Tokyo residence card, ward office and My Number

Australia doesn't make you register where you live. Japan does, within 14 days, and almost everything else hangs off it.

The short version

Long-term arrivals get a residence card (zairyu card) at the airport. If you're 16 or over, carry it at all times [1][2].
Register your address at your ward or city office within 14 days of settling in. The office writes the address on the back of your card [1][3].
Registration triggers your 12-digit My Number. The optional My Number card is free the first time and now doubles as your health insurance card [4][5][6].
Flying home for Christmas? If you're back within a year, tick the special re-entry box on the departure card and you need no separate permit. Forget the box and your status ends at the airport [1].
Since 14 June 2026 you can choose a combined card that merges the residence card and the My Number card. It's optional [7].

Two cards, two jobs

Most new arrivals end up with two plastic cards that look alike and do different things. One comes from immigration, the other from your ward.

	Residence card (zairyu card)	My Number card (mainanbā kādo)
Issued by	Immigration Services Agency, usually at Narita or Haneda	Your ward or city office, after you apply
Compulsory?	Yes, for mid- to long-term residents	No, but very useful
What it proves	Your visa status, period of stay and address	Your identity and your 12-digit tax and social security number
Carry it?	Always, from age 16 [1][2]	Not required
Cost	Free at entry	First issue free [5]
Expires	With your period of stay (or set terms for permanent residents)	For foreign residents, when your period of stay ends [4][5]
Main uses	Police checks, renting, bank accounts, phone contracts	Health insurance at the clinic, tax filing, convenience-store certificates, online ID checks

The residence card is your passport substitute inside Japan, and Smartraveller is plain that you must always carry it [2]. Police can stop you and ask.

The My Number is a bit like your TFN, but used far more widely: employers, the tax office, insurers and banks all ask for it. The card is the chipped photo ID that carries it.

Registering at the ward office within 14 days

Tokyo's 23 special wards (ku) and the cities to the west each run their own office. You register at the one that covers your new address. The rule is simple: within 14 days of deciding your address, take your residence card to the office and file a moving-in notification [1][3].

What to bring

Your residence card. If the airport stamped your passport "Residence Card to be Issued Later" (common at smaller airports), bring the passport. The card will be posted to your registered address [3].
Your passport.
Your address in Japanese, exactly as on the lease.
For family members, proof of the relationship, such as a marriage or birth certificate. Toshima City asks for the original plus a Japanese translation [3].

What happens at the counter

Staff enter you in the resident record (juminhyo) and print your address on the back of the residence card. If you aren't on an employer's insurance, you usually join National Health Insurance and the National Pension at the same visit. A certificate of your resident record costs a few hundred yen; banks and landlords sometimes ask for one.

Shortly after, an Individual Number Notification letter arrives by post with your My Number. Toshima City warns new residents to put their name on the letterbox or door and file a change of address with the post office, or the letter may not reach you [3][5].

Busy months are March, April, September and October; Toshima asks groups of four or more to call ahead [3]. Go early on a weekday.

Getting the My Number card

You don't have to get the card, but in 2026 life is easier with one.

The big reason is health insurance. Japan stopped issuing paper health insurance cards on 2 December 2024, and the old cards stopped working after 1 December 2025 [6]. Clinics now check your cover by scanning your My Number card. Without one, your insurer can give you a free Eligibility Confirmation Letter instead, so you aren't locked out, but it's one more piece of paper to keep track of [6].

How to apply

Wait for the notification letter. It includes an application form and an application ID [5].
Apply by post or online. Post the form with a photo in the return envelope, or upload a smartphone photo on the official application site. Check the application ID carefully; get it wrong and the card can't be issued [5].
Wait for the pick-up notice. The ward tells you when the card is ready. Toshima lets you book a collection slot by phone or online [5].
Collect it in person. You'll set PINs at the counter. Write down which PIN is which and keep them somewhere safe.
Link it to your health insurance. Do it at a clinic card reader or through the government's Mynaportal service.

The first card is free [5]. For foreign residents it expires when your period of stay ends, so when immigration extends your visa you must go back to the ward and update the card before it expires [4][5].

The new combined card

From 14 June 2026, foreign residents can apply for a Specified Residence Card (tokutei zairyu kādo) that merges the residence card and the My Number card into one [7]. It's entirely optional; the normal residence card stays available. Two things to know:

Your period of stay and permission dates are no longer printed on the face of the card. They live on the chip, so an employer or landlord needs a reader or the immigration validity check [7].
It isn't issued at the airport, and choosing it adds roughly 10 days to processing at immigration, so apply early if you're extending your visa [7].

Moving house within Tokyo

Address changes run on the same 14-day clock, and the paperwork depends on whether you cross a ward boundary [3].

Your move	What to do
Within the same ward	Within 14 days of moving, take your residence card (and My Number card if you have one) to the ward office [3]
To a different ward or city	Before you move, file a moving-out notice at the old office and get a Change of Address Certificate. Within 14 days of moving, file at the new office. If you hold a My Number card, it can replace the certificate; tell the old office you have one [3]
Leaving Japan for good	File a moving-out notice at your ward before you go. Toshima lets you start a move-out about two weeks ahead [3]. Your residence card is handed back at departure immigration

Shibuya to Setagaya counts as a move between municipalities, even though it's all "Tokyo".

If you change employer or school, that's a separate notice to immigration, also within 14 days [1]. The ward office won't do it for you.

The re-entry rules Australians trip over at Christmas

December is when this goes wrong: Haneda to Sydney for Christmas, half asleep at departure immigration.

Under the special re-entry permission system, a mid- to long-term resident with a valid passport and residence card can leave Japan and come back within one year without applying for a re-entry permit in advance [1]. If your period of stay ends sooner than a year, your deadline is that expiry date instead [1].

The catch is the paper departure card for re-entrants (the ED card). You must fill it in and tick the box saying you intend to use special re-entry permission, then hand it over with your passport and residence card [1]. Leave the box unticked and immigration can treat you as leaving for good: your status ends, and you'd need a fresh visa to come back.

Before you fly home

Check your period of stay. If your visa ends while you're in Australia, the one-year window shrinks to that date [1].
Carry your residence card, not just your passport.
Take the ED card at departure immigration and tick the special re-entry box.
Staying away more than a year? Apply for a full re-entry permit at a regional immigration office before you leave. It allows up to five years, or until your stay expires if sooner [1]. Fees were revised from 1 April 2025, so check the current amount with immigration [1].
Lost your card? Apply for a replacement at immigration within 14 days of noticing [1]. Don't try to leave Japan without one.

Working holiday makers get caught out most: your deadline to be back can be your visa's expiry date, not next Christmas.

The Australian angle

Australia has no address register and no national ID card, so a 14-day legal deadline to tell the government where you live is new to most of us. It feeds into your health cover, pension, tax and later visa renewals.

A few links home:

Your TFN doesn't change. My Number is for Japan only. Keep telling the ATO what you earn there if you remain an Australian tax resident; our guide to Australian tax residency after moving explains the tests.
Medicare doesn't cover you in Japan. Australia and Japan have no reciprocal health care agreement, so getting onto Japanese insurance through the ward or your employer matters [2]. See Medicare when you live abroad.
The Australian Embassy in Tokyo is at 2-1-14 Mita, Minato-ku, phone +81 3 5232 4111. It can help with lost Australian passports and emergencies, but it can't fix a Japanese visa or a missed ward deadline [2].

Want to know how long the queue is at your ward this week? Ask in Cooee Japan, our Facebook group for Australians in Japan. Someone has usually just been.

Your residence card in Tokyo: the ward office, My Number and the Christmas trip home