I’ve had a bit of a hiatus since my last big post about company structure and licenses for accommodation business in Japan. The end of the year and holidays have been busy! Over the past year, I’ve shifted into a different kind of life — working for myself as a fractional CTO while building up 508.dev. It’s more freedom, more upside, and also more responsibility. One of the first real questions that came with that was surprisingly unglamorous: how exactly should I pay myself? This edition aims to dive deep into that question. But first, some Taiwan 🇹🇼 and Japan 🇯🇵 personal finance tips!

Table of Contents

• iPASS Money is now separate from LINE

• Taiwan Traffic QR code payment

• Taiwan Metro to accept credit card payments by Jul …

• Check your dividend payout method with Rakuten NIS …

• 💴 Free money with Tokyo app for residents

• How I Pay Myself Abroad as a US Taxpayer

  • Why Structure Even Matters

  • Why I Landed on an S-Corp

  • The Deadline That Almost Bit Me Hard

  • How I Pay Myself and Run Payroll (Without Overthin …

  • The Unexpected Benefit: Retirement Accounts After …

  • Yes, You Can Still Claim FEIE With an S-Corp

  • Where It Gets Subtle

  • What This Looks Like at $60k vs $200k

  • Important Tradeoffs

  • Company Formation

  • Electing S-Corp Treatment

  • The Wyoming Employer Registration Confusion

  • The Honest Take

  • Conclusions

iPASS Money is now separate from LINE

For readers in Taiwan 🇹🇼, as of January 1, 2026, iPASS MONEY is no longer bundled inside LINE Pay.

If you’ve been in Taiwan for a while, you might know that iPASS Money lived quietly inside the LINE app as the officially supported mobile wallet, alongside LINE Pay. The service has fully spun out into its own standalone app, and if you want access to the service going forward, you’ll need to install it separately.

What actually changed (and what didn’t)

• Your money is safe

  • Your existing balance, transaction history, and account details all carry over automatically. There’s no re-registration required—just log in using your original mobile number or ID.

• LINE access still exists (but it’s limited)

  • There is a LINE Mini App version you can link for basic tasks like checking your balance or sending money to LINE friends. The full feature set now lives exclusively in the standalone app.

• The new app is… actually better

  • Once you’re in the dedicated app, you’ll notice it’s no longer just a “background wallet.” New capabilities include:

    • Full TWQR support (Taiwan’s unified QR payment standard) at many merchants

    • Proper iPASS physical card management, including NFC top-ups and monthly pass purchases

    • Cross-border payments in Japan at PayPay-supported merchants (surprisingly useful)

    • A new iPASS Green Point rewards system, replacing LINE POINTS

LINE Pay spun up its own wallet too

The reason for this is change is that LINE got big enough to launch its own mobile wallet, LINE Pay Money.

In short: LINE no longer relies on iPASS at all. If you want to use the new LINE Pay Money you’ll need to redo the signup process within the LINE app, complete with identity verification and its own stored balance.

Line to launch 'Line Pay Money' digital wallet app in Taiwan | Taiwan News | Dec. 1, 2025 09:48

Line parting ways with mobile payment service iPass Money in 2026 | Dec. 1, 2025 09:48

www.taiwannews.com.tw/news/6255171

And that brings us to the interesting part: Taiwan’s quiet rollout of Traffic QR payments, and why suddenly your leftover iPASS balance is easier to spend than ever.

Taiwan Traffic QR code payment

Taipei, New Taipei launch QR payment for buses and MRT - Taipei Times

Bringing Taiwan to the World and the World to Taiwan

www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2025/12/31/2003849799

Starting January 3, 2026, QR-code payments are now live across most Taipei + New Taipei public transit. That means you can board buses—and even the MRT—by scanning a QR code generated from your mobile payment app.

Where it works (and where it doesn’t… yet)

Here’s the current state of things:

• ✅ All regular city buses in Greater Taipei

• ✅ Taipei Metro (MRT)

• ❌ Airport MRT (not yet)

• ❌ Some airport buses (still card-only)

Which apps actually work

For buses, QR payments are accepted via:

• Easy Wallet

• iPASS MONEY

• icash Pay

• JKOPay

• PX Pay Plus

On the MRT side, it’s a bit broader: QR fares work through TWQR-supported banks, plus wallets like E.Sun Wallet, PlusPay, and Taishin Pay.

If you already have iPASS Money set up (especially after the LINE split), you’re good to go.

Frequent rider discounts still apply (important!)

This was my big question—and thankfully, yes:

If you use QR payments on the MRT, you still qualify for the frequent rider program. Cashback is calculated the same way as before and credited the following month.

A couple of gotchas to be aware of:

• You must use the same app/account to enter and exit

• If your balance goes negative, you’re not getting in

• Always open the app before you reach the gate—this is not the time to discover you need an update

Why this actually matters":

If you:

• Don’t always carry your card

• Prefer phone-first payments

• Or just want fewer plastic things in your wallet

…this is quietly a big deal.

Between the iPASS Money app going standalone and Traffic QR rolling out, Taiwan is clearly nudging transit payments in the same direction as everything else: QR-first, wallet-agnostic, and phone-native.

A Travel QR code system on a Taiwan bus

Taiwan Metro to accept credit card payments by July 2026

Taipei Metro to allow payment by credit card in July 2026 - Focus Taiwan

Passengers should be able to enter the Taipei Metro system using credit cards or Apple Pay's Express Contactless Protocol (ECP) beginning in July 2026, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp. (TRTC) confirmed to CNA on Sunday.

focustaiwan.tw/business/202512070008

Further Taiwan metro updates: you’ll be able to use credit cards or Apple Pay’s Express Transit to ride the metro as well. I’ve actually already seen the readers live in metro station gates, however they seem to be limited to Taiwan bank cards right now, as my foreign credit cards did not work.

Check your dividend payout method with Rakuten NISA

楽天証券 | ネット証券（株・FX・投資信託･確定拠出年金･NISA）

投資信託や確定拠出年金、NISAなら初心者に選ばれる楽天グループの楽天証券。SPUに仲間入りし、ポイント投資で楽天市場のお買い物のポイントが＋1倍！取引や残高に応じて楽天ポイントが貯まる、使える楽天証券でおトクに資産形成を始めよう！

faq.rakuten-sec.co.jp/2843001

For investors in Japan, a NISA account is a great way to invest tax free. However, there’s a gotcha; as the account @gaijin_investors noted on Threads, apparently you can get taxed on dividends even inside a NISA if your settings aren’t correct. This may apply to several providers, but here are instructions for Rakuten Securities:

How to Check Your Dividend Setting on Rakuten Securities

1. Open the Rakuten Securities app and log in (this should work on the web version too)

2. Tap My Menu (マイメニュー)

3. Select Customer Information – Settings / Changes (お客様情報の設定・変更)

4. Under Product Settings (各商品に関する設定)
   open Domestic Stocks ( 国内株式 )
   → Dividend Payment Method

5. Set it to:

   「株式数比例配分方式」 (Proportional Distribution Method)

6. Done ✔️

This ensures your dividends stay tax-free inside NISA.

💴 Free money with Tokyo app for residents

Can you really receive 11,000 yen with the Tokyo app!? What is this suddenly appearing Tokyo Point?

Is the Tokyo Point in the Tokyo app only for residents? Where can you use the points? I looked into the summary.

maduro-online.jp/en/life/27172

As a stimulus method for the current Japanese economy, all Tokyo area residents are eligible for a free 11000 JPY for signing up for the Tokyo App. See the official announcement in Japanese. You need a valid My Number card and you have until April 1, 2027 to claim the money. You can also link your d-point account for an extra 10% to make a total of 12,100 yen!

How I Pay Myself Abroad as a US Taxpayer

Over the past year, I’ve transitioned into working fully for myself; with fractional CTO work, consulting, and building 508.dev. The freedom has been great, but I had to how to properly setup the logistics.

Once you’re billing clients through your own entity, especially as a US citizen living abroad, a surprisingly practical question shows up:

How do you actually pay yourself in a way that’s compliant, efficient, and not unnecessarily complicated?

This article is about this. Most of the advice it applies to anyone running their own business. But if you’re living abroad, there are extra layers: FEIE, foreign tax credit, payroll taxes, state registration confusion, retirement accounts, and deadlines to follow.

Why Structure Even Matters

For years while working in Japan, I didn’t think much about US business structures or retirement accounts. Working for a foreign employer and paying into the Japanese pension system meant that there was no US income to do anything with.

That changed once I started earning meaningful income again through consulting. Even if your clients are overseas, if you’re a US taxpayer, structure matters.

At that point I had options:

• Stay a sole proprietor

• Run a single-member LLC

• Elect S-Corp status

• Keep it simple and accept higher self-employment tax

That’s when I started seriously looking at whether an S-Corp made sense.

Why I Landed on an S-Corp

A single-member LLC by default is treated as a sole proprietorship. That means all profit is subject to self-employment tax.

An S-Corp changes how your income is categorized. Instead of all profit being subject to self-employment tax, you pay yourself a reasonable salary that’s taxed like a normal job. Anything above that salary can be taken as a distribution, which avoids self-employment tax.

You still pay income tax on everything. Nothing becomes magically tax-free. But you’re no longer paying Social Security and Medicare on 100% of your profit, and once your income is high enough, that difference becomes meaningful.

The catch is that “reasonable salary” is not optional. The IRS expects a market-based number. This isn’t a place to be aggressive, especially if you’re living abroad and want to stay off anyone’s radar.

In my experience, this only really starts making sense once income crosses roughly $40–50k. Below that, the extra admin like payroll, filings, and bookkeeping often outweighs the savings.

The Deadline That Almost Bit Me Hard

This is the part I really wish someone had drilled into my head earlier.

S-Corp tax returns are due on March 15. Not April 15, and not “whenever you get to it because you live overseas.” There is no automatic extension just because you’re abroad, and the penalties for filing late are not small. You can get a 6 month extension to September 15th by filing Form 7004, but you need to file this by March 15.

I learned this the hard way and am currently dealing with an IRS penalty of $245 per month, per shareholder, for every month the filing was late. Yes, that still applies even if you’re the only shareholder. I’m in the process of requesting a waiver, but it’s not something I would ever want to rely on again.

If you’re going to run an S-Corp, put March 15 on your calendar and treat it as non-negotiable.

How I Pay Myself and Run Payroll (Without Overthinking It)

Even if you’re the only employee, an S-Corp requires running real payroll. I use Gusto’s Solo plan, which runs about $49 per month plus $6 for one employee (yourself). It does exactly what I need and nothing more. There are other payroll providers that may be cheaper, but I like Gusto as the UI is well designed and they have great customer support.

One thing worth calling out: Gusto automatically enrolls you into priority support, which is an extra ~$33 a month. If you’re a solo founder and not constantly calling them, you almost certainly don’t need it. I caught this 2 months in and unsubscribed, and went through support to get a credit for the extra charges.

This is my referral link for Gusto if you’d like to support this publication!

The Unexpected Benefit: Retirement Accounts After Years Abroad

One of the biggest upsides of running my own company again wasn’t actually tax savings — it was realizing I could finally contribute meaningfully to US retirement accounts.

After spending years working in Japan, I hadn’t contributed to any US retirement accounts in a long time. Once I started earning consistent contractor income again, I realized something important: as long as you have self-employment income, you can open a Solo 401(k). You don’t need an S-Corp or even an LLC for this. You just need earned income from your own business activity.

With a Solo 401(k), you effectively wear two hats. As the employee, you can contribute up to the annual limit (around $23,500, depending on the year), either Roth or traditional. As the employer, your business can contribute up to roughly 25% of your salary if you’re an S-Corp — or roughly 20% of net profit if you’re a sole proprietor.

This is where structure matters. An S-Corp doesn’t create eligibility, but it can change the math. Employer contributions in an S-Corp are based on W-2 salary. In a sole proprietorship, they’re based on adjusted net income after self-employment tax. The formulas differ slightly, but either way, this structure allows a solo operator to put away far more than a normal IRA would allow.

I use Carry to manage my 401(k). Their Core plan is $29 a month or $299 a year and covers Solo 401(k)s, IRAs, and taxable brokerage accounts. It’s significantly cheaper than bundling everything through payroll providers, and I prefer keeping retirement separate from payroll. Gusto offers Guideline as an integrated provider as well through it is more expensive, and I didn’t find it bothersome at all to just do everything through Carry.

My referral link if you want to support!

Carry Retirement Investment Platform

l.carry.com/michael-wu

I’ve heard good things about Fidelity’s Solo 401(k) as well. There are no fees with Fidelity, though they do not offer the option to do a Mega Backdoor Roth like Carry does.

There are also tax credits available for setting up a retirement plan, which can offset some of the cost in the first few years. It’s one of those incentives that doesn’t get talked about much but makes a difference.

Yes, You Can Still Claim FEIE With an S-Corp

One thing I didn’t fully appreciate at first: having a US S-Corp does not automatically disqualify you from the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (FEIE).

If you qualify under either:

• The Physical Presence Test (330 days outside the US in a 12-month period), or

• The Bona Fide Residence Test,

you can still exclude foreign earned income — even if that income is paid to you by your own US S-Corp.

But there are some important nuances.

What Actually Qualifies

The FEIE applies to earned income, meaning wages or salary. In an S-Corp setup, that means:

• ✅ Your W-2 salary from your S-Corp can qualify

• ❌ Your distributions do not qualify

Distributions are business profit. They’re not considered earned income, so they can’t be excluded under FEIE.

So if you’re running an S-Corp abroad, the FEIE only shields the salary portion of what you pay yourself.

Where It Gets Subtle

FEIE doesn’t care where your clients are located. It cares where you physically perform the work.

If you’re living abroad and doing the work there, the income can be considered foreign earned income — even if:

• Your clients are American

• Your LLC is American

What matters is that you, the human performing the services, are outside the US when doing the work.

That’s the key distinction.

So in my case, even though I bill both US and foreign clients through a US LLC, the income can still qualify for FEIE because I’m physically outside the US while doing the work.

What This Looks Like at $60k vs $200k

Example 1: $60,000 Net Profit

Your S-Corp earns $60,000.

You decide a reasonable salary is $50,000.

The remaining $10,000 comes out as distributions.

If you qualify for FEIE:

• The $50,000 salary can potentially be excluded from federal income tax.

• You still owe payroll taxes (Social Security + Medicare) on that $50,000.

• The $10,000 distribution is taxable income, but not subject to payroll tax.

At this income level, FEIE likely eliminates most or all federal income tax on your salary. But you’re still paying payroll taxes, the S-Corp administrative overhead may offset the savings. This is where the math often feels marginal.

Example 2: $200,000 Net Profit

Your S-Corp earns $200,000.

You pay yourself a $120,000 salary.

You take $80,000 in distributions.

If the FEIE limit is around $120,000:

• Your salary may be largely excluded from federal income tax (up to the limit).

• Payroll taxes still apply to the $120,000 salary.

• The $80,000 distribution is fully taxable income, but not subject to payroll tax.

Now things get more interesting.

You’re avoiding federal income tax on up to ~$120k of salary through FEIE.

You’re avoiding payroll tax on $80k of distributions through the S-Corp structure.

You’re still paying payroll taxes on the salary portion, and the distributions are still subject to federal income tax. Nothing is magically tax-free. But the combination can be meaningfully efficient at higher income levels.

Important Tradeoffs

There’s a strategic layer here.

If you exclude most or all of your salary under FEIE:

• You still owe payroll taxes (Social Security & Medicare)

• But you may owe little or no federal income tax on that salary

• Distributions remain taxable income

This means the S-Corp + FEIE combination can still make sense, but the math changes compared to someone living in the US.

Also, if you use FEIE, you generally can’t also take the Foreign Tax Credit on that same excluded income. So it becomes a planning question depending on where you’re resident and what you’re paying locally.

This is where things move from “blog post” into “talk to a cross-border CPA.”

Company Formation

Once you decide to set up an LLC and elect S-Corp status, the first real decision is which state to form in.

You’ll hear Delaware mentioned constantly, especially in startup circles. Delaware has well-established corporate law and is great for venture-backed companies, but it’s not automatically the best choice for a solo operator. There are annual franchise taxes, filing requirements, and other overhead that may not make sense if you’re just running a one-person consulting business.

There are several solid states to consider depending on your situation (you can read this article for options). In my case, I chose Wyoming because it has low annual fees, strong privacy protections, and no state income tax. For a solo operator without investors, it’s clean and simple.

Since I live and operate entirely abroad, I don’t need to register as a foreign LLC in another US state. If you’re physically living and working in California, for example, forming in Wyoming won’t save you — you’d still need to register in California and comply with their rules. But because I don’t live in any US state and perform all services overseas, Wyoming works well for me.

To form the company, I initially used Northwest Registered Agent. They have a good reputation and the setup process was straightforward, with a choice of states to register in. Later, when I needed mail forwarding and a virtual office lease, I switched to Rocky Mountain Registered Agent because they were more affordable and still had solid service. I plan to move my registered agent service fully over to them going forward.

For expats, the key consideration isn’t just “what’s the cheapest state,” but whether you actually have a physical nexus in any US state. If you don’t live or operate in one, that opens up more flexibility in where you form.

Electing S-Corp Treatment

Forming an LLC does not automatically make you an S-Corp. By default, a single-member LLC is treated as a sole proprietorship for tax purposes. If you decide the S-Corp structure is worth it, you have to formally elect it with the IRS by filing Form 2553. You can only do this by mail unless you pay an agent to file for you.

The timing matters. Generally, you need to file Form 2553 within two months and 15 days of the start of the tax year you want the election to take effect. For most people operating on a calendar year, that effectively means by March 15. Miss that deadline, and you may not get S-Corp treatment for that year unless you qualify for late-election relief.

It’s a simple form, but it’s not automatic — and it’s separate from forming the LLC at the state level. State formation and federal tax classification are two different things.

The Wyoming Employer Registration Confusion

Another odd thing I ran into: Gusto kept prompting me to register for Wyoming unemployment insurance and state employer accounts.

So I tried. Wyoming basically told me: you are not a liable employer.

Declined!

Which makes sense. I don’t live in Wyoming. I don’t live in the US. I have no US-based employees. I’m physically working abroad.

State unemployment systems are generally based on where services are performed. If the services are performed entirely outside the US, you typically aren’t subject to state unemployment insurance in that state.

Gusto, being software, assumes “Wyoming S-Corp = Wyoming employer registration.” But reality is more nuanced when you’re permanently abroad.

The result: I didn’t need to register, and Wyoming confirmed that.

This is one of those small but annoying mismatches between payroll platforms built for domestic businesses and the reality of running a US entity while living entirely overseas.

The Honest Take

An S-Corp is not a hack, and it’s definitely not free money. It’s a trade-off between tax efficiency and administrative overhead. Once your income is high enough and stable, it can make a lot of sense. Before that point, it’s usually just extra complexity.

If you’re living abroad, the stakes are a little higher because deadlines don’t move just because you’re in another time zone. If you’re going to do this, do it properly, set reminders, and assume the IRS will not cut you slack by default.

Conclusions

I hope this run-down is informative for any US-taxpayers running their own global business while living abroad! You can always reach out at hello@michaelinasia.com for comments or questions! Remember, you can also support this publication by becoming a paid subscriber or a Patreon!

I promised before to write about accommodation (hotel, guesthouse) licenses in Japan as well as the ideal corporate structures for this, and I’ve finally been able to put it together! Other than that, I have a few life tips for Japan and Taiwan, so please read on! I’ve started my cycle of going back and forth between the two countries now that the weather has cooled down a bit in Taiwan.

Table of Contents

• Paying on Mercari with Foreign Credit Cards 💳

• Discounted airport lugggage delivery perks in Japa …

• Japan Driver’s license foreign conversion test cha …

• HSBC Taiwan Premier Management Fee Waiver Issue 🏦

• 🏨 Accommodation Licenses in Japan and Company str …

  • License types (Guesthouse vs. Hotel)

    • Guesthouse licenses (民泊, minpaku)

  • 🏢 Company Structures and Licensing

    • Direct Foreign Ownership

    • Japanese Company Ownership

      • Advantages of the GK structure

      • Ownership with a KK (株式会社, kabushiki gaisha) struc …

    • Various GK ownership structures and implications

      • GK Owned by a Foreign Company

      • GK (合同会社, gōdō gaisha) + TK (匿名組合, tokumei kumiai) …

      • Foreign LLC in a TK — Considerations

      • Filing a SPBQII exemption for the GK + TK structur …

    • Structure Summaries & Comparison

      • Plain GK

      • GK owned by Foreign LLC

      • GK + TK (合同会社＋匿名組合)

      • GK + Foreign LLC as TK

  • Conclusions

Paying on Mercari with Foreign Credit Cards 💳

If you’re an expat in Japan, you’ve probably noticed that Mercari doesn’t usually accept foreign credit cards — even ones that work fine elsewhere online. However, there’s a useful workaround: Apple Pay on iPhone.

By adding your foreign Amex card to Apple Pay, you can often check out successfully on Mercari, even if the same card is rejected when entered manually. Visa and Mastercard tend to be less reliable with this method, but it’s still worth a try.

This workaround is especially helpful for expats who don’t yet have a Japanese bank account or credit card, and just want an easier way to buy secondhand goods locally. Or if you want to earn points on your foreign credit cards instead of the comparatively poor rewards on Japanese cards.

How to pay with Apple Pay on Mercari

Apple Payは、Walletアプリに登録されたクレジットカードを使って購入ができるお支払い方法です。

help.jp.mercari.com/guide/articles/635

Discounted airport lugggage delivery perks in Japan 🧳

I wrote previously about how many American Express cards in Japan offer free airport luggage delivery. However, only suitcases and golf bags qualify, and other types of luggage including boxes don’t. What I didn’t realize until recently is that many other cards in Japan also offer free or discounted luggage delivery (手荷物宅配優待サービス, tenimotsu takuhai yūtai sābisu), not just Amex, and they don’t have the same restriction on luggage type. It seems like the scheme varies, but usually Gold level cards will allow you to send at least 1 piece of luggage for 500 yen on arrival in Japan, and beyond 1 piece they may offer a 15-20% discount. For sending to the airport when departing on an international trip, it seems to be a 15-20% discount. For exact details, check your card benefits page.

American Express Japan free airport luggage delivery service

アメリカン・エキスプレスの手荷物無料宅配サービスについてご案内します。海外旅行や出張などの出発時、帰国時にご自宅～空港間でのスーツケース、ゴルフバックを無料で配送するサービスです。

www.americanexpress.com/ja-jp/benefits/travel/delivery-service/luggage-delivery/?utm_source=www.michaelinasia.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=settling-into-the-ilha-formosa

The general restrictions for accepted luggage types are: baggage or cardboard boxes with a total dimensions of 160cm and maximum weight of 30kg. Golf bags, ski and snowboard bags are considered to be meet the total dimensions even if larger as long as they weigh less than 30kg.

I discovered this firsthand; when I landed recently in Haneda with a suitcase and a big box, my ANA Amex Gold Card covered the suitcase, but not the box. The counter staff asked if I had a Gold Card — I showed my JAL Club-A Gold Card, and was able to ship the box home for only 500 yen. It’s a small perk, but worth remembering — especially when coming home with souvenirs or heavy gear.

www.jal.co.jp/jp/ja/jalcard/function/tenimotsu.htmlwww.jal.co.jp/jp/ja/jalcard/function/tenimotsu.htmlwww.jal.co.jp/jp/ja/jalcard/function/tenimotsu.html

Japan Driver’s license foreign conversion test changes 🚗🪪

Heads-up that converting a foreign driver’s license in Japan (外国免許の切替, gaikoku menkyo no kirikae) just got a lot tougher. If your home license isn’t from one of the “lucky 29” countries or U.S. states that can skip testing, brace yourself — the process has changed as of October 2025.

Japan tightens license conversion rules for foreign drivers - The Mainichi

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- The Japanese government introduced stricter rules governing the conversion of foreign driver's licenses on Wednesday, with nonresiden

mainichi.jp/english/articles/20251001/p2g/00m/0na/045000c

Again, the “lucky 29” countries and U.S. states that don’t have to take the written test or driving test are: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Monaco, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, The Netherlands, The United Kingdom, U.S. states (Colorado, Hawaii, Indiana (written test is required but not the driving test), Maryland, Ohio, Oregon, Virginia, Washington).

Document Check Now Limited to Mornings: Appointments for document checks are now only available before noon.

Knowledge Test Is Much Harder: Once your documents are approved, you’ll take the written exam in the afternoon — and it’s no longer the easy 10-question quiz.

• Old Test: 10 questions, 70 % passing score

• New Test: 50 challenging questions, 90% required to pass

Results come out at 3 PM, and if you fail, you’ll need to book another appointment for a retake. In short: expect longer waits, stricter scheduling, and a much more demanding written test.

HSBC Taiwan Premier Management Fee Waiver Issue 🏦

Recently, I was surprised to see a 1,000 NTD account maintenance fee (管理費, guǎnlǐ fèi) appear on my HSBC Taiwan account (匯豐銀行, Huìfēng Yínháng) — something that had never happened before in the 2 years of having the account. According to HSBC’s International Services page, this fee is normally waived if you meet the Premier balance threshold in one destination, but apparently, my accounts weren’t linked correctly and suddenly started incurring this fee in Taiwan. Otherwise I would have to maintain 3 million NTD (~$100,000 USD) in my bank account here, which I don’t find worth it without access to good investments.

I had previously written about fee-free banking with HSBC, and this experience was a good reminder that international linkage between accounts doesn’t always stay in sync.

Here’s how I fixed it (all through digital means, no phone calls or branch visits required!):

1. Contacted customer support through the Taiwan HSBC app chat function — note that their live chat only operates between 9 AM and 5 PM (Taiwan time).

2. They asked whether my U.S. HSBC account was set as the primary for my global Premier relationship.

3. I opened the U.S. HSBC app (which has 24-hour support) and confirmed that it wasn’t — they quickly set it as primary.

4. The U.S. team advised me to contact Taiwan again and ask them to update my status to “HSBC Premier International” and apply the fee-waiver code.

After I sent a message to Taiwan HSBC through the app explaining that my U.S. account was now primary, they reviewed it and confirmed they would refund the fee, though since I made this request at the end of the month, it would take until the end of the following month to refund once they confirmed the setup.

If you hold multiple HSBC Premier accounts across countries, it’s worth double-checking which one is marked as primary — a small detail that can save you from unnecessary fees.

🏨 Accommodation Licenses in Japan and Company structures

This deep dive is from my own experience and research running ski lodges in Japan. However, please do not take my word as canonical - you should use it as a starting guide but please consult professional help before making final decisions.

License types (Guesthouse vs. Hotel)

Guesthouse licenses (民泊, minpaku)

In Japan, there are two main types of guesthouse (民泊, minpaku) licenses. Both types are subject to an annual limit of 180 days of guest stays per property, regardless of occupancy rate or operator type.

1. Owner lives on-site — generally used for small guesthouses.

   • Requirements are minimal: the owner must live on the property and install basic fire detection equipment (smoke detectors and fire extinguishers).

   • The application process is simple and inexpensive, typically under ¥50,000–¥100,000 in administrative fees depending on the municipality.

2. Owner does not live on-site — also for guesthouses, but significantly more complex.

   • You must engage a licensed professional property management company (管理業者, kanri gyōsha) with the proper hospitality and real estate certifications.

   • These management companies must hold special licenses that require passing an industry exam — a process that can take several months.

   • Fire safety equipment and local inspections are required.

   • Because the owner cannot self-manage, this structure requires contracting with a 3rd-party licensed manager, who typically charges a percentage of gross revenue (around 20–30%).

   • Including fees for inspection, certification, and management, the total setup cost usually ranges from ¥300,000–¥800,000 depending on the region and property size.

Hotel licenses

It’s often easier to obtain a hotel license (旅館業許可, ryokan-gyō kyoka) instead of a minpaku license.

• Hotel licenses have far fewer restrictions, provided the building meets hotel construction standards.

• One weird restriction: self-heating baths are not allowed.

• No professional licensing is required — you can form a company and register the hotel license under that company (the company must own the property).

• There are no limits on the number of operating days, and government audits are minimal.

• Front-desk staffing is only required for larger hotels (thresholds vary).

• There are no annual renewal fees.

• The application process is straightforward: apply, get an inspection, submit paperwork, and pay local taxes.

  The total cost is generally under ¥500,000.

🏢 Company Structures and Licensing

Direct Foreign Ownership

Foreign individuals or foreign companies can directly own Japanese real estate, and there are currently no restrictions on this. However, they cannot obtain a minpaku or hotel license in their own name if they are based outside of Japan, only if the foreign individual is based in Japan.

You would need a third-party licensed operator to hold the license and remit payments to you abroad. Distributions to the foreign entity incur a 20.42% withholding tax, and operators usually charge 20–30% of revenue, so this can be expensive.

Keep abreast of the news though; with the increasing anti-foreigner sentiment in Japan, restrictions may eventual come on direct foreign ownership of property.

Japanese Company Ownership

Forming a Japanese company allows the license to be held directly.

• 合同会社 (GK, gōdō gaisha) — similar to an LLC; flexible and tax-efficient.

• 株式会社 (KK, kabushiki gaisha) — similar to a C-Corp; not a pass-through entity, but may appear more formal for investors.

• Can read the following article for the difference between the two not delving into tax treatment and how this would affect real estate dividends.

Japanese Company Types Explained: KK vs. GK

Learn the differences between Kabushiki Kaisha (KK) and Godo Kaisha (GK) to choose the best company type for your business in Japan.

yconsulting.co.jp/blogs/insights/kk-gk-japan-company-types

Advantages of the GK structure

• GK members can be paid salary (給与, kyūyo) and bonus (賞与, shōyo) even before profits are made.

• Japanese payroll is required, and salary/bonus amounts must be set early in the fiscal year (within ≈ two months).

• Additional bonuses can be paid later if they are pre-declared and paid on the exact declared date — otherwise they are not tax-deductible.

There are some downsides to the GK structure, you can see a previous post.

Ownership with a KK (株式会社, kabushiki gaisha) structure

Legal and operational side:

• A KK can hold real estate, operate hotels, and apply for 旅館業許可 (ryokan-gyō kyoka) or 民泊 (minpaku) licenses just like a GK.

• Banks, insurance companies, and larger investors often see a KK as slightly more “established” or stable, which can help with financing or brand perception.

• Governance is heavier: you need shareholders’ meetings, board resolutions (if applicable), and annual filings.

Tax treatment

• A KK pays corporate income tax on profits, then any dividends to shareholders are taxed again with Japanese withholding (usually 15 – 20 %).

• You cannot easily pay pre-profit salary to owner-shareholders unless they’re on Japanese payroll, so foreign owners usually receive after-tax dividends instead.

• Unlike a GK, there is no pass-through or flexible distribution structure—everything flows through corporate profits and dividends.

When KK ownership makes sense

• You’re aiming for institutional credibility—e.g., working with banks, large OTAs, or selling the property company later.

• You expect to raise capital via equity rather than TK-style contracts.

• You don’t need the pass-through flexibility of a GK + TK structure.

When it’s a disadvantage

• Less flexible for profit distribution.

• Higher compliance cost and double taxation.

• Harder to integrate with TK investment layers because the KK already represents an opaque tax entity.

Various GK ownership structures and implications

The below sections focus on GKs with various ownership structures as KKs do not have passthrough benefits.

GK Owned by a Foreign Company

This structure applies when a foreign company directly owns a Japanese GK (合同会社, gōdō gaisha) as its member. The tax treatment and compliance requirements depend on the tax treaty (租税条約, sozei jōyaku) between Japan and the foreign company’s country of residence.

• With the correct treaty and documentation, withholding tax (源泉徴収税, gensen chōshūzei) on distributions to the foreign parent can be reduced or eliminated.

• All distributions (分配金, bunpai-kin) are made after Japanese corporate tax is paid by the GK.

• To apply a reduced treaty rate, you must file an Application Form for Income Tax Convention (Dividends) — Form 1 (租税条約に関する届出書 様式１, sozei jōyaku ni kansuru todokede-sho yōshiki ichi) along with the associated Form 16 and Form 17, with the Japanese tax authorities.’

• If this filing is not made, the default 20.42% withholding tax applies.

All official forms and instructions are available here: National Tax Agency – Tax Convention Forms

For U.S. entities, you must first obtain Form 6166 (U.S. Residency Certification) from the IRS — proving that the entity (or its members, if a pass-through) are U.S. tax residents.

• This form is required for the Application Form for Income Tax Convention.

• Similar tax residency certificates are required for entities from other countries to claim treaty benefits.

• For U.S. LLCs, you must also prove that each member is a U.S. resident for tax purposes. Different countries may have different requirements around this.

With proper documentation, U.S. withholding tax on dividends and similar income can be reduced to 0% under the Japan–U.S. tax treaty.

⚠️ Tax Risk Note

Japan may treat a foreign company owning a Japanese real-estate company as having a permanent establishment (恒久的施設, kōkyūteki shisetsu) in Japan, making it taxable domestically.

This potential risk should be reviewed carefully with a tax advisor.

GK (合同会社, gōdō gaisha) + TK (匿名組合, tokumei kumiai) Structure

A TK (匿名組合, tokumei kumiai) — is a contractual investment partnership, not a separate legal entity.

This structure is designed primarily for individual or passive investors who contribute capital but do not participate in management.

• Profits can be distributed to TK investors post-tax, without withholding.

• TK members are treated purely as passive investors — they cannot participate in operations or decision-making.

• The GK (合同会社, gōdō gaisha) acts as the business operator and holds/operates the underlying assets.

• This structure is ideal for individual investors who want exposure without U.S. tax liability or Japanese regulatory burden.

There is generally no significant benefit to using a KK + TK structure instead, as the KK adds administrative complexity and potential double taxation without improving the underlying investment treatment.

Foreign LLC in a TK — Considerations

A foreign LLC (such as a U.S. LLC) can legally serve as a TK investor (匿名組合員, tokumei kumiai-in) in place of individuals.

This is common in cross-border fund setups, but requires careful attention to ownership and tax treatment.

Key points:

• The foreign LLC can act as a passive TK investor, allowing the GK to remain the sole operator (営業者, eigyōsha).

• Distributions from the GK to the TK remain post-tax and free from Japanese withholding, just as with individual investors.

• Some tax offices may ask for proof of treaty eligibility or no-Permanent Establishment status (恒久的施設なし, kōkyūteki shisetsu nashi), particularly for foreign LLCs, LPs, or funds.

• Submitting Application Form for Income Tax Convention - Form 1 (租税条約に関する届出書 様式１, sozei jōyaku ni kansuru todokede-sho yōshiki ichi) with a tax-residency certificate (e.g., IRS Form 6166) is a simple way to document the exemption proactively.

If the operator (GK member) also owns part of the foreign LLC acting as the TK, the separation between operator and investor becomes blurred.

This can undermine the TK’s “passive investor” status, potentially reclassifying income as business income and exposing it to additional Japanese tax obligations.

To avoid this, it’s best to keep the operator entirely separate from the foreign LLC — either by removing the operator from that LLC or ring-fencing ownership through a different entity.

This structure can be useful when pooling several foreign investors under one LLC, but only if the GK (operator) and TK (investor) remain legally and economically distinct.

Filing a SPBQII exemption for the GK + TK structure

If using the GK + TK (合同会社＋匿名組合, tokumei kumiai) structure for multiple investors, it’s recommended to file a Specially Permitted Business for Qualified Institutional Investors (特例業務届出, tokurei gyōmu todokede) — commonly called an SPBQII — with the Financial Services Agency (金融庁, Kin’yū-chō).

If you do not file this notice, your vehicle will be treated as a Type II Financial Instruments Business (第二種金融商品取引業, dai-nishu kinyū shōhin torihiki-gyō), which triggers substantial and expensive compliance obligations, such as:

• Mandatory registration as a licensed fund manager or securities operator under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act (金融商品取引法, kinyū shōhin torihiki-hō).

• Appointment of compliance officers, establishment of internal control systems, and annual financial audits.

• Submission of regular filings and disclosure documents to regulators.

• Strict restrictions on investor solicitation and marketing activities without a license.

Filing under the SPBQII regime avoids those heavy obligations. Instead of full registration, you simply notify the FSA that you are conducting a private placement under limited conditions. It’s essentially a “light-touch” exemption for small private investment vehicles that only accept:

• Qualified Institutional Investors (適格機関投資家, tekikaku kikan tōshika), and

• A small number of non-institutional investors (generally fewer than 49).

If you skip SPBQII, you would need to partner with or hire a licensed fund management company (ファンド業者, fando gyōsha) — a costly and complex route that adds regulatory burden.

Because SPBQII sits between financial regulation and private contracting, many 司法書士 (shihō shoshi, judicial scriveners) are unfamiliar with the filing. You typically need support from a lawyer (弁護士, bengoshi) or specialized financial compliance consultant experienced in fund structuring and Financial Instruments and Exchange Act compliance to prepare and submit it properly. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find any judicial scriveners so far that are familiar with the process and haven’t followed up with any specialized consultants, so there’s further research to be done here.

Structure Summaries & Comparison

Plain GK

• Description: Individuals are direct members of the GK (合同会社).

• Main benefits:

  • Simple structure for small operators or owner-managed businesses.

  • Domestic members can be paid through Japanese payroll before tax, reducing corporate tax.

• Main drawbacks:

  • Paying foreign members adds complexity (withholding, Form 6 filings).

  • Distributions are made after corporate tax and subject to 20.42% withholding.

• Common use: Owner-operated businesses or single-property holding companies.

GK owned by Foreign LLC

• Description: The foreign LLC directly owns the GK as its sole or majority member.

• Main benefits:

  • Simple, direct corporate chain.

  • Easy to consolidate control and reporting.

  • No need for TK agreements.

• Main drawbacks:

  • Distributions become dividends, subject to Japanese withholding.

  • The foreign LLC’s home country may treat the GK as opaque (potential double taxation).

  • Salary or bonus payments to foreign managers trigger payroll/withholding obligations.

• Common use: Wholly-owned operating subsidiaries (e.g., U.S. parent owns Japanese GK directly).

GK + TK (合同会社＋匿名組合)

• Description: The GK operates the business; individual or foreign investors participate via a TK (tokumei kumiai) contract.

• Main benefits:

  • Clear separation between operator (GK) and investors (TK members).

  • No Japanese withholding on post-tax TK distributions.

  • Recognized, straightforward, and accepted structure in Japan.

• Main drawbacks:

  • TK members cannot join management.

  • The GK must first pay corporate tax before distributing profits.

  • Need to file SPBQII to avoid fund-manager licensing requirements.

• Common use: Domestic or mixed-investor real-estate and hospitality funds.

GK + Foreign LLC as TK

• Description: Same GK + TK framework, but the TK investor is a foreign LLC (e.g., U.S. LLC) representing multiple overseas investors.

• Main benefits:

  • Preserves investor separation and limited liability.

  • Post-tax TK distributions remain free of Japanese withholding.

  • Can be tax-efficient if the foreign LLC’s jurisdiction treats TK income as transparent.

• Main drawbacks:

  • Cross-border tax alignment is required (may cause mismatch taxation).

  • May need to file Application Form for Income Tax Convention - Form 1 + residency proof (e.g., IRS Form 6166) for treaty benefits.

  • Must avoid permanent-establishment risk if the foreign LLC influences operations.

• Common use: Cross-border private funds where investors remain passive but want direct exposure to Japanese assets.

Conclusions

This is a super complex topic - I am likely to have gotten something wrong, so please just use this as a base of research and seek professional help. Hopefully this deep dive was helpful though! You can always reach out at hello@michaelinasia.com for comments or questions! Remember, you can also support this publication by becoming a paid subscriber or a Patreon!

Too many interesting updates happened this last month that I have to break my promise to write about Japanese hotel and minpaku licensing, along with company structures for real estate investing. Instead, there’s a ton of updates on visa policies for Taiwan and Japan, as well as other life tips.

Table of Contents

• 🇨🇳🔋 China Travel Tip: Power Banks and the New A …

• ⚠️ New rules for overseas Taiwanese military aged …

  • ✅ What Must You Do / Bring?

  • ⚠️ What’s Still Unclear or Based on User Reports

• 🇹🇼🛂 Major Changes to Taiwan’s Visa policies for …

  • ✅ Gold Card (就業金卡, jiùyè jīnkǎ) Improvements

  • 🌏 Digital Nomads & Remote Workers

• 🎓 Easier Work Path for Graduates

  • 🏫 Foreign Graduates from Taiwanese Universities

  • 🌍 International Graduates from Overseas Universit …

• 📝 Getting an FBI Background Check for Taiwan (Hou …

  • 🧾 If you’re in the U.S.

  • 🧾 If you’re in Taiwan

• 📞🪪 Taiwan Mobile Prepaid Number — ID Verificatio …

• This Pushback to changes to Japan’s Business Manag …

• Points Back for Furusato Nōzei (ふるさと納税) ends Octob …

• Conclusions

🇨🇳🔋 China Travel Tip: Power Banks and the New Air Travel Rule

I just came back from a brief trip to Xinjiang, China 🇨🇳 that was quite interesting! The food was great, people were nice, the desert and mountain scenery was amazing, and I experienced rich culture from the Eurasian and Islamic influence. I would totally go back to explore the rest of the region. I’ll write more in the future, but one quick and important tip for travelers: as of mid-2025, all power banks on domestic flights in China must carry a CCC (China Compulsory Certification, or “3C”) mark. Security checks are strict, and if your charger doesn’t have this mark printed clearly on it, there’s a good chance it will be confiscated. Travelers have reported losing perfectly good power banks at checkpoints, even on short domestic hops or when connecting out of the country. Here’s a full write-up if you want the details: China Air Travel Power Bank Rule Explained.

Here’s what you need to know:

• Look for a visible CCC mark on your power bank — don’t confuse it with CE or other symbols.

• Enforcement is focused on power banks; laptops and camera batteries aren’t being checked the same way.

• Even though the rules officially apply only to domestic flights, there have been reports of enforcement when boarding international flights as well.

• Power banks must go in your carry-on, never checked luggage.

• Airlines also apply the usual battery size rule (under ~100 Wh is safest).

• If you’re unsure, it’s easy to pick up a compliant one locally in China at electronics shops or even airport stores.

In short: double-check your gear before flying, or be ready to watch your favorite charger end up in the disposal bin.

⚠️ New rules for overseas Taiwanese military aged males 🇹🇼🪖

The rules in Taiwan around conscription and getting an exit permit for military aged overseas Taiwanese males changed as of September 8, 2025. If you intend to travel to Taiwan, you should know this before making any travel plans. Fortunately I turned 37 this year so I should be exempt, but this is very relevant to anyone younger than that. There’s a lot of good information in this Reddit thread. One of the more surprising changes is that if you enter from a country that is NOT your “permanent residence country”, you will need to prove that you were in your "permanent residence country” sometime in the last 4 months, otherwise it will be difficult to get an exit permit to leave Taiwan! Please do your own research and don’t solely rely on the information here; this is what I best gathered.

1. Reduced Residency Requirement in Taiwan for Conscription Risk

   Taiwanese males living overseas (or returning) now may be required to serve if they stay in Taiwan 183 consecutive days (instead of the previous longer periods or more ambiguous rules). 

2. Overseas Compatriot Identity Certificate for Military Service Purpose

   To leave Taiwan (or maybe return) without becoming subject immediately to conscription, certain documents are now required, including this certificate (役政用華僑身分證明書, yì zhèng yòng huáqiáo shēnfèn zhèngmíng shū). 

3. Proof of Overseas Residence Required

   Applicants now must show documentation proving residence in a foreign country (“overseas residence”) for 4 cumulative years, plus additional recent residence timing (e.g. 6 consecutive months abroad, or spending 8 months/year over 2 years in that country) depending on whether the place grants permanent residency or it’s difficult for foreigners to get one. 

4. “183 days” Rule for Near‑Conscription / Returning Overseas Taiwanese

   • If you enter Taiwan, and then reside for 183 days in a row, conscription obligations may kick in. 

   • Old rules applied if you were in Taiwan before Sept 8, 2025. Once you leave and re‑enter under the new system, the “count” starts fresh. (This was significant in user reports but seems to align with official changes.) 

✅ What Must You Do / Bring?

If you’re a male Taiwanese dual citizen or have household registration and have not completed military service and plan to enter/exit Taiwan:

• Valid Overseas Compatriot Identity Certificate for Military Service Purpose. 

• Passport(s): Taiwan passport, foreign passport (or permanent / long‑term residence permit for your overseas country). 

• Proof of residence overseas for the recent past (for 4 months before returning) and meeting one of the overseas residence criteria (e.g. permanent resident status, cumulative overseas years, months/year etc.). 

⚠️ What’s Still Unclear or Based on User Reports

• Whether proof of residence can be from any foreign country you live in, or must be from your “permanent residence country” / the country tied to your Overseas Chinese Identity status. (Some people report being told they must return to their “home/permanent residence country” first.) 

• Whether the Overseas Chinese Identity Endorsement (僑居身分加簽, qiáojū shēnfèn jiā qiān) stamp alone is still accepted — some reports say it is no longer sufficient.

🇹🇼🛂 Major Changes to Taiwan’s Visa policies for professionals

Taiwan has recently passed new laws making it easier for skilled foreigners, students, and digital nomads to live and work in the country long-term.

《TAIPEI TIMES》 Legislature eases visa rules to attract global talent - 焦點 - 自由時報電子報《TBy Jake Chung / Staff writer, with CNAThe Legislative Yuan yesterday passed amendments aimed at boosting Taiwan’s appeal to foreign professionals by easing pathways to permanent residency, extending stays for digital nomads, and strengthening labor and social rights guarantees.AInews.ltn.com.tw/news/focus/breakingnews/5161063PEI TIMES》 Legislature eases visa rules to attract global talent - 焦點 - 自由時報電子報

By Jake Chung / Staff writer, with CNAThe Legislative Yuan yesterday passed amendments aimed at boosting Taiwan’s appeal to foreign professionals by easing pathways to permanent residency, extending stays for digital nomads, and strengthening labor and social rights guarantees.

news.ltn.com.tw/news/focus/breakingnews/5161063

✅ Gold Card (就業金卡, jiùyè jīnkǎ) Improvements

• Spouses can now get work permits from the Ministry of Labor. The permit is valid as long as their dependent status is active.

• Permanent residency (APRC, 永久居留證, yǒngjiǔ jūliú zhèng) is now available after just 1 year for those earning NT$6 million/year (≈US$196,000).

• Labor benefits expanded: Gold Card Holders no longer need APRC to qualify for Taiwan’s labor pension system. Those who do get APRC will also be eligible for employment insurance (就業保險, jiùyè bǎoxiǎn).

🌏 Digital Nomads & Remote Workers

• Foreigners working remotely (not for Taiwan employers) can apply for a 6-month multiple-entry visa, extendable up to 2 years.

• This visa also allows you to bring spouses, minor children, and dependent adult children.

🎓 Easier Work Path for Graduates

Taiwan is streamlining the path for both foreign graduates of Taiwanese universities and international grads from top schools abroad:

🏫 Foreign Graduates from Taiwanese Universities

• You can now count part of your study period toward the APRC (永久居留證, yǒngjiǔ jūliú zhèng, permanent residency) residence requirement:

  • 1 year credit for associate’s or bachelor’s degree

  • 2 years credit for master’s

  • 3 years credit for PhD

    (Note: only one degree can be counted—no stacking.)

• After graduation, you can now stay and work without applying for a separate work permit, under the existing “new graduate” provision (應屆畢業生工作延長, yìngjiè bìyèshēng gōngzuò yáncháng).

🌍 International Graduates from Overseas Universities

Two tiers based on your university’s ranking:

• Top 200 globally:

  • You can apply for a 2-year, non-renewable professional visa.

  • No job offer, no work experience, no salary threshold required.

  • One-time use only.

• Top 1,500 globally (up from 500):

  • You’re exempt from the 2-year work experience requirement.

  • But you still need a job offer in a specialized or technical field (專業或技術性工作, zhuānyè huò jìshùxìng gōngzuò).

  • Other standard work permit conditions still apply.

This update significantly broadens access for young professionals and recent grads who want to get a foothold in Taiwan’s job market, especially in high-demand fields like AI, biotech, and engineering.

📝 Getting an FBI Background Check for Taiwan (Household Registration, APRC, or Visa)

If you’re a U.S. citizen applying for household registration（戶籍, hùjí), APRC (永久居留證, yǒngjiǔ jūliú zhèng), or certain Taiwan visas (e.g. spouse-based), you’ll likely need an FBI criminal background check authenticated by TECO (駐美代表處, zhù měi dàibiǎo chù）.

🧾 If you’re in the U.S.

• Step 1: Go to https://www.edo.cjis.gov to apply online

• Fee: $18 to the FBI

• Select: “Channeler/Third Party” for fastest processing (otherwise you must mail everything yourself).

• Step 2: Schedule fingerprinting at a participating USPS office or authorized channeler

  • USPS is a good option as the fingerprints are Fee: $50

  • Sent electronically to FBI

• Step 3: Once you receive the emailed result, forward the original FBI email to TECO (consul.tecro@mofa.gov.tw) with the PIN code

• Authentication by TECO:

  • Fee: $15 per document (+$7.50 for expedited, optional)

  • You can apply by mail or in person

  • Include copies of your passport(s), self-addressed envelope, and shipping label if you want it sent back

  • Processing time: 7 business days (or 3 if expedited)

🧾 If you’re in Taiwan

• FBI requires FD-1164 fingerprint form

• Go to a local NIA service center to get fingerprints taken (for a fee)

• Mail the completed form and payment to FBI by following https://www.fbi.gov/services/cjis/identity-history-summary-checks

• Once you receive the result, you must send it to TECO in the U.S. for authentication — AIT cannot help with fingerprinting or authentication

📞🪪 Taiwan Mobile Prepaid Number — ID Verification Follow-up

This is a follow-up to the ID verification message I received from Taiwan Mobile (台灣大哥大, Táiwān dàgēdà) back in May. It turns out most carriers are now doing this verification regularly for foreign residents on ARCs (居留證, jūliú zhèng, Alien Resident Certificate).

Unfortunately, I had already left Taiwan and wasn’t able to verify my documents by the deadline. After that, I could no longer log in to my online account to top up my prepaid SIM, which was due to expire in September before I got back. The normal validity of prepaid cards that can be topped up is 6 months after the last top-up. Not knowing what to do, I tried contacting customer service — I couldn’t find a LINE customer service account, and I didn’t know if their customer service form would reply fast enough. Fortunately, I was still able to call 188 or 867 using Wi-Fi calling from abroad (both free).

Per the representative, there wasn’t a way to top up online or unlock my account due to the verification issue. However, they suggested an easy workaround to extend the validity of the number: I could have a friend in Taiwan physically go to a Taiwan Mobile store (台灣大哥大門市, Táiwān Dàgēdà ménshì) and add some credit. Even $100 NTD was enough. There’s no ID verification required just to add value to a prepaid card, so anyone can do this in person.

When I finally got back to Taiwan, I went into a store myself. Unfortunately, they were still unable to unlock the account because my Gold Card (就業金卡, Jiùyè Jīnkǎ, Employment Gold Card) had less than six months of validity left. Since I plan to get my Taiwan ID (身分證, shēnfèn zhèng, National ID Card) later this year, there wasn’t much point in renewing the Gold Card. The representative suggested another option: transfer the number temporarily to someone else — either another ARC holder with enough validity left, or a Taiwanese citizen. In the latter case, the person would just need to accompany me to the store with their National ID card (身分證, shēnfèn zhèng) and National Health Insurance card (健保卡, jiànbǎokǎ). Once I get my own National ID, we could move the number back into my name.

In the meantime for my data needs, I realized I can get much cheaper data than Taiwan Mobile’s prepaid options by using eSIMDB. I picked up a 10 GB / 30-day eSIM for just $4.40 USD, which is far cheaper than anything available from local carriers. For now, that will get me data access while I sort out the locked number issue.

This Pushback to changes to Japan’s Business Manager Visa 🇯🇵👨‍💼

It was reported last month that Japan is seriously considering tightening the requirements for the Business Manager visa (my earlier write-up here).

Recently, both the Keidanren (経団連, Keidanren) — Japan’s largest business federation — and the Japan Venture Capital Association (JVCA) released opinions urging the government to hold back on some of the proposed changes, especially in cases where applicants are building startups or conducting business activities that clearly benefit Japan’s economy.

• Original statement from Keidanren (Japanese) · Reddit discussion

• Original statement from the JVCA (Japanese) · Reddit discussion

In particular, they propose that programs like J-FIND (for recent graduates) and the Startup Visa be exempt from the stricter new requirements.

This is still a developing situation, so if you would be directly affected, I recommend keeping an eye on the latest updates.

Points Back for Furusato Nōzei (ふるさと納税) ends October 2025

If you’re living in Japan, you’ve probably heard about ふるさと納税 (furusato nōzei, hometown tax donation). The system allows taxpayers to donate money to municipalities anywhere in Japan — not just where you live — and in return receive income and resident‑tax deductions, plus “thank you” gifts from those towns. It’s intended to help spread tax revenue and support rural or less wealthy areas.

However starting October 2025, the government will ban reward‑points incentives offered by intermediary websites such as Rakuten and LINE when you make furusato nōzei donations as local governments felt these were distorting the system.

Rakuten has filed a lawsuit challenging the ban, arguing that the regulation is excessive. Currently the various sites are offering promotions before the ban takes effect, so if you were considering donating via the system, I would do so soon.

Conclusions

This is a big post on various visa and life issues for Japan and Taiwan! I hope everyone found the tips here helpful. You can always reach out at hello@michaelinasia.com for comments or questions! Remember, you can also support this publication by becoming a paid subscriber or a Patreon!

Welcome to the August edition of Michael in Asia! July was pretty packed with travel for me. During the summer, I’m spending more time in Japan as it’s way too hot in Taiwan currently 🥵. This is a very Japan 🇯🇵 focused edition this time; I will be running through upcoming changes to the Business Manager Visa, My Number Card related tips, and using contactless bank cards for transit in Japan.

Table of Contents

• 508.dev Engineering Co-op 👨‍💻

• Business Manager Visa — Big Changes on the Horizon

• Continue using your My Number Card Overseas: Only …

• Using Nenkin-Net (Japanese Pension site) without a …

• Using e-Tax Without a My Number Card

• Pay via Contactless Bank Cards for Transit in Japa …

  • Tokyo: Still Awkward 🗼

  • Osaka / Kansai: Much Better

  • Fukuoka: Smooth Experience

  • Bottom Line

• Conclusions

508.dev Engineering Co-op 👨‍💻

I wanted to bump one of my other projects, 508.dev. This is a software development agency that I’m helping run that operates in a different manner than a typical top-down agency. We’ve gathered high-qualified, English fluent, engineers, product managers, designers, data scientists etc. from all over the world (concentrated in Taiwan, Japan, and the US).

If you’re a company looking for skilled contractors, we’d love to talk! We can work with you either by embedding our members directly into your team or by delivering the full project as a contracting company — whatever fits your needs and workflow. Reach out at hello@508.dev if you have a project that might fit.

If you are a designer, developer, data scientist, or other product roles and you have spare cycles, we could use more talented folks to help staff projects as they come in. There are no location requirements, and you can set your own rates and hours. All we ask is a passion for quality work and a spirit of collaboration. Read more about how to join at: https://508.dev/join

508.dev

Engineering co-op connecting qualified offshore engineers with companies that match their expertise.

508.dev

Business Manager Visa — Big Changes on the Horizon

Since around 2015, Japan’s Business Manager Visa has been a surprisingly attainable option to live in Japan compared to similar visas in other countries. The rules have been pretty straightforward:

• 5 million yen (~$35,000 USD) in capital or two full-time local employees.

• An approved business plan.

• A physical office in Japan — anything from a commercial space to a separate residential unit, or even a home office (as long as it has its own entrance and sign).

For small business owners or freelancers wanting to put down roots in Japan, it’s been one of the more approachable pathways — and one that has been used / abused in creative ways, which is one of the reasons for the current reform push. More details on the changes at Japan Remotely.

Government committees are seriously looking at tightening up the requirements, and while the timing isn’t set, the Ministry of Justice has floated a proposal to raise the capital requirement from 5 million yen to 30 million yen (~$203,000 USD). This would put Japan’s rules more in line with stricter systems in other countries, and for many, that’s simply out of reach.

There’s also talk of tightening the operational requirements. Some visa holders have done little more than register a single “minpaku” apartment as their business, which has fueled criticism that the system is being used as a loophole rather than to foster active businesses.

Alongside the capital hike, the reform would also require hiring at least one full-time employee who is either a Japanese citizen or a permanent resident. The current flexibility — meeting requirements with just capital — would be removed.

If these changes go through, the Business Manager Visa will shift from a relatively modest entry point to something requiring serious capital and a stronger operational footprint from day one.

My Number Card Comes to Apple Wallet 📱

My Number card in Apple Wallet

Announced in June 2025 (Japanese article), you can now add your My Number Card (マイナンバーカード, Mainanbā Kādo) directly to Apple Wallet on your iPhone. This makes it much easier to carry and present your digital ID — no more digging through your wallet for the plastic card. A My Number Card is useful for conducting various government procedures digitally without having to go to an government office, such as getting your tax records, pension records, and filing government forms, including tax returns.

To set it up, you can follow this setup guide from Apple support.

First you’ll need the Mynaportal app (マイナポータル) from the App Store:

1. Make sure you are on the latest version of the app and follow the setup instructions to add the digital My Number Card.

2. Read your physical My Number Card by holding it to your iPhone.

3. Enter your 4-digit PIN and your longer alphanumeric password.

4. Take a selfie and complete a quick “liveness check” so the system knows it’s really you.

Once added, you can simply tap your iPhone anywhere a My Number card is normally read — for example, at government service counters or certain automated machines. Apple Wallet will prompt you to authenticate before transmitting your details.

It also works online. In participating apps, app clips, or websites, you’ll see a “Verify with Apple Wallet” button. Tap it, authenticate, and your My Number information is securely shared without having to type anything in.

At launch, the feature is aimed at making government procedures smoother, but it’s easy to imagine this becoming part of daily life — from tax filing to pension applications — without ever having to pull out the physical card.

Continue using your My Number Card Overseas: Only for Japanese Nationals (for now)

Since 2024, Japanese nationals living abroad have been able to continue using their My Number Card after completing the proper procedures (though a requirement is having had a valid 住民票 (jūminhyō, residence registration) on or after October 5th, 2015). Unfortunately, this convenience does not extend to foreign residents—even those with valid visas or residence cards. The option to carry over or retain My Number status abroad is currently only available to Japanese citizens. I am still holding a valid Permanent Resident visa even after moving to Taiwan, and unfortunately the My Number card I have was disabled after completing the move out procedure. Hopefully this changes someday for expats, as there are legitimate reasons to continuing using your My Number card, such as filing taxes or checking your pension records online. Fortunately, there are alternatives:

Using Nenkin-Net (Japanese Pension site) without a My Number Card 👨‍🦳💴

Even if you don’t have a My Number Card, you can still use Nenkin-Net (ねんきんネット, nenkin netto), the Japanese Pension website to check your pension records online. There are two ways to register without a My Number Card:

1. With an Access Key (アクセスキー, akusesukī)

• The access key is printed on your annual pension notice, the ねんきん定期便 (nenkin teikibin).

• If you enter this key during signup, you can immediately issue a User ID online and start using Nenkin-Net right away.

• The catch: the access key is only valid for a limited time (usually about 3 months).

  

  Where the Access Key is on your annual pension notice

2. Without an Access Key

• If your statement didn’t include an access key, or if it expired, you can still register.

• In this case, you apply for a User ID online (you set your password at this time), and the Japan Pension Service will mail the credentials to your registered address.

• It takes a bit longer, but once you have the mailed ID and password, you can log in the same way as everyone else.

So while having the access key makes things instant, not having one doesn’t block you — it just means waiting for the login details to arrive by post.

Using e-Tax Without a My Number Card

You can still file taxes via e‑Tax without a My Number Card—but again, the setup is different:

• First, you’ll need to get a User ID and password. Follow the official instructions, but without a My Number Card you’d generally go to the tax office, apply by mail, or go through an accountant.

• Once you have that login, you can use those credentials to submit tax documents online.

So, yes—you can file taxes without a My Number Card. It’s just a bit less straightforward than using the full digital route.

Pay via Contactless Bank Cards for Transit in Japan 🚇

If you’ve been paying attention to your commute, you might have noticed that you can now use contactless bank cards directly at some train gates in Japan. Most card brands (Visa, JCB, Amex, etc.) are supported, with the big exception of MasterCard not being supported in some systems. Despite the advertised support, however, the experience depends a lot on where you are.

An example ticket gate machine supporting contactless bank card payment

You’ll see signage like this indicating contactless bank card support

Tokyo: Still Awkward 🗼

The rollout here is inconsistent. JR Lines do not yet support contactless bank card payments. There are currently seven major companies in and around Tokyo experimenting with contactless card payment. Toei Subway, Keikyu Railway, and Seibu Railway are conducting limited tests at some stations. Keio Electric Railway, Tokyu Railways, and Yokohama Minatomirai Railway have bank-card gates at all stations. With the limited tests, or in certain other circumstances like transfer gates, you may run into awkward situations. In some places you might be able to tap in but find no compatible gate to tap out. In this case, you need to talk to the station staff to pay the correct fare using normal means, or find the specific exit that supports tap to pay.

• Example: Keikyu Line from Haneda — tap-in works fine. But when you transfer at Shinagawa to JR, the JR transfer gates don’t accept tap-to-pay. You’ll have to exit completely and re-enter through a different gate, which is clunky.

• I’ve also found situations on supposedly supported lines where I enter via credit card tap, but then can’t find a gate supporting tap on the way out.

• I’ve also found some gates that look like they support contactless bank card payments but don’t actually - I’ve been explained that this is actually if you have a commuter pass attached to that bank card.

Coverage is expanding, but for now Tokyo is still fragmented.

If you see a tap reader but it doesn’t have credit card logos, it likely doesn’t work

Osaka / Kansai: Much Better

In the Kansai region (Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe, Nara), coverage is far more seamless. JR West has integrated contactless credit card payments widely across its network, and many private railways also support it. For visitors, this means you can get from Kansai Airport into Osaka or Kyoto without worrying about hitting an unsupported gate.

Fukuoka: Smooth Experience

Fukuoka has also adopted tap-to-pay in a way that feels much closer to what travelers expect. JR Kyushu lines around Fukuoka and the Fukuoka City Subway both work smoothly with contactless credit cards. It’s reliable enough here that you could realistically use it instead of Suica/PASMO or their local equivalents. Fukuoka City Subway has even set a daily maximum fare to save you money if you use tap-to-pay.

Bottom Line

For now, Tokyo still requires a Suica, PASMO, or their mobile versions (Apple Pay/Google Pay) if you want peace of mind. Tap-to-pay with foreign credit cards is improving, but in Tokyo it’s best treated as a backup. Kansai and Fukuoka, as well as a few other regions, on the other hand, are already much closer to being “tap in, tap out, done.”

Conclusions

I hope this edition was helpful! I was meaning to write a longer piece about buying property, and hotel / guesthouse licensing in Japan along with corporate structures, but that will have to wait until next month. You can always reach out at hello@michaelinasia.com for comments or questions! Remember, you can also support this publication by becoming a paid subscriber or a Patreon!

Hey readers! I had a pretty hectic travel schedule in May; I left Taiwan 🇹🇼 for the summer, then hopped to the US for 2 weeks. Hence the writing of this edition was a bit delayed, but hopefully you still find it interesting! I got an unexpected notification from my mobile carrier in Taiwan, and also an unexpected phone call from Japanese immigration, so wanted to give people a heads up about those. Also, from my trips in and out of Japan, I’ve cleared Japanese immigration many times so I have tips about using the autogates.

First I wanted to introduce an app I’ve been finding helpful to keep track of my budget while living abroad:

Lunch Money: delightfully simple personal finance tracking & budgeting

Want to track your personal finances and set a budget? Need to keep tabs on transactions from accounts in multiple countries, or even your crypto holdings? I was a loyal Mint user for years (actually, I was even an intern there!), but unfortunately Mint is now shutdown. I’m now using Lunch Money to get a bigger picture of my finances and track towards personal goals. It’s a beautifully simple and well designed app, built with careful consideration for the needs of users, especially people living internationally. Use my referral link to get an extra 30 days free trial.

Lunch Money personal finance app

Delightfully simple personal finance & budgeting tool used by customers worldwide. Get a 2 months trial for free!

lunchmoney.app

Table of Contents

• Taiwan: The Lucky Land extended to September 30, 2 …

• Taiwanese Mobile carriers verifying IDs 🇹🇼🪪

• Calls from Japanese immigration 🇯🇵📞

• Where to Use Japan’s Autogates (and Where You’ll R …

• Getting Permission for Side Jobs in Japan (資格外活動許可 …

  • Do I Need Permission for Side Work?

  • Requirements and Conditions

  • Case Example: TikTok Side Hustle

  • How to Apply

  • Types of Permission: Inclusive vs. Exclusive

  • Incorporating a company and visa permission

  • Final Thoughts

• Conclusions

Taiwan: The Lucky Land extended to September 30, 2025 🇹🇼💰

I have been a multiple time winner of Taiwan: The Lucky Land, a scheme where tourists can win 5000 NTD to use on travel or shopping. The scheme was originally set to expire on June 30, 2025, but now has been extended to September 30, 2025. You can still play even while holding a resident card - you just need to enter using visa free and not stay longer than 90 days. No word on any further extensions but it is likely if they still have funds remaining or the government believes the scheme is effectively driving tourism.

Taiwanese Mobile carriers verifying IDs 🇹🇼🪪

I got a confusing message from Taiwan Mobile (台灣大哥大 / táiwān dàgēdà) recently, even though I already showed both my ARC (Alien Resident Card, 居留證, jūliú zhèng) and passport when I bought my prepaid SIM (預付卡, yùfù kǎ). I wrote previously about the rationale for picking Taiwan Mobile for my mobile carrier.

English translation:

Apparently this kind of check has become more common lately due to enforcement of Article 22 of the Telecommunications Management Act. It’s meant to prevent scammers from using Taiwan numbers overseas — so if you’re a non-citizen with a Taiwan SIM, be aware that you might get flagged even if you already did everything right when you signed up. I’ve left Taiwan for the summer, so I’m not sure if I’ll lose the number or if I can just verify again when I’m back.

Calls from Japanese immigration 🇯🇵📞

I recently missed a few calls from the number 0570-034-259. When I looked up the number, it said “Tokyo Immigration Bureau (東京出入国在留管理局, Tōkyō shutsunyūkoku zairyū kanrikyoku).” I already have permanent residency (永住権, eijūken) and haven’t done anything sketchy, so I wasn’t too worried—but I was curious. Was it spam? Was it a spoofed call trying to steal my personal information?

I managed to pick up the call a few days later. They asked if I still had an address on my residence card (在留カード, zairyū kādo), to which I responded yes. Then they said they couldn’t currently find my records registered to any ward in Japan.

That’s when it clicked: I moved to Taiwan at the end of 2023, and deregistered myself from my local ward. These days I just come back to Japan every now and then for short trips—usually 1–2 weeks at a time. I explained this, and they asked when I was going back to Taiwan and whether I had a fixed address in Japan. I told them that I bounce around between hotels and friends’ places.

The agent just said, “Okay, no problem. But if you ever come back for a longer stay, please make sure to register at a ward office.”

I didn’t know immigration would proactively call you just for being unregistered. But apparently, if you still have a valid visa or PR and no resident registration, they might!

Where to Use Japan’s Autogates (and Where You’ll Run Into Trouble) 🚪

I previously wrote about registering for Japan’s automated immigration gates. Here’s where they’re available according to the official instruction guide:

• Narita Airport: Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 (both arrivals and departures)

• Haneda Airport: Terminal 3 only (arrivals and departures)

• Kansai Airport: Terminal 1 (arrivals and departures)

• Chubu (Nagoya) Airport: Arrivals and departures

Noticeably absent: Fukuoka, Sapporo, and surprisingly even Terminal 2 at Haneda (which has a new entry system that assigns you a track based on your status but has no autogates). Terminal 3 at Narita also lacks autogates—which lines up with most of the budget airlines using Terminal 3. Instead, you have to go through the regular resident re-entry line (再入国, sainyūkoku).

Another catch: if your passport chip is broken, you can still clear immigration using the autogates no problem. But the customs QR code terminals (those machines after baggage claim) require a working chip. My passport won’t read at all, and I have to go directly to a human manned station, usually after explaining to a worker that my passport chip is broken. Fortunately, you can still use the customs QR code instead of the paper form. Only place it worked was Haneda Terminal 2, which uses a newer machine that scans your passport and QR code before immigration, and then for customs you go to your assigned track without using an electronic terminal—but again, there’s no immigration autogate there.

So depending on your airport and passport condition, you may find yourself bouncing between systems.

Getting Permission for Side Jobs in Japan (資格外活動許可 / Shikakugai Katsudō Kyoka) 🧑‍🔧

Doing a side job in Japan is increasing popular for various reasons like covering extra expenses, funding hobbies, or fulfilling your entrepreneurial spirit. Whether it’s livestreaming, freelancing, or occasional teaching, there are rules you need to follow—especially if you’re on a work visa. Here’s a good write-up from Japan Dev.

Do I Need Permission for Side Work?

If you're on a Table 1 visa—such as Permanent Residency (永住権, eijūken), Spouse or Child of a Japanese National (日本人の配偶者等, nihonjin no haigūsha-tō), or you're a Japanese citizen—you don't need any special permission. You can engage in any legal work without restrictions.

For others, yes, permission is often required. If you’re on a standard work visa like Engineer/Humanities/International Services (技術・人文知識・国際業務, gijutsu, jinbun chishiki, kokusai gyōmu) and the side work fits your visa scope (e.g., translation, design, consulting), you are generally allowed to do it without any extra permission. If the work is outside your visa scope, then you would need permission. But if you’re on an Highly Skilled Professional visa (高度専門職 / kōdo senmonshoku), any compensated activity outside your main job requires prior permission from immigration.

This permission is formally called 資格外活動許可 (shikakugai katsudō kyoka), or “Permission to Engage in Activity Other Than That Permitted by Your Visa.”

Requirements and Conditions

Here are the main conditions to get approved:

• The side work must not interfere with your main job.

• You must remain employed at your main job.

• The side work must be not be illegal, sex industry work, or nightlife jobs.

• You need to provide a specific offer or contract — intentions alone aren’t enough.

• For engineer/humanities/international services/HSP visa holders, unskilled labor is not allowed. For example, no jobs as a convenience store clerk, waitress, hotel cleaning staff, etc.

Note that your employment rules may prohibit side work, so it’s important to check your contract or HR policy. While immigration doesn’t always require written proof from your employer, they might ask about it in follow-ups.

Also, if your side work is clearly unrelated to your main job and limited in scope, it tends to be easier to get permission.

Case Example: TikTok Side Hustle

My friend wants to start livestreaming on TikTok in preparation for TikTok Shop’s launch in Japan. She holds an HSP visa (高度専門職 / kōdo senmonshoku), and while some sources suggested she could just file the income under “miscellaneous income”, she didn’t want to risk it. She went to the Tachikawa (立川) regional immigration office after hearing rumors that obtaining same-day permission was possible. Turns out it wasn’t - instead she received a 郵便ハガキ (yūin hagaki) postcard notice and now has to return later to see if she was able to obtain permission or not.

They also required proof of the side job. Simply saying she wanted to start this activity on her own wasn't enough—they asked to see a contract or job offer. Thus she had to provide an offer from a livestreaming agency.

How to Apply

To apply, bring the following to your regional immigration office:

• The completed application form (available online).

• Your residence card (在留カード, zairyū kādo).

• Your passport.

• A written contract or offer letter from the side job.

Applications are free. Processing typically takes 2 weeks to 2 months. You can’t start working until it’s approved. Some immigration offices are faster than others, but same-day approvals are rare.

Types of Permission: Inclusive vs. Exclusive

Permission for part time work (資格外活動許可, shikakugai katsudō kyoka) comes in two categories: Inclusive (包括許可, hōkatsu kyoka) and Exclusive (個別許可, kobetsu kyoka). These differ in scope and who they're designed for.

Hōkatsu kyoka (包括許可) is a general permit that allows up to 28 hours per week of part-time work. It's commonly issued to:

• Students and dependents seeking casual jobs.

• Certain work visa holders like Instructors (教育, kyōiku) or those under the Engineer/Humanities (技術・人文知識, gijutsu, jinbun chishiki) category, but only if the job is with a public body or local government.

• Designated activities (特定活動, tokutei katsudō) visa holders waiting for a job to start or actively job-hunting.

Kobetsu kyoka (個別許可), on the other hand, is granted for specific work arrangements that fall outside your visa’s normal conditions. This is what most working professionals—including those on a Highly Skilled Professional (高度専門職 / kōdo senmonshoku) visa—will need if they want to pick up a side gig. It’s tailored to:

• Tasks outside your current visa scope

• Freelance or self-employed work (個人事業主, kojin jigyōnushi)

• Flexible or undefined work hours, such as one-off contracts or creative projects.

Immigration usually expects the time spent on such side work to stay below the time you dedicate to your primary job. If you're already holding one kind of permit, they may check your application more closely to ensure your primary work isn’t affected.

Incorporating a company and visa permission

You can legally establish a business in Japan—such as a Gōdō Kaisha (合同会社, GK) or Kabushiki Kaisha (株式会社, KK)—even if you're on a regular work visa or Highly Skilled Professional (高度専門職 / kōdo senmonshoku) visa. You don’t need special immigration permission just to register and form a company.

However, what matters is operating the company. If you are involved in daily business activities or generating income from it, then you must apply for 資格外活動許可 (shikakugai katsudō kyoka) before starting operations.

This means you can create a GK or KK to prepare for future plans, but if you're planning to actively use it for selling, content creation, or managing a business while on a visa, you need explicit permission to avoid violating your visa conditions.

Final Thoughts

If you want to test a side hustle in Japan, do it legally. It’s possible to get permission to do so, but you need to be clear and prepared with documentation.

Your main job remains your core obligation, so don’t bite off more than you can chew. If you’re unhappy with pay or conditions, you might be better off finding a better full-time opportunity instead.

Conclusions

Hopefully now you have a heads up if you get any of these unexpected notifications from Taiwan or Japan, and also have a clearer view of the process to get permission for side work in Japan. You can always reach out at hello@michaelinasia.com for comments or questions! Remember, you can also support this publication by becoming a paid subscriber or a Patreon!

Welcome to the April edition of my expat life in Asia newsletter! It’s been 1.5 years since I started spending more time in Taiwan (splitting time with Japan), and 5 months since I started actually renting a place in Taipei with a few friends. I wanted to write a guide for finding your own place in Taiwan as well. Along with that are other life tips, from shopping, to fitness classes, and financial tips for both Japan 🇯🇵 and Taiwan 🇹🇼!

Table of Contents

• TaoBao shopping update and Taiwan customs duties � …

• ClassPass is in Japan! 🏋️

• Upcoming service improvements with Sony Bank 🏦🇯� …

• JAL Pay: Another way to earn miles and save on JAL …

• Finding an apartment in Taiwan 🇹🇼🏠

TaoBao shopping update and Taiwan customs duties 🇨🇳🛍️

I wrote previously about buying things from TaoBao (a giant Chinese shopping platform), and shipping them to you directly for free in a select number of countries. I’ve noticed that the number of merchants supporting this free shipping has slowly been decreasing. There still seems to be plenty of merchants supporting free Taiwan shipping, however I’ve noticed that some items that I’ve previously bought that supported free shipping no longer do. I’ve also had a much more difficult time finding items that support free shipping to Japan.

Customs-wise, Taiwan is supposed to have a duty free limit of 2000 NTD per package. The limit is 6 tax-free packages every 6 months, no matter their value. However, if you import a number of things around the same time, even if each package is under 2000 NTD in value, the customs office reserves the right to sum up your packages and charge duties on them. The first few shipments I received without paying any duties, but every package after that I ended up paying some customs duty, even if they were spaced out by 2 weeks or so. On EZWay (article explaining EZWay), the duty value would say, for example 33 NTD, yet the delivery person would say I owed 300 NTD, and I haven’t gotten a clear explanation what the extra cost is, but it appears to be some sort of processing fee plus VAT once it is decided customs duties are owed on a package. This is adding an extra 10-20% or so to the cost of everything I buy, plus the annoyance of having to be around to pay duties to the delivery company.

There is discussion of changing the tax-free import system to prevent unfair competition and possible rerouting of Chinese goods through Taiwan to US.

ClassPass is in Japan! 🏋️

ClassPass is now in Japan! I used ClassPass quite regularly while I was in San Francisco and only stopped because moved to Tokyo, so I’m quite happy with this development. If you haven’t heard of ClassPass before, the concept is a monthly subscription giving you credits which can be used at various fitness studios and health & beauty services. Reservations are made and managed through ClassPass without having to register at business individually. This is especially useful at fitness studios where normally you are required to sign up for a membership or drop-in prices are high. Prices are reasonable, with various subscription plans (Japan pricing):

This ends up being around ~¥300 something yen per credit, with credits getting cheaper on larger plans. Here’s a quick comparison of what I paid using ClassPass versus the regular prices on a 30 monthly credit plan:

• Body massage at Riraku Massage – 14 credits (¥4,620 equivalent cost), retail price ¥9,570.

• Pore and acne care (deep pore cleansing + BBL treatment + Vitamin C treatment) – 28 credits (¥9,240 equivalent cost), retail price ¥19,000.

ClassPass basically cuts the cost in half, though the exact value you get will vary by business.

In Japan, you can start a trial for 2 weeks that gives you 30 credits for free (exact numbers and trial details vary by location). Unfortunately during the trial period if you don’t pay for a subscription, these credits cannot be freely used at all locations, mostly just fitness studios. I was unable to use the free trial credits for beauty services like massage and red light therapy. Sign up via my referral link to get 20 bonus credits on top of the free trial!

If you don’t use credits, they will rollover to the next cycle (set by your billing date, not calendar month), but it’s limited to how many credits you pay for per month, so don’t leave too many credits unused. See this article for more details. If you really need to, you can take a 1 month pause at a time, or cancel your subscription and rejoin later. I’m currently on a 1 month pause while traveling, but plan to rejoin when back in Japan as it’s a great value if you like trying out various

ClassPass is available in many major cities around the world, and you can use your credits while traveling with no restriction! I’ve never had a problem with their service and the app is fairly clear and easy to use, so I recommend giving it a try (referral link again)!

Upcoming service improvements with Sony Bank 🏦🇯🇵

I’ve been overall happy with Sony Bank as they have a relatively easy to use app and website (for Japan), have great exchange rates, and are compatible with a lot of services (unlike SBI Shinsei Bank). They are making a few useful changes starting May 6th (there will be a maintenance outage from midnight May 3rd):

• Foreign Currency Transfers Within Sony Bank

  You’ll soon be able to transfer foreign currencies (like USD-to-USD) between other accounts at Sony Bank. Most Japanese banks would require going through the foreign remittance process for this with the associated fees and procedural headaches—even internally—so this is a nice upgrade.

• Automatic Fixed Amount Transfers

  You can now schedule recurring transfers (weekly, monthly, etc.) to other banks in Japan. This is useful for bills when auto-debit isn’t an option, for example my homeowner’s association currently requires a manual furikomi bank transfer every month to pay that fee.

• a proper domain name

  Sony Bank is finally moving from moneykit.net (their original branding) to sonybank.jp, which will be much less confusing.

There are more changes—see the full list here. You can message me for a referral where you can receive either ¥2000 or ¥4000!

JAL Pay: Another way to earn miles and save on JAL purchases

If you fly JAL often or shop at their affiliated stores, it might be worth checking out JAL Pay, a prepaid payment app linked to your JAL Mileage Bank account. You earn 1 mile per ¥200 spent, and sometimes more when shopping through JAL-affiliated stores or during special promos.

➡️ List of eligible shops and bonus mile information

A couple useful blog writeups I found (in Japanese 🇯🇵):

【解説】ポイ活に必須！JAL Payのはじめ方・登録方法｜2024年9月版 | Dr.マリオット

今までの記事を読んでポイント活動（ポイ活）をやってみたいです！まずは具体的にJAL Payの登録方法を教えて欲しい！！ ようこそ！ポイ活の世界へ！JAL Payの登録方法を画像付きで詳しく解説しますね！！ 近年、デジタル決済の普及とともに、

dr-yotsu.blog/jal-pay-poikatsu

【JAL Pay】JALマイル還元率0.5％で高還元ルートには必須！ANA Payとの違いは？JAL Payのお得な活用方法を紹介！

JALのキャッシュレス決済であるJAL Payは、決済利用時のJALマイル還元率0.5％に加えて、様々な決済サービスへのチャージに対応している点が大きなメリットになります。JALのプリペイドカードであるJAL Global WALLETのサ...

small-hack.com/jal-pay

Why I started looking into JAL Pay

On a recent JAL flight, I tried to buy duty-free items and noticed they offered 10% off if you paid with a JAL Card or JAL Pay. I had my JAL CLUB-A Card (CLUB-Aカード) in Apple Pay, but they required the physical card for the discount—no digital wallet support. That’s when I started figuring out how to quickly load JAL Pay instead.

For context, I keep my JAL Credit Card to help retain oneworld Sapphire status. Unfortunately, the shortcut from JMB Sapphire → JAL Global Club Sapphire was discontinued in 2025, but I was lucky to be grandfathered in as long as I hold the credit card.

I’ve also seen bonus mile campaigns at JAL Plaza stores and special Apple Pay promos tied to JAL Pay.

Loading JAL Pay

More details on the official page, but You can top up your JAL Pay balance via:

Credit card (Mastercard, JCB, Diners, Visa)

• No fee for Mastercard, JCB, or Diners credit cards.

• For Visa cards, there is a 2.75% fee, unless it’s a JAL or Saison branded card.

• Important: You don’t earn miles when using a JAL Card to charge JAL Pay—and other cards may not award points either, so check the details of your credit card.

Bank transfer / linked accounts

• JAL NEOBank (JALネオバンク) and SBI Sumishin Net Bank (住信SBIネット銀行) can be linked in app and support instant loading.

• Pay-easy instant transfers work with major banks like Mizuho (みずほ銀行), MUFG (三菱UFJ銀行), SMBC (三井住友銀行), and Resona (りそな銀行).

• Regular bank transfers (振込) are not instant and may take until the next business day.

Using JAL Miles

You can see the conversion chart here, but essentially for under 10,000 miles exchanged, you get ¥0.5 a mile without JAL NEOBANK, and ¥0.6 a mile with JAL NEOBANK. For 10,000 miles and over, you get a value of ¥1.1 a mile. Given that JAL miles are commonly valued at least ¥2 a mile or higher, especially when redeemed for business class, this is likely a poor redemption unless your miles are about to expire.

Courses

A small note about "courses”. You are placed in a “course” that sets daily and monthly limits for things like loading your balance and shopping usage (more info on the official page). This really only comes into play if you are trying to load or spend more than 50,000 yen a day. I believe even though it says you need to have JAL Neobank to be in the shopping course, by having a JAL credit card, you are automatically in that “shopping” course. However, I was still blocked from loading a second time after the first 50,000 yen load, but that could have been a card security thing.

Finding an apartment in Taiwan 🇹🇼🏠

Apartment hunting in Taiwan isn’t as daunting as it may seem once you are a little more familiar with the process. There are definitely a number of quirks, and some knowledge of Chinese is helpful but not strictly necessary. My guide will be Taipei focused as that’s where I’m most familiar with, but these tips should apply to most major population centers.

Here are some other useful articles to read about finding an apartment:

Taiwan Apartment Rental Guide/FAQ 台灣租屋常見問題

As a long term expat in Taiwan I have lived in over ten apartments and have dealt with all kinds of problems, from landlords to noise to bugs. I feel like my experience can help other expats searching for apartments in Taiwan, so I have created this guide

www.foreignersintaiwan.com/blog/taiwan-apartment-rental-guide

Best Taiwan Rental Sites & How To Find An Apartment

Apartment hunting guide for Taiwan: methods, tips, costs, and amenities.

navitaiwan.com/apartment-hunting

The most used platform is 591, which has the widest range of listings—from budget studios to sleek new high-rises. The platform is primarily geared toward locals, so while the selection is huge, the types of apartments and service may not always align with what expats are used to. Listings can be bare-bones, communication is usually in Chinese, and agents may assume you’re familiar with local rental norms. That said, it’s still the best place to get a feel for the market and spot deals. When you message through 591, you’re almost always contacting an agent, not the landlord directly.

If you’re looking for a more foreigner-friendly experience, UR House is an agency that focuses on higher-end rentals and provides full English service. They do charge a premium—in addition to the typical half a month’s rent agent fee charged initially, they also charge this fee again for each lease renewal—but they’re also quite responsive and can help with anything that comes up during your lease. I’ve worked with a great English-speaking agent in Taipei if you’re looking for a referral. There are some apartments that are UR House exclusive and also apartments you can find on other platforms that UR House agents won’t handle.

There are some other platforms, such as Zuyou and HouseFun you can check out, though I haven’t used them myself. Typically on all these platforms you will search by city, then district, then any additional filters like MRT station, size, price, number of rooms, etc.

In general to message agents and landlords, you should get the LINE app as that’s how the majority of people communicate in Taiwan.

Facebook groups and other social networks are also a useful resource, especially for Taipei. These tend to lean more toward short-term or shared housing options and cater to expats. Deals on these can sometimes be less formal, and it's good to be cautious about potential scams or landlords who aren't fully aware of regulations (though many are perfectly fine). A few active groups I used:

• Taipei Apartment Rentals

• Rental Apartments Taiwan

• Taiwan Apartments and Roommates

• Taipei Rooms and Apartments

• Taipei Apartment Rentals (duplicate group)

The main things I look for are:

• General neighborhood first if you care about convenience and the character of where you live. You’d be searching by this anyways, so it’s good to decide which ones you are interested in first.

• Number of bedrooms, bathrooms, and size. Fortunately unlike Japan, multiple bathrooms are not uncommon.

• What year the building was built and if the unit had any recent renovations. Super old buildings, even if the interior was recently renovated, may have other issues such as water leakage, old plumbing, poor insulation, earthquake safety etc.

• Price, including Management Fees (管理費 - guǎnlǐ fèi): Many modern buildings (especially those with elevators, 24/7 security, or communal trash areas) charge a monthly management fee on top of your rent. This fee covers the upkeep of common areas and amenities. Ask if this fee is included in the listed rent (rare) or is separate, and clarify the exact amount.

• What floor the unit is on. The ground floor may be subject to flooding and lower floors may have less light. Higher floors mean better air and less street noise. The higher up you go, the less pests there are, such as cockroaches and other bugs. Mosquitos generally don’t fly above the fourth floor. However, the higher the floor, the more you will feel earthquakes (and if the elevator goes out, you’re going to be doing a lot of walking).

• For light, which direction the windows are facing. South facing is best, but east-facing can work if you don’t mind light early in the morning, or west-facing for light in the afternoon.

• If the building has an elevator. Elevators are not necessarily standard, so you should check if there’s an elevator if you are in a higher floor and want to avoid walking up/down many flights of stairs.

• Whether the unit is furnished or not. Furnished apartments (especially washer and fridge) are common and usually don’t cost much extra. If there’s furniture you don’t want, you can often ask the landlord to remove it.

• Whether or not the building has 24/7 security (24小時管理員 - 24 xiǎoshí guǎnlǐyuán). Safety isn’t big concern in Taiwan, so that’s not really what they are for. Security is helpful for receiving packages or passing along keys to visitors (or letting you in if you forget your keys…). Without it, deliveries may need to go to a nearby convenience store. Taiwan doesn’t often have in-building package lockers like Japan.

• Whether trash pickup or trash collection rooms are included. These aren’t always standard, so If not, you’ll need to buy the official designated trash bags for your city and catch the trash truck at specific times (run down when you hear Fur Elise!) or pay someone separately to come by and pick up trash.

• If internet or other utilities are included. They often aren’t for actual leases and you have to set up and pay for that separately, but sometimes they are (or at least you don’t need to set it up yourself)!

• Whether the unit comes with a washer or a dryer. Dryers aren’t common; line-drying is the norm, even in newer apartments.

• If you cook, whether the stove is gas, electric, or induction. Also if a the unit comes with a dishwasher (fairly uncommon).

A few tips:

• Always insist on viewing an apartment before putting down a deposit. While not widely prevalent, there are a number of scams going around, even on 591.

• Lease terms are usually 1 year or more. Six-month leases exist but are rare. For anything shorter, Facebook groups and AirBnBs are your best bet—though the latter can be pricey. Many AirBnBs are not licensed though and may be technically illegal, so your host may urge you to keep things discreet.

• Go over the details of your lease carefully. Many landlords use a standard government lease template, which outlines common terms and tenant/landlord rights, though specific clauses can still vary or be negotiated. There’s usually standard clauses about a 2 month deposit, and a 1 month penalty if you break your lease early.

• The agent fee is typically half a month’s rent. Along with the deposit and initial month rent, you are usually paying at least 3.5 months of rent upfront. I noted above as well, but UR House also charges the agent fee on renewals, but you can set the contract length for a renewal longer if you are happy with your place.

• Negotiate the price. Whether something’s broken or the place isn’t in high demand, there’s usually room to bring the rent down a bit. Ask your agent what they think—most will be honest with you about what’s realistic.

• Landlords prioritize stability. Landlords prioritize stability and reliable tenants, often viewing the property as a long-term investment rather than focusing solely on maximizing short-term rental income as yields generally aren’t that high. They may ask about your job or how you’re connected to any roommates. Landlords or agents may ask for proof of your status or ability to pay, such as your ARC (Alien Resident Certificate), work contract, a bank statement, or enrollment letter if you're a student.

• Renting as a foreigner. While some landlords prefer renting to locals, it’s usually not personal—it’s about reducing uncertainty. Many are open to foreigners, especially if you show that you’re stable and responsive. Having a Taiwanese friend help with communication can make things easier, both during the application and after you’ve moved in. A good agent can also help with that.

• Regarding roommates: sharing with others is generally fine in Taiwan, but leases usually go under one person’s name. If someone in your group has Taiwanese citizenship or permanent residency, it’s often smoother to put the lease in their name—landlords tend to feel more comfortable renting to locals, especially for longer leases.

• Listed apartment sizes include common areas. Actual usable space may be 10–25% smaller than what’s advertised. Some sites will show both gross size (including some portion of common areas) as well as net size (actual usable area for the unit). Taiwan most commonly uses 坪 (píng) to measure area, although square meters is common as well. 1 坪 (píng) is equal to roughly ~3.3 square meters, or ~35.6 square feet.

• The mattresses that come with furnished apartments tend to be hard by western standards. You may want to replace them with your own or get a mattress topper.

• My friend gave me the tip of bringing cash to viewings, and if you think the apartment is acceptable, giving the cash deposit right away, and then later if negotiations fall through, you can get it back. I did not end up doing this, but it could be a way to secure your spot for popular listings.

Here’s a guide on neighborhoods in Taipei. The most popular neighborhoods in central Taipei for expats are typically Ximen, Da'an, Zhongshan, Songshan, Xinyi, Datong, and Zhongzheng districts. Some people also like Neihu District as it’s considered more residential but it’s further out. Beitou and Shilin Districts are also adjacent and well known as well. Each of these have their own characteristics and charms, so you can do research to see which neighborhoods suit you. I’m personally in Zhongshan District and love it for how central, convenient, and active it is, while having a lot of charm and more local places to go. Being in Central Taipei comes with convenience but also the associated higher prices. There are definitely a number of people who live outside of Central Taipei, like in Tamsui, Xindian, or even out in New Taipei City. You definitely don’t have to restrict yourself to Taipei either, I know friends living in Taichung or Kaohsiung who are having a great time.

I hope these tips help you find your dream place in Taiwan! I’m really enjoying the lifestyle out here! Having a real apartment on lock makes it really feel like I have a homebase, vs. temporary rentals or crashing with friends.

Conclusions

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this article and picked up some useful tips! My plan is to spend 2 more weeks in Taiwan, then flee for the summer back to Japan (along with some traveling). You can always reach out at hello@michaelinasia.com for comments or questions! You can also support this publication by becoming a paid subscriber or a Patreon!

Okay not really, it was just a ticket for riding a LUUP scooter on the sidewalk without the 6km/h throttle on. Totally my fault for not knowing the rules. The more interesting part was the process of dealing with the ticket, which I’ve detailed below. Anyways, here’s the March edition of my newsletter!

Table of Contents

• New book on how to revive the Japanese economy 🇯� …

• In remembrance of Skype; what to use instead? 📞🪦

• Transferring LINE Pay Balance to PayPay (Japanese …

• Migrating your LINE account to an Asia LINE accoun …

  • Tips for a smooth transfer process:

• Dealing with Traffic Tickets in Japan 🚗🇯🇵

• Conclusions

New book on how to revive the Japanese economy 🇯🇵📖

My friend Noah Smith (of Noahpinion) wrote a book on how to revive the Japanese economy, titled Weeb Economy: ウイーブが日本を救う (The Weebs Will Save Japan). It’s Japanese only for now, but you can read the original English language blog posts at the above link. He’s an economics blogger who write on a variety of topics, and also loves East Asia. I’ve always found his writing insightful, so if you are interested, please check it out!

In remembrance of Skype; what to use instead? 📞🪦

Skype will be shutting down in May 2025, marking the end of an era for those using it to keep in touch with others abroad. Unused Skype credit will be refunded to the original payment method, or another refund method will be provided if that’s not possible. Yes, there are many alternatives for online meetings now, but sometimes the only option is still to make an international call. But don’t worry—there are still plenty of great alternatives out there to make affordable international calls:

• Google Voice is a solid option for American expats. Signing up requires linking a real US phone number. You get a new virtual phone number that can receive calls and texts. It offers free calls within the US and low-cost international rates. I’ve found that even though you can often add VOIP numbers like Google Voice to your contact info for banks, they often don’t work for 2 factor verification, especially when calling the bank.

• Callshake was launched as a direct response to Skype’s shutdown to make cheap international calls purely through your desktop or mobile browser. No physical number is required, and it’s a pay-as-you go with no contracts and credits don’t expire. Give it a try!

• For Rakuten Mobile users in Japan, Rakuten Link allows international calls at cheap rates.

• Yolla allows you to make calls to both landlines and mobile phones worldwide. The app offers free calls between Yolla users and low-cost international rates for non-users, making it an affordable way to stay connected with people around the globe.

• Viber is another popular messaging app, and includes voice and video calling features. Viber Out lets you call any phone number worldwide at competitive rates.

• KeepCalling lets you call any phone number globally using just an internet connection, with competitive rates.

• Talk360 allows you to call landlines and mobile phones anywhere in the world.

If you have any favorite international calling app, please leave a comment!

Transferring LINE Pay Balance to PayPay (Japanese users) 🇯🇵

LINE Pay is a payment method associated with the LINE messaging app, only available to users in certain countries. LINE Pay in Japan is shutting down in April 2025; if you have any balance in LINE Pay you should transfer your balance to PayPay (LINE help page). You must transfer by April 23, 2025 otherwise it will be stuck. You can start the procedure from the LINE App, after also making sure PayPay is installed.

From the official instructions:

1. From the LINE Pay main menu, tap Migrate balance.

2. Add a check to agree to the terms and conditions and tap Next.

3. After moving to the PayPay app, finish linking it with LINE Pay.

4. After moving back to the LINE app, read the notes on the "Balance migration to PayPay" screen and add a check mark to "Agree to all of the above and migrate balance."

5. Tap Migrate balance.

Initial balance migration screen

Result of migrating balance

After successfully transferring your balance, it shows up as a top up of PayPay Money Lite, which cannot be cashed out but can be used to pay merchants and other users.

Migrating your LINE account to an Asia LINE account 🌏

When I first started using LINE, I wasn’t living in Asia and did not have a corresponding phone number to sign up with. At that time, it didn’t make a huge difference what country your LINE account was registered in.

However, LINE started adding country specific features, most notably LINE Pay which is very commonly used in Taiwan, and occasionally in Thailand. As mentioned above, LINE Pay in Japan is shutting down April 2025 and being merged with PayPay. While normally you could use LINE Pay from an account in one country to pay in another country, unfortunately it doesn’t seem like you can use LINE Pay from other countries to pay for PayPay codes in Japan.

Other weird quirks: you can’t add someone by ID if your account isn’t registered in the same country. It’s probably a security feature but is annoying for usability. The only way that works is via QR code, or being connected through a group and adding from the other user’s contact page.

Thus, I wanted to transfer my account to a Taiwanese account while keeping all my contacts and chats intact. This only works if you are trying to change to a Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, or Thailand number.

LINE Help Center: Transfer your account

Official LINE Help: Transfer your account to a different phone number.

help.line.me/line/smartphone/?contentId=20011523

Given the shutdown of LINE Pay in Japan, I don’t think there’s a major reason to move your LINE account to a Japan one. The core functions of LINE are the same. Some Japan-only LINE features still exist, but they aren’t compelling for most users. The biggest one I can think of is LINEスマート通知 (Smart Notifications) which integrates with Japanese banks and services for alerts.

Tips for a smooth transfer process:

Register a password on your account: the transfer process assumes you’ve registered a password on your account. Otherwise you will get stuck at this part of the transfer process and have to go through an annoying process with support.

Use a second device: the transfer process assumes you are transferring between phones and will ask for an account transfer code from your old device. It’s best to log into a second device and then migrate to a new phone number on your original device. If you don’t have one, then you will likely have to go through an annoying process with support to skip the account transfer code.

Disable 2 factor authentication: this is required if changing phone numbers. It’s possible that this step obviates the need for a second device, but I haven’t tested.

Dealing with Traffic Tickets in Japan 🚗🇯🇵

I broke the law in Japan and am facing the consequences 😅. No, this is not a criminal conviction you need to check when entering the country. In my specific case, because LUUP scooters are classified as small vehicles, you can’t ride them on sidewalks without activating the 6km/h mode, which turns on blinking lights on the handlebars. Any sort of vehicle that goes faster than 6km/h without human power is considered a small vehicle that can’t ride on sidewalks without being in the special throttle mode. On the other hand, electric bicycles that are pedal assist are considered normal bicycles (including LUUP bikes). As a minor offense, I received a blue ticket and a fine of ¥6000, with the initial ticket due within 7 business days. There’s a good writeup on how the traffic fine and demerit system works at GaijinPot.

Fines can only be paid at banks or post offices during business hours. When I received the ticket, it was a Saturday and I was flying out of the country that day, so I wasn’t able to pay the fine right away. I asked a friend if they could help pay it for me before the deadline, but unfortunately that did not happen. Apparently the post office at Narita Airport does NOT handle this operation, so it’s possible there are some post offices where you can’t pay for tickets. Sadly the initial deadline to pay passed by.

Tokyo Metropolitan Police: Traffic Fine Payment

www.keishicho.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/menkyo/torishimari/tetsuzuki/nofu.html

Apparently if you go to the traffic division of the region with the overdue payment slip, you can get a new one and pay on the spot. Unfortunately since I was given the ticket in Osaka and I had no plans to return anytime soon, I wasn’t able to do this.

After the deadline to pay for the initial ticket expired, I waited for the notice by mail, but nothing came. After calling the Osaka traffic division, they said it could take over a month and a half to send the ticket out, and it would require signature and also add on a mail processing fee of ¥940.

Again, the followup ticket can only be paid for at banks and post offices. Fortunately, this time my friend was able to help me pay for the ticket! It seems like generally it’s fine for a related party to help you pay for tickets.

This system is definitely inefficient - it would be nice if they could add convenience store, QR, or online payments, and if the deadline to pay the initial ticket was longer. There seems to be no practical difference between the initial ticket and the followup ticket by mail, and there’s no way to pay for the fine after the initial ticket deadline passes and before you receive the followup in the mail without visiting the regional traffic division. I hope this system can be improved in the future.

It was stressful to worry about meeting the deadlines for paying the fine and making sure I did not get in further legal trouble!

Conclusions

I hope these tips about LINE and traffic tickets in Japan that I learned through personal experience are helpful for people. You can always reach out at hello@michaelinasia.com for comments or questions! You can also support this publication by becoming a paid subscriber or a Patreon!

Happy Lunar New Year of the Snake 🐍 for those who celebrate (Japan doesn’t as they switched to the western calendar during the Meiji Restoration). Here’s a new batch of helpful tips for living in Asia, with a special focus on shopping for everyday goods. 🛒

Table of Contents

• Price hikes hit Japanese immigration application f …

• Roaming text messages with Taiwanese prepaid SIMs …

• Managing apps when you live in different countries …

• Household shopping in Taiwan 🇹🇼🏠

  • Physical Stores (with possible delivery)

    • Home Goods

      • Daiso

      • Don Don Donki

    • Groceries

    • Beauty & Cosmetics

  • Online Shopping

  • Shipping directly from Taobao

  • How to use EZWay to do Taiwan customs declarations …

Price hikes hit Japanese immigration application fees! 💹

Japan is hiking immigration application fees by up to 50% starting April 1, citing rising costs—the first increase in over 40 years. If you need to renew your visa, change status, or apply for permanent residency, it’s worth submitting your application before March 31 to lock in the current rates. Special re-entry permits (for trips under 1 year) remain free. More details at the Japan Times.

Roaming text messages with Taiwanese prepaid SIMs 🇹🇼📲

As I wrote earlier, for mobile connectivity in Taiwan I picked a prepaid plan with Taiwan Mobile (台灣大哥哥, táiwān dà gēgē) versus a postpaid plan, as prepaid rates are cost effective and I could just not pay for service during the summers while not in Taiwan. Initially, I was actually able to receive text messages while abroad, which is necessary to sign into various services, but for some reason last year this stopped working. Internet sources were fairly unclear on if receiving text messages on prepaid plans was possible or not, so I was actually considering switching to a postpaid plan just for texts.

However, I figured out how to receive texts again while abroad, at least with Taiwan Mobile, and in certain countries. You can view their prepaid roaming support page; at the very least it seems roaming service works in Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Macau, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, the United States, Vietnam, and Indonesia. I have not been able to test receiving texts outside of those countries yet, if you have any data points, please report back!

From the Taiwan Mobile app (also possible on the website)

Tap 服務 (fúwù, service) from the home screen.

Tap 國際漫遊服務 (guójì mànyóu fúwù, international roaming service) from the service screen.

You’ll be directed to the 國際漫遊服務 (guójì mànyóu fúwù, international roaming service) screen:

Roaming service screen

Under the 語音漫遊 (yǔyīn mànyóu, voice roaming) section, tap 申請開啟 (shēnqǐng kāiqǐ, apply for the service). The status may not immediately update, and may take a few minutes to reflect in the app. If the service was already on, it would state 申請關閉 (shēnqǐng guānbì, close the service) instead. It will probably take some amount of time for the roaming service to actually apply; when it does, you’ll see that the Taiwan Mobile line will connect to a network in roaming mode. Also, you’ll probably want to make sure that WiFi Calling is on as well.

I haven’t been able to test with prepaid plans from the other carriers like Chunghwa Telecom (中華電信, zhōnghuá diànxìn) or FarEastTone (遠傳電信, yuǎnchuán diànxìn) but likely they have similar steps to enable receiving texts abroad on prepaid plans without having to resort to a postpaid plan.

Side hint: for those with Taiwan Mobile prepaid plans, it seems like topping up any amount of data extends the expiration date of your current data allocation to the expiration date of your latest top-up. So you don’t need to worry about data expiring as long as you are diligent about top-ups.

Managing apps when you live in different countries 📱🌏

If you're spending significant time in other countries, you’ve probably encountered situations where some local smartphone app isn’t available in your current smartphone region. There are ways to navigate these restrictions to download apps you want to use. Here's are guides for Android and iOS:

Android

Switching your Google Play Store region can be done, but there are a few limitations.

• Country Change Limit: You can only change your Play Store country once per year. This makes it crucial to plan ahead if you’re relocating or frequently moving between regions.

• Automatic Updates: Google might automatically update your country based on your physical location, but this isn’t guaranteed and may depend on your billing information.

• Billing Methods: To set up a new region account, you’ll need a valid payment method from that country. While credit cards are the default option, other region-specific methods, like PayPal or gift cards, can often work depending on the country.

A practical workaround is adding multiple Google accounts to your device. Keep your original account tied to your home country and create a new account for your new region. When switching accounts in the Play Store, you can access apps specific to the region linked to each account. EDIT: Tip from reader Colleen, if you add a new account with no payment methods linked, it will auto-update to whatever region Google detects your device to be in!

Tap the account icon in the Play Store.

Add account from a different region.

Apple (iOS)

Apple offers more flexibility but still requires careful management:

• Switching Regions: You can switch back and forth between countries in your Apple ID settings, but a payment method from the new country is required. Keep in mind that active subscriptions tied to your current country may need to be canceled before switching.

• Alternative Payment Methods: Besides credit cards, region-specific Apple gift cards can be an easy solution. For some countries, PayPal or mobile carrier billing might also work.

• Using Multiple Apple IDs: To avoid the hassle of switching countries repeatedly, consider creating a separate Apple ID for the new region. When you want to install apps from a different region, you can sign off your original account in the App Store, then sign in with the new account while keeping your original account for iCloud and other services. This allows you to access to apps from both regions without needing to toggle your country settings frequently.

How to change your App Store country/region

Tap the account icon in the App Store.

Tap the Account Row to go to Account Settings.

Tap Country/Region on the Account Settings page.

Tap Change Country or Region. This will start the flow to change your Country/Region.

Alternatively, to sign out and sign back in with another Apple ID in the App Store (previous apps will remain on your device), tap the Sign Out button in the Account panel.

Account panel in the App Store

Household shopping in Taiwan 🇹🇼🏠

With my new apartment in Taiwan, I needed to stock it to make it feel homey! Here are tips on where to shop for everyday household goods.

Physical Stores (with possible delivery)

Home Goods

Daiso

Daiso is a Japanese chain offering affordable home goods, stationery, and small household items. Perfect for budget-friendly shopping.

Don Don Donki

Also known as Don Quijote, this Japanese retailer carries a wide variety of products, from snacks and cosmetics to unique gadgets. A great place to find Japanese imports. Known for their annoying theme song.

Furniture and Home Goods

• IKEA: Familiar and reliable, with Taiwan-specific product options.

• Nitori: A Japanese chain similar to IKEA, offering quality furniture and home goods at competitive prices.

Groceries

For fresh fruits and vegetables, there are traditional markets almost everywhere. For actual grocery stores, these are Taiwan’s main retail chains:

• RT-Mart (大潤發, dàrùnfā): Owned by PX Mart, offering a mix of groceries, electronics, and household goods. Online delivery.

• PX Mart (全聯, quánlián): Focused on groceries and local products. Online delivery.

• Carrefour (家樂福, jiālèfú): Known for a good selection of international items alongside local goods. Online delivery.

• Carrefour Market: these were formerly Wellcome 頂好 stores. They carry similar products as the larger Carrefours, but in a smaller format.

Beauty & Cosmetics

Poya, Watsons, Cosmed, Tomod’s and Matsumoto Kiyoshi seem to be the major chains in Taiwan, each with their own quirks.

Costco

Costco is incredibly popular in Taiwan, catering to both locals and expats.

• Foreign Memberships: Your overseas Costco membership is accepted, and foreign co-branded Costco credit cards also should work.

• Taiwan Memberships: You can apply for a Taiwan Costco credit card even with a foreign membership, but it requires a credit check, which normally means work history in Taiwan or Taiwanese citizenship.

• Payment Options: Cash is accepted if you don’t have a Costco credit card, local or foreign co-brand.

• Online Delivery: You can only set up an account for online delivery if you have a Taiwanese membership. So far I have been unable to create online Costco accounts outside my membership home country.

As of September 2024, the annual fee for a Costco Business Membership in Taiwan is $1,150 NTD, and the annual fee for a Standard Gold Star Primary Membership is $1,350 NTD, which is cheaper than memberships in many other parts of the world. So it may be worth considering switching over foreign memberships to a local one.

Online Shopping

Online shopping is reasonably convenient in Taiwan, with wide selection and fast shipping times (it’s a small island!) If the website is only in Chinese, then you can use browser translation features if you aren’t literate in Chinese. Safari goes a step further and will also translate text in images. For Chinese language platforms, searching for products in English can sometimes work, but I found it's better to use a translation tool to find the Chinese name of an item and search using that. ChatGPT and DeepL seem to be the best, Google Translate can be pretty inaccurate. If you are buying items from overseas shipped to Taiwan, you need to declare those to customs and potentially pay tax, which I detail below. Packages with value under 2000 NTD are exempt from customs duty, and this is counted per-package, though if you are getting a batch shipment, customs reserves the right to bundle those together when assessing customs duties.

Shopee

Shopee is an online shopping platform available in many Asian countries. It’s one of the most convenient platforms for online shopping in Taiwan.

• Shipping Options: Ordering to a Shopee delivery point is typically the most affordable option. You can also ship to a local convenience store, or directly to your address for extra fees.

• Shipping Tips: As Shopee has local merchants and overseas merchants, select “Ships from Taiwan” for the fastest delivery, though estimated times can vary. Always check the delivery timeframe listed by the seller.

• Free Delivery Minimums: Most merchants offer free delivery to Shopee stores for orders over 199 NTD, but this threshold can vary. Since the minimum is calculated per merchant, it may be hard to qualify for free shipping when ordering smaller items.

• Shipping Domestically vs. from Overseas: Domestic orders do not require real-name authentication, making it easy to shop locally without additional verification. However, ordering from overseas requires real-name authentication, which can be done via JKOPay. Even without a valid Taiwan credit card, you can authenticate your account.

• Large or Heavy Items: These may not qualify for convenience store or Shopee store pickup and may require home delivery.

• Payment Options: Shopee accepts Taiwan-issued credit cards, JKOPay (requires a Taiwan bank account or credit card), and cash on delivery (COD). COD is a convenient option if you lack a Taiwan bank account or credit card.

• Pickup windows: If you do not pickup your package from the Shopee store or convenience within the given time window, usually 7 days, it will be automatically returned, so be aware.

iHerb

iHerb is an online platform for supplements and other health products that ships globally. Prices are fair, though I find oftentimes buying from Amazon is cheaper.

Amazon

Amazon is a reliable option for international shipping to Taiwan.

• Amazon Japan: The closest and fastest Amazon store for Taiwan. They frequently offer promotions for free shipping to Taiwan (plus import fees) on orders over 12,000 JPY for select items. Delivery is reasonably fast, about 1 week. Check out the promotion here.

• Other Amazon Regions: You can also shop on Amazon US or other regions, though shipping costs and delivery times may vary.

PC Home

PC Home specializes in electronics and other goods. It accepts some foreign credit cards, but you may need to fit your foreign billing address into the Taiwan address fields. If that doesn’t work, opt for COD and pick up your order at a convenience store.

Momoshop

Momoshop is a popular site for home goods, with a wide selection of household items and furniture.

Coupang

I haven’t tried it myself, but the Korean online delivery app Coupang operates in Taiwan, selling a number of everyday goods.

Facebook Marketplace

Facebook Marketplace is widely used in Taiwan, particularly among expats. It’s a great place to find:

• Used Items: Appliances, furniture, and home goods at discounted prices.

• Hard-to-Find Foreign Products: A good resource for expats looking for specific items not readily available in Taiwan.

Taobao

Taobao is the giant when it comes to shopping in China. You can buy almost anything on there, with great pricing and reliable service. It’s meant for the domestic market, so they have various features to indicate reputable sellers, and reviews seem to be more reliable. In this sense it is much better than TEMU, which is infamous for being unreliable quality wise. Whatever you think about the ethics of buying from China, it seems like most products online and many in-store products come from China anyways. Below this section, I have a guide on how to shop on Taobao with free international shipping.

I've personally been picking up a lot of kitchen gear. I might stay away from plastics that touch food, nor would I buy any food ingredients (may not pass customs) or chemicals. But there’s a ton of selection on Taobao - my girlfriend buys a lot of clothes and health products.

You can use foreign credit cards through Alipay and it adds on around a 3% fee. Theoretically there may be a way to link directly to your Alipay account to get waived fees under ¥200 RMB but I haven’t figured that out.

There’s a two major shipping strategies, you can use Taobao official shipping, or you can ship to a forwarder in China.

• Taobao official shipping: more straightforward, and likely better protected in terms of insurance. If you are in a free shipping country, and the item qualifies, this is probably the best option. The downsides are that not all items may be available to be shipped directly. Furthermore, if the item doesn’t qualify for free shipping, it sees like the Taobao official consolidator is more expensive than third party forwarders.

• Using a Forwarder: For items that aren’t available in your region, or don’t qualify for free shipping, a forwarding service can be better.

  • How It Works: The forwarder consolidates your orders, repackages them, and ships them to you at reduced rates (around $0.67-$1 USD/kg, with both weight and size considered). Some consolidators will even take the items out of their packages to further reduce weight and space.

  • Shipping Options: Electronics and liquids ship by sea (cheaper but can take a few weeks), while most other items can go by airmail (more expensive, but only takes 4–6 days).

  • Recommended Forwarders:

    • CN-Express: apparently has very little restrictions compared to official Taobao shipping or other forwarders.

    • Sufengda / 速風達集運: Offers a user-friendly app.

      • Android App

      • iOS App

Shipping directly from Taobao

As of late last year, Taobao has introduced free international shipping to select countries, starting with a number of Asian countries: Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, as well as Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan.

The free shipping threshold seems to vary by country, as well as what items qualify. For example, to Taiwan only requires a ¥99 RMB minimum, where as Japan is ¥199 RMB and I’ve noticed a lot less items qualify.

You need to first add and set as default an address in the country you intend to ship to to see free shipping offers. Figuring out what items ship for free is easier to do on mobile (there doesn’t seem to be an indicator on the product page on desktop currently). On product pages, you’ll see something like this: 滿¥99免運到Y (mǎn ¥99 miǎnyùndào Y, free shipping over ¥99 to Y). Items bought this way generally can be returned locally as well! (it will marked 本地退, běndì tuì). Screenshots are from the mobile app, but should be similar to the desktop UI.

Free shipping indicator on a Taobao product page

In your shopping cart (购物车, gòuwù chē), there will be indicators for free shipping (desktop will show this as well).

Free shipping indicator in shopping cart

When it comes time to checkout, you have two options, either consolidated shipping (官方集運, guānfāng jíyùn), or direct shipping (官方直郵, guānfāng zhíyóu). Consolidated shipping is where your orders accumulate in a single location first, then you specify later which ones should be bundled together in a single shipment in order to save on shipping fees. Direct shipping is when there are multiple items in your order, only the items in that order are potentially automatically consolidated together before shipping to you. In either case, free shipping only seems to apply to sea freight (海運, hǎiyùn), not air mail (空運, kōngyùn) which costs extra. And actually, for consolidated shipping, you don’t need to hit the minimum in a single transaction, you can buy in smaller orders as long as when you finally send out the consolidated shipment, the total value of the items hits the minimum for free shipping. For direct shipping, you must hit the minimum in that order to qualify.

Left is consolidated shipping, right is direct shipping

After paying for the shipment, now it’s time to play the waiting game… For consolidated shipping there is separate step you need to take to actually have the items shipped to you. You’ll notice on the Waiting for Receipt (待收货, dài shōu huò) page, items will have the status 您的包裹已入库，需要您合并包裹与支付运费 (nín de bāoguǒ yǐ rù kù, xūyào nín hébìng bāoguǒ yǔ zhīfù yùnfèi, your package has arrived in the warehouse, you need to consolidate the packages and pay the shipping fee). Either click 合并转运 (hébìng zhuǎnyùn, consolidate and ship) on the order status page, or click 待集运 (dài jíyùn, waiting for consolidation).

Order status page

Main account page

On the my consolidated shipping (我的集运, wǒde jíyùn) page, you can select which items you’d like to bundle into a shipment. You are supposed to hit the shipping minimum, and it gives you the value of the item to the right of the 灼満¥99包部 (zhuómǎn ¥99 bāobù, ¥99 minimum free shipping), but the UI at present doesn’t show what’s the total value of the items you’ve currently selected. Click 去合包 (qù hébāo, go package) to proceed to the next screen. This screen gives delivery options; in Taiwan I can pick to send directly to my address, or to a nearby convenience store or supported grocery store. Click 去支付 (qù zhīfù, go pay) to pay.

Follow the normal payment procedures, and as long as your package doesn’t get lost at sea 🚢, you can expect your goods a 1-2 weeks later!

How to use EZWay to do Taiwan customs declarations 🇹🇼📦

In Taiwan, you need to declare incoming overseas shipments and potentially pay taxes on them if they exceed the duty-free limit. EZWay is the digital system for customs declaration and duty payment. The full features can only be used if you are a citizen or have a residence permit / ARC. If you register only using a passport, then you are limited to filling out an authorization form via the app.

Here’s a tutorial on how to register for EZWay and confirm incoming packages. When ordering from abroad, you need to provide:

• Name

• Phone number

• For sites that support it: identification number, either your National ID number (身分證字號, shēnfènzhèng zìhao) if you are a Taiwanese citizen, or Unified ID number (統一證號, tǒngyī zhènghào, UI number) if you are a resident. Otherwise your passport number if you don’t have any of the above.

Customs will do their best attempt to match to an individual using this information, so make sure you input these correctly. If the shipping company supports it, the package will be registered to customs even before shipping to Taiwan, as opposed to being registered by upon arrival. In any case, once a package is registered and identified to you, you’ll receive a notification from the EZWay app as well as see it in the list of packages needing to be confirmed.

EZWay Home Screen

List of packages

I haven’t had to pay any customs duty that was not already prepaid for me (such as when I ordered from Amazon), so I’m not sure about that procedure. The UI for the EZWay App is a bit clunky, but apparently is a big improvement from the earliest versions and seems to work well enough!

Conclusions

I really need to cut down on my shopping addiction 🛍️, but hopefully these tips help you stock your home and make it a cozy place. Remember, you can always reach out at hello@michaelinasia.com for comments or questions! You can also support this publication by becoming a paid subscriber or a Patreon!

Quick updates as I have been flying around a lot recently! I wanted to highlight an upcoming session over Zoom tomorrow from General Union about PIPs (Performance Improvement Plans) and how to fight them in Japan. I promise some juicy articles are coming out soon though! Lunar New Year is also coming up, I hope everyone enjoys the celebrations!

Table of Contents

• How to deal with PIPs (Performance Improvement Pla …

• Japan making it easier to stay with a startup visa

• Taipei MRT to add support for additional payment t …

• Amazon Joins the Furusato Nozei Game (ふるさと納税, Furu …

• Important Update: Changes to Taiwan's NHI Rules 🇹 …

• Conclusions

How to deal with PIPs (Performance Improvement Plans) in Japan

Working in the IT/Tech Industry and concerned about PIPs (Performance Improvement Plans) and getting let go from your job? General Union is labor group based in Japan, and they are inviting all interested people working in the IT/Tech industry to come out to a workshop titled “How to Fight a PIP” workshop on 22 January at 19:30 JST via Zoom. Please sign up here to attend.

General Union: PIPs and How to deal with them

generalunion.org/pips-and-how-to-deal-with-them/

Japan making it easier to stay with a startup visa

Japan in recent years has made a startup visa available for foreign entrepreneurs. From Nikkei (paid article), the rules have been relaxed so that people have a 2 year grace period to meet the requirements, and the program is now available nationwide, not just in certain areas. For further details, you can read the Nikkei article, or search online for other sources.

Japan to ease 'startup visa' rules to lure foreign entrepreneurs

Two-year grace period to meet requirements to be available nationwide

asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Immigration/Japan-to-ease-startup-visa-rules-to-lure-foreign-entrepreneurs2

Taipei MRT to add support for additional payment types

The Taipei MRT for a long time has only supported EasyCard and other compatible systems like iPass to pay for rides. The Taipei MRT agency has now confirmed that they will add support for credit card payments, Apple Pay, and QR code payments like LINE Pay. This does NOT include plans to bind EasyCards to Apple Pay unfortunately. For more details, you can read the article (in Chinese).

免悠遊卡！台北捷運Apple Pay和LINE Pay等12大支付啟用時間曝光 - 瘋先生

隨多元支付興起，台北捷運從去年就開始進行全線大規模升級閘門重要系統與硬體設備計畫，如今北捷也對外宣布，於2025年10月底前開通 Apple Pay、LINE Play、行動支付、QR Code 和信用卡等多元行動數位支付，此升級將為乘客帶來更便利的支付體驗。

mrmad.com.tw/taipei-mrt-apple-pay-activation-time

Amazon Joins the Furusato Nozei Game (ふるさと納税, Furusato Nōzei)

Amazon has launched the ability to make Furusato Nozei purchases, adding another convenient option for expats and residents looking to make their donations. With the new year, the annual limit for contributions has reset, so now is the time to calculate your eligible amount and plan accordingly. Note that since these are in reality donations, purchases are non-cancellable and non-refundable.

To estimate your donation cap and tax savings, tools like Furusato Tax or Rakuten’s Deduction Calculator can be helpful.

Important Update: Changes to Taiwan's NHI Rules 🇹🇼

Taiwan has introduced new rules that require citizens living abroad to continue paying monthly National Health Insurance (NHI) premiums to maintain their coverage. Previously, citizens could suspend their contributions while overseas more than 6 months and reactivate their NHI by paying three months of back premiums upon returning. Starting this week, this option has been eliminated, though those who suspended contributions before the rule change are grandfathered under the old policy.

For those who no longer want to pay premiums, the only option is to unenroll from NHI by terminating their household registration. Re-enrollment is possible if returning to Taiwan within four years, but requires paying back premiums for the first two years abroad. Citizens abroad for over four years face stricter conditions: they must live in Taiwan for six months before re-enrolling, in addition to covering two years of premiums. Those returning for work, however, can resume NHI immediately through their employer.

This shift means citizens planning extended stays abroad should carefully weigh their options. Maintaining coverage ensures seamless access to the healthcare system but comes with ongoing costs. Unenrollment may offer savings but requires planning for re-enrollment if returning to Taiwan.

Conclusions

You can always reach out at hello@michaelinasia.com for comments or questions! Remember, you can also support this publication by becoming a paid subscriber or a Patreon!

Hello from Taiwan 🇹🇼! There was a bit of delay in writing a new article as I was traveling back to the US for Thanksgiving in November. I’m now settling in, having rented an apartment for at least a year in Taipei with a few friends. I intend to write about the process of finding and renting an apartment in Taiwan in a future article! This time will mostly be tax tips 💸, somewhat relevant as the end of the year is coming up (though filing season won’t be for a few months).

Table of Contents

• Filing US (and foreign country taxes) as an Expat

  • Japan-Specific Tax Services 🇯🇵

  • Taiwan-Specific Tax Services 🇹🇼

  • General Expat Tax Services

• Filing an Amended or Late Japanese Tax Return

  • Filing an Amended Tax Return (修正申告)

  • Addendum on foreign addresses

Woodstock - invest in the US stock market from Japan

Living in Japan and want to invest in the US stock market with some added social twists? You can try Woodstock (disclaimer: referral link, also I’m friends with the founder). You can win up to 10,000 yen of free stock when you sign up! Use referral code brian when signing up (this is my co-founder friend’s code).

Unfortunately, you need a valid MyNumber card to sign up, which I don’t have as I moved out of Japan.

Filing US (and foreign country taxes) as an Expat

Navigating taxes while living abroad is no small task, especially when you need to file in multiple countries with different systems. US taxes are notoriously tedious and adding in the extra factor of living in another country makes things even more complicated. Finding a reliable accountant who understands both US and foreign tax laws can make the process much smoother. Here are services I recommend based on personal experience and recommendations from fellow expats:

Japan-Specific Tax Services 🇯🇵

FreedomTax handles both US and Japan tax filings with helpful and responsive support. They charge $299 USD per filing (either US or Japan) and offer comprehensive services for those needing filings on both sides. I found this to be one of the cheaper services while still providing quality support. I personally used their services for my US return this year, and they seamlessly incorporated information from my Japan tax return into my US return.

📧 Referral Offer: Contact me at hello@michaelinasia.com for a referral and get $50 off your filing fee.

Taiwan-Specific Tax Services 🇹🇼

For official help, the National Taxation Bureau (財政部) provides free professional taxation consultation sessions in English and Japanese. You can reach them at (02) 2311-3711 ext 1116. During tax season, there are dedicated English-language counters for tax filing at National Taxation Bureau offices in major cities.

For professional help, although I have not used their services personally, I’ve received recommendations for these firms from other expats:

• Del Sol CPA & Associates
  This firm offers accounting services tailored to expatriates, including U.S. and Taiwan tax filings, company setup, and financial planning services. They have an English and Chinese bilingual team.

• Peter Tseng CPA Firm
  This firm provides U.S filing services only. From the latest information they charge $750 USD for federal returns and $150 USD for state returns. This is somewhat pricier than other options, though they offer a free 30-minute consultation.

• USTAX Service
  Offers quick and reliable U.S. tax filing services, with English-speaking staff.

General Expat Tax Services

These firms don’t specialize in any specific country, but provide support for US expats living across the world.

• Greenback Tax Services
  Specializes in U.S. taxes and works with expats worldwide. They are experienced with expat-specific situations and come highly recommended, though they are slightly more expensive.

• Bright!Tax
  Focuses on U.S. expatriate tax preparation.

• Tax Samaritan
  Offers guidance on U.S. expat taxes, including overviews of local tax environments and assistance with compliance for U.S. filings.

• Taxes From Abroad

💡 Tips for Filing:
No matter which service you choose, remember that much of the preparation involves organizing your own documents. Additionally, it’s always a good idea to double-check their work to ensure everything aligns with your records.

Filing an Amended or Late Japanese Tax Return

Doing taxes is complicated all around the world, and Japan is no exception. You can read my previous tips on how to file your tax return. Although most people with only salary income don’t have to file an individual tax return in Japan, for those with other types of income or say, donated to Furusato Nozei (ふるさと納税) over the one-stop limit, they would still have to file an individual return. What should you do if you discover errors on your return? First, this is the official FAQ from the National Tax Agency (English PDF version).

In my case, I didn’t receive any normal salary income in 2023, only equity income from a liquidity event from my former employer. Thus I did not receive a 源泉徴収票 (gensen choshu hyo) for that income, and no pension or health insurance payments were withheld - instead I paid those myself. I realized half a year later that I had forgotten to report those social insurance payments and I was likely to be owed tax back.

Before the March 15 Deadline

If you catch the mistake before the March 15 deadline, simply use the normal e-Tax filing website to refile your return. Your previous submission will be discarded and only your latest filing will be considered.

After the March 15 Deadline with a previously filed return

If the filing deadline has passed and you’ve already submitted your return, do not use the normal filing tool to submit a new return. The tax office has already considered your final submission before the deadline as valid, and will send you a letter asking you to withdraw your newly submitted return.

Instead, you need to file an amended return (修正申告, shūsei shinkoku). This is very similar to filing a normal return, but in a slightly different system.

Filing after the March 15 Deadline

Even if you missed the filing deadline, you can still submit your tax return through the normal process, it will just be considered a late return. Keep in mind that late filing may result in penalties for underpayment, as detailed in this overview of delinquent taxes by the NTA.

Filing an Amended Tax Return (修正申告)

I will detail some of the critical steps for this process.

1. Visit the Official Tax Return Preparation Corner

2. Choose the Correct Link

   

   1. Under the 提出した申告書に誤りがあった場合 (If there is an error in the tax return you submitted) section:

      • To create a new amended return, click:

        新規に更正の請求書・修正申告書を作成する (shinki ni kōseinoseikyū-sho shūsei shinkoku-sho o sakusei suru), which means “create a new amended tax return.”

        • This will ask you to login, either using your MyNumber card, digital certificate, or ID and password.

      • To resume editing a previously saved draft amended return (.data file), click:

        更正の請求書・修正申告書の作成を再開する (kōseinoseikyū-sho shūsei shinkoku-sho no sakusei o saikai suru), which means “resume preparation of amended tax return.”

e-Tax may show you recommended OS versions and browsers (Safari on Mac), but I had no problem with Chrome. Unlike some parts of the e-Tax system, there’s no issue with having your computer’s system locale set to English.

Amended return selection screen

On the above screen, you pick which type of return you are amending and what year. Regular income tax (所得税の更正の請求書・修正申告書, shotoku zei no kōseinoseikyū-sho shūsei shinkoku-sho) is the top selection.

Load previous data

On the next screen, you can load the ‘.data’ file from your previous tax filing - this is easiest. Otherwise you have to input all the data from your previous filing from scratch. The next screens look very similar to the normal tax filing process where you input data in various categories.

Amended summary screen

It will shows a screen with the before and after summary and what the changes in tax are.

Previous tax filing information and reason for amendment

On this screen you need to put in what return you are amending as well the reason for the amendment.

1. 確定申告 (Kakutei Shinkoku) refers to a final/regular tax return. Use this option if the claim relates to your original tax return, typically filed by the normal deadline (March 15 for individual income tax).

2. 修正申告 (Shūsei Shinkoku) refers to an amended tax return. Choose this if you previously filed a return and are now making corrections to that original submission.

If you are submitting a claim based on your original return and you haven’t filed any corrections or amendments before, select 確定申告. If your claim relates to a revised or amended return, then choose 修正申告.

If you’re uncertain about your filing history or which one applies, you can confirm your past filings with the tax office or through the e-Tax system.

If your amended tax return results in additional taxes owed, you may incur an under-reporting penalty. This penalty is calculated under the same rules as those for filing late or failing to file, as outlined here.

Addendum on foreign addresses

Say you are no longer living in Japan (I personally moved to Taiwan end of 2023). How do you input a foreign address into eTax?

Postal Code (郵便番号)

Since foreign addresses don't have Japanese postal codes, you can typically input 000-0000 as a placeholder or some systems might also allow leaving it blank.

Prefecture (都道府県):

Select 東京都 (Tokyo) or another placeholder prefecture if required. This is often a workaround for the system limitation.

City, Town, and Block (市区町村 and 町名・番地):

Input your foreign address in romaji (e.g., 123 Main Street, New York, USA) in this section.

Building Name and Room Number (建物名・号室):

Add further details about your address, such as the apartment or suite number, if applicable.

Japan tech opportunities 🇯🇵

Here are some interesting opportunities that I came across recently. If your organization would like to list your positions here, please reach out at hello@michaelinasia.com

Bloomberg is a global leader in financial software, data, and media.
Role: Reliability Engineer (Tokyo, Japan)
Details: Join a team of engineers driving reliability for real-time data systems ingesting 400B+ data points daily, and ensuring market data is distributed quickly, reliably, and at scale.
Apply here

Abbeal is a software consultancy company
Role: Junior to Senior Backend Engineers
Details: Work on a large-scale system architecture refresh project. Modernize backend systems to meet technical and business needs using frameworks like Spring Boot. Japanese/English bilingual skills are a plus but not required.
Contact: Reach out for more details

Amptalk is a startup focused on improving developer experience.
Role: Junior Platform Engineer ()
Details: Improve development workflows, CI/CD pipelines, and shared tools for the engineering team. Hybrid work setup, flextime, and visa support for overseas candidates. No Japanese required.
Apply here

PubteX is a startup innovating in data management and analytics.
Role: Data Engineer
Details: Join a startup-like team with reasonable deadlines, a supportive work environment, and good people. Requirements include solid programming skills and a background in data engineering. Competitive salary, WeWork office, high-end equipment, and an overall positive atmosphere. Japanese Fluency Required
Apply here

Conclusions

Tax season is coming up next year, it’s good to be prepared. Hopefully this information here was useful for your upcoming planning. You can always reach out at hello@michaelinasia.com for comments or questions! Remember, you can also support this publication by becoming a paid subscriber or a Patreon!

October has rolled around, which means I’ll be spending more time in Taiwan 🇹🇼 until next May, basically avoiding the hot months in Taiwan! I’m getting settled in, which includes life procedures like getting a local driver’s license, finding a more long term place to stay, as well as going for full Taiwanese citizenship with household registration at the end of the year! But first, I’d like to introduce a personal finance tool that I’ve found useful (and also an affiliate partner of this newsletter, for full disclosure).

Lunch Money: delightfully simple personal finance tracking & budgeting

Want to track your personal finances and set a budget? Need to keep tabs on transactions from accounts in multiple countries, or even your crypto holdings? I was a loyal Mint user for years (actually, I was even an intern there!), but unfortunately Mint is now shutdown. I’m now using Lunch Money to get a bigger picture of my finances and track towards personal goals. It’s a beautifully simple and well designed app, built with careful consideration for the needs of users, especially people living internationally. Use my referral link to get an extra 30 days free trial.

Lunch Money personal finance app

Delightfully simple personal finance & budgeting tool used by customers worldwide. Get a 2 months trial for free!

lunchmoney.app

Table of Contents

• Lunch Money: delightfully simple personal finance …

• Japan tech opportunities 🇯🇵🧑‍💻

• Expat Life in Asia Consultations 🇯🇵🇹🇼

• Exchanging Foreign Driver’s Licenses in Taiwan

  • Eligibility

  • Process and Documents

  • Key Notes

• Getting mobile phone service in Japan as a non-res …

  • Mobile Service Providers

  • Comparison Table

• Notes for Taiwanese phone plans

• Linking your PayPay app and PayPay Card

• Conclusions

Japan tech opportunities 🇯🇵🧑‍💻

If you’re a company and would like to advertise your available positions here, please reach out!

Oracle

Oracle Japan has a number openings for Solutions Engineering (working with customers to architect cloud services - N2+ Japan required), support engineering (customer facing - N2+ Japanese required) and many others. Most of our roles require Japanese but there some that are okay with English only in the Exadata space. Reach out if interested and I can connect.

Stability.AI

Stability.AI is the maker of the popular Stable Diffusion generative AI image tool, but they do much more in the space as well. Currently they are looking for a Senior Data Engineer. The position is based in Japan and is a hybrid work model with at least one day (recommended) in the office in Tokyo per week. You can track their careers page for updates.

OpenAI (maker of ChatGPT) is still hiring for their office in Tokyo. Currently Developer Advocate, IT Support, and Solutions Engineer roles are open. For all Japan roles, visit their Japan careers page.

Expat Life in Asia Consultations 🇯🇵🇹🇼

I’d like to thank everyone for being a loyal reader so far, and I hope you’ve found all the tips helpful. I’ve been informally advising people for years on how to successfully move to Asia, especially Japan and Taiwan, and making that more into a real practice. Want to know what visa paths there are? I’ve researched most of them and went through the process myself. Want to know how to rent or buy a house in Japan? I can walk you through the process and connect you to real estate agents. Want to know how to set up your life here, such as various life and government procedures, financial accounts, connectivity, etc.? I have first have experience. You can see all sessions and book from my profile page. I also would appreciate any referrals if you know people who could use this knowledge!

Book a consultation with me!

Expat life, Japanese real estate, travel hacking, engineering career consultations.

beacons.ai/michaelmwu

Exchanging Foreign Driver’s Licenses in Taiwan

If you're planning a longer stay in Taiwan and want a local driver's license, it's possible to exchange your foreign license, provided your country has reciprocity with Taiwan. Many rental agencies will only take local licenses and not International Driver’s Permits. The Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) provides a list of reciprocal countries here. While the list shows which countries recognize Taiwanese driver’s licenses, it doesn’t explicitly say whether Taiwan recognizes each country’s license—though generally, if reciprocity exists, exchange should be possible.

Eligibility

Your country and province/state must have reciprocity with Taiwan. A big example is that there quite a few US states that don’t, such as California.

You can apply for a license exchange from the first day you're in Taiwan, provided you have:

• For foreigners, an ARC (Alien Resident Certificate, 外僑居留證; wàiqiáo jūliúzhèng) valid for at least 6 months.

• For Taiwanese nationals with household registration, National ID card (身分證, shēnfènzhèng) or Military ID card.

• For Taiwanese nationals without household registration, a TARC (Taiwan Area Resident Certificate, 台灣地區居留證; táiwān dìqū jūliú zhèng) valid for at least 6 months.

Process and Documents

Here’s a breakdown of the steps and required documents to exchange your foreign driver’s license. After gathering the documents, you should head to your local Motor Vehicles Office (監理所, jiānlǐ suǒ).

1. Required Documents:

   • Original foreign driver’s license (must be valid and not expired).

   • A Chinese translation of your license if it’s not in English. This translation needs to be notarized in Taiwan by the foreign country’s consulate or representative office or other authorized agencies, or an official public notary registered in Taiwan. If in the foreign country, by a consulate or representative office of Taiwan.

   • Your TARC/ARC or ID card, along with a photocopy. For me, the Motor Vehicle agency made the photocopy for me.

   • Proof of entry/exit records (available from Taiwan’s immigration authorities). In practice, this was not needed, I just provided my ARC.

   • Medical checkup certificate from a public hospital within the past year.

     • The form can be obtained right at the Motor Vehicle Office. All Motor Vehicle Offices will have some nearby clinic where you can do this checkup without an appointment. It’s a simple test that checks leg function, hearing, and vision. It took me around 15 minutes not including wait time and cost 400 NTD. No hassle at all!

   • Two one-inch color photos with a plain background, taken within the past 2 years.

     • There should be photobooths right at the office, so I just took mine there for 150 NTD or so.

     • One is needed for the health check, and another one is needed for the actual license. Don’t worry about cutting the photos out, they can do that for you.

2. License Exchange Process:

   • I exchanged a Japanese driver’s license, and the same Chinese translation I used for driving in Taiwan that I got at the Japan Taiwan Exchange Association also worked for the certification needed for the exchange.

   • The cost was 200 NTD, payable in cash or with a Taiwanese credit card.

   • After submitting all documents, the processing time was about 20 minutes.

My new shiny driver’s license! It’s just a low tech piece of paper though 😅

Key Notes

• Countries with Reciprocity: If your country is on Taiwan's list of reciprocal agreements, you should be able to exchange your license. Some countries, however, may require you to surrender your original license. Search the internet for details on the exchange process for your country, as it’s not listed in the official tables.

• Vehicle class: Each class of vehicle is separate, like motorcycle, large motorcycle, light car, large passenger van, truck, etc. Even if your foreign license is combined, you must go through separate applications for each class of vehicle you want to drive.

• For ARC Holders: Licenses for foreigners staying on an ARC are generally valid for 6 years. If you later obtain Taiwanese household registration and National ID, you can update your license with your new UI number (統一證號, tǒngyī zhèng hào) , which grants extended validity until the year 75. You need to bring the household registration documents that link your old UI number to your new UI number you get as a citizen.

This process was straightforward, and it’s a great option for anyone staying long-term in Taiwan who needs a valid driver’s license.

Getting mobile phone service in Japan as a non-resident

While it’s fairly easy to get data while in Japan through the various SIM card providers, it’s tougher to get a working Japanese phone number. To fight phone scams, identification is required to get a phone number. However, having a working number is useful for various reasons, such as calling businesses, receiving texts, and a number of services require providing a phone number.

Most carriers require a residence card to get a long term phone plan, however there are a few that do cater to the foreigner market and provide service to non-residents. For example, my friend is a non-resident and she bought a property in Japan. She was spending some amount of time to get that completed, and all the services she would need for that, such as utilities and internet, and need a phone number for those.

These services allow you to have a stable phone number and data, even if you're not in Japan full-time.

Mobile Service Providers

1. Sakura Mobile: Offers plans with voice and data options. Requires proof of property ownership or a residence card. Unused data rolls over to the next month.

2. Hana Mobile: A flexible, flat-rate data plan where you only pay for the months you use. Ideal for those who need a stable voice number but don’t use data regularly. My friend’s referral link.

3. Mobal: A straightforward SIM option with varying data plans and no need for a residence card.

All of these have no termination fee, and offer unlimited low speed data after your quota runs out.

Comparison Table

These options provide flexibility depending on how often you're in Japan and your data needs. Hana Mobile is not the cheapest, but can make sense if you aren’t in Japan often and just need to keep a number long term.

If you are in Japan long-term, and you have a valid residence card, I still suggest one of the budget carriers that I outlined in this article. In my case, Rakuten Mobile (referral link) works well as it’s only 968 yen/month if you stay under 3GB usage a month.

The Great Japanese Communications Refresh 🇯🇵 🛜

Finding connectivity plans that better suit you: home fiber internet & mobile networking

www.michaelinasia.com/p/great-japanese-communications-refresh#mobile-network

Notes for Taiwanese phone plans

I got a new Pixel 9 Pro recently, and wanted to switch the eSIM from Taiwan Mobile from my iPhone to my new phone. It seems like at least for Taiwan Mobile it’s not possible to do this online, and I had to go physically into a store. When signing up for the plan as a foreigner, I knew I had to bring 2 sets of id, namely my ARC and passport. However, I didn’t realize to do any sort of administrative procedure, I also had to bring the same sets of ID, and was turned away when I only had my ARC. This should go away when I get citizenship, so I would only have to bring National ID (身分證, shēnfèn zhèng).

Anyways, it seems like the first time eSIM replacement with Taiwan Mobile is free, or the first time you switch from a physical SIM to eSIM, however, subsequent replacements cost 300 NTD. This unfortunately came into place because of a miscommunication with the staff member, who proceeded to reinstall the eSIM on the same phone instead of switching it, then said that it would cost 300 NTD to reissue the eSIM to fix the mistake 🤦‍♂️.

Taiwan Mobile eSIM information

eSIM setup information

english.taiwanmobile.com/product/eSIMservice.html

Linking your PayPay app and PayPay Card

PayPay is a useful method in Japan for paying merchants as well other people. Often, if a merchant doesn’t take credit card, they will offer some cashless options like PayPay. However, if you don’t have enough balance to make a transaction, it can be annoying to top up more balance to complete it. Either you have to have a PayPay Bank, account charge to a supported phone plan like SoftBank, Yahoo Mobile, or LINEMO, get a friend to send you money, or add money to PayPay via ATM. Even if you have another bank linked for withdrawals, only PayPay Bank is supported for top ups!

The PayPay credit card helps solve this by allowing you to instantly top up from your credit balance while still earning PayPay points. However, even after applying and successfully getting a PayPay card, it did not show up in my PayPay app. For a long period of time, it just wasn’t linked, likely due to some identification information mismatch, and I even tried to contact PayPay customer service about this. Even after filling out forms to match information on my credit card, it still didn’t work. When I tried to select PayPay card in the app, I would only get a dialog to apply for a new card.

Fortunately, there now seems to be a process to fix this right from the app. I was able to confirm and fix my identification information to match, and was able to log in and get the two linked.

Here’s the official help page on how to fix the issue when your registered information doesn’t match.

「登録情報の一致が確認できませんでした」の通知が届いた - ヘルプ ｜ PayPayカード

PayPayカードの登録情報とPayPayの本人確認情報（カナ氏名・生年月日）が一致していないため、お客様の登録情報の修正が必要です。 お客様の登録情報を確認し、修正してください。 登録情報修正のご案内から30日以上経過しても一致が...

www.paypay-card.co.jp/service/000428.html

Conclusions

These are some of the life tips that I found useful recently, and I expect that I’ll encounter more interesting Asia life situations going forward. You can always reach out at hello@michaelinasia.com for comments or questions! Remember, you can also support this publication by becoming a paid subscriber or a Patreon!

Things have been pretty hectic with my travel schedule recently! I’ve been all over Oceania, with brief stops back in Japan 🇯🇵. Here’s a collection of the interesting personal finance tips and tech opportunities I came across recently.

Table of Contents

• Tech Opportunities in Japan

• Free US - Taiwan transfers 💵

• Wise Dynamic charges for Conversions 💹

• American Express upgrade offers in Japan 💳

• Getting tax and pension payment documents electron …

  • Tax payments

  • Pension Payments

Tech Opportunities in Japan

These are some of the interesting tech job opportunities in Japan I found recently. If you’re a company and looking to advertise available positions, please reach out!

Woodstock is Japan's first social investing app. They allow Japanese residents to invest in the US market. They have a few engineering and product positions available. They have a hybrid work culture, and they can sponsor work visas.

MoneyForward is looking for a Senior Product Manager for their Cloud ERP team, collaborating across product, engineering, sales, and marketing teams. Japanese proficiency is not required.

Bodygram revolutionizes body measurement tech using only smartphones. They’re looking for a Frontend Engineer (React). Partially remote, Japan residency required. Check out the details and other positions here.

Kraken is a smart energy provider. They are hiring a Senior Data Engineer for their KrakenFlex platform. Partially remote, Japan residency required. See details and other positions here.

Kodu.ai is an AI no-code product development platform. They are looking for two founding engineers with experience in Typescript, NextJS, and automation tools. Remote-first, Tokyo/Seoul time zone. If interested, email matan@kodu.ai.

Stability.ai is an AI company well known for generative media. They are looking for a Senior Data Engineer for their Tokyo office. The company has a hybrid work model .

Free US - Taiwan transfers 💵

I recently learned of a new option for free transfers to/from Taiwan with CTBC Bank (Chinatrust Commercial Bank or 中國信託銀行). Previously, I was only aware of HSBC (滙豐銀行) as an option for free transfers without reaching some high status level at a Taiwanese bank. The benefits to this setup beyond waived fees are usually less documentation requirements and quicker processing speeds for transfers within a bank network.

More details are at the CTBC website for their US Branch, but an outgoing transfer from the US to any other CTBC branch, or an incoming transfer from another CTBC branch to the US will have no fees charged from the US side. You still need to do the transfer in a non-TWD currency as TWD is a controlled currency. It’s hard to confirm details for CTBC branches in other countries online, but there may be similar programs to waive fees within the CTBC network.

According the CTBC website, accounts are available exclusively to residents of California, New Jersey, New York, Texas, Nevada, Washington and Arizona.

I’ve added a column indicating whether a bank has overseas branches with free transfers in my open database of Taiwanese banks.

There may potentially be other plays with other banks that have foreign branches to send/receive money for free, ideally also with less verification and faster processing times. If you learn of any, please let me know!

Wise Dynamic charges for Conversions 💹

Wise is a commonly used service to send money between countries, but here’s a note of caution. It seems like during periods of large fluctuations in the exchange rate, Wise will add dynamic charges to conversions, as seen during recent yen strength fluctuations. Here’s their help page on these charges. The stated reason is to protect Wise in case of currency fluctuations the other way if there are big movements while money is being transferred in under the guaranteed rate. However, I think that Wise could handle this better without these dynamic charges by informing users of a large change and telling them the previously quoted rate cannot be fulfilled, and asking if they want to still convert at the current rate. Currently the yen has stabilized and dynamic charges are not being applied, but this is something to be aware of when the yen or other currencies are making big moves, such as the BOJ or US Federal Reserve making rate change announcements.

Example of dynamic charges, which comes out to be around a 2.55% fee

American Express upgrade offers in Japan 💳

American Express has been known to give offers to upgrade to more premium cards when holding a less premium version of a credit card, usually associated with a bonus for spending a certain amount of money after upgrading. This applies to their worldwide line of credit cards as well, including Japan.

American Express ANA Premium Card upgrade offer

Switch by Nov 25, 2024, spend ¥500,000 in 3 months, and get 58,000 miles. Annual fee ¥165,000.

www.americanexpress.com/jp/benefits/upgrade/ana-premium-card.html?sourcecode=A0000HANRV

I got this offer to upgrade my Japanese American Express ANA Gold Card to the ANA Premium Card, for essentially 58,000 bonus points + the 5,000 points that come from spending the required 500,000 yen in 3 months. The original annual fee on the ANA Gold Card is 34,100 yen whereas the annual fee of the ANA Premium Card is an eye watering 165,000 yen! So that difference in fee is 130,900 yen, though American Express did not charge me this right away, instead they refunded the pro-rated annual fee from the Gold Card, with the new annual fee not yet charged to me. The regular signup bonus is given in tiers, with a maximum of 105,000 ANA miles + 35,000 miles from the spend if you can spend 3,500,000 yen in 3 months which to most people I assume is a lot for personal spending. Major benefits of the ANA Premium Card (full list of benefits, and here's a good writeup):

• 4.5x miles on ANA flights instead of 2x from the Gold.

• Premium Service Desk - this seems similar to the normal American Express concierge service.

• 4 free family cards with the same benefits.

• Free night at a high end hotel, can be used with your normal hotel loyalty program, 5000 yen coupon for hotel services if staying a second night

• Access to KIWAMI50, which promises increased access to high end restaurants (review). The 20% cashback on Pocket Concierge unfortunately does not seem to be active anymore.

• Unlimited Priority Pass for airport lounge access including 1 guest, family cards get this as well. Not useful to me as I get this from US cards already.

• Business check in counter and access to ANA domestic lounges (I'm already ANA Platinum so not useful to me.)

• Free luggage delivery of up to 2 suitcases / golf bags (no boxes) to and from the airport! My old card only included 1 piece, and only from the airport.

• Prince Hotels Platinum status for free breakfast, late checkout, and a welcome gift

• Smartphone protection (I get this from US cards, not useful to me, also already a benefit of the Gold card)

• Some other minor benefits (Ikyu.com coupons, a travel lounge in Kyoto, premium golf access, rental car discounts).

There's also some ongoing spend promotion for new and existing card members, if you hit the required spend of 500,000 yen from the upgrade offer there’s an additional 25,000 miles bonus. The promotions combined mean I’m getting 58,000 + 25,000 = 83,000 miles for an additional 130,900 yen (1.58 yen/mile without the bonus spend, or 1.1 US cents/mile) which seems decent especially with the bonus spend promotion, although they haven’t even charged me the new annual fee yet! My thinking is if I can use the free night well, exploit the hotel status, and actually get into top restaurants with KIWAMI50, there’s value in this offer. Also, there may be a chance to downgrade later and recoup at least some of the annual fee without having the points clawed back.

I actually have the ANA Super Flyers version of the card as I hit Platinum status with ANA in 2022 and converted my regular ANA Gold card to the Super Flyers version. This has the amazing benefit of keeping ANA Platinum and Star Alliance Gold as long as I hold the card, with no other requirement for keeping status, and apparently this also extends to any family members you add as additional cardholders! You can read an in-depth article about the Super Flyers card and how to obtain it.

Before this offer came around, I was trying to change to the cheaper JCB/Visa/Mastercard card with a 16,500 yen annual fee instead, but was rejected, potentially because I’m self employed at the moment.

In summary, look out for interesting upgrade offers from American Express credit cards!

Getting tax and pension payment documents electronically for Japanese Permanent Residency 🇯🇵

I had an article published recently on TokyoDev about getting permanent residency in Japan. One requirement for the application is proving you are up to date on your tax and pension payments. Here’s a detailed walkthrough about getting these documents online to save time instead of going in person to government offices.

Permanent Residency in Japan

Drawing upon Michael's experience of obtaining Permanent Residency in Japan via the highly skilled professional scheme, this article gives an overview of all the different paths to PR in Japan, including the application process, eligibility and requirements.

www.tokyodev.com/articles/permanent-residency-in-japan

The requirements can be found at this page. The link is to category 1 for permanent resident applicants, but the same requirement applies to all the categories (page listing each category of applicant), with the difference being how many years back are required for proof.

Tax payments

For tax payments (national income as well as regional taxes), the requirement is under 直近の申請人及び申請人を扶養する方の所得及び納税状況を証明する資料 (Documents certifying the most recent income and tax payment status of the applicant and his or her dependents).

You can obtain this proof at the your local national tax office (税務署), and to save time you can actually request this online at Japan’s online tax system e-Tax! See my guide for getting e-Tax working.

Here’s a step by step guide:

1. At the main e-Tax screen, click 新規作成 to file a new procedure.

e-Tax main screen

2. Click 納税証明書の交付請求 to request a tax certificate.

Request tax certificates

3. For 交付方法の選択 (format of the certifcate), select 1. 納税証明書を書面で受け取る (paper certificate)

4. You can choose whether to get the certificate by mail (1. 納秘証明書を郵送で受け取る) or picked up at the tax office (2. 納税証明書を窓口で受け取る)

5. If you choose pickup at the tax office, it will ask you if you have a digital certificate (generally your My Number card) (1.電子証明書を持っていない / 2. 電子証明書を持っている)

Select how to receive the certificates

6. It will ask you who is requesting the certificate, either yourself (1), an individual representative (2), or a company acting as a representative (3).

Question asking who is requesting the certificate

7. It will ask what tax office to send the request to. By default this should be set to your registered ward / prefecture’s tax office, but make sure this is set correctly. Since I logged into eTax with an id / password, it is asking me for My Number.

8. It asks again how you’d like to receive the certificate, either picking up at the tax office, by regular mail, or by registered mail.

Pension Payments

For pension and public health insurance premiums, the requirement is found on the same page under 申請人及び申請人を扶養する方の公的年金及び公的医療保険の保険料の納付状況を証明する資料 (Documents verifying the payment status of public pension and public health insurance premiums for the applicant and his/her dependents). Proof of health insurance premiums are generally with paper documents and won’t be covered in this article. For pension payments, technically you could prove this through paper documents, but this is not a regular flow and can take some amount of tie. The yearly pension statements sent by mail do NOT provide enough information for the application.

It’s much easier instead to use the online pension portal Nenkin Net to obtain these records. To use Nenkin Net, it is easiest to login using a My Number card or a previously registered digital certificate. Otherwise, you can register to receive an ID via mail.

What the immigration office is looking for is the printed 各月の年金記録 (kaku tsuki no nenkin kiroku, or pension payment records for each month). Although the actual requirement is only for a limited amount of years, it is preferred to include all years on record.

You can see the official guide on how to find this information. From the top page, select 年金記録を確認する (nenkin kiroku wo kakunin suru, confirm pension payments)

Nenkin Net top page

From the subscreen to confirm records, click 月別の年金記録を確認する (tsukibetsu no nenkin kiroku o kakunin suru, confirm monthly pension payments)

Confirm records subscreen

You’ll get a screen with your monthly pension records. By default this is for all time since the age of 20. If not, there should be functionality to adjust the time period to all. Don’t worry about red records for periods you were not in Japan. However, if there are red records during the required period of being up to date on your pension payments, this will likely be a problem for your applicaiton!

Monthly pension records

There should be buttons to print the records, one through your computer print dialog, and the other is by mail 郵送用 (yūsō-yō).

Printing options

You should get a screen that looks like the following. Ideally print the document to PDF for later records!

Print screen version of pension records

Conclusions

Hopefully these Japan and Taiwan updates were useful! I plan to spend more time in Taiwan starting from October and hopefully will learn some new useful tips about settling in there. You can always reach out at hello@michaelinasia.com for comments or questions! Remember, you can also support this publication by becoming a paid subscriber or a Patreon!

I’ve been quite busy with travel and various other projects recently, so just a few quick updates this week!

The major one is that I had an article published recently in TokyoDev, a well known site for Japan job listings and tech news. It’s about how to get permanent residency in Japan 🇯🇵, would highly appreciate any reads! It’s my first professional writing gig, so I’m pretty proud of this one, and how in depth and informative it turned out.

Permanent Residency in Japan

Drawing upon Michael's experience of obtaining Permanent Residency in Japan via the highly skilled professional scheme, this article gives an overview of all the different paths to PR in Japan, including the application process, eligibility and requirements.

www.tokyodev.com/articles/permanent-residency-in-japan

I also recently launched a project to post Asia luxury travel deals called Asian Luxe Travel. It will be mostly business class flights from Asia, to Asia if there’s a good deal, and sometimes hotel deals as well as other travel news. I've already found great deals from Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong to Europe, the US, etc.

I would appreciate any support by following along on various social media channels:

Facebook Page
Threads Profile
Twitter / X Profile

Japan Finance News

My friend launched a newsletter on startup and tech news in Japan titled Venture in Japan. It’s updated frequently, with in depth news on the various aspects of the tech industry here as well as related subjects. I highly recommend reading and subscribing if you want to stay in the loop on what’s going on in Japan!

Venture in Japan | Substack

A weekly news update on the venture and startup ecosystem in Japan. Click to read Venture in Japan, a Substack publication with hundreds of subscribers.

ventureinjapan.substack.com

Japan Tech Career Opportunities

OpenAI (maker of the famous ChatGPT) has opened an office in Tokyo and is looking to fill various positions, including technical roles. For specific positions, see:

• Principal Solutions Engineer

• Security Engineer, Detection and Response

For other roles, visit their Japan careers page.

PostMan, a platform for building and using APIs, is seeking a Japanese Translation Lead. You'll need native-level written Japanese, experience in creating and managing translation processes, and a passion for building software that developers love. For more details, see the job listing.

JPYC develops the Japanese yen stablecoin JPYC. They are looking for candidates for the following positions:

• Blockchain Engineer

• Smart Contract Development Engineer

• Security Engineer

• Frontend Engineer

• Product Manager

• Legal and Compliance Officer

If interested, reach out through their contact page, or as I found this opportunity on the Hacker News Tokyo Slack, you can reach out there as well.

Conclusions

These are just quick updates for now. I intend to find time in my upcoming travel schedule (Malaysia, Australia, Tonga, New Zealand, Fiji, Hawaii here we come! 🛫) to write more in-depth articles. You can always reach out at hello@michaelinasia.com for comments or questions! Remember, you can also support this publication by becoming a paid subscriber or a Patreon!

I’ve been spending a lot more time in Taiwan 🇹🇼 this year, for various reasons I wrote about previously. Although I don’t feel like I’ve fully settled in, as there’s a few items I haven’t taken care of (finding a permanent place, getting health insurance), there’s a number of other things I’ve figured out. This is Part 3 of a series on moving to Taiwan 🇹🇼 from Japan 🇯🇵. You can also read Part 1, moving out of Japan, and Part 2, getting permission to live in Taiwan.

But first, some Japan finance news and tech job opportunities!

Table of Contents

• Japan finance news

• American Express Japan luggage delivery benefits

• Japan tech job opportunities

• Mobile Connectivity

  • Prepaid vs. Postpaid

  • Signing up

  • Carriers

    • Taiwan Mobile (台湾大哥大, táiwān dàgē dà)

    • Other Carriers

    • Roaming abroad on prepaid cards

• Banking

• Receipt Lottery

• Tourist Lottery

• Immigration e-Gates

• Convert to a Taiwanese Driver’s License

• Conclusions

Japan finance news

It was announced recently that LINE Pay services would be discontinued in Japan in April 2025, in favor of PayPay. LINE Pay and PayPay were brought under the joint management in 2019, allowing LINE Pay users to pay at PayPay supported stores. As the services are somewhat redundant, with PayPay having the lion’s share of the market and LINE Pay having a minority share, LINE Yahoo states that their focus will be on PayPay from now on. Users will be allowed to transfer their balance from LINE Pay to PayPay starting February 2025. This does not affect LINE Pay services in Taiwan or Thailand, where Line Yahoo does not have duplicate services. It was nice that I could use my LINE Pay Japan account to pay at supported stores in Taiwan and Thailand, hopefully there continues to be some form of support.

American Express Japan luggage delivery benefits

I found out recently that many American Express cards in Japan come with free luggage delivery from and to (depending on card) international airports. Only suitcases and golf bags are allowed, not cardboard boxes, and bags need to be 30 kg or under (25 kg for Yamato Transport in the case you are returning from Nagoya Chubu Airport). All cards support delivery to airports, and select cards support delivery from airports. It seems like Kansai International Airport and Nagoya Chubu Airport are supported with all cards, whereas the support for Haneda Airport (Terminal 3) and Narita Airport vary by card. Also, the number of bags, whether 1 or 2, also vary by card. The service provider is JAL ABC, besides for returning from Nagoya Chubu Airport. For full details, see the American Express campaign page.

Japan tech job opportunities

Sony AI is looking for a Senior Portfolio Manager. The position is global, so can be anywhere offices are, but preferably Tokyo. Japanese proficiency is not required, but is preferred. For more details, see the job listing.

foriio is an early stage startup providing portfolio services for creators. They are looking for both a full-time front-end developer (React, 3+ years of exp) as well as a full-time backend developer (RoR, 3+ yrs of exp) to join them at their office in Shinjuku, Tokyo. The positions are not on their jobs page, but you should be able to reach out directly.

Citadel AI is a startup based in Shibuya, Tokyo helping companies automatically test and monitor their AI systems. They are looking for a solutions engineer to help customers integrate. The position is partially remote. Japanese proficiency is required.

SmartNews is a news app with 20 million users across the US and Japan. They are looking for both Senior Machine Learning Engineers as well as Senior Software Engineers on various teams. The positions are fully remote. More details can be found on their jobs page.

Mobile Connectivity

Getting a mobile service is useful for various reasons, as even if you have roaming data service, many services will only take Taiwanese phone numbers.

eSIMs, such as Airalo (referral link) and Global YO (referral link, generally cheaper) offer convenient data as soon as you land, but generally don’t give you a real number or offer voice service. You need to show your passport to a shop to get an actual number and voice service.

For short term tourists, here’s an overview of the SIM options available in Taiwan. These are great because they generally offer unlimited 4G data (speed throttled after a certain amount of usage). However, for longer term stays in Taiwan, the tourist SIM cards expire after a set period and are generally not extendable. Furthermore, you can save money with longer term plans for residents, whether prepaid or postpaid.

Prepaid vs. Postpaid

Like many other places in the world, plans are separated into prepaid vs. postpaid plans. I’ve generally found that prepaid plans in Taiwan offer better prices, with the downside that you need to top up every once in a while (SIM cards are generally valid 6 months after the last top up. Top ups are fairly easy and can be done either online or in person at a local shop. Here’s a wiki for pre-paid SIM options in Taiwan. For all plans / packages, there usually are long running promotions adding bonus data in addition to the nominal data amount, so it’s good to check each carriers’ page for exact details.

Signing up

For foreigners, signing for any plan needs to be done in person, as even with an ARC, the carriers require seeing your passport. If you are a citizen with a Taiwanese ID and a Citizen Digital Certificate, then you may be able to sign up for service purely online.

Carriers

Chunghwa Telecom (中華電信, zhōnghuá diànxìn)

Chunghwa Telecom is generally considered to have the best coverage and speeds. However, I found that their plans are slightly more expensive. You can compare their pre-paid offerings and post-paid offerings.

Taiwan Mobile (台湾大哥大, táiwān dàgē dà)

I personally am with Taiwan Mobile on a prepaid plan and find their coverage good. You can see the costs for postpaid services and prepaid data packages.

I got a 5G prepaid card, but probably didn’t need it as it seems 4G speeds are great in Taiwan. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem allowed to change to a 4G prepaid plan later without canceling your current plan. Prepaid plans can be recharged online, in store, or within the Taiwan mobile app.

Other Carriers

There are some other carriers in Taiwan, like FarEastTone (遠傳電信, yuǎnchuán diànxìn). You can check their postpaid and prepaid plans. Another popular choice amongst expats was Circles.Life, but unfortunately they are shutting down in July 2024.

Roaming abroad on prepaid cards

With my Taiwan Mobile prepaid card, I wasn’t getting any network connection abroad, thus I was not receiving calls or text messages. This was a problem when trying to do 2 factor authentication for services. However, if you enable WiFi calling, you should be able to receive both! This should work for other prepaid cards as well!

Banking

Although you can operate in Taiwan with cash most of the time, it’s useful to have a bank account when actually living here, for things like paying rent, paying and receiving money from others, and using various apps and services.

However, there are frequent complaints from expats and locals alike about the banking system being archaic, whether poorly designed websites and apps, or poor English support. There are some banks that don’t support foreign residents.

If you have a Gold Card, there are a number of banks that are official Taiwan Gold Card partners, making it smooth for holders to open accounts.

I started a crowdsourced spreadsheet of banks and how foreigner friendly they are. It can definitely use more data points, so if you have any updated info, please leave a comment!

My personal choice for now is using a HSBC Premier account based in the US to get HSBC (滙豐銀行) Premier status in Taiwan. HSBC Premier in Taiwan gets you free interbank transfers, and free ATM withdrawals at any ATM in Taiwan, and no additional fee from HSBC for ATM withdrawals abroad. Unfortunately, getting HSBC Premier normally requires holding 3 million NTD in your account, which I find a waste as there are better investment opportunities than just holding cash in your bank account, and not everyone is ready to invest that much money in the Taiwanese market. You can see more details about the US HSBC Premier account as well the Taiwan HSBC Premier account on the HSBC official website.

So instead, I set up a US HSBC Premier account, which requires $75,000 USD of assets, but those can be investments transferred from other brokerages. If you are from a different country and have enough assets there, this strategy can also work if HSBC has operations in your country. Another benefit of having HSBC Premier is that you can match that status to HSBC accounts across the globe. Furthermore, you get instant money transfers globally - normally when sending money to Taiwan you need to send it as a supported currency (Taiwan Dollars are generally not a supported foreign transfer currency). Then the bank holds up the money as they contact you to provide supporting information about the source and purposes of the money. Instead of that hassle, I can instantly send almost any amount of USD I want to my HSBC Taiwan account, then convert it to NTD as needed. I have found the exchange rates at HSBC to be decent, usually only 0.03-0.04 NTD per USD below the market rate.

You can sign up for a US HSBC Premier at https://us.hsbc.com/refer with promotion code S013376008 and name Michael Wu so that you and I both get $300 upon fulfilling the Premier requirements. This current referral campaign only lasts until June 26, 2024, so hurry, though it is likely that the campaign will be renewed.

The downsides of HSBC is that they aren’t really a Taiwanese bank, and they don’t work for most apps and services. Thus I am now looking into getting a bank account at a local Taiwanese bank, most likely MegaBank (兆豐銀行) or E.Sun Bank (玉山銀行), or a digital account like Richart. The downsides of a normal bank account is that transfers outside the bank usually aren’t free until you put a significant amount of money into the account, but they do tend to work with the various apps and services like EasyWallet (悠遊付) and JKOPay (街口支付). The benefits of the digital accounts is that operation is mostly online, but not all of them are available for foreigners, and they may not work with the various apps and services. That’s why I started the crowdsourced spreadsheet of banks above.

Receipt Lottery

If you haven’t been exposed to the receipt lottery system, it’s a system that awards monetary prizes to consumers if the purchase was registered through an official receipt (發票, fāpiào). Here’s a great blog post explaining it in detail.

Tourist Lottery

Taiwan Tourist Lottery

Taiwan is running a tourist lottery until June 30, 2025, giving 5000 NTD as a prize for lucky visitors that can be spent on accommodations, dining, and shopping. Even as a foreign resident, if your trip to Taiwan is between 3 to 90 days, you can still win. All the lottery staff care about is that you are a foreigner and your trip is within that duration, verified by your outbound flight.

Apparently you can still use the e-Gates as they only check your passport and flight out, and don’t look at the stamp on your passport.

Immigration e-Gates

As a Taiwanese resident with an ARC, you can register for the immigration e-Gates to speed up your entry and exit from Taiwan. The registration counters are at the arrival and departure halls of major international airports and ports, as well as immigration service agencies. The process is fast, free and easy. As one trick, I have found that the upgraded e-Gates work much more reliably than the older e-Gates; often the older ones won’t recognize my ARC at all.

Taiwan immigration e-Gates

United States, Australian, German, Korean, Italian, and Singaporean citizens can also register for the e-Gates as a non-resident. Further details can be found on the immigration website.

Convert to a Taiwanese Driver’s License

If you’re actually going to be spending significant time in Taiwan and want to rent cars or motorcycles, it’s worth it to convert your license to a Taiwanese license. I personally have been using my Japanese license along with a Chinese translation, which is legal to drive in Taiwan with, but I keep hitting issues where rental places don’t take that.

To convert your driver’s license to a Taiwanese one, you need the following:

1. Identity documents (original and photocopy). For Taiwanese nationals moving back from abroad, this is your national ID or military ID. For foreigners, this is your ARC assuming you have a period of stay of over 6 months.

2. Three one-inch color photos taken within the past 2 years.

3. Passport and photocopy.

4. Valid foreign driving license and photocopy (this needs to be verified by the foreign Taiwan consular mission).

5. The application form.

6. Health examination results. Apparently this takes 5 minutes and $200 NTD, and you can get the results same day. It’s possible that this is the same examination for APRC and obtaining household registration as an NWOHR, but I’m not certain.

7. Proof of entry/exit record (like a stamp on your passport)

If transmission type is not specified, then you automatically get permission to drive automatic and manual transmission cars. To get permission to drive motorcycles, you need that permission on your foreign driver’s license. You can see details on the official Highway Bureau page.

Conclusions

Settling into Taiwan and figuring out life here (besides June to September, way too hot!) has been an interesting process, full of new discoveries. I’ll be continuing to write about my learnings as I go along. For any questions, you can always reach out hello@michaelinasia.com. Remember, you can also support this publication by becoming a paid subscriber or a Patreon!

I’m currently hanging out in Taiwan 🇹🇼 this month until it gets too hot, then will be back in Japan and the US for the summer! First up, tech jobs and life tips in Japan 🇯🇵!

Tech Positions Available in Japan

MoneyForward is a widely used personal finance app for Japan. They have several engineering positions available along with salary ranges, which you can check out on TokyoDev. They are transitioning to an English only engineering team culture.

TableCheck is a popular restaurant reservation site as well as table inventory management system for restaurants. They have several engineering positions as well as product positions available, but unfortunately no salary information available.

MeetsMore is a local services platform to get quotes for customer job requests. They have a Site Reliability Engineer position listed on TokyoDev that requires no Japanese, as well as a few other positions on their career site.

Life Tips: Getting Housecleaning and other tasks done

I’ve recently been using ANYTIMES, a new peer to peer task marketplace, to find cleaners for my house in Tokyo. Many people may know Kurashi no Market, which is the bigger player in this space. For Kurashi no Market: if you search for ハウスクリーニング you end up at this page, which is actually full deep cleaning for the purpose of moving in / out, and has a correspondingly higher price starting from ¥15000, which may not be the service or the desired price range for simple house cleaning. You actually want to search for 掃除, which gets you to this page for housekeeping. Kurashi no Market has prices set by hour for housecleaning (minimum 1.5 hours), which tends to end up with higher prices overall, whereas ANYTIMES quotes by the overall service, and it’s very easy to find ¥300 off coupons that you can use each time. ANYTIMES is online payment only, pre-authorized at the time of booking, whereas Kurashi no Market is either cash or online payment if the provider supports that option. There are various other tasks that you can request on both platforms, so you can check out both when needing some odd jobs done.

ANYTIMES cleaners

Kurashi no Market cleaners, quoted by hour

Tokyo Zero Emissions Points

The Tokyo Zero Emissions Points program (東京ゼロエミポイント) is a program to encourage consumers to replace inefficient appliances with greener appliances, by giving rebates. This ranges from LED lighting, to refrigerators, to water heaters and air conditioners. The program is still running for appliances purchased until September 30, 2024, with applications being taken until October 31, 2024 or whenever the budget for the program runs out, so there is still time to apply!

I stumbled onto the program when shopping for SwitchBot Smart LED ceiling lights to replace my regular ceiling lights, with a notice from Amazon of the incentive program. Here’s an Amazon page with all the other appliances you can buy that qualify for the program.

The information on how to apply for this program can be found in the full application guide linked from the main web portal, but unfortunately it is a PDF fully in Japanese. Kakaku has a web guide that is translatable though. Here are some of my tips:

First, you need to go to this page to issue an account for the application portal. From there you’ll get credentials in your email to login to the portal. It’s not obvious where the application portal is if you just Google for Tokyo Zero Emission Point, as there is no Login link on the main web portal, but it is located at https://portal.zero-emi-points.jp/tzep/portal/

Each type of appliance has different application requirements. In general, you’ll need:

• An identity verification document

• A manufacturer’s warranty (except for water heaters)

  • You can find the manufacturer’s warranty for SwitchBot LED lights at this page.

• A copy of the receipt

For larger items like air conditioners / refrigerators: proof of recycling, to disincentivize improper disposal. You also need copy of the delivery note to show it was delivered within Tokyo.

For water heaters, you need a product certificate filled out by the contractor, as no recycling proof is generally give, as well as a copy of the delivery note as well.

For LED lighting, you need a before/after installation picture. My first application was rejected for not including this.

It seems like you can’t get multiple incentives for purchasing multiple of the same type of item. Even though I bought 3 LED lights, I was only able to apply for an incentive for one of them.

The rebate comes in the form of JTB Nice Gift ¥1000 vouchers. They came by registered mail, so unfortunately I missed the first delivery when I was out, and had to get them redelivered when I was actually back in Japan. These vouchers can be used at many chain stores across Japan as well as tourist facilities including hotels, you can check the list here or check if the store has a JTB Gift symbol to see if they take payment via these vouchers.

JTB Nice Gift ¥1000 voucher

Conclusion

The Tokyo Zero Emissions Point program is a nice incentive for people living in Tokyo and looking to upgrade home appliances. I was able to get ¥4000 in JTB gift vouchers from it, which I’m looking forward to using on upcoming trips. If you have any other questions, feel free to reach out at hello@michaelinasia.com. Remember, you can also support this publication by becoming a paid subscriber or a Patreon.

I’m back from a mini-hiatus where I was trekking Everest Base Camp as well as other travels! I’ll keep writing regularly though. I recently made a switch in both my Japanese internet and phone plans on a stop back in Tokyo. Overall the process was more seamless than I thought it would be, but there were still some learnings to share.

Table of Contents

• Fiber Internet

  • Using your own wireless router

• Mobile Network

  • eSIMs

• Conclusion

First in tech news: OpenAI recently announced the opening of their first Asia office in Japan, along with a custom GPT-4 model for Japanese. There are various jobs available, hopefully this leads to more investment in AI technology in Japan.

Fiber Internet

Previously, I was on Softbank Hikari, which I initially got as they were offering a large chunk of cashback and extra electronics discounts when I was buying a refrigerator from Yodobashi Camera. The contract was for 2 years, with the construction fee returned through cashback.

After the initial 2 years of cashback ended, I was paying around 4980 yen a month for internet. I knew that I could save money by switching to a new provider with signup incentives. Common signup incentives are waiving the construction fee or returning the fee in cashback spread out over multiple months (if needed), and cashback. Some providers even cover the cost of cancelling and switching.

The best place to check for deals is Kakaku. You have to select if you live in a standalone house or an apartment complex (mansion), and it will give you a list of deals along with details.

If you have mobile phone service with au, Docomo, or SoftBank, or any other mobile network provider that also has internet service, often you can get package discounts with internet service (and TV service if you still sign up for that!)

In Japan, there’s a separation of physical fiber optic line providers and Internet Service Providers (ISPs). Commonly the services would be unbundled, so you would have a separate contract with the line provider and the ISP, though recently more companies are offering bundled services where you just pay one company for both.

The major physical line providers in Japan are:

• NTT FLET’s Hikari (NTT フレッツ光), which is split up into NTT West for Western Japan, and NTT East for Eastern Japan.

• au Hikari (au 光), which is run by the KDDI telecommunications corporation.

• So-net, which is run by the Sony Group.

• Docomo Hikari and SoftBank Hikari (SoftBank 光) which are actually just repackagers of NTT services.

For Internet Service Providers, you can see this guide from TokyoCheapo.

Getting Internet in Japan: Compare Service Providers | Tokyo Cheapo

Which is the best internet service provider in Japan? Do you want wireless or fiber at home? Read our guide to get set up & save money.

tokyocheapo.com/living/best-tokyo-internet-service-providers

I’ve tried to sign up for Nuro Hikari multiple times, as it is a faster dedicated 2 Gigabyte connection versus other fiber connections which get shared amongst the residents in the building, but every time I signed up, I couldn’t get permission from the building to install it, even if I owned the apartment!

In Japan, IPv4 traffic is crowded, and you get much faster speeds using IPv6. Thus, it’s better to use IPv6, but since much of the internet is still IPv4, Japan has developed various technologies to enable IPv4 traffic over IPv6 networks. I found out that because SoftBank uses a proprietary technology, you need to rent a separate unit from them, called a BB Unit, for 500 yen a month. The BB Unit also serves as a wireless router, but unfortunately is not a fully featured and customizable router. I also had my own wireless router that I used just as an access point behind the BB Unit, but found it dumb that I couldn’t just use my router directly.

I decided to switch to BIGLOBE as I heard good reviews, the price was really cheap, and it would be possible to just use my own wireless router instead of a provided one. My new monthly cost for a 2 year contract will average out to 1893 yen a month after tax and cashback! After the contract is up after 2 years, the price reverts to 4378 yen a month after tax, at which point I would switch to another provider with new signup incentives.

Regarding switching: when you stay within the same line provider, NTT FLET’s Hikari (NTT フレッツ光) being the most common, there generally is no physical fiber construction work needed to switch your internet service provider. Switching from SoftBank or Docomo Hikari to another NTT FLET’s provider also shouldn’t need construction work. In my case, all I had to do was swap in the BIGLOBE router on the switch date from the Softbank BB Unit. If I wasn’t on SoftBank and had my router already set up with the appropriate IPv6 transition technology, it could have been totally seamless.

In this case, instead of straight up cancelling, you can apply for a seamless internet provider transition (事業者変更, jigyō-sha henkō). Go through whatever process your current provider has to do this, so you can receive a internet provider transition approval code (事業者変更承諾番号, jigyō-sha henkō shōdaku bangō). For SoftBank, while it was free to cancel within the 2 month period after my contract was up, it costs 3300 yen to issue the transition approval code. You then give the internet provider transition approval code (事業者変更承諾番号) to your new provider, who will switch over your service. This was not immediate - I signed up for BIGLOBE on April 10, gave they called me about the transition approval code, applied for the transition approval code from SoftBank on April 15, finally received it and gave it to BIGLOBE on April 17, and the earliest they could switch over service was April 25. It took 10 days from applying for a provider transition to actually switching providers, so it’s recommended to do the switch in advance of when you actually want it.

In case you are switching line providers, then you have to fully cancel the old contract, and time your new line provider and ISP to enable services without too much gap. Make sure to reserve the new provider setup a few weeks ahead of time as they can get busy or require some minimum time before setup can happen. I was able to sign up with just my residence card, they didn’t need a My Number card or juuminhyo (住民票) as I moved out of Japan and don’t have valid ones (just own a house and have permanent residency still). All the KYC was done through a phone app where I scanned my residence card and live captures of my face.

For more information on Internet in Japan, you can see the r/JapanLife wiki.

r/JapanLife Internet Wiki

www.reddit.com/r/japanlife/wiki/internet

Using your own wireless router

Because Japan uses some unique technologies for IPv4 over IPv6, many foreign wireless routers won’t work to support this unless you put the DD-WRT or OpenWRT firmwares onto your router. There are domestic wireless routers that will work though. More details are in the r/JapanLife wiki, but it’s best to pick a provider that uses MAP-E or maybe DS-Lite if you want to use your own router.

Mobile Network

While I was still working at Stripe, I had been using SoftBank as my mobile network provider as that was provided by work. When I left my job, fortunately they were able to transfer the phone contract from a corporate contract to a personal contract so I could continue using the same number.

I was able to get a 1100 yen discount off my internet bill for having a SoftBank phone and internet plan, but overall it was too expensive. Because I travel a lot, I decided to switch to ahamo, a subbrand under the Docomo network. The pluses of ahamo are that the basic plan gives you 20 gigabytes of data a month for 2970 yen per month after tax. If you run out of the 20 gigabytes, you get limited to 1 MB/s a second within Japan, which is fairly good, or can pay for additional high speed data. Or you can upfront pay for 100 gigabytes a month for 4950 yen per month after tax. Domestic calls outbound are free up to 5 minutes, or you can pay for unlimited domestic calls for 1,100 yen a month. You can also use roaming data for up to 15 days consecutively outside Japan using that same 20 gigabytes of data for free. You only have to come back to Japan and reconnect on the network to reset the consecutive 15 days. This is probably the cheapest international roaming plan out there. Since I travel out of Japan a lot, this seemed perfect for me. For more information on roaming data, see ahamo’s roaming data page.

ahamo pricing

However, I found some limitations. After 15 days outside Japan, data speeds slow down to 128 kbps which is basically unusable and there’s no way to pay to get more high speed data. Also, it only covers 91 countries so outside those countries, data is unusable. I also found out there’s no physical way to call 0120 toll-free numbers in Japan from abroad, instead you have to find a non-0120 number to call, which is not always easy. Furthermore, receiving calls from Japan while you are overseas can get expensive!

I started to look into alternate or supplemental phone plans to solve the calling and running out of mobile data after 15 days issue. Here’s a comparison guide for the budget phone plans in Japan. I eventually decided to switch to Rakuten Mobile. One of the biggest ones for me was Rakuten Link, which lets you call numbers in Japan using data for free. It even works with 0120 numbers. On Android, you can even receive calls from non-Rakuten Link users while abroad for free! One of the downsides is there's no free (out ound, inbound is free) calling with the base plan, you have to pay an extra 1100 yen a month after tax if you want unlimited calling, otherwise it's 22 yen after tax per 30 seconds.

I have an iPhone and an Android, and I setup Rakuten with my iPhone as that was my only phone that supported eSIM. I tried to install Rakuten Link on my Android too so I could receive calls from abroad, but unfortunately it seems like you can’t set it up if a Rakuten SIM is not installed on the phone.

With the current Saikyo plan from Rakuten Mobile, if you only use up to 3 GB a month, you only pay 968 yen a month after tax. From 3 GB to 20 GB you pay 2068 yen a month after tax, then beyond 20 GB you have unlimited data for 3168 yen a month after tax. The only downside for Rakuten Mobile is that the network coverage is not as good as major providers.

For overseas usage, 2 GB of data roaming is free, and additional data beyond that is 500 yen per GB with no limit, assuming you are in a supported country (70 at last count). This is more expensive than ahamo’s roaming plan.

I may actually sign up for ahamo again depending on how often I am in Japan and use both ahamo and Rakuten - ahamo for the roaming data until I run out of days, and Rakuten as an extra free 2 GB and use of Rakuten Link.

To switch mobile providers while keeping your number, you need to get a Mobile Number Portability Number, or MNP予約番号 (MNP yoyaku bangō). Providing the MNP Number to new provider allows them to transfer your number over seamlessly. When switching, I literally had my service activated in 3 minutes through installing the new eSIM from Rakuten. They did not need a My Number card or juuminhyo (住民票) to sign up, but did send me a piece of mail as a KYC process, with my plan not being fully “active” until the piece of mail was received (though did not require anyone to be there to receive it). I already had my information verified through Rakuten Bank, but I remember for that I did a similar smartphone KYC process.

With a physical SIM, you may have some downtime while switching SIMs. The initial physical SIM is free, but if you need a replacement it is 3300 yen after tax.

There’s a referral campaign for 13000 Rakuten points back for new signups, but employees have a special 14000 points back campaign. This is my employee friend’s referral link for 14000 points back. Rakuten employees have a strange program where they are heavily encouraged to get signups for Rakuten mobile otherwise their KPIs look bad.

eSIMs

Not advice for expat life in Japan, but more travel advice: eSIM companies like Airalo (referral link) are getting popular as you can buy an eSIM in advance online and have it working right away when you land in another country, vs. having to find a store upon landing and waiting in line / dealing with local procedures. Airalo and Ubigi are the most well known companies, but actually pricing is somewhat expensive. I’ve found a new company recently, Global YO! (referral link) that seems to have better pricing overall, in exchange for potentially worse customer service. For example, a Europe regional plan with Airalo is 1 GB for $5, 3 GB for $13, 5 GB for $20 whereas with Global YO! you can get much more data for less: 10 GB for $8, or 20 GB for $15.75. You can also compare various eSIMs at eSIMDB. Check these other eSIM companies out next time you travel!

Conclusion

You can save money and find telecommunication plans that fit you better regularly re-evaluating and switching providers in Japan, plus the process is fairly seamless! If you have any other questions, feel free to reach out at hello@michaelinasia.com. Remember, you can also support this publication by becoming a paid subscriber or a Patreon.

Japanese taxes on foreign capital gains

First up, the individual filing tax deadline in Japan of March 15 is coming up! Hope everyone is smoothly progressing towards filing by this deadline. I wrote about some useful general tips for filing in my last post. I did learn some “fun” things though about the tax implications of receiving and selling foreign RSUs as well as other foreign investments:

• Foreign capital gains / losses affect your taxes, even as a non-permanent tax resident and even without remitting the money to Japan. The exception to this is if you are a non-permanent resident and you acquired the shares of a publicly listed company before you moved to Japan. If the company is not listed, it doesn’t qualify under this exemption as foreign-sourced income and you must pay tax. For more details, see this article.

• Even if there was no gain in foreign currency terms for a stock sale, if there was a change in the value denominated in Japanese yen using the exchange rate on the dates of acquisition and sale, this is taxable. For example, if I acquired a stock for $100 USD when the USD/JPY was 100 JPY/USD, then later sold the same stock for $100 USD when USD/JPY is 150 JPY/USD, you would pay tax on the 15000 - 10000 = 5000 in JPY capital gains even though the USD capital gain is $0.

• Foreign exchange gains/losses as well as cryptocurrency gains/losses are counted as miscellaneous income and are taxed at marginal rates, not the lower capital gain rates. Losses cannot be deducted from the rest of your income. For an illustration on how the different types of income can combine or not, see this chart from the NTA. Also see this Reddit post in r/JapanFinance by one of the gurus there:

r/JapanFinance Guide to the taxation of foreign currency

www.reddit.com/r/JapanFinance/comments/u9akd5/guide_to_the_taxation_of_foreign_currency

I am “enjoying” the opportunity to earn tons of credit card points from paying my taxes via credit card though. 💸 Of course, for official tax advice I would seek out an accountant, such as from this list of English speaking accountants in Japan.

Table of Contents

• Lessons learned when forming a company in Japan

  • Structure with foreign members

  • Form the company before engaging in any transactio …

  • Registered Capital

  • Bank accounts

• Conclusions

Lessons learned when forming a company in Japan

I wrote previously about forming a GK (合同会社), the equivalent of an LLC in Japan. It’s been half a year down the line, and we’ve certainly run into some hiccups along the way. If I had to start over with my company formation process in Japan, this is what I would do. Note that none of this is official legal advice, you should consult a judicial scrivener (司法書士) that is familiar with Japanese corporations for official advice.

Structure with foreign members

It turns out having members not living in Japan in your GK complicates some processes, especially when you need to get some form of consent. For members living in Japan, if official consent is needed then a stamp and the associated seal certificate is generally enough. While we were able to form the GK just with signatures for the foreign members, we ran into some procedures where official consent was needed, and for foreign members that is generally a notarized affidavit.

For the foreign member who was to become a Representative Member (代表社員), we needed to get that notarized, and initially he was asked to go to the Canadian embassy, but they said no for some reason, and we ended up going to the Shibuya public notary which ended up being acceptable.

The registered address in the Articles of Incorporation (定款) matters. One of our members actually moved to Japan after formation, but because his address was still registered abroad, instead of allowing his registered stamp and seal certificate, he still had to go to a notary to show official consent for some procedure.

So for all non-Japanese resident members, I would actually form an offshore company and then have the offshore company be a member of the GK. A non-natural person like a company requires someone to be appointed to represent it, this role is called a shokumu shikkosha (職務執行者). Though technically the shokumu shikkosha doesn’t have to reside in Japan, it would smoothen procedures if they did live in Japan, due to the consent process.

Getting consent for transactions between a member and the company

We ran into a funky situation buying a house for the purpose of the company, as we started negotiations and signed the real estate contract before the company was formed. Thus, the real estate contract was actually signed under my name. When it came time to do the title transfer from the seller to the company, we needed to do a procedure to transfer the buyer in the real estate contract from my name to the company’s name.

However, due to default language in the Companies Act as well as no overriding language in our Articles of Incorporation (定款), we were required to get written consent from every member of our company, which involved getting notarized affidavits from all of our members. The lawyers refused to accept a Japanese public notary or an online notary, forcing all foreign members to go to our respective consulates and embassies and pay expensive fees to get an affidavit notarized. The reasoning was as follows:

I’m assuming the law defaults to this to prevent members from unilaterally conducting conflict of interest transactions. However, this procedure was very time consuming, and expensive. If you are not too concerned about rogue members and want to avoid the consent process for these transactions, then you could add the following language to your Articles of Incorporation (定款) (have your judicial scrivener / 司法書士 translate this to Japanese!)

Form the company before engaging in any transactions

We also could have avoided the above issue if we had just formed the company first before signing the real estate contract. Then no transfer of buyer process would have been needed.

Registered Capital

In terms of registered capital, there’s no actual need to incorporate with the maximum amount of initial capital you need, as you would just pay more tax for the additional registered amount. The reasons that companies incorporate with extra registered capital are either to give an appearance of legitimacy or to fulfill the business manager visa requirements. A registration tax is mandatory when a company is registered, which is 0.7% of the initial capital, minimum 60,000 JPY for a GK and 150,000 JPY for a KK. Thus for a GK, if you put in over 8,571,428 yen you are paying extra registration tax.

Capital can be added later without tax, the tax is only on the initial registered capital. You could technically change the registered capital by amending the Articles of Incorporation (定款) but there would be fees involved and you would probably have to pay more tax. We had one member put in 5,000,000 JPY to qualify for the business manager visa, but there was no need to put in too much additional capital over the amount that would cost more in registration tax.

According to my research (see Reddit), members can add in extra money over the registered capital to the company without registration tax. This would be logged in the company books as a company debt to members (役員借入金). The good part is that this debt has no required fixed repayment date or interest to repay. Since there’s a 21% tax on dividends to members, but repaying a debt is not taxed, this could also be a way to pass profit to members without tax, up to the amount owed to them. Obviously, you should seek out the advice of an accountant to see if this strategy will work.

Bank accounts

This article from freee (Japanese only) compares the relative pros and cons of various types of business banking accounts. The advice we got was to get a net bank for day to day operation and cheaper fees, then potentially later pair with a regional bank in the area we are doing business to get local business support and possibly loans. We decided to go for a net bank first for ease of use and cheaper interbank transfer fees. Unfortunately it seems like most business banks don’t have any way of having some number of interbank transfer fees waived per month, aside from SBI Net Bank, which runs various promotions to waive transfer fees for an initial time period.

We wanted to set up a company bank account eventually as continuing to run company business through my personal bank account makes things messy and banks don’t like it.

It seems like to open a bank account, most banks want some proof of your business operating, your Articles of Incorporation (定款) are not enough. WE were deciding between SBI Net Bank and GMO Aozora, and decided to first go for GMO Aozora as they support Pay-easy (ペイジー) while SBI does not. However, they wanted proof of our business in various ways, such as a website with our address showing we’ve been operating for at least 3 months, a business permit, contracts or invoices to and from the company, etc. Ultimately they decided they wouldn’t open an account for us at this moment for unknown reasons, possibly related to me being a US person as part of the management of the company. We are currently in the process of trying to create an account with SBI Net Bank and will report back on if that is successful or not.

Reporting “effective controllers” (実質的支配者)

There’s the concept of an “effective controller” (or 実質的支配者) for companies, which also applies to Japan. When establishing financial accounts for companies, these “effective controllers” need to be declared, especially if they have American nationality or Green Cards for FACTA compliance. This article explains more on how to determine who is an “effective controller”, but my understanding is:

• Anyone who exceeds 50% ownership of the company is default considered an “effective controller.”

• Otherwise, members who exceed 25% ownership of a company with no person owning more than 50% as in the case above are considered “effective controllers.”

• Otherwise, if no members qualify under the ownership percentage requirements, members who execute the business (業務を執行する社員) such as Representative Members (代表社員) are considered to be “effective controllers”

In our case, we have 4 members in our company, so no one exceeds 25% ownership. However, I am a Representative Member (代表社員) as well as a US person, so this fact needs to be reported on various forms when establishing a bank account.

Conclusions

Running into all these complications with Japan’s tax code as well as company structuring was certainly a headache. But hopefully I can reduce some of the headache for people. Feel free to reach out hello@michaelinasia.com if you have any questions, though for any official legal or financial advice I would contact an accountant or a judicial scrivener who is familiar with Japanese companies! Remember, you can also support this publication by becoming a paid subscriber or a Patreon.

Japan’s individual tax filing deadline is coming up on March 15, 2024. Japan being Japan, this is a fairly complicated and confusing process (though not as bad as US taxes!). Here are some learnings from my personal tax filing process, with common pitfalls around the online tax filing system.

Table of Contents

• Bank Promotions and Tech Job Opportunities in Japa …

• Filing basics

  • Filing deadline

  • Getting help!

  • Where do I file?

  • How do I save my progress?

  • Furusato Nouzei (ふるさと納税）

  • Paying taxes

  • Fixing your mistakes after you filed 🤦‍♂️

  • Foreign tax credits for US Expats

  • Gift taxes

  • Attaching supporting documentation

• Conclusions

Bank Promotions and Tech Job Opportunities in Japan

First some additional Japanese bank promotions! SBI Shinsei Bank is running a inbound foreign currency remittance campaign, offering a bonus between 4000-10000 yen for remitting certain amounts of foreign currency into Japan. You can get this bonus in each of the 3 remaining periods this year.

SBI新生銀行への外貨送金で最大10,000 円キャッシュプレゼントプログラム | SBI新生銀行

他の金融機関からSBI新生銀行へ所定金額以上の外貨を送金していただくと着金額に応じて最大10,000円をプレゼントいたします。

www.sbishinseibank.co.jp/campaign/remittance

Tech job opportunities

On the jobs front, apparently the makers of the popular game Palworld, Pocketpair, are desperately hiring after their successful launch. If interested, you can check out their jobs page.

Amazon is hiring a swath of Senior Product Manager roles. This one on the JP Seller Services team owning the Returns Experience does not require Japanese language ability. This one working with 3rd party carriers does require Japanese fluency. It seems like there are many other product roles available, whether or not they require Japanese fluency is role dependent.

Filing basics

Filing deadline

First of the all, the filing deadline is March 15. It is technically possible to file after, but you will face additional penalties for filing or paying late if tax is due.

Getting help!

Individual tax offices are offering in-person support for filing. I personally stopped by the Shibuya office to answer some final questions I had. Basically they encourage you to file electronically through e-Tax while answering any questions you have. You can find more about visiting your local tax office for help on the official NTA website.

I’ve been finding this Reddit master thread for tax return questions immensely helpful for answering all questions. Reminder that they are not professional tax advice, and to seek professional advice if you need it.

Japan Tax Return Questions Thread 2024

www.reddit.com/r/JapanFinance/comments/19aajt1/tax_return_questions_thread_filing_deadline_march

Where do I file?

I wrote about e-Tax earlier, but filing taxes is not on the normal e-Tax system but actually this dedicated tax filing corner (確定申告書等作成コーナー)

I had no problems using Chrome for this, even without changing my system language. Given that I moved out of Japan last year, I don’t have a valid My Number card, but I was able to use my previously set up e-Tax ID and password to file.

How do I save my progress?

Weirdly, the filing system doesn’t save your progress to any sort of online account. Instead, you need to save the data to a file on your computer, and then import it again when you want to resume. On most pages of the filing system, there will be a button that says ここまでの入力内容を保存する. Click this, and on the next page click the big download data button. The data will be downloaded with the file extension .data, with a naming scheme like “r5syotoku.data” or something similar. This seems to be the year (Reiwa 5) + the type of return, in this case Shotokuzei (所得税).

Download data button

Later, on the tax filing corner homepage, click the right button to resume filing the return from saved data.

Create a new return or resume from saved data

Furusato Nouzei (ふるさと納税）

If you weren’t aware, Furusato Nouzei is a system to get free gifts when donating money to various municipalities (outside of where you live). This works by first deducting from your income tax, then whatever remaining amount that you donated (up to your personal limit), is credited against the residence tax you pay next year.

This is where I personally messed up, because I moved out of Japan last year, so there’s no residence tax to credit against. So I am only getting the income tax deduction.

If you did not do the one-stop system, you need to import each donation into the filing system, which can be quite annoying. Fortunately, most Furusato sites also support exporting their data to be imported into the filing system! The data is saved as an XML file compatible with the online filing system. Check your Furusato site for details. For Furunavi, it took 2 business days to generate this file, so do this early!

You can input your donations under 所得から差し引かれる金額（所得控除）→ 寄附金控除. There should be a section with the following:

Select はい (Yes), press 次へ進む (Next) and it will prompt you to import your XML data.

Paying taxes

If you do end up owing taxes, there are various options to pay. One is automatic debit from your bank account (振替納税) - however this can only be set up by the tax filing deadline March 15. Reading further, it seems like the transfer amount is set to be the exact amount owed, not taking into account anything you may have paid through other methods, so if you intend to partially pay through other methods, do not select this method.

Various tax payment methods

It seems like with the remainder of the methods, you can split payments however you’d like between them. There are some flows where e-Tax fixes the payment amount to be your total tax amount owed, while there are other flows where you can specify the exact amount to pay, so be careful.

Credit cards

Taxes can be be paid via credit card at the official tax credit card payment site. There are fees associated with credit card payments, around 0.8%, so if you’d earn more points this way, I’d encourage paying via card! Check with your credit card if you’d actually earn points, as several Japanese credit cards prevent you earning points for paying taxes. Foreign credit cards generally do earn points, but you may lose around <1% due to exchange rates, and remember - these are counted as foreign remittances by Japan, taxable if there is foreign source income or if there is capital gain. You can use multiple credit cards by completing the procedure multiple times with different payment amounts.

Internet banking

You can also pay via internet banking. Either you can use e-Tax to set up a direct debit from your bank account, or you can transfer yourself. The system is fairly complicated, read this official instruction manual (Japanese only).

With Direct Debit (ダイレクト納付), you use the main e-Tax software (web or desktop) and register the bank account you want to use. Only certain bank accounts are supported, so be careful. Besides GMO Aozora, I only saw traditional megabanks, trust banks, and regional banks supported.

Self initiated transfers are done through Pay Easy (ペイジー), which not all banks support! Either you have to do it through an ATM supporting Pay Easy, or have a bank account that supports Pay Easy. This is why I signed up for SMBC Olive recently. The other internet bank I know supporting Pay Easy is GMO Aozora. Feel free to use my referral code for SMBC Olive, FF06701-9494410 through this referral link.

You can get the information necessary to do self transfers through the Reception System (受付システム) NOT the regular e-Tax website. In my message box I had a message titled 納付情報登録依頼 which had the information needed for Pay Easy.

Pay Easy tax payment information

Fixing your mistakes after you filed 🤦‍♂️

What if you realized you made a mistake while filing your return? Not to fear! As long as you are within the tax filing deadline, you can just resubmit your return on the e-filing system (support article).

Foreign tax credits for US Expats

If you’re also a US expat like me, there’s no getting out of filing US taxes as well. As Japan has a tax treaty with the US, you are able to claim either a Foreign Earned Income Exclusion or a Foreign Tax Credit on your Japanese income. Japan’s tax rate is higher than the US, so in most cases it will make sense to take the Foreign Tax Credit instead. For more analysis, you can see this writeup.

Fortunately, the US tax filing deadline is later than Japan’s, and as a expat, you automatically get a 2 month filing extension without requesting anything. So the usual flow is to file your Japanese taxes, and use that amount paid to Japan as the foreign tax you are crediting against what you would owe on that income to the US.

I won’t go into full detail as this can get very complicated, but some basics: the amount you can claim is on taxes you would have paid for that year, regardless of it was paid that year or not. Say I owe Japan taxes for year 2023, but I don’t actually pay it until 2024 - this counts as 2023 foreign tax to the US.

Another thing - residence tax counts (though it gets quite weird because of the delayed nature of residence tax). However, pension and social insurance payments do not count as a foreign income tax as those are partially paid back to you later. This subject gets very complicated, so I would advise more research or asking a professional.

Gift taxes

Japan has a very complicated gift tax system, and I ran into some problems with this last year, where I attempted to claim an exemption for purchasing a house, but was not eligible due to income limits.

Instead, I should have filed the gift tax to be settled at the time of inheritance, as the gift came from my parents. Here is the official NTA page on this. You are asked to submit a copy of your family register, but what if you’re a foreigner and you don’t have a Japanese family register? Thankfully I found the answer in this article (Japanese only), saying that equivalent proof, like birth certificates, or a notarized affidavit of relationship is also proof, which you attach as a supporting document to your return.

Attaching supporting documentation

When it came to actually attaching the supporting document to my return, I found this VERY confusing text with a checkbox. Do I check the checkbox or not to submit extra documents? 🧐

This help article clarified a bit - basically if you are attaching PDF files and not separate written documents, don’t check the box, and after submitting your return, you should have a screen asking you to attach PDF documents.

Conclusions

Ganbatte to everyone filing their taxes this season! There are definitely a lot of complications with tax filing, and I tried to cover some common ones that I ran into, but this article is definitely not exhaustive. Feel free to reach out hello@michaelinasia.com if you have any questions, though the Reddit thread may be more helpful! Remember, you can also support this publication by becoming a paid subscriber or a Patreon.

Today’s edition of Michael in Asia has various updates from Japan, such as bank promotions, job opportunities, and a new digital nomad visa. I’ll try to keep readers well informed of interesting developments in Japan related to tech and finance!

Table of Contents

• Sony Bank promotions

• Jobs in Japan

• Japanese Digital Nomad Visa

• Conclusions

Sony Bank promotions

Sony is running a promotion until March 29, 2024 where if you transfer in foreign currency, you can earn a cash bonus. As I wrote previously, Sony Bank is one of the lowest fee banks for receiving foreign currency, just behind Shinsei Bank. For full details, see the campaign page.

You can earn the following bonus amounts for transferring the foreign currency equivalent of the following yen amounts, calculated with a historical exchange rate that you can see on a table on the campaign page.

• More than 1 million yen but less than 5 million yen: 5,000 yen

• More than 5 million yen but less than 10 million yen: 8,000 yen

• More than 10 million yen but less than 30 million yen: 20,000 yen

• More than 30 million yen but less than 50 million yen: 60,000 yen

• More than 50 million yen but less than 100 million yen: 100,000 yen

• More than 100 million yen: 200,000 yen

Doing the math for my case, the slightly higher exchange fees for Sony compared to say, Shinsei, were made up by the bonus amount I would receive.

There’s also another campaign running until February 29, 2024 that is giving 30.01% APR interest rate on yen and 4% on USD if you do a 3 month fixed term deposit with 25% being yen and 75% being USD. 4% for USD is a bit lower than the typical interest rate of 5% or more for USD deposits in other programs such as Shinsei Bank, but it is slightly made up by the very high yen interest rate. Overall you are earning 4.88% APR on your combined yen and USD balance, not factoring in exchange rate fluctuations. The foreign currency deposited amount is subject to exchange rate fluctuation, and I’ve noticed that you have to exchange the required foreign currency using your yen balance, even if you already have the foreign currency already in your account. Fortunately there’s also another campaign until March 30, 2024 to waive all exchange fees when buying foreign currency. At the end of these programs you are given the option to reinvest, or hold the foreign currency amount, or exchange it back to yen.

Simulation for putting 1,000,000 yen into the program

If you don’t already have a Sony Bank account, you can sign up with this referral link (valid until May 31, 2024, will try to keep it updated).

Jobs in Japan

I saw a few interesting tech positions in Japan come in this last week or so. I’m recommending them as culture and pay should be fairly good.

Attuned.ai is an AI company based out of Tokyo. They have a position open for a Fullstack Developer, though pay is a bit lower for this position.

Buffer is a long standing remote friendly company. They currently have a few positions open that are available to Japan hires.

Spider Labs is an ad fraud countermeasure tool based in Tokyo. They have a Senior Product Manager role available that is partially remote and supports relocation to Japan, with no Japanese required.

Autify is an AI Test Automation Platform. They have a VP of Product Role available that is fully remote, highly paid, supports relocation to Japan, with no Japanese required.

Japanese Digital Nomad Visa

Japan is planning to launch a digital nomad visa starting in March 2024. It allows a 6 month period of stay, and you must show you earn over 10 million yen a year (approximately $68,000 USD). Unfortunately it does not give you a residence card so you can be treated as a resident; essentially it is an extended tourist visa. This is following the trend of East Asian countries such as South Korea and Taiwan offering digital nomad visas to reflect the changing world.

Conclusions

Hopefully this edition of Japan focused updates were interesting to people. Reach out hello@michaelinasia.com if you have any questions! Remember, you can also support this publication by becoming a paid subscriber or a Patreon.

This is Part 2 of a series about moving from Japan 🇯🇵 to Taiwan 🇹🇼, detailing how to move to Taiwan. You can also read Part 1 which dives into the process of moving out of Japan. As I alluded to earlier, my goals are to reconnect with my roots, get closer to my extended family, and establish a life in Taiwan.

Table of Contents

• Journey to the East

• US Tax Treaty with Taiwan

• Motivations to Move to Taiwan

• Moving to Taiwan

  • Non-Taiwanese

  • Gold Card for former Chinese citizens born in Chin …

  • Taiwanese National Without Household Registration

  • Gold Card for Taiwanese passport holders

  • Chinese nationals

• Conclusions

Journey to the East

First, as a side, I was recently introduced by my friends to Journey to the East, a community for Asian diaspora interested in moving back or who have already moved back to Asia. They host regular community talks and have social media chat groups to connect with others in the community. So far it has been an engaging community, and I would encourage people to join if they fit this category.

JOURNEY TO THE EAST

Community for Asian diaspora interested in moving back to Asia

www.journeytotheeast.club

US Tax Treaty with Taiwan

In expat tax news, the US House recently passed a tax treaty bill with Taiwan (source Reddit). This is not fully in effect yet: the Senate still has to pass the bill, and Taiwan would have to adopt a reciprocal bill for the changes to happen. However, the bill has strong bipartisan support and is likely to pass. Previously, the US One China Policy prevented a tax treaty between the two countries. Anyone who is subject to dual-taxation from Taiwan and the United States is likely to benefit.

Motivations to Move to Taiwan

After spending almost 4 years in Japan, passing N2 of the JLPT, building a wide community, getting work experience, obtaining permanent residency and buying a house, I feel pretty established. I still love my life in Japan, but I felt like it was time to start spending more time in Taiwan, another place deeply in my heart.

My parents are Taiwanese, and I grew up surrounded by the culture. I went to a Taiwanese Chinese school, and participated in various Taiwanese-American organizations college and on. I would also travel back to Taiwan at least once a year, increasing in frequency after moving to Asia, and even spent 3 months in Taiwan as a COVID refugee.

Now I’d like to establish a life in Taiwan as well, improve my Mandarin, get closer to my extended family here, and build a longer-term community here of my own.

Moving to Taiwan

To move to Taiwan long-term, you need permission to reside there. There are a number of options depending on your status.

1. You’re non-Taiwanese. You need some sort of visa.

2. You’re a Taiwanese national without household registration. Generally this is any descendant of a Taiwanese national, even if they also don’t have household registration.

3. Taiwanese citizens can already live in Taiwan so there’s nothing to write here.

4. Chinese nationals residing in China.

5. Chinese nationals not residing in China.

Non-Taiwanese

You need a visa! Visitor visas are usually 3 months and up to 6 months; you need a resident visa for stays longer than 6 months. There are various options outlined in articles online, but the most common ones are:

• Long term study.

• Work visa - you have a job offer.

• Working holiday if your country has an agreement with Taiwan.

• Taiwan Gold Card.

To become a resident of Taiwan, you need a resident visa, and then also an Alien Residence Certificate, otherwise known as ARC (外僑居留證). You would enter Taiwan on the resident visa, then go to immigration and pick up your ARC, which becomes your legal identification in Taiwan along with your passport. You generally don’t have to leave Taiwan to do this if you are already in the country.

The Taiwan Gold Card is a good option for those who qualify. It allows you to live in Taiwan without being tied to a job, giving various immigration, work, and tax benefits. It functions as a residence certificate and work permit combined. There’s a dedicated government office and surrounding community to support the program and Gold Card holders.

Taiwan Gold Card

Generally, you had to be in a few specific fields like science, technology, arts, academia, and business to apply for the Gold Card. However, there’s now a new Digital Field category for Gold Cards, which is intended to apply to anyone who could be considered working in the digital economy, like digital nomads. There’s currently an incentive program to pay for the costs of flights and lodging if you engage in relevant activities on a visit to Taiwan, such as attending a tech conference.

Gold Card for former Chinese citizens born in China

There is additional scrutiny for anyone born in China, even if you no longer have Chinese ID and do not reside in China. See Note 2 on the Official Gold Card page. Essentially Taiwan wants you to prove that you are not a Chinese nor have stayed there for extended periods of time.

Taiwanese National Without Household Registration

Taiwanese (or more accurately Republic of China) nationality follows a jus sanguinis principle, where if one of your parents are nationals (even without house registration), you are also a national. However, there are various steps to actually obtain a Taiwanese passport so you can enter on it, and you can read about the process in a previous writeup.

Once you have a Taiwanese passport, you still can’t directly enter Taiwan. Either you need to get an entry permit, with stays generally no longer than 90 days, or you need to get a Taiwan Area Resident Certificate, or TARC (台灣地區居留證). As of January 1, 2024, you can also directly obtain household registration without the residency requirement, which makes you a full Taiwanese citizen with ID (身分證) and residency permissions (see Reddit). This procedure must be done in Taiwan.

Gold Card for Taiwanese passport holders

I’m actually a Taiwanese passport holder, but I don’t have household registration. I chose to use a Gold Card to stay in Taiwan as I am of military draft age, and I thought it would be more clear-cut this way, even though I wouldn’t be spending more than 6 months a year in Taiwan anyways. Normally, Taiwanese would not be eligible for a Gold Card, but since I never had household registration I was still able to apply. To be approved for the Gold Card I was required to submit the following statement, acknowledging that I needed to use my US passport to enter Taiwan, and if I used my Taiwanese passport to enter Taiwan while I held the Gold Card, it would be revoked:

This is a bit contrary to the law, which states that Taiwanese passport holders must use their Taiwanese passport to enter Taiwan, but this isn’t enforced.

Chinese nationals

Unfortunately I do not know enough about this category to give specific advice. For those living in China, you need a Exit & Entry Permit (中華民國臺灣地區入出境許可證), however issuance is currently suspended. Short term business visits are permitted, as well as tourist visas if you live outside of China (see article by Focus News Taiwan).

Residency permits may still be possible through study, marriage, or your job.

Conclusions

This is a brief overview of a few common options to stay in Taiwan. Look forward to Part 3, where I talk about practical tips on the ground for getting settled into Taiwan.

You can always reach out hello@michaelinasia.com if you have any questions. Remember, you can also support this publication by becoming a paid subscriber or a Patreon!