Japan
Daily life runs on quiet precision, with trains that arrive on the minute, convenience stores that solve most problems, and real safety at any hour. Short-term apartment rentals are tightly regulated, so long-stayers rely on monthly furnished flats and share houses, and it pays to book one before arriving.
- Currency
- JPY
- Capital
- Tokyo
- Language
- Japanese
- Timezone
- UTC+9
- Best months
- Mar-May & Oct-Nov (mild shoulder seasons)
When to go
The window that works: Mar-May & Oct-Nov (mild shoulder seasons). See how Japan lines up against every other destination month by month on the seasonal planner.
Getting in
US citizens
90 days visa-free (confidence: high)
Nomad route: Digital Nomad (Designated Activities), 6 months per stay.
Full visa guide, sourced and confidence-flagged →UK citizens
90 days visa-free (confidence: high)
Nomad route: Digital Nomad (Designated Activities), 6 months per stay.
Full visa guide, sourced and confidence-flagged →Figures come from the sourced rules dataset; each guide shows the official source and a confidence flag per path.
Setting up
The three things worth arranging before the flight, and the search tools for the rest:
- SafetyWing - nomad travel medical insurance (several visas above require proof of coverage)
- Wise - multi-currency account for Japanese yen and proof-of-funds statements
- Airalo - eSIM data on arrival, before you find a local SIM