Moving to Japan from New Zealand

New Zealand passport holders can visit Japan visa-free for up to 90 days, but living there takes a residence permit. The self-funded residency routes we track start at an investment of about $188k, and our residency index rates Japan 60/100 for New Zealand citizens (possible, with conditions). We estimate €3,349 a month for a couple living centrally in Hiroshima and €3,651 in Tokyo. Japan is in our high tax tier. Check the official requirements before you apply.

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Short stays
Visa-free 90 days
New Zealand passport
Residency
60/100
Possible, with conditions, our index
Tax tier
High
High personal income tax
Est. cost for two
From €3,349/mo
Hiroshima, our estimate

Living there long term

Our residency index: 60/100, possible, with conditions. It is our own rating of how realistic long-term residency in Japan is for New Zealand citizens, based on the routes Japan publishes. Realistic long-term residency runs through employer-sponsored work visas and the points-based Highly Skilled Professional track (which can fast-track permanent residence), or the self-funded Business Manager route for entrepreneurs; Japan has no passive-income or retirement visa, since its means-based Long Stay status is capped at twelve months, is non-renewable, and does not count toward residency.

The cheapest self-funded routes we track:

  • Investment: about $188k (Japan Business Manager visa, JPY 30,000,000 paid-in capital (raised six-fold from JPY 5M effective 16 Oct 2025); converted at JPY/USD 0.006253 (Wise, Jun 2026); as of June 2026)

Check the official requirements before you apply: amounts, conditions and exchange rates change, and what a couple needs can differ from a single applicant's threshold.

For short visits, New Zealand passport holders can visit visa-free for up to 90 days, according to the passport-index dataset. Short-stay entry covers visits; living there takes a residence permit.

Source: OurNextCity residency dataset, hand-reviewed approximations researched against published immigration rules, figures as of June 2026. Not legal advice: check the official source before you apply. Short-stay entry from the passport-index dataset (ilyankou, MIT).

Where in Japan to start

Ranked by our match model for a typical couple who both hold New Zealand passports, using the preset answers of our best places to live list. Your own answers would change the order. We pick the cities, up to five, by how often English Wikipedia readers looked them up over the past year.

  1. 1. Hiroshima

    89% match
    Est. cost
    €3,349/mo
    Avg temp
    15°C
    Safety index
    80/100

  2. 2. Kyoto

    88% match
    Est. cost
    €3,375/mo
    Avg temp
    15°C
    Safety index
    80/100

  3. 3. Osaka

    88% match
    Est. cost
    €3,457/mo
    Avg temp
    16°C
    Safety index
    80/100

  4. 4. Tokyo

    86% match
    Est. cost
    €3,651/mo
    Avg temp
    16°C
    Safety index
    80/100

  5. 5. Sapporo

    77% match
    Est. cost
    €3,414/mo
    Avg temp
    9°C
    Safety index
    80/100

Cost of living for two

Our estimate for a couple living centrally runs from €3,349 a month in Hiroshima to €3,651 in Tokyo. For comparison, we estimate €3,812 a month in Auckland. Use these figures to compare places rather than to set a budget.

Source: our cost model: a country-level cost-of-living index scaled for city size, from our city dataset (last rebuilt June 2026). An estimate, not a survey of current prices.

Taxes

Japan is in our high tax tier (high personal income tax); New Zealand is in our low to medium tax tier (moderate personal income tax). Tiers describe each country's own income tax. They do not cover tax you may still owe in New Zealand after you leave, or the treaty between the two countries, so check both with a tax adviser before you move.

Source: OurNextCity tax tiers, assigned by hand from each country's top marginal personal income tax rate and overall tax reputation, with no fixed rate cut-offs. Coarse by design; not tax advice.

Compare cities in Japan

Lists with cities in Japan

Moving to Japan from elsewhere

Every country and origin we cover

How we built this page

Every figure here comes from the datasets behind our city and country pages:

  • Short-stay entry: the passport-index dataset (ilyankou, MIT license), which records the entry rule for short visits on each passport.
  • Residency index, routes and thresholds: the OurNextCity residency dataset, hand-reviewed against published immigration rules, figures as of June 2026. It is a summary, not legal advice.
  • City ranking: our match model, the one behind the quiz, run with a typical couple's preset answers and both partners holding New Zealand passports. It ranks up to five of the country's best-known cities: of the cities in our quiz (100,000 people or more, capitals and a few towns movers seek out, such as Faro), the five most read about on English Wikipedia over the past year. It folds suburbs into their main city and leaves out countries with a residency index under 40 and areas under a US State Department Level 4 advisory, as our best-cities lists do.
  • Costs: our cost model, a country-level cost-of-living index scaled for city size, from our city dataset (last rebuilt June 2026).
  • Tax tiers: three coarse bands we assign by hand from each country's top marginal personal income tax rate and overall tax reputation.