What does emigrating to Japan cost?
Answer four questions and you have an honest range for your situation. Every item shows whether it's a checked rate or an estimate. The paperwork costs tens of euros here. The money is in the four to six months' rent a Japanese rental contract asks up front.
Looking for the whole route to Japan, not just the costs? See the steps, the order and the paperwork →
A rough indication for your situation
A few short questions, and you get a range instead of an amount. That's deliberate: an exact figure would suggest a precision nobody has.
Count on a total of
€ 4.300 – € 13.000
Where does that difference come from?
- The first months€ 4.000 – € 12.000
Below you'll find per item where the upper and the lower limit come from.
- Aanvraag en papieren
- € 90 – € 200
- De verhuizing
- € 300 – € 800
- De eerste maanden
- € 4.000 – € 12.000
Every item, one by onePer item the amount, the source and whether it's a rate or an estimate
Aanvraag en papieren
- Visa fees€ 90 – € 90
- Certificates and translations(estimate)€ 0 – € 100
De verhuizing
- Travel(estimate)€ 300 – € 800
This covers a one-way flight Amsterdam-Tokyo or Amsterdam-Osaka per person, plus hold luggage. KLM is the only airline flying direct (± 13 hours). With a connection it is often hundreds of euros cheaper.
De eerste maanden
- The first months(estimate)€ 4.000 – € 12.000
This is the largest item of this corridor. A Japanese rental contract asks for four to six months' rent up front: key money, deposit, agent's fee and the guarantor company, which stands surety for your rent. Via the semi-public landlord UR it is around three months. On top of that comes furnishing, because rental homes there are often emptier than Dutch ones, down to the light fittings. Then exchanging your driving licence (± € 70), and living until the first salary. Public school is free. Whoever chooses an international school adds the first instalment themselves, and that runs into thousands of euros per child.
And if you buy a house?
This calculation assumes renting: the first months include deposit and rent in advance.
If you buy, count on 6 to 8% of the purchase price on top of this amount. On a home of € 250,000 that's € 15.000 to € 20.000.
Japan puts nothing in the way of foreigners: you need no visa and not even residence to buy. The costs together come to 6 to 8%. The real estate acquisition tax is 3% for homes (reduced rate until 31 March 2027). The registration tax is 1.5% on the land (until 31 March 2029) and 2% on the building; for your own home of at least 50 m² it is 0.3% (until 31 March 2027). Both are charged on the assessed value, which is usually 50 to 70% of the market value. Add the estate agent and a shiho-shoshi (judicial scrivener, who handles the registration). Since 1 April 2026 you must state your nationality at registration, and report within twenty days that you will live there yourself. That is administration, not a restriction.
An order of magnitude based on averages, not a quote. The real amounts depend on your occupation, your route, the season and dozens of choices you still have to make.
Rates checked on 21 August 2026.
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The whole journey in the right order, with your documents, your costs and all your cancellation letters. € 399 one-off, no subscription.
Also want to know whether your departure date is feasible, and where you start? Take the departure scan for Japan →
One thing you can sort out today
Closing down the Netherlands is the same work for everyone, wherever you're going. With the letter pack you enter your details once, and every cancellation and notification letter is ready: health insurance, rent, employer, bank, pension fund. Each comes with the date by which it has to go out. € 49 one-off, and it's also included in every plan.
In Vertrekklaar you get the complete picture of your own costs, with your route, your documents and your deadlines.
From range to your own budget
The calculator above works with four questions, but the journey itself knows more. In Vertrekklaar the same model calculates on your real situation: who's coming, which household contents, pet or not. It also watches the deadlines: three months for your COE, fourteen days for the municipality, 180 days for the dog. A one-off € 399, no subscription.
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Every step on one list, free
Not ready to start yet? Then you get the departure checklist for Japan: every step in order, to print and tick off. With it, five mails in a week and a half about the pitfalls and the real costs. If the rules for Japan change, you'll hear about it. After that we ask once where your plans stand, send one offer, and now and then one thing that fits your moment. No newsletter, and you can switch it off at any time.
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