
Long-term arrivals get a residence card at the airport, then must register their address at the local ward or city office within 14 days [4][5].
Registration is the key to almost everything else: your My Number, National Health Insurance, a bank account and a phone contract [5][6].
Tokyo is only one or two hours behind Sydney and Melbourne, depending on daylight saving, so calling home is painless. Housing is the hard part, not jet lag.

Choose your visa before you choose your ward

Your visa decides how long you can stay, whether you can work and how much admin you'll do in Tokyo. Japan's immigration system doesn't let you arrive as a tourist and sort it out later. Smartraveller is blunt about it: you can't change your entry status to another visa type inside Japan, you have to leave and come back in with the right one [2].

Route	Who it suits	What to know in 2026
Visa-free short stay	Scouting trips, flat inspections, job interviews	Up to 90 days for tourism or business visits. No work of any kind [1][2]
Working holiday visa	Australians aged 18 to 30	Free, once only, applied for in person in Australia. Six months on arrival, with discretionary extensions [3][7]
Employer-sponsored work visa	Graduates with a job offer (teaching, IT, finance, engineering)	Your employer usually supports the application. Common categories include Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services and Instructor [8]
Student visa	Language school or university students	Full-time study comes first. Part-time work needs separate permission

Australia was the first country to sign a working holiday deal with Japan, back in 1980 [7]. It's still the most popular way in for under-31s, and we cover it in depth in our guide to the Japan working holiday visa and finding work in Tokyo.

If you're older or want to build a career, the realistic route is a job offer first. Teaching English, tech, finance and engineering employers in Tokyo are used to sponsoring foreign hires. Get the contract, then let the employer guide the paperwork.

Before you leave Australia

Japan is strict about medicines. Some common medications are restricted or banned, narcotic medicines such as codeine and oxycodone need a Narcotic Certificate, and you should carry your prescription and a doctor's letter [2]. Check every pill in your bag well before you fly.

Our leaving Australia checklist covers the home-side jobs: tax, super, Medicare, mail and your Aussie bank.

Your first fortnight: the order that works

Tokyo's systems are logical, but each step depends on the one before. Here's the sequence most new arrivals follow.

Get your residence card at the airport. Mid- to long-term visa holders arriving at major airports such as Narita and Haneda are usually handed a residence card on the spot. Carry it at all times; long-term residents are required to [2][6].
Find somewhere to live. You can't register without an address. Many people start in a serviced apartment or share house, then sign a regular lease later. See our guide to renting in Tokyo.
Register at the ward office within 14 days. Take your residence card to the ward (ku) or city office for your new address. Toshima City, for example, asks new arrivals to file within 14 days of taking up residence [5].
Sort health insurance and pension at the same visit. If you're not covered by an employer scheme, the ward office enrols you in National Health Insurance. Employers usually handle pension enrolment [6].
Wait for your My Number. A notification arrives by post at your registered address. Toshima City reminds new residents to make sure their name is on the letterbox, because you'll need the number for tax and health insurance procedures [5].
Open a bank account. Japan Post Bank is commonly used by newcomers. Some major banks prefer you to have lived in Japan for a while, so expect some knock-backs [6].
Get a Japanese phone number. Banks and many apps verify by SMS to a Japanese number, so a local SIM goes high on the list [6].

The chicken-and-egg problem

Here's the catch: some phone plans ask for a registered address, banks want a phone number, and landlords want both. Newcomers break the loop in different ways. Common moves include starting with a prepaid or data-only SIM, opening a Japan Post Bank account first, or using a furnished place whose operator is used to foreigners. Ask your employer or school what worked for the last person they hired.

Where to land in Tokyo

Tokyo isn't one city so much as 23 special wards plus a long tail of cities to the west, all stitched together by rail. Where you live mostly depends on where you work and what you can pay.

Minato, Shibuya and Chuo sit at the top of the rent ladder. Minato is home to many embassies, including Australia's in Mita [2][9].
Setagaya and Meguro suit people who want leafy streets, cafes and a commute to Shibuya. Futakotamagawa, on the Tamagawa river, is where Tokyo's Aussie rules club trains.
Nakano and Suginami, along the Chuo Line west of Shinjuku, have a reputation for live music, second-hand shops and lower rents than the centre.
Outer wards such as Adachi, Edogawa, Arakawa and Nerima are among the cheaper parts of the 23 wards for a small single flat. Our renting guide has ward-by-ward figures.

Rule of thumb: pick a line, not a suburb. A flat two stops from your office on a direct line beats a nicer street with two transfers in the morning crush.

Daily life basics to get right early

Health care

Once you're enrolled in National Health Insurance, you generally pay about 30% of the cost of a standard clinic visit [6]. Australia and Japan don't have a reciprocal health care agreement, so until you're enrolled, travel insurance is your safety net [2]. Our guide to Medicare when you live abroad explains what happens to your Australian cover.

Earthquakes

Japan has a constant risk of earthquakes and tsunamis. Smartraveller suggests learning where your local shelter is and installing NHK's free app, which can send English emergency alerts [2]. Do both in week one, not after the first big shake.

Getting around

Rail is the default. Load a rechargeable IC card on your phone or buy a physical one, and look into a commuter pass once you know your route. JR East raised fares on 14 March 2026 for the first time since privatisation in 1987, with commuter passes up about 12% on average [10].

Keeping your Aussie ties

Keep at least one Australian bank account and your Australian mobile number for two-factor logins, and tell the ATO and your super fund your new address. Japan is close enough, and in a near enough time zone, that a trip home is far less of an ordeal than it is from Europe.

Who to call if things go wrong

The Australian Embassy in Tokyo is at 2-1-14 Mita, Minato-ku, phone +81 3 5232 4111. After hours, the 24-hour Consular Emergency Centre in Canberra is on +61 2 6261 3305 [2][9]. The embassy doesn't handle Japanese visas; those questions go to Japanese immigration or the Japanese embassy and consulates in Australia [1][9].

For everything else, ask people who've just done it. Join Cooee Japan, our Facebook group for Australians in Japan, to swap flat leads, ward office tips and the names of English-speaking doctors. When you're ready for the social side, our guide to Aussie life in Tokyo has footy, cricket and the rest.

Moving to Tokyo from Australia: visas, first fortnight and where to land