Procedures for moving house
Surely many of you who have just lived in Japan will encounter some difficulties and questions when moving to a new place in Japan. In today’s article, we will answer your necessary procedures to move house in Japan.

1. Procedures to do before moving to a new place
a) Cancellation of current accommodation contract
Assuming you have found a new home, you should notify the management company (管理会社) or the owner of the current accommodation, usually under the contract 1 month in advance. So with a new accommodation contract, you should also consider the time to enter the house 1 month before you move.

b) Cancellation of electricity contract at current accommodation
With the electric company, you usually just need to call, or ask to cut the contract over the internet or by phone (big electricity companies have this service). You just need to google search: “electricity company name + 停止” to get the results. After canceling, until that day, you just need to disconnect the circuit breaker when leaving the house.

c) Cancellation of gas contract at current accommodation
Similar to canceling your electricity company contract, you can cut your gas contract over the phone or over the internet. But with the gas company, there may be cases where they will come to lock and lock the gas, so you need to make an appointment to meet (立ち合い) accordingly, because after that it will not be possible to use it anymore. It’s usually a good idea to make an appointment on the day you’ve finished moving and returned home.

d) Cancel internet contract at current accommodation
If you have a fixed internet connection, and the service is not provided by your current residence, you should terminate your internet contract or notify your contract of moving to a new location.

e) Complete the address change procedure before moving
This procedure should be done 1-2 weeks before moving because if you forget to do it first, when you move to a new address, you will have to do everything by post if the distance is long.
In case you move to a new address with the same ku 区 or shi 市 with the old address, within 14 days after moving to the new address just bring: residence card (在留カード) and my number card (マイナンバー)通知カード) to 区役所-Kuyakusho（ or 市役所-Shiyakusho) to complete the address change procedure. This procedure is called 転居届 (tenkyo todoke).
In case you move to a new address 区 or different 市 from the old address, within 14 days before moving, you need to go to Kuyakusho or Shiyakusho to complete the 転出届 (Tenshutsu-todoke) procedure. The person coming to work can be yourself or your spouse/family, bring your residence card (在留カード) or passport/driver’s license (if any), seal (inkan) and fill in the form.転出届 menu (this is available in ku or shi). After completing this procedure, you will receive a certificate of leaving your current province/city (転出証明書: tenshutsu shomeisho).

2. Procedures to do after moving to a new place
a) Procedure to change address at new place of residence
Also known as the procedure to apply for admission to a new city/province after moving in, Japanese is the 転入届 (Tennyu-todoke) procedure, within 14 days of moving to a new address, you need to go to Kuyakusho or Shiyakusho to do this procedure. The person who does the procedure can be yourself or your spouse. Once done, your address on the alien card, My Number card will be updated, and you can apply for a residence permit 住民票 if you need to submit it to the company or school.

b) Procedure for requesting delivery to a new address at the post office
Because after you arrive at your new place, some parcels or notices will still be delivered to the old address. Therefore, you need to go to the post office to do the procedures to forward the item to a new address. This procedure is called 郵便物の転送届: yubin futsuu no tensou todoke. You go to the post office and ask if they will give you a piece of paper for you to fill out and return to them. This service is free for 1 year.

c) Change the address of the services you are using
Finally, you need to change the address of the services you are using eg phone network, online shopping, credit card, banking. As a result, these services will send notifications, payment vouchers (if any) to your new address instead of the old one.

We hope that this article has provided you with useful information. Wishing you all good health and success.