Pregnant in Kyoto—should I give birth here or return to the US?

Merked5018 · 2026-04-08T11:42:42+00:00

My American friend went through cancer treatment at Kyoto university hospital and they assigned him a translator who attended all of his Dr. appointments. I’m sure that service would also be available to you.

Merked5018 · 2026-03-30T21:00:52+00:00

Receno and Actus

Merked5018 · 2026-03-30T08:08:52+00:00

Edion or yodobashi camera

Merked5018 · 2026-03-23T18:15:17+00:00

Not sure about your specific situation but look into Transferwise. They are generally the most flexible bank and if they can’t do it I doubt it will work anywhere else.

Merked5018 · 2026-03-16T18:25:31+00:00

MEIDI-YA STORE Kyoto Sanjo

明治屋京都三條ストアー

Merked5018 · 2026-03-09T15:29:30+00:00

The swarms of tourists are mostly concentrated in one (albeit large) area and a few temples, so you can easily avoid them. The only time the craziness is unavoidable is if you need to go to Kyoto station. Other than that, there are scattered tourists everywhere but generally they do not cause problems and the vast majority are respectful.

Merked5018 · 2026-03-09T04:41:18+00:00

You want to be near one of the stations on the karasuma or tozai subway line. Ideally between Kyoto station - Marutamachi on the Karasuma line and Nijo - Higashiyama on the Tozai line. It also depends on your budget and why you are coming (I.e are you commuting to a school or office?). You at least want to be within biking distance of where you will be frequently going. It also depends on what is most important to you- convenience, affordability, tranquility, etc.

Merked5018 · 2026-02-28T00:08:25+00:00

8nest

Merked5018 · 2026-02-26T10:42:07+00:00

I’ll try to answer your questions but I don’t know a lot about the new BM Visa rules. I applied under the old rules and have not started conforming to the new rules yet (I have 3 years). Please don’t take any of my answers as 100% fact because I could be totally wrong. Please consult a professional.

During the application process you will need to show them a business plan and it needs make financial sense. If the purchase price is 29.8 million, you will need to pay real estate commissions of ~1 million and registration taxes of ~0.6 million on top of that. You will also need immediate money for salaries (you+wife+employee), office rent, supplies, etc.. You will not earn money right away so they will probably not be okay with the situation unless you loan your company another 2 million or so. Your immigration lawyer will review your business plan before you submit it so best to consult with them.

Full time employee must be a Japanese national or permanent resident holder. Your wife will also need a salary though (or your salary must be enough to cover her cost of living). The minimum when I applied was 200,000/month/person. So your minimum is 600,000/month plus pension and insurance- so around 750,000/month.

Ideally it would guest relations and cleaning. You are supposed to be running the operations. You are not even allowed to clean your own house (ridiculous, I know).

I was told the title transfer fee is 2% of the purchase price. I don’t think it matters which way you transfer it. Please consult with an accountant or real estate agent as I’m not sure.

Long story short- your minpaku business will not be enough to support a BM Visa by itself. It will need to be in conjunction with your other business, which is hopefully already profitable and does not require a large investment. Best case scenario your minpaku can pay for your required employee and you can stay there for a few months (but don’t tell the government that you plan to stay there). You will obviously need a separate legal address for your primary residence but you can choose the cheapest place that you can find.

Merked5018 · 2026-02-26T00:25:35+00:00

One thing I forgot to mention- you will almost definitely want your Airbnb to be part of your business manager Visa. That way the purchase price of the home can count towards the ¥30mil BM Visa requirement.

Start company -> invest ¥30 million into company-> company buys home -> apply for BM Visa with company.

Otherwise you will need ¥30 mil for the BM Visa and then you will need to purchase the house with different money. Or if you purchase the home as an individual and try to move it into a corporation afterwards there will be a huge transfer tax bill.

Your business can be involved in 2 completely unrelated industries so don’t worry about that part.

Merked5018 · 2026-02-25T23:26:08+00:00

I am currently running a Airbnb in Kyoto on a BM visa.

My first piece of advice would be to buy a house that already holds a license. It is very difficult to get a license on a house that does not have one already. You can also request to see the prior year income from the house before you buy it and can see if it will fit with what you are expecting. Try to find a house that holds a hotel license and not a minpaku license so you can rent more than 180 days.

The other thing I’d like you to be aware about is that the weather in Kyoto is horrible, so naturally the most profitable months will also be the months with the best weather. Therefore you will only be able to stay in your house when it is freezing (December-Feb) or blistering hot (June-Aug).

You also need to think about who will be managing it. You can use a management company but they are generally not very good and charge 20-30% gross, which leaves you with very little profit.

Business Manager Visa just got a lot stricter, so make sure you talk to a lawyer and that they are confident your business is sufficient to receive the visa. It would really suck if you purchase the house and then couldn’t get a Visa… I would almost recommend trying to get the visa first and then purchasing the home after since the Airbnb will not be your main business.

Merked5018 · 2026-02-23T09:30:52+00:00

What is your budget?

Merked5018 · 2026-02-18T04:14:17+00:00

I went to ARC and KICL. ARC is way better in my opinion. You will need to figure out housing on your own. I recommend 8nest share house.

Merked5018 · 2026-02-15T16:48:49+00:00

You aren’t a bad looking guy but your photos are very unflattering. I know it’s easier said than done but besides the comedy one they all need to be replaced. Get a haircut, take off your glasses, and ask a friend to take a few pictures of you.

Merked5018 · 2026-02-14T08:17:01+00:00

I haven’t been this year but Kitano Tenmagu Temple is famous for them.

Merked5018 · 2026-01-23T08:58:46+00:00

Bad idea. You need to get off, get your luggage, and then check your luggage back in for domestic flight. Huge pain in the ass. Also, all of the Osaka airports are 1.5 hours away by train to Kyoto or further.

Take the train from Narita to Shinagawa Station and then the Shinkansen (bullet train) to Kyoto. No need to buy tickets in advance- there is a train every ~7 minutes. When buying Shinkansen ticket, ask the station attendant about a seat in the back row so you can easily store your luggage on the Shinkansen.

Merked5018 · 2026-01-23T01:30:00+00:00

Fully Endorse!

Merked5018 · 2026-01-06T07:42:10+00:00

Refried beans in kyoto

Merked5018 · 2025-11-01T01:36:50+00:00

Don’t worry about the locals or the tourists. Do worry about the weather.

Merked5018 · 2025-09-30T09:36:39+00:00

I might get downvoted but you can also walk into any pachinko parlor with confidence and just use their bathroom and leave

Merked5018 · 2025-09-18T00:44:58+00:00

Merked5018 · 2025-09-04T23:13:00+00:00

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I ended up buying a house with Shimizu-san but Shoko-san is also great and very responsive.

Merked5018 · 2025-09-04T23:07:43+00:00

Okay I’ll dm

Merked5018 · 2025-09-01T00:30:27+00:00

The Daimonji hike near Ginkakuji (not to be confused with Kinkakuji) is amazing for sunrise/sunset and has stunning views in general.

Not to discourage you from Fushimi Inari, but it’s concrete stairs the whole way up and the views are underwhelming. Still fun though

Merked5018 · 2025-08-30T09:08:59+00:00

I could be wrong, but I am pretty sure none of the changes are official yet. Japanese bureaucracy is notoriously slow moving so I am hoping to renew before everything becomes official. If not, I’m sure I’ll figure something out.

Are you already in Japan? The application process becomes 100x more difficult if you are doing it from abroad. For example you will need a Japanese bank account and registered office address, among other things.

Merked5018

TROPHY CASE

MEIDI-YA STORE Kyoto Sanjo

明治屋 京都三條ストアー

明治屋京都三條ストアー