nktaruaru

Life in Japan

The stories that happened between university and work — the ones that never fit the main chronology but taught the most expensive lessons: nenkin, tuition, payslips, and the other money decisions of living in Japan as a foreigner.

The Full Series

  1. Nenkin: the Bill That Waited Five Years
    Kevin never registered for nenkin in 5 years as a student in Japan. His company asked for the number when he started work — and in his first working year, he paid double.
  2. Tuition Fee Exemption: Being Paid Doesn't Mean Studying for Free
    NIMS-GRA pays you a salary, but it doesn't pay your tuition. Kevin spent 5 years applying for 授業料免除 every semester — the 50% cut that decided holiday or bento.
  3. Salary Deductions in Japan: the Surprise Isn't on the First Payslip
    Kevin's first Japanese payslip held no surprises — the NIMS Junior Researcher years had trained him. The raise was the surprise: monthly deductions jumped from ~¥50,000 to almost ¥70,000.
  4. Starting NISA as a Student in Japan: the Honest Version
    Kevin started NISA investing while still a PhD student in Japan — drawn by NEW NISA's tax-free growth and a belief in consistency. The honest part: the investments often doubled as his emergency fund.
  5. Buying a Used Car in Japan as a Foreigner
    Tsukuba is a great place to live, but the transportation isn't always convenient. Kevin shares how he found a ¥160,000 used kei car through a Facebook group — and why it became 'pay and drive'.
  6. The Real Cost of Owning a Car in Japan (and Why Tokyo Ended It)
    ¥160,000 was only the price of the car itself. Kevin breaks down the real monthly cost of owning a kei car in Japan — and why moving to Tokyo made the same car stop making sense.
  7. A Kei Car Road Trip to Wakayama: Celebrating the Doctoral Defense
    After the final doctoral defense, Kevin, his wife, and a close friend drove 600+ km from Tsukuba to Arida, Wakayama, in a ¥160,000 kei car — the farthest that car ever went.

The series is still being lived — new stories will appear on this page.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do international students have to register for nenkin?

Yes. Every resident of Japan aged 20 or older must be registered in the national pension system — including students with no income. Students can apply for a payment exemption (学生納付特例); do it as soon as you arrive and renew it every year.

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How big are salary deductions in Japan?

The salary in your contract and the number that lands in your bank account are far apart: taxes, pension, and health insurance are taken first. The deductions also scale with your salary level — when mine went up, my total monthly deductions jumped from around ¥50,000 to nearly ¥70,000.

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Can you start investing through NISA as a student?

I started while still a student — the principle being to start small and stay consistent. But this is personal experience, not investment advice: check the official NISA rules, which can change over time.

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Is a research salary like NIMS-GRA the same as a scholarship?

No, and the difference matters: a research salary counts as income — taxed and charged insurance premiums like a worker’s — while a scholarship does not. The same monthly amount can leave you with very different numbers.

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