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The Leaving Ledger Countdowns, paperwork and money

Edition of

Departure, filed by deadline

The last ninety days, filed by deadline

Leaving Japan is a sequence, not a list. This magazine puts the notices, the accounts, the shipping window and the tax that follows the flight into one dated order, and names the official page behind every step.

Written by the editors of The Leaving LedgerFirst published contact@sayonarajapan.com

Since

A departure from Japan is decided once and then administered for three months. The flight date is the only fixed point, and everything else has to be placed around it: a notice period that cannot be shortened, a shipping slot that closes when the season fills, a municipal office that needs a date and not an intention. Read in the wrong order, the same list produces a final week of errands that should have been finished in the first thirty days.

The magazine covers that sequence in fifteen to eighteen pages, one page per question. Where a rule can change, the page points at the source rather than copying it, because a copied number ages badly and a link does not.

Nothing here is sold, and no service is run for people leaving. The value of the site is that it puts the errands in an order and hands you the official page for each one.

A narrow lane between old wooden houses, a wall of pinned notices and leaflets on the left, a row of trestle tables on the right where four seated staff work at laptops and paper forms, and a dozen people standing and waiting.
A notice covered wall and a row of trestle tables used as a counter, with about a dozen people standing and waiting. Generic Japanese neighborhood setting. Used to open the magazine on the countdown to departure. Illustration generated with AI.

The Countdown Drawer

Readers arrive with a flight date and not with a subject, so the pages are filed by what is still possible at each moment. Five stages, from ninety days out to the airport. Each one lists the pages that belong to that moment, and every page carries its own deadline in the margin.

  1. 90 DAYS

    Notice, the lease and the shipping window

    Anything with a waiting period or a booking queue has to start here or it will not finish.

  2. 60 DAYS

    Tax, the tax representative, the bank and the pension

    The items that can outlast your departure by a year, and the accounts that must stay open to receive money.

  3. 30 DAYS

    City hall, the insurance card and the official notices

    The month where the loose ends are tied rather than created, and every closing date is written down.

  4. 14 DAYS

    The last fortnight: cartons, transfers and the return

    What is left is packing, one transfer of money, and preparing for the week after the flight.

  5. DAY 0

    The residence card at the airport, and the links that stay

    The card is surrendered at the airport and not at the ward office, and a few pages stay useful abroad.

The dated record

  • 90 DAYS

    An open plan office at dusk seen from the far end, empty chairs pushed under the desks, one lit monitor, a cardboard box standing on a chair and a colleague switching off a desk lamp.

    Giving Notice at Work and to the Ward Office

    Two clocks start ticking the moment you decide to leave Japan: one at your workplace, one at the ward office. …

    Leaving Japan90 DAYS

  • 90 DAYS

    A shipping container on a residential street photographed from the curb, a hand truck and a stack of sealed cardboard boxes beside it, a worker holding a clipboard at the open door.

    Shipping Belongings and the Customs Side

    The boxes are sealed, the flight is booked, and the last thing standing between you and the airport is the …

    Leaving Japan90 DAYS

  • 60 DAYS

    Two hands sorting plain envelopes across a wooden desk, a calculator and a stapler pushed to one side, a folder marked only by color tabs in daylight from the left.

    The Lump-Sum Pension Withdrawal

    You paid into the Japanese public pension for months or years, and now you are leaving. The lump-sum withdrawal is …

    Paperwork and Money60 DAYS

  • 60 DAYS

    A municipal counter with a numbered ticket display above it, a clerk working behind the glass, a visitor reading a printed form and a ballpoint pen chained to the ledge.

    Resident Tax After Leaving Japan

    The last payslip is gone, the apartment is empty, and the flight is booked. Then a bill arrives at an …

    Paperwork and Money60 DAYS

  • 60 DAYS

    A tax office counter photographed from above, a stack of forms squared at the corner, an open stamp pad with a seal resting on it and two hands sorting the top sheets.

    Income Tax, the Tax Representative and Clearance

    Leaving Japan with an unpaid tax position is one of the few things that does not resolve itself after the …

    Paperwork and Money60 DAYS

  • 90 DAYS

    A narrow kitchen with a gas meter set into the wall, a kettle on the counter, a cloth on the rail and two stacked moving boxes standing by the door in flat afternoon light.

    Utilities, Gas and Water Before Departure

    Ending gas, water and electricity service in Japan runs on paperwork filed in the right order, at the right time, …

    Leaving Japan90 DAYS

  • 60 DAYS

    Two unplugged household telephones lying side by side on a table, their cords coiled loosely between them, a closed cardboard box at the edge of the frame in soft side light.

    Closing Bank Accounts and Phone Contracts

    You have booked the flight, given notice on the apartment and started sorting what goes in the suitcase. The two …

    Paperwork and Money60 DAYS

  • 30 DAYS

    A clinic waiting room photographed from a low chair, a health insurance card lying face down on a low table, a rack of magazines behind and empty seats along the wall.

    National Health Insurance and the Final Weeks

    Leaving Japan involves a sequence of small administrative acts, and national health insurance is one of the last you will …

    Paperwork and Money30 DAYS

  • DAY 0

    An airport departure hall seen from behind, travellers with suitcases standing at the tall windows, a wide aircraft on the tarmac outside and a departures board above the glass.

    Residence Card, Visa and the Exit

    You have handed in your notice, booked the flight, and the last thing on your mind is the small plastic …

    Paperwork and MoneyDAY 0

  • 30 DAYS

    A noticeboard beside a lift lobby, four pinned sheets overlapping at the corners, a hand holding a pen just below them and a canvas tote bag resting on the floor tiles.

    Questions Before Leaving

    The weeks before a long stay ends fill up with the same questions, asked in the same order, by people …

    Paperwork and Money30 DAYS

  • 14 DAYS

    A packed canvas bag on the floor beside a front door, a pocket torch and a small portable radio on the mat, a pair of shoes set straight against the wall.

    Keeping Alert in the Final Weeks

    The last weeks before a flight fill up with appointments, and the phone in your pocket quietly becomes the least …

    Leaving Japan14 DAYS

  • 30 DAYS

    A community noticeboard in an entrance lobby showing a printed hazard map beside a fire extinguisher cabinet, a bench below it and daylight falling in from the automatic doors.

    Official Disaster Information

    When a big earthquake hits, the first minutes are the ones that matter, and they are the worst possible minutes …

    Leaving Japan30 DAYS

  • 30 DAYS

    le jeûne thérapeutique de Buchinger

    le jeûne thérapeutique de Buchinger

    When a big earthquake hits, the first minutes are the ones that matter, and they are the worst possible minutes …

    Pour les rituels d'attention et de santé, un journal allemand documente le jeûne thérapeutique de Buchinger à Überlingen, les routines du matin et du soir, l'hygiène du sommeil, le bain de forêt et la marche pieds nus.

  • 30 DAYS

    parc et la vallée

    Pour qui quitte le Japon et garde un oeil sur l'Europe, le guide Małków nad Wartą documente le palais, le parc et la vallée de la Warta au fil des saisons, entre traces photographiques et catalogues d'œuvres.

    When a big earthquake hits, the first minutes are the ones that matter, and they are the worst possible minutes …

    Pour les rituels d'attention et de santé, un journal allemand documente le jeûne thérapeutique de Buchinger à Überlingen, les routines du matin et du soir, l'hygiène du sommeil, le bain de forêt et la marche pieds nus.

  • 30 DAYS

    composer un itinéraire sur mesure

    Pour composer un itinéraire sur mesure , le site Grands Chemins réunit des dossiers de destination, des repères de devis et des idées de voyage de noces, avec la cuisine et le train comme façons d'entrer dans un pays.

    When a big earthquake hits, the first minutes are the ones that matter, and they are the worst possible minutes …

    Pour les rituels d'attention et de santé, un journal allemand documente le jeûne thérapeutique de Buchinger à Überlingen, les routines du matin et du soir, l'hygiène du sommeil, le bain de forêt et la marche pieds nus.

  • 30 DAYS

    Polen-Forum.com

    Readers planning a family holiday on the Baltic coast, a house or plot purchase, or simply a clearer view of Polish costs, paperwork and scam risks will find practical German-language coverage at Polen-Forum.com .

    When a big earthquake hits, the first minutes are the ones that matter, and they are the worst possible minutes …

    Pour les rituels d'attention et de santé, un journal allemand documente le jeûne thérapeutique de Buchinger à Überlingen, les routines du matin et du soir, l'hygiène du sommeil, le bain de forêt et la marche pieds nus.

What the magazine covers

  • Leaving Japan 6 pages

    Notice, utilities, shipping and the last weeks in the country.

  • Paperwork and Money 8 pages

    Tax, the pension refund, the bank, the phone and the health insurance card.

  • Return and After 5 pages

    The arrival home, the money that follows you and the links that stay.

  • Resources 3 pages

    The official English pages a departing resident actually opens, grouped by errand.

Readers who are still in Japan usually begin with departure into a dated sequence across the last ninety days, the only page here that puts notices, accounts, shipping and tax into one order. For an errand that needs the English page rather than the order, a grouped list sits under Leaving Ledger Practical Resources for Leavers and names the office behind each entry. A short pre-departure questions FAQ answers the five things readers ask first. Where a contract, a deposit or a refund goes wrong during a move, the same section points departing residents to official consumer advice. For the part of the move that happens after the flight, the Reading List for Leaving and Returning collects the accounts worth reading while the boxes are still open.

Three surfaces of the same week

A table where a form is explained, a household reading the guides, a desk with the telephone. The pictures on this site are illustrations and are captioned as such.

Two people sitting across a light wood table in a bright office, one of them in a grey jacket holding an open printed leaflet, a laptop, a calculator and a white mug between them, a noticeboard on the wall behind.
Two people reading a printed leaflet across a table. Generic Japanese office setting. Used to illustrate the counter where a form is explained. Illustration generated with AI.
Three people around a wooden table in a room with paper screen doors and a full bookcase, each holding an open printed booklet, more stapled sheets stacked in front of them and daylight falling from the left.
Three people comparing printed booklets around a table. Generic Japanese home interior. Used to illustrate a household reading the guides together. Illustration generated with AI.
A man in a pale shirt at a desk beside a window, a phone at his ear and an open printed brochure in his hand, a monitor, a keyboard, a desk telephone and two stacks of leaflets beside him, a colleague on the phone behind.
A desk with a telephone, a monitor and two stacks of leaflets. Generic Japanese office setting. Used to illustrate the calls that settle the last details. Illustration generated with AI.