What to say at a Japanese ward office (転入届 / tennyū todoke)

You pick an address. Then you have fourteen days to tell the city. Japan's Immigration Services Agency is blunt about it: a mid- to long-term resident must notify their municipality of their residence within 14 days of deciding where they live, with the residence card (or the passport stamped “residence card to be issued later”).

That visit is the 転入届 (tennyū todoke) at the city hall or ward office — 市役所 (shiyakusho) or 区役所 (kuyakusho). It is not a tourist information desk. It is the city writing your name next to an address, and it is also the immigration address notification done in the same window if you bring the card.

The Japanese ward office phrase page has the short lines for the queue. This is the appointment itself. The official rule is on the ISA page for notifying your address after landing. Shibuya's foreign-resident 転入届 page is a typical ward checklist: in person, not by post, within 14 days of starting to live there.

Before you join the queue

If you moved from another Japanese city, get a 転出証明書 (tenshutsu shōmeisho) from the old municipality first. First landing from abroad: passport plus the residence card from the airport, or the passport with the later-delivery stamp.

• 住民登録をしたいです。 (jūmin tōroku o shitai desu) — I want to register as a resident.
• 転入届を出したいです。 (tennyū todoke o dashitai desu) — I want to file a moving-in notification.
• 予約が必要ですか？ (yoyaku ga hitsuyō desu ka) — Do I need an appointment first?
• 在留カードを持ってきました。 (zairyū kādo o motte kimashita) — I brought my residence card.

Some wards take walk-ins. Some want a numbered ticket from a machine. Ask at the information desk: 外国人の住民登録はどこですか。 (gaikokujin no jūmin tōroku wa doko desu ka)

At the counter

Hand the folder before you explain the flight. They want the card, the passport, and a form with an address they can read.

• 契約書を持ってきました。 (keiyakusho o motte kimashita) — I brought the contract.
• 何の書類が必要ですか？ (nan no shorui ga hitsuyō desu ka) — What documents do I need?
• この書類が分かりません。 (kono shorui ga wakarimasen) — I do not understand this form.
• もう少しゆっくり言っていただけますか？ (mō sukoshi yukkuri itte itadakemasu ka) — Could you say that a little more slowly?
• 住所を書いてください。 (jūsho o kaite kudasai) — Please write the address.

If you landed without a card in hand, the ward registration is still the job. ISA says the card is then posted to the address you just registered, usually in a week or two.

What you leave with

Ask for a 住民票 (jūminhyō) if a bank, employer or phone shop will want proof. My Number paperwork often starts in the same building. Do not leave until the address on the residence card (or the receipt) matches the flat you sleep in.

• 証明書を受け取りに来ました。 (shōmeisho o uketori ni kimashita) — I am here to collect the certificate.
• 住民票をください。 (jūminhyō o kudasai) — I would like a resident record copy.

A ward morning is mostly waiting. The Japanese that matters is the minute at the desk: I am here to register, here is the card, please go slower. Practise those out loud. Counter speed is not classroom speed.