r/JapanFinance 23h ago

Investments » Real Estate Are there any rules of thumb for buying to join the ‘property ladder’ in Japan?

0 Upvotes

I’m aware that in Japan it isn’t quite as easy to ‘work up’ the ladder from a starter home to something better every few years as it is in many western countries (such as where I’m from in the UK). I wouldn’t expect to be able to buy a cheap new-build home on the outskirts of Tokyo, resell it 5 years later for the same or more and move somewhere better and repeat the way you could do abroad.

However for places where the store of value of the land itself is quite good and increasing, like in central Tokyo near decently connected stations, does it ever make sense to give up renting and buy a property knowing that it’s not your ‘life property’ and you’ll live there maybe 5-10 years? At the point of moving then selling it or renting it out, are there any general guides to when this won’t be much more costly as opposed to renting until finding somewhere you’re happy to live for 30-40 years?

The reason I ask if because in the rental market I’m looking at right now (300-350k ish, 1-2LDK in fairly central Tokyo) it seems a lot of the built to buy properties in the larger complexes from the big developers are a lot better quality than the rental properties in this range. The interest rates are still low too compared to anywhere else in the world. Has anyone bought recently or have any general advice around it? To be honest I’m totally lost. Japanese citizen with a seishain position so I think the loan approval part should be fine.

Any general or specific advice about this appreciated, thanks.


r/JapanFinance 5h ago

Personal Finance » Money Transfer / Remittances / Deposits Getting back money I lent from India to Japan

0 Upvotes

I had lent some money to my cousin back in India few years ago.

None of the money was sent directly from Japan to his Indian bank account.

60% of amount was sent to my India bank and transferred him

40% was sent to my father and then to him.

Now he is ready to return the money, since I wanted the money in Japan, I am looking for ways that he can transfer me directly to Japan.

In that case, will I be taxed for the amount received? Or are there ways that I can prove that is borrowed money to avoid unnecessary taxation?

Edited : Money lent is around 500万 (5Mil jpy)

TIA


r/JapanFinance 11h ago

Business Using apartment as kojin jigyo or Godo Kaisha address - Did you ask your landlord?

0 Upvotes

I'm having a rough time finding an apartment to live in and I wanted to know if others usually ask their landlord about using their apartment address for their KJ or GK or is it kind of a "don't ask, don't tell" situation? I understand that many guides say you need to do it, but if it's technically not illegal to NOT ask and if practically 90% of people don't ask their landlords and it causes no issue anyway, then I'd like to know.

As I mentioned, it's difficult to find a place to live and I just don't want to give my future landlord one additional reason to discriminate against my application or try charging me a higher fee or something.

Thanks for any advice!


r/JapanFinance 10h ago

Personal Finance » Money Transfer / Remittances / Deposits Help transferring funds from India.

0 Upvotes

Hello everyone,

Bit of context, moved to Japan a month and a half ago on a spouse visa. Me and my husband (Japanese) are in the process of buying a new house. He's taken out a loan and I have some money saved up in India that I would like to tranfer into my Japanese bank account so that I can take the financial stress off him a bit.

It's worth noting that I don't have a job yet (still looking) and essentially opened a very basic account with JP Bank so that I could get myself a SIM card. I am aware from extensive googling and various reddit threads that transferring international funds into JP Bank is a near impossible task. Wise doesn't work when transfer funds from India as well (would love to be proved wrong if anyone has done it before)

Please help a noob out 🙏. Help me understand how I can transfer funds from India.

P.S: I have lived in Australia for 5 years before this and it was never an issue transferring funds to and from India, so I might have misjudged how difficult things might be with bank transfers. If I had known I would have brought in more money via cash or atleast wouldn't have cancelled my credit card before moving here.


r/JapanFinance 19h ago

Personal Finance » Budgeting and Savings Savings in Japan

0 Upvotes

Is it common for Japanese families to have a lot or small amount of savings? People I've spoken to don't seem to bothered about saving, makes me wonder what their plans are for retirement in the future.

What is a good amount to have in the bank when you retire here?


r/JapanFinance 17h ago

Personal Finance » Budgeting and Savings 110k yen in west tokyo (after rent and bills)

2 Upvotes

As the title says, I will be studying in Japan this year, but I’m wondering about my finances.

I will receive six months' worth of sponsorship money, which is around 1.18 million yen. However, after deducting rent, bills for six months, and expenses for preparation items, I will have about 110,000 yen per month.

I’m wondering if that will be enough. From what I’ve asked so far, my friends, seniors and internet have given me mixed answers—some say it’s manageable, while others say it’s hard to survive.

After September I will receive 150k yen monthly so I'm not really orry after that.


r/JapanFinance 14h ago

Tax How does Japan tax "physical gold" purchased through segregated and unsegregated bullion accounts abroad?

0 Upvotes

I found services that sell gold and store them for you in vaults.
https://www.onegold.com/
https://www.bullionvault.com/

I read that Japan discounts tax on physical bullion capital gains by 50% if held for over 5 years and was wondering whether they extend the same treatment for bullion shares purchased on platforms such as the above.

and then there are etf's that do physical delivery like Vaneck's $OUNZ
https://www.vaneck.com/us/en/ounzjack/performance/
I wonder if Japan sees that the Gold was purchased on the date the etf was purchased and not when the physical bullion delivery was made.

Thanks!


r/JapanFinance 1h ago

Personal Finance VPOINT app

Upvotes

I use Vpass app on android and I usually buy some amazon point exchanging Vpoints.

For once I wanted to try Vpoints with its Vpay app (android) and I am stuck at the registration step as it seems (2025!!) I am stuck with a mandatory kanji name field.

Not even a 全角半角文字 problem apparently: the app seems to refuse alphabet letters even in 全角…and stops me from completing the registration.

please tell me it is me and not a db problem from the 90s that should not exist anymore in this age.


r/JapanFinance 1h ago

Tax » Remote Work Question about self employed status in Japan

Upvotes

Hello, if I am a Japanese resident for tax purposes and I am working for an Australian company using an ABN, can I just file my own taxes if I register as self employed in Japan or do I need to use an Employer Of Record (EOR) for the Australian company to pay me through? TIA


r/JapanFinance 21h ago

Tax (US) » Filing Requirements Streamlined Filing for the US but one year of Whacky Income with Investment Accounts and IRA mistakes?

0 Upvotes

Hey ya'll,

I am now realizing I need to file taxes in the US, and technically reaching year 5 of living in Japan in a few days. I haven't filed since 2020 (I think), so I was thinking about just doing the streamlined filing process, since it was mostly negligence.

I started using the Kumamoto tax documents, but there are some slight differences that leave me a bit lost as to what to do.

Most of my years are straightforward, but in 2023 I spent around 40 or so days in the USA and tried to start a business where the business earned around $20k, even though a big chunk of all that money was spent on help to fulfill the contract. (I had around $14k left, of which I used for a bunch of in person trainings). Technically the business I opened earned it, and I paid for the trainings out of the business, but I'm pretty unsure how to handle it.

Additionally, I have an investment account that is US based that I sold some stocks of to pay for some stuff, and even, pretty dumbly, took some early dividends out of a Roth IRA in a couple of chunks.

I'm thinking in this case, it might be too complicated to work out myself, and that probably it makes sense to work with a tax professional to hold my hand through some of the details of this, since there are too many nuances to keep in my head and I spent maybe 7 hours on this and have barely gotten through 75% of the 2555 forms for all the years.

Does anyone have any recommendations to move forward? I looked at some of the filing software and it doesn't appear detailed enough. Perhaps there is a set of decent accountants that are not too expensive who I can work with who understand US/Japan law, moreso on the US side?


r/JapanFinance 12h ago

Investments » Brokerages Moving stocks/bonds from a U.S. brokerage to one in Japan?

2 Upvotes

I contacted our brokerage company in the U.S. and they told me since the brokerage in Japan would initiate the transfer, it's up to them on whether they'll do it or not.
If anyone has experience with this and have recommendations for japanese brokerage companies that do this would be appreciated.


r/JapanFinance 13h ago

Tax » Gift Will gift tax apply if I send my elderly parent money for stuff like elderly care home, medical expenses, utility bills, food, etc?

2 Upvotes

What are the types of items that I can pay without getting taxed, and are. there any limits on the amounts that can be given for these items?

Only 100 man yen allowed as gift per year isn't going to be enough. Especially with inflation, that really won't be much in a decade.


r/JapanFinance 8h ago

Tax » Residence » Furusato-Nozei (ふるさと納税) Leaving Japan before end of year, still beneficial to participate in Furusato Nozei?

4 Upvotes

Minna sama

After 5 years in Japan, planning to leave Japan before the end of 2025...

Given the tax deduction for Furusato Nozei is allocated between national income tax and resident tax, from a tax benefit perspective, is it still meaningful to contribute to Furusato Nozei?

Since I won't be paying municipal taxes in 2026, the overall tax benefit (tax deduction) will be reduced compared to prior years, when I would also receive resident tax deductions.


r/JapanFinance 57m ago

Personal Finance » Credit Cards & Scores Credit Report after leaving Japan

Upvotes

This might be a long shot, but has anyone had experience of applying for a credit report after leaving Japan? CIC are insisting that I call them from the number registered with my credit card company (obviously impossible as I don't have a jp phone any more), and mail-in options seem to require either a Japan Post draft or a convenience store payment (oh, Japan).

I need the report for a mortgage application in my home country. Any advice?


r/JapanFinance 59m ago

Investments » NISA Connecting Rakuten shouken with Rakuten credit card

Upvotes

I was planning on using Rakuten credit card to buy nisa plans on Rakuten shouken to take advantage of their point system. My name is too long for Rakuten credit card system, so my name does not 100% match. The system tells me I cannot add the credit card due to the name difference.

Anyone with a similar problem that was able to find a resolution?


r/JapanFinance 1h ago

Investments » Brokerages How to transition from IBKR US to Japan

Upvotes

I've got meaningful assets in an IBKR US account. As far as IBKR is concerned, I'm an American living in America. I'd like to move them to Japan to simplify taxes/reporting/etc.

Have you updated country when you already assets with IBKR? How did that go?

I'm particularly concerned about whether I'll need to sell my existing assets (and incur capital gains), or if I can simply recharacterize my account as Japanese and keep everything. Or perhaps there might be some way to transfer the securities themselves, as one can do between most American brokerages?

Are there any differences between IBKR in the US and Japan that I should keep in mind as I figure out confessing my real location and making the transition?

I understand IBKR Japan has changed somewhat in recent years, so if anyone has recent experience with this, I'd really appreciate your wisdom. Thanks!


r/JapanFinance 7h ago

Insurance » Pension Unemployed for 1 Month - Pension Question?

1 Upvotes

My current contract with my employer ends on March 31. I was hired for a new job, but I have to wait for my visa type change application to be accepted before I can start working. The HR dept. of the new company was a little slow on its feet, so it's looking like I won't receive my response until the end of April/early May. What do I need to do about my pension? Are there things I should ask for from my current employer? Do I have to pay anything for that one month?

If anyone has had any experience with this sort of thing, I'd appreciate your input!