Guides
Short, sourced guides to filing your own Japanese tax return as a foreign resident — from working out your residency status to claiming the deductions you are entitled to. Reviewed each filing season.
Residency status for Japanese income tax
How Japan treats non-residents, NPRs, permanent residents, and people leaving — plus the 5-of-10-years test.
7 min read · updated Apr 22, 2026
Japan tax filing deadlines in English
The usual Feb 16–Mar 15 window, what changes if you amend or leave Japan, and when resident tax shows up.
4 min read · updated Apr 22, 2026
Furusato Nozei (ふるさと納税) — limits and deduction
What the ¥2,000 you keep actually means, rough donation caps, and when one-stop no longer applies.
5 min read · updated Apr 22, 2026
Reading a 源泉徴収票 (withholding slip)
The January slip from your employer, read field by field — pay, tax withheld, and year-end adjustment lines.
6 min read · updated Apr 22, 2026
Blue Return (青色申告) for sole proprietors
Whether the up-to-¥650k blue-return deduction is worth it, and the Mar 15 / two-month approval deadlines.
5 min read · updated Apr 22, 2026
Leaving Japan — the tax checklist
Before you leave: tax representative, filing timing, resident-tax bills that arrive later, and the pension refund.
6 min read · updated Apr 22, 2026
Foreign tax credit (外国税額控除) — how it works
Crediting tax you already paid abroad in Japan, how the share-limit works, and the NPR remittance catch.
6 min read · updated Apr 22, 2026