Leaving Tokyo: The Exit Checklist Nobody Hands You

Start getting ready to leave two weeks before your flight. Two days won’t cut it.

When something goes wrong on the way out of Tokyo, it’s almost always a lead time you didn’t know about, not a tricky rule. Bulky trash has to be booked. Utilities need notice. And the ward office is closed on the one weekend you finally have free.

None of it is hard. It just has to happen in a certain order, and you can’t see that order until you’re in the middle of it.

First, check whether you are a registered resident

The list splits neatly in two, and half the departure advice out there is useless because it ignores that.

If you came in on a short-term visa waiver stamp and stayed in hotels, monthly apartments or share houses, there’s very little to do. Settle your rent, cancel anything on autopay, and go.

If you registered at a ward office, you’re a resident, and leaving comes with paperwork. In Japan, being a resident isn’t about how long you feel you’ve lived here. It’s a registration, and you close it the same way you opened it.

Quickest way to tell: did you get a residence card, and did you take it to a city or ward office within fourteen days of arriving? If so, read the rest carefully.

If you came on the digital nomad visa (Designated Activities, up to six months), you’re in the first group. You don’t get a residence card and you don’t register at a ward office, so there’s nothing administrative to close. If you plan to come back before your period of stay runs out, leave with a re-entry permission or special re-entry permission so you keep your status.

Arriving in Japan means signing up for a lot of things. Leaving is the same list, run backwards.

Two weeks out: the things with waiting times

Bulky trash. Anything bigger than a standard bag, say a mattress, a desk chair or a suitcase you don’t want anymore, usually needs a collection booked in advance with your ward, plus a sticker from a convenience store. The next slot can be a week or more away, especially in spring and autumn when everyone’s moving. Book it before you pack, not after.

Utilities. Electricity, gas and water usually need a few days’ notice to close the account on a specific date. Gas may need someone there for the shutoff, depending on the setup.

Internet. If your contract came with hardware, you’ll often have to send a router back, and the return box takes time to arrive.

Contracts with notice periods. Gym memberships, coworking plans and phone contracts each have their own notice period, and they hardly ever match.

One week out: the ward office run

If you’re a registered resident, one visit usually covers most of it, so go once and go prepared.

The moving-out notification, tenshutsu todoke, tells the ward you’re leaving the country. National health insurance gets cancelled at the same counter or the one next to it, and you hand back the eligibility certificate (shikaku kakuninsho) if you were given one. If you use your My Number Card as your insurance card, you keep it.

Resident tax is the one that catches people off guard. It’s billed in arrears, based on the previous year’s income, so you may still owe some after you’ve gone. If there’ll be a balance left, the ward may ask you to pay it up front or to appoint a tax representative in Japan, a nozei kanrinin, to deal with the bills once you’ve left.

Pension is the other thing to ask about. If you paid into the Japanese pension system for long enough and you’re leaving without claiming a pension, you may be able to apply for a lump-sum withdrawal payment after you leave, within a limited window. The rules and the calculation have changed in recent years, so ask at the counter instead of assuming.

Bring your residence card, your health insurance eligibility certificate if you have one, your My Number card or notification if you have one, and a bank book. Go on a weekday morning. Things slow down after lunch.

The last few days: money, keys, and the small stuff

Close your bank account in person if you can, and only after your final rent and utility payments have actually gone through, not just been scheduled.

Keep enough cash for the airport. Japan is much more cashless than it used to be, but finding your account closed on a Sunday is not a fun surprise.

Cancel your phone line last, or at least after everything that sends you an SMS code. A Japanese number is often the key to your own accounts.

You can usually get a refund on Suica and Pasmo at a station window, normally with a handling fee taken off and the deposit returned, though it depends on the card type. A Welcome Suica, the version sold to visitors, has no deposit and you can’t get its balance back, so spend it down before you fly. If you’ll probably be back within a few years, it may be easier just to keep it.

Sell things or give them away instead of throwing them out. Secondhand shops take clothes and small electronics, and neighbourhood give-away groups move furniture faster than any pickup slot.

At the airport

If you’re leaving for good, you hand in your residence card at immigration on the way out.

If you’re coming back within a year and your status is still valid, the special re-entry option lets you keep it. But you have to tick the right box on the departure card before you go through. Leave it blank and you can end your own residency by accident. People do.

Give yourself an extra hour. A last luggage drop or a queue at the counter will eat it, and so can tax-free shopping. For purchases from 1 November 2026, tax-free shops charge the full price including consumption tax, and you only get the tax back after customs confirms at departure, within 90 days of purchase, that you’re taking the goods out. If you no longer have some of the items, tell the customs officer at the counter.

Only visitors in Temporary Visitor status (plus diplomatic and official status) can shop tax-free. Residents can’t, and neither can digital nomad visa holders, since Designated Activities isn’t on the eligible list.

Say a proper goodbye to your neighborhood

Take one walk around your neighbourhood with nothing to do.

The practical list above will get done, because it has deadlines. The other stuff, the last coffee at the place that knows your order, the station you’ve used four hundred times, only happens if you put it in the calendar.

Most people leave Tokyo meaning to come back. Even so, say a proper goodbye to the Tokyo you had.

FAQ

How early should I start? Two weeks is comfortable for a registered resident. If you’re on a short stay with no contracts, two or three days really is enough.

Do I need to visit the ward office if I only stayed three months on a tourist stamp? No. If you never registered, there’s nothing to close.

Can I keep my Japanese bank account after leaving? It depends on the bank, and many are strict about non-resident accounts. Ask your branch directly instead of assuming, and expect the answer to depend on what status you still have.