A question about immigration and WHV

Hi,

I am currently living in Tokyo and have been for about 3 months. I am on a 6 month Working Holiday Visa which expires in December.

I have been staying with airbnb and moving around tokyo around every month or so. I registered my last address at the ward office in Toshima, as I needed an address to open my bank account. When I left Toshima I notified the ward office and was given a certificate to pass onto my next residence location ward office (Shinagawa). Is it absolutely necessary for me to visit the ward office and update my address again within the next 14 days of moving? As I am considering not updating my address for now as I am only here in Shinagawa for 1 month. Is one month considered a fixed residence?

Thanks in advance for helping out :). It seems silly to have to visit a ward office so frequently (twice or more a month).

My hunch is that since you'll be gone soon anyway, they basically don't care. The residence management system's purpose is too keep track of people who are in Japan long term.

You say it seems silly, but it has been your decision to move from one place to another so often :)

I would say it is the rule to inform the city halls properly. What are you going to do the next time you move? You'll have a paper saying that you left Toshima-ku, but did not move to anywhere else.

But in any case, if you are simply leaving Japan at the end of the six-month period (meaning not wishing to stay on by changing to another long-term resident status, or planning to take up employment soon later and come back), implications will be minimal.

in this circumstance I don't think you need to do things by the book. For immigration it would be completely understandable to think that you might not have found formal accommodation for only one month before your departure. They could consider that maybe you just stayed at a hotel or crashed at a friend's home temporarily or were simply jumping from hostel to hostel during your travels. In any case, it will become irrelevant once they see you leaving the country within the time specified in your WHV.