Japan — Non-Permanent Resident (5 Years in 10)

Summary

Limit

5 years of domicile or residence

Window

The preceding 10 years

Tracked as

1,825 days in 3,650 (approximation)

Status while under

Foreign-source income paid abroad taxed only on remittance

Status once over

Ordinary resident — worldwide income

Applies to

Non-Japanese nationals only

Basis

Income Tax Act; NTA Income Tax Guide §1-3

A non-permanent resident is a Japanese tax resident who is not a Japanese national and whose aggregate domicile or residence in Japan is 5 years or less within the preceding 10 years. While that holds, foreign-source income paid abroad is taxed only when remitted to Japan. Once five years have elapsed you become an ordinary resident, taxed on worldwide income. The crucial detail: the law counts periods of domicile or residence, not days you were physically present — so time abroad while your home stays in Japan still counts against you.

Who it applies to

This matters most if you are:

• A foreign national who moved to Japan and is approaching the fifth anniversary.
• Holding foreign investments, foreign rental income, or foreign employment income paid offshore.
• Planning a remittance to Japan — a property purchase, a school fee — from offshore funds.
• Returning to Japan after years away, wondering whether the old years still count.

It applies only to non-Japanese nationals. If you hold Japanese nationality you are an ordinary resident from the moment you are resident at all, and this article is not your rule — see Japan tax residency for the underlying domicile test.

The rule — and why it exists

Japan splits residents into two classes. The NTA guide defines a non-permanent resident as a resident who does not hold Japanese nationality and who has had a domicile or residence in Japan for an aggregate of 5 years or less within the preceding 10 years. The scope of taxation follows:

• Income other than foreign-source income — taxable in full, wherever it is paid.
• Foreign-source income paid in Japan — taxable in full. This is the limb people forget: being a non-permanent resident does not shelter foreign income that lands in a Japanese account.
• Foreign-source income paid abroad — taxable only to the extent it is remitted to Japan.

The flip is sharp: the guide describes you as non-permanent until the date on which five years have elapsed, and an ordinary resident after the date following that on which five years have elapsed. Bounded encodes that as a cap of 1,825 days in a 3,650-day window — 1,825 allowed, the alarm firing at 1,826.

Why it exists: Japan wants to attract foreign talent without immediately taxing the worldwide wealth people bring with them. Five years is the grace period; after that you are treated like any other resident.

Counting the time

Read this section carefully, because the counter and the statute measure different things.

1. 1The statute aggregates periods during which you had a domicile or a residence in Japan — calendar time, not presence.
2. 2Those periods are summed across the preceding 10 years, so time more than a decade old drops out of the window.
3. 3A period of domicile keeps running while you travel: business trips, holidays and even long postings do not subtract, as long as your home in Japan persists.
4. 4Bounded counts days you were in Japan, which is a floor on that period, never a ceiling — the app can show you further from the line than you really are.
5. 5Set the counter's count-from date to the day you established your home in Japan, and sanity-check the fifth anniversary of that date against the number the app shows.

If you have lived in Japan continuously since the move, the honest answer is simple: your status flips on the fifth anniversary. The day counter is useful for people with genuinely interrupted residence — someone who gave up their Japanese home, left, and came back.

Examples

Example 1 — the straightforward case

Elena moves to Tokyo in March 2022 and keeps an apartment there throughout. In March 2027 five years have elapsed: she becomes an ordinary resident, and her foreign dividend income becomes taxable in Japan whether or not she remits it. Her Bounded count shows roughly 1,600 days because of her frequent travel — which is why the anniversary, not the count, is the number that matters.

Example 2 — the remittance that was taxed anyway

Sam, a non-permanent resident, receives consulting fees from a Singapore client into his Japanese bank account. He assumes non-permanent status shelters it. It does not: foreign-source income paid in Japan is taxable in full for non-permanent residents.

Example 3 — the 10-year window resetting

Rahul lived in Japan from 2013 to 2016, left for Dubai, and returned in 2026. By 2026 the 2013–2016 period has largely dropped out of the preceding-10-years window, so his aggregate is small and his non-permanent clock effectively restarts from the return.

Exceptions & edge cases

• Japanese nationals are excluded. Non-permanent status is available only to non-Japanese nationals, however recently they arrived.
• Remittance is broader than a bank transfer. Bringing funds in by card, by transfer to a family member in Japan, or by other indirect routes can constitute a remittance. The NTA also applies an ordering rule that can treat a remittance as coming out of foreign-source income first.
• Employment income split across countries. Where duties are performed partly outside Japan, apportionment rules decide what is foreign-source in the first place — the non-permanent shelter only operates after that question is answered.
• Interrupted residence. If you gave up your Japanese home entirely and lived abroad, that gap genuinely does not count. The aggregate approach is what makes the day counter meaningful for people with broken histories.
• Leap days. 1,825 = 5 × 365. Actual five-year spans run 1,826–1,827 days. The app is one or two days conservative by design.

Common misconceptions

• "Days outside Japan pause the five years." No. The law counts periods of domicile or residence, not physical presence. Travel does not buy you extra non-permanent years.
• "Non-permanent means no tax on foreign income." Only on foreign-source income paid abroad and not remitted. Paid in Japan, or remitted, and it is taxable.
• "It is 5 years of tax filings." It is five years of domicile or residence within the preceding ten — a rolling look-back, not a count of returns filed.
• "The counter is the answer." Treat it as an approximation. For anyone with a continuous home in Japan, the fifth anniversary of the move is the truer date.
• "This is the same as the 183-day rule." Japan has no 183-day rule at all — see Japan tax residency.

Questions fréquentes

Sources

• National Tax Agency (NTA) — Income Tax Guide 2025, §1-3 (residents, non-permanent residents, scope of taxation)
• National Tax Agency — Income tax information for foreign residents