Japan's nomad visa is short and strict, but it's the first legal on-the-books path into a country nomads have wanted to base in for a decade. Tokyo is the global city; Osaka delivers similar infrastructure at a real discount.
Photo: Unsplash, free-to-use licence
Japan in short
We cover 2 cities in Japan. A mid-range solo month runs from about $1,900 in Osaka to about $2,400 in Tokyo (our planning estimates, method). The visa tracker has 1 record for Japan, read on official pages and last checked 29 Sept 2026.
MOFA page and Japanese embassy checklists listed in search results; direct fetch blocked (403), details from search summaries
Income rule
Annual income of at least 10 million yen at time of application
Stay
Stay up to 6 months; visa valid 3 months from issue, single entry
Insurance
Private insurance covering injury, illness and death, with 10 million yen or more medical coverage
Tax
Immigration Services Agency Q&A (as of July 2024): remuneration for activities in Japan is exempt from Japanese tax only if the tax convention requirements are met (in most cases stay of 183 days or less in the taxable year or any consecutive 12 months, and pay not from a Japanese-resident employer); otherwise not exempt. No residence card is issued
Sorted from cheapest. Monthly cost is a mid-range solo scenario in US dollars; housing is the accommodation line of the same scenario. Wifi and safety are planning figures, not measurements.
How this page is built: visa rows are read from the audited tracker, which links each figure to an official page and dates the check; city figures are editorial planning estimates (method). Rules change, so confirm with the authority before you apply. Researched from official immigration pages and the site's cost dataset.
Earlier summary of the visa route
Scheme
Digital Nomad Visa (Designated Activities)
Maximum stay
6 months, single stay, non-renewable
Income or savings
¥10 million/year (~$67,000–$70,000)
Difficulty
Moderate
These summary figures were carried over from the earlier site and are not individually dated. Where they differ from the official-source records above, the records win.
