What Is 住民票? How to Get a Juminhyo in Japan and Choose the Right Details

September 8, 2026

A guide for foreign residents on getting a copy of your 住民票 at the ward office or a convenience store: individual or full household, relationship to the head of household, residence details for foreign residents, and My Number.

住民票 — usually just called a juminhyo in English, or a certificate of residence — is a certificate of your residence information, issued on the basis of the resident registration held by the city, ward, town or village where you have registered your address.

You will typically be asked for one when you apply for a rental property, a job, insurance, a bank account, a driver's licence, a school place or a family-related procedure. Each of those places, however, needs a different set of details. Getting the wrong version — one that leaves out the relationship to the head of household, say, or one with My Number printed on it when nobody asked for it — can mean going back and requesting it again.

Short answer: you can request a 住民票の写し (a copy of your resident record) at your local government counter. If you have a My Number Card, know your PIN and your municipality takes part in the service, you can usually print one at a multi-function kiosk in a convenience store. Before you go, ask whoever is asking for the document whether they need an individual copy or a full household copy, and which items have to appear on it.

How is a juminhyo different from a residence card?

The residence card 在留カード is a document issued through the immigration control system to people who fall under it, and it shows details such as your status of residence, your period of stay and your address.

A 住民票 is a certificate drawn from your municipality's resident register. It can show household information, your relationship to the head of household, and certain details recorded for foreign residents if you request them.

The two documents are related, but neither fully replaces the other. One organisation may well ask you for both your residence card and your juminhyo.

Do foreign residents have a juminhyo?

Foreign residents who fall under the resident registration system and have completed their address registration with the municipality can be recorded in the resident register. When a mid- to long-term resident moves, the Immigration Services Agency's guidance is that you must notify the municipality within 14 days of the day you move in. Taking your residence card with you when you file a move-in or change-of-address notification at the municipal counter is also handled through the corresponding notification-of-residence mechanism. Immigration Services Agency of Japan

If you have just moved but have not yet filed your 転入届 (move-in notification) or 転居届 (change-of-address notification), do not expect your juminhyo to show the new address automatically. Complete the residence registration first.

What information does a juminhyo show?

Depending on how you request it, a copy may show:

Your full name.
Your date of birth.
Your registered gender.
Your address.
The date you became a resident at that address.
The head of household and your relationship to them.
Nationality, region and residence details recorded for foreign residents.
My Number, where there is a legitimate reason to request it.
The resident record code (住民票コード), where appropriate.

Not every copy prints all of this by default. Edogawa City's guidance, for example, asks applicants to choose whether they need the relationship to the head of household, nationality, residence details, the resident record code or My Number. The ward also notes that you should only ask for My Number when the purpose of use makes it appropriate, and that you should confirm this with the organisation receiving the document. Edogawa City

Individual copy or full household copy?

When you apply, you will usually have to choose between:

世帯一部: only one person, or some of the people, in the household.
世帯全員: everyone in the same resident household.

If a company only needs to verify your address, an individual copy may be enough. If you are handling a procedure for a spouse or child, or proving a relationship within the household, the organisation receiving the document may ask for a full household copy showing the relationship to the head of household.

Do not guess. Ask the receiving side four questions:

Individual copy or full household copy?
Does the relationship to the head of household need to be shown?
Are nationality and status of residence needed?
Is My Number needed?

Should you print My Number on your juminhyo?

Only print it when the receiving side says clearly that they need it and there is an appropriate purpose of use. My Number is sensitive information, and it is not a detail that belongs on every rental application or routine piece of paperwork.

If all that is needed is confirmation of your address, your name or a family relationship, ask whether a copy without My Number would do. Handing a copy with My Number on it to someone who has no need to know it increases the risk of your information being exposed.

According to the Digital Agency's guidance, the convenience store service does not print the resident record code on a 住民票の写し; which certificates and which contents are supported still depends on your municipality. Digital Agency

Option 1: at the ward office or city hall

This is the right option when:

You do not have a My Number Card.
You have forgotten your PIN or locked it.
You need a type of certificate the convenience store service does not support.
You want to ask a member of staff about what has to be shown.
You are applying on someone else's behalf with a letter of proxy.

You will usually need:

Identification.
The application form available at the counter.
The municipality's issuing fee.
A letter of proxy (委任状), unless you are applying for yourself or fall within the household cases the municipality allows.

Rules, fees and the counters that accept applications differ from one municipality to another. Check the official website of the municipality where you are registered before you go.

Useful Japanese phrases

住民票を一通取りたいです。
I would like one copy of my juminhyo.

世帯全員で、続柄を載せてください。
A full household copy, with the relationship to the head of household shown, please.

マイナンバーは載せないでください。
Please do not show My Number.

外国人住民の在留情報が必要です。
I need the residence details recorded for foreign residents.

Option 2: getting your juminhyo at a convenience store

According to Japan's Digital Agency, the convenience store certificate service lets you use your My Number Card at a multi-function kiosk to obtain certificates issued by your municipality. As a general rule the service can operate between 6:30 and 23:00, on weekdays, weekends and public holidays alike, but municipalities may restrict the hours or the types of certificate. Digital Agency

You will need:

A valid My Number Card.
The matching PIN.
Your municipality to be taking part in the service.
A convenience store machine that supports it.
Cash, or a payment method the machine accepts.

The basic steps:

Select 行政サービス (administrative services) on the multi-function kiosk.
Select certificate issuance.
Place or scan your My Number Card as instructed.
Select the municipality that issues the certificate.
Enter your PIN.
Select 住民票の写し.
Choose an individual or a full household copy.
Choose the details you need shown.
Check the contents and the number of copies.
Pay, then take your certificate and receipt.

Do not forget to take your My Number Card back. The machine will warn you, but it is still worth putting the card away before you pick up the other documents.

Why doesn't the convenience store show the certificate I need?

Possible reasons include:

Your municipality does not support that certificate at convenience stores.
There is a problem with your My Number Card or its electronic certificate.
You have just changed your address and the data is not ready yet.
You are outside the hours your municipality offers.
The system is under maintenance.
That particular type of information is only issued at the counter.

Do not keep trying PINs you are unsure of. If you are not certain, stop and check your municipality's guidance.

Option 3: by post, online application, or the 24-hour request post box

When you cannot get to the counter during office hours and the convenience store route is not available to you either, many municipalities open up further channels. Edogawa City's guidance lists three channels beyond the counter and convenience stores: an online application (スマート申請), a postal request (郵送請求), and a request post box (請求ポスト). Edogawa City

How to choose the channel that fits your situation:

The online application suits you if you have a My Number Card with an electronic signature certificate and are willing to wait for the certificate to be posted to you. Edogawa restricts this channel to the person themselves or a member of the same household.
Post suits you if you are far from the municipality where you are registered. You send the application form, a copy of your identification, a stamped self-addressed envelope, and the fee paid with a 定額小為替 (fixed-amount postal money order) bought at a post office — not cash.
The request post box suits you if you are only free in the evenings, on Saturdays, Sundays or public holidays. Edogawa says you can drop an application into the box at any time, and that the certificate is posted out from the next working day onwards.

Both of these last two channels deliver the certificate by post, so you have to allow for the time. Edogawa states that it takes roughly one week to ten days from the ward receiving the request to sending it out, and longer if it falls across a long holiday or the year-end period. If your rental application has a tight deadline, do not choose the postal route.

A note on fees: the fees given on Edogawa's page — 300 yen per copy at the counter, by post or via the request post box, and 200 yen per copy printed at a convenience store — are Edogawa Ward's own rules. Other municipalities may charge different amounts, and not every one of them offers all three channels. Check the official website of the municipality where you are actually registered.

Can someone else collect it for you?

At the counter, a person on the same juminhyo, or someone holding a letter of proxy, may be allowed to apply in certain cases. The exact rules depend on the municipality and on the type of information requested.

Edogawa City, for example, says that a relative who is on a different juminhyo counts as a proxy and, as a rule, needs a letter of proxy. Where a proxy requests a copy showing My Number or the resident record code, the way the certificate is handed over may be restricted, and it may be posted to the person themselves rather than given out directly. Edogawa City

Do not give your My Number Card and PIN to someone else so that they can print the certificate for you at a convenience store.

How long is a juminhyo valid?

The document itself does not carry a single "expiry date" that applies to every procedure. It is the receiving side that decides how recently issued a certificate they will accept. Many applications ask for a recent copy, but you have to ask exactly how many months old it may be.

Do not take a stack of copies to use later if you do not yet know the requirements. Your household details, your address or your residence status may change.

Common mistakes

Getting an individual copy when a full household copy was needed.
Not showing the relationship to the head of household.
Leaving out the residence details recorded for foreign residents.
Printing My Number when the receiving side did not need it.
An address that has not been updated after a move.
Using a copy that is too old for what the receiving side asks.
Sending an original when only a photocopy was needed, or the other way round.
Confusing 住民票の写し with 住民票記載事項証明書.

Those last two documents have similar names, but one cannot always stand in for the other. Take a photo of the exact Japanese name on the receiving side's request.

How can NST Connect help?

NST Connect can help you work out which document you actually need, draw up a checklist of the details that have to be shown, walk you through filling in a letter of proxy, or prepare the set of documents that goes with renting a home and registering after you move in.

We do not need you to send us your My Number just to ask about a procedure. Start by sending the Japanese name of the document you have been asked for, where it has to be submitted and what it will be used for; only then do we work out whether you need an individual copy, a full household copy, or particular items of information.

Frequently asked questions

Can I get a juminhyo without a My Number Card?

Yes. You can apply at the counter under your municipality's rules. A My Number Card is mainly what makes the convenience store service and certain other conveniences available to you.

My residence card shows the new address but the juminhyo is wrong — what do I do?

Contact the municipal office where you are registered and ask them to check the record. Do not correct the printed copy yourself.

Does a rental application need a juminhyo with My Number on it?

As a rule, you should not volunteer your My Number unless it has been clearly requested. Confirm with the management company or whoever is receiving the application.

Can I get my spouse's juminhyo?

If you are on the same juminhyo, you may fall within the group allowed to apply at the counter under your municipality's rules. If you are in a different resident household, a letter of proxy or another appropriate basis is usually required.

Sources checked on 27 August 2026. Fees, timings, who may apply and which certificates are supported can differ between municipalities; always check the official website of the municipality where you are registered.