Import Duties on Taxable Goods

Thinking of buying something from abroad? There's a good chance you won't be charged any import duties if it's a small item, but if the value is declared and the object isn't a gift, be prepared to shell out some cash for the privilege.



Here's the smallprint of the customs duty arrangement, but the key point is this:

In 2007, the average applied rate for all goods is 1.8 percent. Specifically, 10.1 percent for agricultural products, 4.6 percent for fish and fish products, and 1.7 percent for wood, pulp, paper and furniture.

Also, some things (such as watersports equipment properly labelled as such) don't have to pay fees. A full list of what does and doesn't require payment is available here (current as of 2011). When I say full, I mean it. Everything from ash to spacecraft.

But anyway, if you've bought something small from eBay you won't have much to worry about. Even if you get charged it will be a pretty small amount. I recently spent 150,000 on diving products from America, and was charged 3,200yen on arrival. Not a bad percentage, despite the fact that it should have been free according to the website.

ETC Personal Card: ETC Without a Credit Card

Japanese highways have tolls. You either pay in cash, or use a fancy ETC reader installed in your car, paired with an ETC card, which electronically tracks your highway usage and charges your credit card as appropriate.

However, getting hold of one was not as easy as it sounded... until today!!!!!!!!!!

Read on for a full description and a guide to filling out the application.

The benefits of ETC are obvious: saving money through ETC's multifaceted discount system. The snag for most foreigners in Japan is that almost all ETC cards are tied to domestic credit cards. And getting a credit card tends to be difficult for many foreigners. (Though it's not impossible! Check out our guide.)

Anyway, the exception to the rule among ETC cards is...

The ETC Personal Card. It's independent of a credit card, any resident of Japan can apply, and the approval process is lenient. If you have an alien registration card, you'll almost certainly be approved. The tradeoff is that the card requires a financial deposit.

Interested? Read on for our guide on how to apply!

• Getting an Application

Applications are available from the personnel on duty at ETC-equipped highway tollbooths or from the Information or Concierge desks at Service Areas along the national highways. It's ironic, since this means you need to ride on the toll road in order to get a card for it. Furthermore, Concierge desks at Service Areas are often only open during certain business hours, such as 8:00-16:00, though usually 7 days a week. (Info about Service Area hours can be found here, but you may have to follow links to the SA's own homepage to find the Concierge's hours.)

You'll need to ask for it. This will do the trick:

"ETC paasonaru kaado no panfuretto wa arimasen ka?"

The alternative, which lets you stay at home, is to call up the ETC Personal Card Issuing Office (ETCパーソナルカード事務局) and ask for an application to be sent to you. You'll need enough Japanese to ask for the application and provide your name and address. The office is open 9:00-17:00 on weekdays only. The number is 044-870-7333.

• Filling out the Application

The application is in Japanese, but filling it out will be easy thanks to AccessJ!

First, you'll need to make a photocopy of your alien registration card to cut out and paste in a space provided on the application. Don't bother sending them your driver's license instead, because the ETC Personal Card Office won't accept it as proof of identification for a foreigner. They'll just call you a week later when they process the application and ask you to fax a copy of your alien registration card separately anyway, making the application process take even longer.

By the way, you can use a fancy 7-11 convenience store printer to easily make a clean copy of the front and back of your ID on one page. Unenlarged copies are fine, as is folding your copy to fit into the space provided on the application--it probably won't fit otherwise, since you need to copy both the front and the back. Paste it in a way that it can be unfolded while still attached to the application.

Phew. Copy done, right? Now just fill out the rest of the form. If you can't get a Japanese person to help you do it, then here is a high-quality, annotated scan made by us. Beware: this may feel like the most ridiculous form in the history of paper. (Unless you've ever filed US taxes.)

Things that need further explanation:

• When you are asked for your name in kanji, you may write it in English alphabet letters. Just follow however your name is written on your alien registration card. Always make sure the form matches your ID. Above your name, just use furigana you normally use in Japan, even though it probably isn't recorded anywhere on your ARC.


• Date of birth. This section asks for your DOB in Japanese years. You must also circle the era in which you were born. The Japanese date system is based on the length of a given Emperor's reign, so it doesn't follow the usual Gregorian calendar system. The main modern eras are Showa (昭和) and Heisei (平成). (If you're reading this application guide, you probably weren't born in Taisho (大正). More like somewhere between Showa 50 and like, uh, Heisei 2.) Anyway, check the converter here for exact date conversions. For example, if you were born in 1984 you'd circle 昭和 and write 59.


• Types of job categories are 1. self-employed, 2. company employee, 3. civil servant, 4. student, 5. housewife, 6. part-time, 7. unemployed, 8. other


• The deposit (Part 2)


• As you can see from the annotations, once you've estimated your average costs you must choose a yellow box with an amount in. These amounts are the required deposit you must pay.  If you only want to pay the minimum deposit (40,000 yen), then just adjust your average cost calculations to fall into the lowest categories. The deposit will not be used to pay tolls when you get the card. Rather, it acts as a guarantee on the charges you rack up on the highway. So, your deposit, for most users 40,000 yen, will be held by the ETC Personal Card Center until you choose to relinquish your ETC card to them. Your actual highway charges will be billed once a month to the bank account you fill our later in the application. However, your deposit amount is relevant, because if the total of your tolls over any 2 month period exceeds 80% of your deposit, your ETC card will be locked, unusable, and the ETC Personal Card center will contact you asking you to increase your deposit amount.


• Bank types from Part 3:


• 銀行 ginkou- bank


• 信用金庫 shinyou kinko- this one is tricky. Often times its written as “credit union” or “co-operative bank” in English, or simply “local bank” or “shinyo bank.” Basically it’s a local financial intuition that is dedicated to serving local clients and small to medium sized business


• 信用組合- shinyou kumai- this is quite literally a “credit union,” usually associated with a labor or business group. I have seen it written as “credit association” to distinguish it from the above


• 農協 noukyou- agriculture coop bank, like JA


• 漁協 gyokyou- fishermen coop bank


• 労金 roukin- labor bank or labor union bank


• Branch types from Part 3:


• 本店 main branch/hq


• 支店 branch office


• 出張所 extension/mini-branch


• Other options from Part 3 ask who's bank account the details belong to:


• 本人 self 


• 配偶者 spouse 


• 親・子 parent/child
  

The application pack also comes with an explanatory copy of the form. If you want to battle through it in Japanese, here it is:

And here is the application without annotations, if you want that.

• Paying the Deposit

After you send in the application, you should get a call from the ETC Personal Card center. If they have any inquiries about your application, such as "Please send us your alien registration card, not your driver's license." or "Your name is too long and you have too many middle names, which is causing general panic at our offices. How do you want your name truncated to fit on the card?", they'll ask those now.

Then they'll explain that they are sending out a bill for the deposit. This bill is similar to ones you may have received when paying for utilities the first time. You can take it to a bank, post office, or any convenience store and pay there. The funds will reach the ETC Personal Card office on the next business day, after which they'll continue processing your application.

• How Long Will This Take?

Time wise, be aware that the receipt of your ETC Personal Card will be about two to three weeks after you first send in the application. In our experiences, the bill for the deposit arrived almost exactly a week after application, and the card itself arrived another week after the deposit was made.


By the way, here are some maintenance issues you might wonder about after getting the card:

• Changing Address: The ETC Personal Card office sends out its mail in an obnoxious 転送不可 (tensou fuka) fashion, which means if you change addresses in Japan any mail pertaining to the ETC Personal Card will not be forwarded to you, even if you requested at the post office to have all your mail redirected to your new address. So, if you change residences after getting the ETC Personal Card, you need to call them ( 044-870-7333 ) and ask for them to update your file. ("Jyuusho henkou no tetsuzuki wo shitai desu ga.")


• Relinquishing the Card and Reclaiming Your Deposit: After you get your flashy ETC Personal Card in the mail and use it for a few years in your fancy ETC card reader, you may someday decide that you want to get rid of it and lay claim to that hefty deposit you paid on application. The process for this is simple but lengthy: Again, call the ETC Personal Card Center ( 044-870-7333 ) and tell them you're done using the card. They will guide you through the process and the deposit will be furikomied into your bank account about one month after you make the request. Be sure to time this correctly. It'd suck to have that money appear in your account after you've left Japan or bounce because you've already closed your bank account.

For frequent drivers, the benefits outweigh the snags. ETC cards qualify you for big discounts when driving on expressways around Japan. So, good luck with the application process, and let us know how it goes.

How Japanese Addresses Work

Today I StumbledUpon a video so clear and accurate that there was nothing I could do but post it, unedited, on AccessJ. Many thanks to Derek Sivers for this informative and entertaining creation.

Mobile Phone Guide #2: Important Paperwork

One of the most common mistakes that foreigners make is waltzing into a phone shop and expecting to get a phone only a few days after their arrival. Until recently, this was theoretically possible, but thanks to the Improper Mobile Phone Usage Prevention Law (携帯電話不正利用防止法 keitai denwa fusei riyo boshiho)—another law passed with the excuse of cracking down on all those terrorists just waiting to get their filthy hands on phones in Japan—you have to present valid ID to prove you are who you say you are.

According to the Telecommunication Carriers Association (TCA), there are several generally acceptable IDs which I will list below:

a)      A Japanese driver’s license (international licenses aren’t valid in this case)

b)      A Japanese passport

c)      A Japanese health insurance certificate plus one of the following:

I.                 a copy of your address register (住民票 jyuminhyo) or Certificate of Registered Matters if you are a foreigner (外国人登録原票記載事項証明書 gaikokujin toroku genpyo jisai jiko shomeisho),

II.               a public utility receipt in your name and with your address,

III.            an official printed document with your name and address (tax form, etc).
All of the above must be no older the 3 months.

d)      A credit card and a health insurance certificate

e)      A school ID card (from a domestic university or vocational school) and a Japanese health insurance certificate

f)        A mentally or physically disabled person passbook (障害者手帳 shogaisha techo)

g)      An alien registration card (外国人登録証明書 gaikokujin toroku shomiesho) and foreign passport

Keep in mind the legal age for signing a contract is 20, so if you are younger then you may find yourself in a bind as your parents have to co-sign and present one of the above ID combinations. If your parents aren’t Japanese then you had better start begging and/or giving sad gaijin eyes. Despite the basic ID requirements some less scrupulous shops have been known to bend this rule or simply forge signatures, although this is certainly not a regular practice.

The biggest problem with this is that after application the alien registration card generally take 2 weeks to get printed, although you can get a Certificate of Registered Maters for about 300 yen the day of your registration. So unless you are good at smooth talking or find a shop willing to bend the rules (a difficult proposition since the shop usually has to ask the main company for approval), then you are out of luck. Also, if you are here for only a few months, chances are you don’t have a visa and don’t have an alien card. Although tourists who are here for 90 days or more are obliged to get a card, it is all but worthless unless you have a status of residence (在留資格 zairyu shikaku) such as worker, spouse, etc. However, it is possible to rent a cell phone at major airports. These short-term agreements will be handled in a future entry.

The law makes no distinction between pre and post paid phones but in practice it is much easier to get a prepaid phone with a passport and a receipt that shows where you are staying. Since prepaid service is a lot less risky for the phone company if you choose to skip out on your bill and head back home, many shops will be less strict with the ID process, although different shops and different areas often yield vastly different results.

Now that you know what you need to buy yourself a nice shiny phone stay tuned for our next feature on the pre-paid versus post-paid mobile phone breakdown!

Other posts in this series:

Part #1: The Basics

Part #2: Important Paperwork

Part #3: Pre-Paid Phones
Part #4: Post-Paid Phones 
Part #5: Paying Your Bills

Part #6: Mobile E-mail Guide

Part #7: Multi-Lingual Phones

Part #8: Renting and Roaming

Abbreviations in Furikomi

Take a deep breath... this is dry but useful information.

When making a bank transfer (振込, furikomi) in Japan, information regarding the transfer can only be sent using single-bit (half-width) katakana characters, Latin alphabet letters, numbers, or a small subset of punctuation. When you make a furikomi at a bank or ATM, the system will properly annotate information about the bank and branch you want to transfer to. However, properly entering the beneficiary's name is up to you.

(By the way, spaces are also valid in furikomi data. They count as one character.)

Usually, this is an obvious step: You enter in the name of the beneficiary exactly as he or she has directed you. The katakana used must match the katakana they used for the name on their account exactly, or the furikomi won't go through.

What you may not have known is that there are special abbreviation codes used to accommodate long company names so they fit inside the ATM/furikomi slip's character limit. (In my experience, the limit is often 15 characters.)

For example, if you were in charge of sending a furikomi out to the toy company Bandai, the formal name of the company, 株式会社バンダイ, wouldn't fit within a 15 character limit: ｶﾌﾞｼｷｶﾞｲｼｬﾊﾞﾝﾀﾞｲ

Sixteen characters. Damn. What to do?

The wrong way to handle this situation is to enter as much of the name as you can and truncate the end.

The right way to handle this situation is to use designated account abbreviation codes to eliminate common, long titles, such as 株式会社 (publicly traded stock company). A full list of such abbreviations is available here (Japanese).

In the case of our example, the correct abbreviation for 株式会社 is a simple ｶ. But, the next part of the process is also important. You need to use appropriate delineation to indicate how the abbreviation fits into the title. Because 株式会社 comes at the beginning of Bandai's formal company name, you'd start the name on the transfer out with a ｶ, follow it with an ending parenthesis, then add the rest of the company name, like so: ｶ)ﾊﾞﾝﾀﾞｲ

Similarly, if the 株式会社 bit came at the end of the company name, like in music company Yamaha's name, ヤマハ株式会社, you'd use a beginning parenthesis and a ｶ at the end of the name: ﾔﾏﾊ(ｶ

But, what if the 株式会社 bit comes somewhere in the middle of the name you need to send to? Maybe, in a much more likely example, you're not sending to the company's name as a whole but to a specific department: The account name you're sending to is the general affairs department at Yamaha, ヤマハ株式会社総務部. The answer is fortunately unsurprising: You get to put a parenthesis on each end of the ｶ, to end up with a fantastic ﾔﾏﾊ(ｶ)ｿｳﾑﾌﾞ

OK, so what about when you've used all the reasonable abbreviations for your name, and you still end up with something too long, like this (fictional) general affairs department name at Takeda Pharmaceuticals: 武田薬品工業株式会社総務部. Even after abbreviation, it's still a whopping twenty-two characters: ﾀｹﾀﾞﾔｸﾋﾝｺｳｷﾞｮｳ(ｶ)ｿｳﾑﾌﾞ

In this situation, truncation is the rule of thumb. The bank will match up as much of the beneficiary name you could enter to the actual name on the account and make a decision about whether the transfer is legitimate. If that answer still leaves you feeling queasy, there's a simple but time-consuming way to double check yourself: ATMs at some banks will display the account holder name on their confirmation screens when you try to initiate a furikomi. The account holder name is displayed in single-byte katakana, up to a certain number of characters, just like you'd need to write it in to make a successful transfer. Simply go to such an ATM, start making a cash transfer (where you put money into the ATM to send rather than sending from your bank account), and fill out the beneficiary details up to the confirmation screen. Once you've seen how the name should be written, take a memo, and hit "Cancel" on the ATM so your experimental transfer doesn't actually go through.

Vehicle Registration and License Plates in Japan

Registration of cars in Japan is handled by the District Transport Bureaus, or 地方運輸局 (ちほううんゆきょく). These bureaus were previously known as 陸運局 (りくうんきょく) before a restructuring of the Ministry of Transport* and are still colloquially referred to as such. In conversation, or within the scope of this guide, the names are interchangeable.

Today we'll learn about what exactly the District Transport Bureaus handle, what they don't handle, and, down there at the bottom of the article, how to find your nearest branch.

*Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism
Doesn't it realize how obnoxiously long its chosen English name is? This is the same country, mind you, that has gobs and gobs of application forms that don't accommodate anyone with a full name longer than 6 characters, including plenty of online forms that return a "your name is too long" error.




Anyway, when you buy a car, the District Transport Bureau is the place where you take said car to have its registered name changed (if you bought from an individual) or to have it newly registered in your name (if it is a new car from a dealer or if the dealer removed the previous owner's name and plates from the car before selling). This is the authority that issues the coveted 車検証 (しゃけんしょう) and Japan's vehicle registration plates (a.k.a. license plates, registration plates, ナンバープレート).

However, the bureau only issues these items for full-sized vehicles. Yellow-plate Kei cars report to a different authority: The Light Motor Vehicle Inspection Organization, or 軽自動車検査協会 (けいじどうしゃけんさきょうかい). In most areas, the Light Vehicle Organization will have it's offices located nearby the larger District Transport Bureau, so effectively the place you need to go to is the same, just the desks you wait at and the paperwork you fill out differs. Registering a Kei car is also, I hear, a quicker process than that of a full sized auto.

By the way, if you buy a car from a dealer and ask them to take care of the plates for you, this is exactly the same place that the dealer must bring the car. In fact, the vast majority of people waiting in lines and sitting on benches at these offices are car dealer employees. When you ask a dealer to do it for you, you pay for the employee's time and transport, whereas if you change plates yourself, the processing fees usually don't exceed the 2500-3000 yen range. (Of course, it also costs you your time.)

Unlike the DMV in the U.S., the issuance of driver's licenses and vehicle registration plates are handled by separate authorities in Japan. A driver's license in Japan comes from the Driver's License Center, 運転免許センター (うんてんめんきょせんたー). In regions without a Driver's License Center, some procedures (renewal, change of name, change of address, etc.) may be handled by a local police station, but the initial license is always issued by the Driver's License Center.

If you want to try your hand at "self-shaken," the District Transport Bureau is also the place to go for that. One of the buildings in the bureau will have a large auto pit where cars can be taken for shaken inspection. Garages and mechanics that offer shaken services are licensed by this bureau and perform the same set of inspections on each vehicle. The difference in price between hired shaken and self-shaken is a matter of knowledge and convenience. To do a self-shaken you don't need to know a terrible amount about cars, but you do need to know how to go through the procedures at the bureau. More importantly, you will need the time (during weekdays, usually applications are accepted from about 9:00-16:00) to take your car to the bureau and have the inspections done yourself. A garage or a mechanic, on the other hand, may do it on a weekend and hang on to your car until it's convenient for you to pick it up.
Has anyone else noticed a trending in Japan for people to pay to have something done rather than learn how to do it themselves?

The region a District Transport Bureau or a Light Motor Vehicle Inspection Organization administers isn't exactly proportionate to a prefectural government (as it would be in, say, the U.S.). That's why there are more types of vehicle plates in Japan than prefectures; if you live in the right area you can have your vehicle plate say something cool like 富士山, 六本木, or 鈴鹿.

Usually there will be several bureaus in a prefecture based around its centers of population. If you live in the boonies, unfortunately this could mean that the bureau that administers your area is a two or three hour drive away. Check out these handy websites for a complete listing of all branches of the District Transport Bureau and all branches of the Light Motor Vehicle Inspection Organization, including access maps and operating hours.

Taspo Cards - How to Get ID for Buying Cigarettes

Back in 2008, the Tobacco Industry of Japan discovered, via a shock report, that having cigarette vending machines in the street meant that under-age people could buy them.

Anyway, since that revelation they have introduced the ID-check system of Taspo cards.

In order to buy cigarettes (from Taspo-enabled machines) you must swipe your card over the sensor (or press your wallet against it), and in order to have that card you need to have applied and been approved for one.

Here are the details of how to do that.

Any idiot can get a Taspo; you just need to be 20 or over.


Apply
The application is free. Here's the application form (Japanese only, but not complicated).
You must complete and return that form, along with

• A copy of one of your forms of Japan-issued photo ID: your driver's licence, health insurance card, gaijin card, pension book, welfare cetificate or residency certificate,
• One photobooth photo.

Send to the address printed on the application.

Two weeks later, your card should have arrived. YAY!


Credit
Of course you can pay by cash in vending machines, but you can also credit money to your Taspo card (for some reason referred to as "pidel"). You can charge the card and use your pidel at machines where you see the icon to the right.


Alternatives:

• Convenience stores/supermarkets/tobacconists.
• You may well find some machines without the Taspo sensor (apparently 2%). Go nuts.

Happy smoking.

GoLloyds: 2000yen International Bank Transfers

...is with GoLloyds Japan (see below for more options). It's also the cheapest I've seen at 2,000yen a time.



GoLloyds is a go-between from Japan to your home-country bank account. You transfer money domestically from your Japanese account to GL, who will then send it to your chosen target. Because it's a domestic transfer initially, it shouldn't cost you anything other than the GL surcharge.

Step-by-step

1. Go to this GoLlyods webpage and download the application form,
2. Send GL a printed copy of the form, along with 
1. a copy of your passport  
2. AND a copy of one of the following (showing your address). Don't forget to copy both sides.
1. your gaijin card
2. health insurance card
3. driving licence
4. inhabitant certificate
3. Write Dominic Beverley as your referrer!

The address is

GoLloyds Registrations
Lloyds TSB Bank plc.
ATT, New Tower (5F)
2-11-7 Akasaka
Minato-ku
Tokyo 107-0052

or

〒１０７-００５２ 東京都港区赤坂２-１１-７ 赤坂ツインタワー新館　５F
ロイズTSB銀行東京支店

It might be worth checking all this information on their website before applying.

Transfering Money

1. GL will send you a letter, in English, with the instructions for how to send money,
2. Take the letter to your bank (any branch is ok) ATM
3. On the ATM, choose the 振込 option (furikomi/bank transfer)
4. Follow the letter's instructions for number input etc
1. Remember that sending after 3pm will use the next day's exchange rates
5. Save your bank details to the ATM when prompted (if you want)
6. Wait 24-36 hours and check your foreign bank

As all banks will, GL skims a little off your money through their exchange rate. It's pretty much the same as anywhere else, but if you're sending a vast amount of cash then you might want to shop around to be sure you're getting the best rate.

More

• Currency website xe.com used to have a good service for this, but it no longer serves Japan.
• CitiBank also offers this service with almost immediate transfer. You don't even need to have an account with them. The charge is 3,500 yen. More info on their site.
• Some people have also reported being able to use a PayPal account linked to two personal bank accounts in different countries; paying into one and withdrawing from another.

Convenience Store Printers: Everything Short of Transforming into Robots

I love the all-in-one copiers in Japanese convenience stores. It's great to have access to a copier any time of the day or night for those of us who are bastions of non-procrastination and deadline management. But not only that, I love these all-in-one copiers because of all the other amazing things they do for me.

Here are five features that, if you haven't already tried them, you need to check out on your local convenience store* printer:

(7-11 happens to be the closest convenience store to my home, and so far they have the most extensive feature set I've encountered among convenience store copiers. Some features and images I post here pertain specifically to the all-in-one machines kept at most 7-11s in Japan, so keep that in mind if you want to try this out.)

1) Advanced Copy Features
Those of you who have worked in an office may not be so surprised about this one. High-end copiers have a lot of fancy features like 2-sided copying and copying "thumbnails" of multiple pages to a single sheet. Convenience store copiers have these functions, too, though they're buried a little way down in the menus. One special feature here is meant for people who just need a copy of their ID for an application: The machine takes a scan of the front and back of your license, etc., then enlarges and prints both scans out onto one side of a single sheet of paper. (On a 7-11 machine, this is under the いろいろコピー menu.)

2) Faxes
If you ever need to send a fax on the go (or at home, because who buys a personal fax machine anymore?), convenience stores are your best friend. Just pop in the coins, dial the phone number, and run the document through. Easy stuff.

3) Scanning
Convenience store printers are all generally equipped with flash card and USB readers to print off digital pictures. But, they also offer the reverse service. You can place documents into the machine and have them scanned back into digital images (PDF, JPG, TIFF, and more) which are saved onto the USB memory stick you plug in. It's not cheap to scan like this (around 50 yen per scan!), but if you need something digitized in a hurry, this is a great option to have.

4) Document Printing
This is my second-favorite feature on a 7-11 printer, and one that I haven't yet found in other convenience store chains. Not only is it possible to print off digital photos at these printers, but you can print off documents too. Just save it to your SD card, USB reader, etc. and print away. It's as cheap as copying: 10 yen per page in greyscale. 7-11 handles PDF, XPS, and XDW files. The only tricky thing here is that you can't play around with page size. The printers seem to only want to print PDFs that are of A4 size (or near A4 size, like 8 1/2" x 11") pages. I saved a B5-sized document and took it to one of these machines once, only to find I had to drive back home and do it over again.

5) Net Print
This is my favorite feature, hands down. In fact, it is so good, it needs a separate article. It does everything that document printing can (as explained above), plus more, and the only reason I list document printing separately is because Net Print costs a little more. But yeah, if you haven't heard of or made use of Net Print, you need to check it out.

Net Print: Fuji Xerox + 7-11 = Miracle

One day Fuji Xerox Japan and Seven & I Holdings got together and decided they would make the best service the world has ever seen: Upload documents to a website, then go to any 7-11 in Japan (in Japanese that means "anywhere") and have them printed out at your convenience. The service is called Net Print and I do not know why the companies have not made a bigger deal about this, because it is a miracle for every apartment-dwelling, printerless single adult in the nation (of which there are many).

If you've ever needed to print something out while on the road, or needed to meet a deadline when no printer was in sight, or took your USB thumbdrive to work to print out your resume so you could apply for another job, Net Print is for you.



It's easy to use, but you'll have to fumble around a bit if you aren't used to reading Japanese:

1) Make an Account
To start out, you'll have to make an account at the Net Print website. Click on the big pink button that says ユーザー登録(ゆーざーとうろく). After agreeing with the license terms by clicking 同意する(どういする) and the privacy terms by clicking 承諾します(しょうだくします).

On the following page, fill in your name (氏名), kana for your name (ふりがな), telephone number (電話番号), and e-mail address (メールアドレス). You'll enter the e-mail address again to confirm (確認入力), choose a login ID (ユーザーID). The final two options are a survey (アンケート) and an opportunity to sign up for the Net Print e-mail magazine (メール配信).

The survey asks "how you heard about this site" and you must choose one option. The final option, その他, is fine, unless you want to assert that you heard about it from our nameless website with その他インターネットサイト. The default selection on the e-mail magazine is set to not subscribe (希望しない).

Click the bottom button, 登録する, to complete your application! You should receive an e-mail at the account you used to sign up. Click on the link in the e-mail to activate your account and sign in for the first time.

2) Upload a Document
When you log into your account, you'll be greeted with this screen:

(Click to Enlarge)

Click on the green button to upload a file.
The upload screen looks like this:

(Click to Enlarge, Read on for Explanation)

You can select files up to 2 MB in size from the following formats:
Word (doc, docx, rtf), Excel (xls, xlsx), PowerPoint (ppt, pptx), image files (jpg, png, tif), Microsoft XPS files, and Adobe PDFs.

You'll also need to set the paper size and color settings. The upload will generate a reservation number, which you'll type into the copy machine at 7-11 to retrieve your document from the Internet. You can set a password (4 digits) so that others can't see or print your documents without it. You can have an e-mail sent to your computer, cell phone, etc. that shows the name of the document and its reservation number. (See the above image for details.)

When you've uploaded the window, it will appear on your home screen along with its reservation number:

(Click to Enlarge)

3) Go to a 7-11 and Print!
Uploaded documents will stay on the server for one week. You can print it out at the multicopy machine in any 7-11 in Japan. From the main menu on the copier, select "Net Print" and then type in your reservation number. Black and white prints cost 20 yen (on B5, A4, B4, and A3 size paper), and from 60 to 100 yen per sheet for color prints, depending on paper size.

Ta da!

Example of a Japan Visa

If you come to Japan and intend to stay for a long time, you will almost certainly have a "Japan Visa" in your passport. It is big and shiny and takes up a whole page, and at the top in block letters are the words 日本国査証.

We explained the difference between this Visa and the much more important Landing Permission (上陸許可) before, but for your reference, here is an example of a Japan Visa and explanation of its important points:

1. In the top-left corner of this example, you can see the stamp "USED." This is important, and I'll explain more about it in number 5.
2. Place of Issue: This is the Japanese consulate or embassy at which the visa was issued. Remember, a 日本国査証 is always issued outside of Japan, and it is only meant to help you get into the country. Once you are in Japan, the 日本国査証 has very little to do with your eligibility to stay.
3. Date of Issue: This is the day you received the visa. You can only use this 査証 to enter Japan after the written date.
4. Date of Expiry: This is the expiration date of the 日本国査証. It has nothing to do with the length of time you are allowed to stay in Japan. The "Date of Issue" and "Date of Expiry" written here form a window of time during which you can enter Japan and receive a proper Landing Permission. If the Date of Expiry passes, this document becomes invalid. Just this document. That is all.
5. No. of Entries: For most people, this field reads "Single." However, occasionally a student or some other special class of visitor will receive a "Multiple" entry visa. If your visa is a "Single," you can use it to enter Japan once, at which time it will be stamped "USED" and you will receive a Landing Permission. If you want to exit and enter Japan after that time without losing your Landing Permission, you will use a different (and almost defunct) document called a "Re-Entry Permit." If your number of entries here is "Multiple," you could use your visa to enter Japan multiple times (up until the Date of Expiry) and receive a new Landing Permission each time. However, even if your No. of Entries here is "Multiple," you will probably want to use a Re-Entry Permit to go in and out of Japan. This is because each time you leave Japan without a Re-Entry Permit, you have to surrender your Alien Registration Card, which in turn means you will have to re-register at your local City Hall each time you return to the country.
6. For Stays Of: This field usually reads "1 year" or, more recently, "3 years." This field determines the 在留期間 (zairyuu kikan), or "Period of Stay," on your initial Landing Permission stamp. If you have "1 year" written here, you will start out with a 1-year Period of Stay. But, the next year, when you apply to extend your Period of Stay, you may be granted a 3- or 5-year extension.
7. Category: Most English teachers in Japan will have "Instructor" or "Specialist in Humanities" written here. But, actually there are many categories of residence in Japan. This category will determine the 在留資格 (zairyuu shikaku), or "Status of Residence," on your Landing Permission stamp.

Getting a Re-Entry Permit (Going on Holiday)

In addition to other items in our growing visa guide, you will probably sometimes find yourself in need of a re-entry permit. This is required if you want to leave the country for a holiday, etc. and then return. Why you need one with a valid visa is anyone's guess, but if you don't bother getting one, your hard-won working or student visa will be voided when you return.

They come in two formats - single re-entry and multiple re-entry. The former is 3,000yen whilst the latter will set you back 6,000. I'd recommend the multiple even if you aren't sure about a second trip - you never know when an emergency will come up and having to go to the prefectural office at short notice may be valuable time wasted.

Anyway, here's how you get one:

1. Take your passport and gaijin card to your prefectural office (most likely the capital of your prefecture, and/or in Tokyo). Get there early. Although the wait is nothing like for the visa (it's a different desk), it feels great to get it done quickly and sucks to have to wait until after lunch.
2. Like with so many things, you have to exchange the cash payment for stamps before sticking it to the forms. there will be a little window, machine or a cafe in the office building where you can do this.
3. Fill out the form. Here is an electronic version you can print (A4 only) and take with you. Hand it in with your passport, gaijin card and stamps. (NB may need to take a ticket and wait for your number to be called. For the re-entry permit, press the 再入国許可 (sainyuukoku kyoka), "Re-entry Permit" button).
   
4. Wait. Usually takes 15-minutes to an hour.
   They may then give you an disembarkation/arrival card for when you leave and return to the country. It's just a simple two-part form for the airport staff. If they don't give you one, you'll get one at the airport.
5. Go home/on holiday!

There you are, much easier than the visa extension an all done in one trip!

Both types will last for the same duration as your visa (never longer) from the time when you apply. In other words, if you get a 3-year visa and re-entry permit in July but your old visa runs out in August, whilst the visa will be valid for three years from August, the permit will be valid for three years from July (starts immediately).

Office hours are 9am-noon, 1pm-5pm weekdays.

Contact information and the location of your prefecture's office can be found at the Immigration Bureau website.

Your Real Visa: 査証 and 上陸許可

Visas are a pretty big aspect of any expat's life. And more often than not, they seem to leave people feeling stressed and bummed out. Last year, when I was up for renewal, I waded through a lot of information about renewing visas in Japan. I’ve collected and organized some of that info here.

First off, I want to introduce the difference between a Visa and Landing Permission in Japan. Many newbies are unaware of this difference, which can be very dangerous: If you screw up and overstay in Japan because you mixed up the dates on your Visa and your Landing Permission, you could get deported from Japan and barred from reentry, even as a tourist. So, listen up:

In layman terms, "visa" refers to the sticker in your passport that says you can be legally present in a foreign country. However, terminology used by Japanese authorities is different.

査証 (sashou) is the word most commonly translated from Japanese as "visa." Most people coming from a foreign country to Japan and intending to stay a long time will have a 査証 in their passport. It will have big block kanji at the top that read 日本国査証 and takes up a whole page in the passport.

A 査証 is issued outside of Japan at an embassy or consulate. You will use it when you enter Japan, but it gives you no authority to legally stay in Japan. Think of a 査証 like a screening process. The Japanese consulate in your country checks your application and background and deems you fit for entry into Japan. They write a recommendation (the 査証) and put it in your passport. When you enter Japan, immigration officials see this recommendation and use it to determine your eligibility to stay in Japan.

The immigration officials at the airport will grant you eligibility to stay in Japan by placing a 上陸許可 (jyouriku kyoka) stamp in your passport. Often this is translated into English as "Landing Permission." This stamp contains important information, like your 在留期間 (zairyuu kikan), "Period of Stay," and your 在留資格 (zairyuu shikaku), your "Status of Residence."

The big point here is that once you are inside Japan, your Landing Permission matters, and your Japan Visa no longer matters at all. When you "renew your visa" in Japan, you are really performing a procedure called 在留期間変更 (zairyuu kikaku henkou), or "Extension of Period of Stay." When you "change your work visa" in Japan so you can work a different type of job, you are really performing a procedure called 在留資格変更 (zairyuu shikaku henkou), or "Change of Status of Residence." And what the immigration officials want to see is that 上陸許可 Landing Permission stamp, NOT the 日本国査証 Japan Visa!

Knowing these differences and arming yourself with the correct terminology will go a long way in helping others understand your questions and requests.

Driving Schools in Japan

As a follow-on to my Getting a Japanese driving licence post, here are some details of English-speaking driving schools:

School options
I used Koyama driving school in Nerima, Tokyo. Koyama has four or five schools in Tokyo, all with very polite and friendly English instructors. I was able to complete the course in 18 days, although there was a wait of an extra three days between stage one and stage two for the provisional licence paperwork to be processed. I paid a grand total of just under 400,000yen for the privilege, plus accommodation. Lesson hours for stage one were limited to four or five a day, while stage two allows you to take up to nine.

Another somewhat cheaper option is Chubu Nippon Driver's School in Nagoya area. It's about 50,000yen less, but a lot smaller than Koyama and doesn't actually do the testing on site - rather, someone will come with you (from the school) and sit in the back of the test car at the test centre.

Because of the size, it can be hard to do the whole course intensely (which is why I chose not to go with them), especially at a busy time of year (holidays).

• All the schools I've seen also offer motorcycle, truck and industrial machinery qualifications.
• A licence from one of the basic car courses will qualify you to drive a moped/scooter.

If you know of any other schools, post them in the comments and I'll add them.

Getting a Japanese Driving Licence

Driving in Japan is easy. Doing so legally is not so easy.

The good news is that if you are already a licence holder then you have little to fear - the process is very straightforward.

First things first. If you come to Japan with an International Driving permit, which you should be able to process in your home country with the Automobile Association, you can drive for up to one year.

• Even better news for those of you from a select list of countries - including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom - is that all you need to do is take an eye test and provide a translation of your home country licence to get a full Japanese one. Beware that you must have been living in your country of issue for at least three months after passing your driving test (though no actual additional driving experience is required).
• Slightly less lucky are those from countries such as the USA, China and Brazil. You guys must, in addition to the above, take a written and a practical test. The written is easy once you understand the way the questions are phrased, but the practical will almost certainly cause you massive headaches. It is not uncommon to fail several times for no apparent reason.
• And least lucky of all are those of us who came out here with no licence whatsoever!
• I failed my UK driving test a couple of days before leaving the country, arriving here five months later with no licence at all. After the first year I realised I would be here for quite a long time, and decided it was time to get qualified.

Below is the process for people like me to get a licence from scratch:

For a country so incredibly bad at it, Japan is very finicky about driving. Everyone who wants a Japanese driving licence (apart from those listed above) must enroll at driving school (not strictly true, see a future post for, albeit stressful, alternatives). Here you will spend an insane amount of time and money, especially if you require an English-language service.

There are several driving schools that offer English services, though nowhere near enough to be convenient. I had to travel 300km and sleep in a dorm room for three weeks solid to achieve my licence... and that's the fastest time possible.

The course takes the following structure:

Stage one
Driving round a purpose-built toytown at the driving school for around 12 hours, and spending about the same time in a classroom watching badly narrated videos. Ends with a 10 minute driving test and 50 minute written test.

Stage two
Driving in the real world for 22 hours or so, and a further 14 hours in the classroom. Followed by a 25 minute driving test and 2 hour written test (which must be done in your prefecture).

The good thing about a driving school is that you are almost guaranteed to pass the practical side of things. I did my test with two other people in the car, and we switched around after each test. One of them was really bad and made loads of mistakes, but she still passed. She didn't even get scolded.

One last thing to note...
...is that most cars in Japan are automatic transmission. A manual licence costs about an additional 30,000yen, but may be worth it if you're returning to a country like the UK, where manual is the norm. This can be added to an existing Japanese licence for a similar price and only a few hours at the school.

In my next post I'm going to write about the various driving school options available. Click here to read.

Applying for a Parking Space

Not the most exciting subject, but certainly an important one for many of us.

When you buy a car, before you can actually receive it you must have a police-approved parking space within 2km of your house. That is, unless you live in a tiny village with low population density, in which case the process is much simpler (though I can't offer advice as of yet).

You can pay your car dealer to do all of this for you, although I was quoted 30,000yen which seemed like too much. To do it yourself, follow these steps:



1. Find a parking space (durrr). You may need to pay for this if it is not part of your property. Fees can range from 2,000 to 100,000 yen per month per month depending on your location.

2. Obtain written permission to use that space. You will need to go to whoever owns the land - Board of Education, landlord, community centre, etc, and have them hanko the permission slip given to you by the car company. This hankoed form will be your 保管場所証明 (hokan basho shōmei): "Evidence of a place to store a car."

If you're very lucky, your employer will complete the following steps on your behalf and a week later present you with the final certificate: 車庫証明 (shako shōmei): "Parking Certification".

If not, you'll have to do it yourself...

3. Draw a vaguely-to-scale (though do measure it and include measurements) map of your parking space and the immediate surroundings (including the width of the road leading up to it). Your car dealer should provide a form for you to use for this. It doesn't need to be too accurate, but it does need to be clear.
Attach that (paperclip not staple) along with a google maps image of the parking spot in relation to your house/apartment to your hokan basho shōmei. There is a box for you to draw the map to your house, but printing one is much easier and clearer. If you print, be sure to write 別紙 ("See separate page") in the box.

4. Take all those forms to the police station, making sure you have stamped where necessary and written your name and address in all the right places (the car dealer may well do this for you). You will need to pay around 2,000yen but you can't do so in cash. Like when you get your visa renewed, you must change your money into stamps for some reason, and then affix those to your application. You do this at the police station. The station in my town closes to applications at 5:30, while the stamp window closes at 5. Applications received after 3:30 will take an extra day to process.

5. Wait. It will take approximately 3-5 working days to get your parking certification. It will come with two stickers detailing your right to park.

6. Post your parking certificate (with the stickers) and your inkan certificate to the car dealer, and your part of the deal is complete.

After the dealer receives your paper, he/she will take the car to be registered in your prefecture. With your registration details he will create a document called 車検証 (shaken-shō), which is necessary to sign up for optional insurance. He will then fax you a copy or just bring the original and a copy when he delivers the car.

One more thing - it is okay to have more than one parking space which you regularly use. For example, many Japanese teaching staff have a second, subsidised home if they have to commute. They do not need to register that second parking space.

Buying a Car in Japan

I've just bought a car. It's a 2005 Nissan Cube. Very Japanese.

If you are living in Japan outside of a big city you will probably need some mode of transport. I just used a bike for the first 18 months in my town, but my girlfriend and I quickly got bored of bumming lifts off people and not being able to take decent day-trips (our city has what is known as "the slowest train in Japan" for a reason).

Long story short, we got there in the end. Here are the steps you must take if you want to buy:


1. Ask your employer if it is okay for you to drive to work, if you intend to.

• Yes, it sounds ridiculous.

2. Get a Japanese or International driving licence if you don't already have one (duh).

• I had no licence at all. Guide to getting a Japanese driving licence from scratch.

3. Find a parking space within a 2km radius of your house.

• You will need to register this with the police and pay for it before you can have your car. Full guide here.

4. Register your hanko/inkan to your gainjin card.

• You need an inkanshoume, or proof of the validity of your inkan, from your employer.This is necessary for buying something as big as a car, but nothing else (other than real-estate) it seems. Guide here.

5. Find a car.

• I used a combination of local dealerships, carsensor.net, and goo-net.com. If you want a specific model you may find yourself looking much further afield than you would back home. In the end I had to drive a 600km round-trip to view and buy my lovely Cube. But if you aren't picky you shouldn't have any problems.
• It's also possible to buy from a previous teacher in your area. Often leaving gaijin will be in a hurry to sell off their belongings and a real bargain can be found. But beware of the potential shaken (MOT) cost (see below)! A regional mailing list is a good place to look for this.
  
• NB: Choosing a car can be tough, made more so by Japanese tax laws. Tax varies depending on the power of your vehicle. Yellow-plate, or K-cars have been designed to fit into the lowest tax bracket. They are cheaper all-round, but at 660cc aren't the best choice if you think you'll do a lot of highway driving.
  
  NB: The price the dealer will initially show you often does not include many taxes and fees. Sometimes it won't even include the shaken. A good rule of thumb is to predict a cost of 200,000 more than the price in the window. Sometimes it's 50,000, sometimes even more than 250,000.

6. Haggle a bit.

• Pretty similar to Western countries. If you're lucky you can knock a few man off the price. Try for updated GPS software if it comes with a machine, and always ask for a full tank of gas. Do this last point when you have virtually agreed to buy. My friend bought a Mazda ZX8 from a reputable dealer which turned up with an empty tank.

NB: PAYING
To pay in installments you will either need a credit card which will allow you to borrow the full amount and pay up front, or a Japanese guarantor. The latter is not easy to come by.

7. Fill out all the paperwork.

• Aside from what you will fill out and stamp at the dealership, they will need your inkanshoume and your parking certification returned to them before you can hope to receive your car.
• Getting the parking certificate sorted will take about a week. From purchase to delivery will be something in the region of 2 weeks depending on how fast you can get your share of the paperwork processed.

8. Vehicle name change and registration.

• The car you're buying will need to be registered under your name, of course. It may also need to be registered to your prefecture if it isn't already. There will be a particular city the car will need to be taken to and dealt with. Try to get this included in the price.

9. Get it delivered.

• This is the easiest option, especially if they are doing the name change etc for you. It can cost 20,000-50,000 or more depending on where the car is coming from, but it's well worth it unless you love paperwork and wasting your time (and holiday days) traveling to one-horse towns.

Things to check on prospective cars:

• Shaken/MOT.
  This is basically a certificate of being road-worthy. All cars must be shakened every 2 years (a new one gets 3 initially). A K-car should be able to pass this for 100-150,000 yen if there are no problems. A white-plate would be more like 150-250,000. You can save a ton of money doing the shaken yourself, but will need a lot of patience and decent Japanese. A future post will cover this process.

• Accident history.
  Vehicles that have previosly had to be repaired will be considerably cheaper, but carry various risks along with that. Who knows how it will hold up in regular use, or what would happen to it in another accident. But hey, if it passed the shaken...

• Mileage.
  Japanese people tend to consider a "high mileage" to be 100,000km, and will usually scrap the vehicle not long after that. Of course, you and I know that 100,000km is no reason to scrap anything, and real bargains can be picked up here. Bear in mind you may have to replace the timing belt (about 50,000yen) at some point.
   
• Kilometres per litre.
  If you can only think in miles per galon then here's a handy converter. Anything over 15 km/l is pretty fair in my book.

Additional costs:

• Annual tax
  I pay around 50,000yen for my 1400cc white plate.

• Parking
  If you don't have a garden or driveway to park in, expect to pay anything from 2,000 to 100,000 per month depending on your location.

• Optional insurance
  Although this is called "optional" it is pretty much essential. If you knock over and kill someone on the road you will have to pay 1.5 million pounds (2.5 million dollars). The compulasory insurance will only pay out a maximum of 3 million yen.
  The price ranges from 70,000yen per year for basic cover on a K-car up to 240,000yen per year for full coverage on a high-class white plate.

• Snow tires
  If, like mine, your prefecture gets a lot of snow you will need to buy snow tires (スタードレスタイアー), or chains. Snow tires should cost around 10,000 each, chains will be less than half that.

• ETC machine
  An ETC machine is a little box which uses your ETC card to automatically pay highway tolls as you drive through the gate. It is much cheaper than not using one. The machine and installation will cost you under 20,000yen, and you should be able to get an ETC card if you can get a Japanese credit card. You can also hire a card, but the deposit is massive. If you're intending to drive on the highway, one of these is a must.

Miss anything? Let me know in the comments.

Registering your Hanko/Inkan

Got a gaijin card? Got a hanko?

That's nice, but technically to use your hanko for official things it needs to be officially registered with the local authorities. In practice you only need to prove this for a car or a house. Anyway, here's how you get it set up:



1. Get your full name written in kanji.
This is just for paperwork. What is on your hanko really doesn't matter. Note that you don't need to match the sounds or meanings when doing this. If time is not an issue then feel free to play around and find something you like, as it will be your "official" name in Japan. But you can honestly choose to be called Jason Donnovan if you want. My surname is Beverley, which I wrote as the kanji for 'bear' and 'valley', but no-one who registered it knew or cared about that.

The hanko can represent either your first or last name. In fact, as my hanko is my first name split into two kanji, the guy at the office asked if I just wanted to use one kanji as my first name and consider the other my surname to save time.

NB: Just to be clear, you do not need to get a new hanko if you already have one.

2. Get your employer to stamp a letter confirming that your hanko represents your new full name.

3. Take the letter, your hanko and your gaijin card to the local government office. It shouldn't take longer than about 20 minutes for you to fill out two forms with your name and address, and for them to photocopy everything. You then pay 300yen for registering your hanko and 300yen for the certificate. You will be given a card with the electronic data for your registration so that next time you need one of these certificates you can just present that.

By the way, your registered inkan is called your 実印 (jitsuin). If this gets stolen, it is equivalent to identity theft in the West and you need to report it to the city hall where you registered it to immediately. A 実印 is only used for large property transactions (cars, homes), both buying and selling. You'd need a 実印 when you bought a car under your name as well as when you sold the car to someone else and performed a 名義変更 (meigi henkou, change of registered name) so they were the new official owner of the car. A 実印 is also used when writing up wills and dividing up estates. And, it is needed when you take out a major loan, like for a house.

On the other hand, a lot of other legal documents do not require a 実印. Your inkan does not need to be registered with your city in order to create a bank account or sign on an apartment. (As far as I know), the inkan needed to register a marriage or divorce also does not need to be registered.

(By the way, if you sign on an apartment that requires a guarantor, and your guarantor is not there in person to sign with you, it may be necessary for the guarantor to provide his or her 実印 and 登録証明書 to the real estate agent.)

Cost of Living/Utility Costs in Japan

When you move somewhere to live and work, there are two things you need to know to get you started: how much you'll get paid (<-- teaching English), and what the living costs are.

We'll go over basic food costs another time - so today let's look at the cost of running a house/apartment.

Here are my typical bills for the month. More details below.

Where appropriate, blue numbers are summer, red represent winter. Numbers are, of course, yen.


Basics


Two people sharing an old 3DK house:

• Electricity: 2-3,000 3,500-4,000
• Gas: 5-7,000 10,000
• Water: 3-3,500
  
  = 10,000-13,500 16,500

One person in a modern one-room Leo Palace apartment:

• Electricity: 2,500 3,500
• Gas: 4,000 8,000
• Water: 2,500
  
  = 9,000 14,000
  
  
• Rent: 40-70,000++ depending on location

You will notice in the figures above that electricty doesn't vary muct between a house and an apartment, and in general is pretty low. This may be different in a big city/very modern apartment where it's growing in popularity to have the "gas" facilties (stove, water heating) electrically powered.

Gas is the main player in most Japanese homes, as can be seen in the costs. The massive difference between summer and winter comes from the heating of the water in the freezing environment. Expect considerably more if you like to take baths.

There are two types of gas, and the price can vary quite a lot between them. However you don't get to choose which type you have - it depends on your location and the infrastructure of your city.

You may also want to consider the cost of recycling/disposing of your rubbish. We have a separate article covering the sorting and associated costs of recycling here.

Misc bills

• Internet: 6,720 (cheaper options available)
• Mobile phone: 2,000 +
• School Lunch: 5,000 (varies slightly)
• Car Insurance: 7-8,000 (slightly cheaper and vastly more expensive options out there)

One thing to bear in mind is that there is no central-heating or double-glazing system in Japan (though I have heard rumours of both in Hokkaido). For this reason you will spend a bit of money on 灯油 (touyu) - kerosene to use with your heater (unless you have a modern apartment which is well insulated/small enough to get-by with just an electric one/kotatsu). It will vary person to person, but a budget of 2,000-6,000yen a month should keep you covered for the winter.


Other things you might want:

• Landline phone - your best bet here is to get a VoIP phoneline packaged with your internet. It's only a few hundred extra yen and saves the 35,000 installation fee for a dedicated landline. Or a Skype number.
• English newspaper: 2,650
• TV licence: 15,490pa (slightly less on direct debit, and you may be interested to know that there is no fine for non-payment)
• Satelite TV: 25,520pa

 Did I miss anything? Any comments? Stick them in the box below.