The purpose of foreign resident registration is to clarify information related to address and identification of foreign residents living in Japan. Therefore, all foreign residents other than diplomats must apply for foreign resident registration at municipal offices.
In addition, if you change your address or registered information, be sure to notify such change to your local municipal office yourself or have a family member living with you notify the change.

Contact: Residents Information Section (Foreign Resident Registration Section), Nishiyodogawa Ward Office
Tel:06-6478-9885

You have to apply for [entry][an entry permit] formally in person at your local municipal office within 90 days of entering Japan.
Requisites: Your passport or authorization of resident eligibility, two photographs of your face (4.5´3.5 cm)
(Unnecessary if you are under 16 years of age.)

Contact: Residents Information Section (Foreign Resident Registration Section), Nishiyodogawa Ward Office
Tel:06-6478-9885

What procedure should I follow if I give birth to a child?

Notify the birth of your child to your local municipal office within 60 days of his/her birth. If you notify the birth of your child to a local office that is not your own local municipal office, you are required to submit a document that certifies your child?s birth, such as a maternal and child health handbook, proof of birth registration, etc.

Contact: Residents Information Section (Foreign Resident Registration Section), Nishiyodogawa Ward Office
Tel:06-6478-9885

What procedure should I follow after I change my address?

Notify your new address to the municipal office located in your new residential area within 14 days of moving in.
Requisites: Certificate of alien registration

Contact: Residents Information Section (Foreign Resident Registration Section), Nishiyodogawa Ward Office
Tel:06-6478-9885

What procedure should I follow if there is any change in my foreign registration record other than address (e.g.: name, nationality, occupation, residence status, period of stay, name or place of work/office)?

Notify such change(s) to your local municipal office within 14 days from the day of such change(s).
Requisites: Certificate of alien registration, a document proving a change or changes in your foreign registration record

Contact: Residents Information Section (Foreign Resident Registration Section), Nishiyodogawa Ward Office
Tel:06-6478-9885

What should I do when there is any change in No. or date of issue of my passport, my address or dwelling place in my home country, name of the head of my family, or relation with the head of my family?

There is not any time limit set for the notification of such changes. Notify such changes to your local municipal office by the time when you make any other application or notification related to foreign resident certification.
Requisites: Certificate of alien registration, a document proving change or changes in your foreign registration record

Contact: Residents Information Section (Foreign Resident Registration Section), Nishiyodogawa Ward Office
Tel:06-6478-9885

What are the requisites when notifying a change in foreign resident certification?

1. Two identical photographs of your face
- 4.5 × 3.5 cm
- The picture must show the notifying person only
- The photo must have been taken within the previous 6 months
- Facing the front with uncovered head
- Without a background
2. Certificate of alien registration
3. Passport (if you have one)
Submit the above-listed items to your local municipal office when making the notification. Note that the notification should be made by the person who has had any change or changes in his/her foreign registration record.

Contact: Residents Information Section (Foreign Resident Registration Section), Nishiyodogawa Ward Office
Tel:06-6478-9885

I have lost my certificate of alien registration. What must I provide to have it reissued?

1. Two identical photographs of your face
- 4.5 × 3.5 cm
- The picture must be of the notifying person only
- The photo must have been taken within the previous 6 months
- Facing the front with uncovered head
- Without background
2. Passport (if you have one)
Submit the above-listed items to your local municipal office to have your certificate reissued. Note that the notification should be done by the person who has lost his/her certificate of alien registration.

Contact: Residents Information Section (Foreign Resident Registration Section), Nishiyodogawa Ward Office
Tel:06-6478-9885

What are the requisites to obtain the Certificate of the Facts in Registration?

Request the issuance of the Certificate of the Facts in Registration yourself or have one of your family members living with you make the request on your behalf. If you entrust an agent other than a member of your family to make the request for the issuance of the certificate, submission of a document proving that the appointed person has been entrusted to make the request and a written confirmation of the agent are required.

Contact: Residents Information Section (Foreign Resident Registration Section), Nishiyodogawa Ward Office
Tel:06-6478-9885

I recently quit the company I had been working for. What procedure must be followed to change my social health insurance to national health insurance?

After losing your eligibility for social health insurance at your previous work place, you should apply to be enrolled in the national health insurance scheme at the Ward Office within 14 days of your termination date. To do so, present your personal seal and certificate of loss of social health insurance eligibility. If you fail to apply for enrollment within the specified period, you must pay the premium dating back to the day of your termination (however, the maximum period is two years).

Contact: Nishiyodogawa Ward Office
Tel:06-6478-9907

I want to pay my national health insurance premium via account transfer or automatic withdrawal.

Apply for such payment at financial facilities including Japan Post Bank and other banks, or the Insurance Pension Section (administrative Section) at ward offices. Present your health insurance card (or payment notice), bank book, seal used in the bank account for the procedure. The premium is withdrawn from your Japan Post Bank account or other financial institution on the last day of each month (if it falls on a day on which the Japan Post Bank or other financial institutions are closed, the following working day).

Contact: Nishiyodogawa Ward Office
Tel:06-6478-9907

Tell me about the conditions under which someone can apply for a premium reduction or to be exempted from paying the national health insurance premium.

In the event that someone has difficulty in paying his/her premium for some reason, such as suffering from a disaster or salary reduction, the amount of his/her national health insurance premium may be reduced or exempted. Contact the Insurance Pension Section (administration) at ward offices for a consultation.

Contact: Nishiyodogawa Ward Office
Tel:06-6478-9907

The amount I had to pay to be admitted to a hospital for treatment was very high. Can I receive any of this payment back under the national health insurance scheme?

Apply for the benefit for high-cost medical care by which you can receive the difference between the medical payment you made in the same year and the specified maximum medical payment (excluding expenses for meals during your admission). To apply, present your health insurance card, seal, receipt of medical payment and bank book of the head of your family (if you desire to receive payment via bank transfer).

Contact: Nishiyodogawa Ward Office
Tel:06-6478-9907

Can I receive payment under the national health insurance scheme when I have a child or when I die?

When you have a child (including in the case of a miscarriage or stillborn baby after more than 85 days of pregnancy), you can receive a lump-sum birth allowance of 350,000 yen (400,000 yen for the second and subsequent child). To obtain the allowance, present your health insurance, seal, maternal and child health handbook, and bank book of the head of your family. Your passport is also required if you gave birth in countries other than Japan.
In addition, a system that provides a loan to cover delivery expenses is available.
When you die, a lump-sum funeral allowance of 50,000 yen is provided. To receive the allowance, application is required by presenting your health insurance card, seal, bank book and certificate of burial or cremation.

Contact: Nishiyodogawa Ward Office
Tel:06-6478-9907

How should I separate wastes?

Osaka City categorizes wastes for collection into four classifications: domestic waste, recyclable waste, bulky waste and plastic containers and packaging waste.

Contact: Nishiyodogawa Ward Office
Tel:06-6478-9907

When is domestic waste collected?

Domestic waste is collected on two specified days each week. Put domestic waste into a see-through plastic bag so that its contents are visible from the outside, and place it at a designated waste collection site by 9:00 a.m. on each collection day. Note that we do not collect waste that is put in other than see-through plastic bags, for example, opaque plastic bags, paper bags, cardboard boxes, etc. (Contact us for inquiries about waste collection days.)

Contact: Nishiyodogawa Ward Office
Tel:06-6478-9907

Where should I take milk cartons for recycling?

Paper cartons collected by individuals are accepted and collected at Nishiyodogawa Ward Office from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. every Friday. Used batteries and fluorescent lighting tubes and broken mercury thermometers from general households are also collected at the same place and at the same time. We would like to ask you for your cooperation in our recycling activities.

Contact: Nishiyodogawa Ward Office
Tel:06-6478-9907

What procedure should be followed for registering a recently acquired dog?

Register your dog at the Public Health and Welfare Center. In addition, you must have your dog vaccinated against rabies once a year.

Contact: Nishiyodogawa Ward Office
Tel:06-6478-9907

What should I do after my pet dies?

Ask Kizugawa Office of the Environment Management Bureau to have your dead pet disposed of (there is a disposal fee for this service).
* When your pet dog dies, be sure to notify the Public Health and Welfare Center. Meanwhile, for dead dogs, cats and other animals whose owners are unknown, call the Seihoku Environmental Management Center for disposal.

Contact: Nishiyodogawa Ward Office
Tel:06-6478-9907

Where can I obtain my maternal and child health handbook?

You can obtain it from the Public Health and Welfare Center. Meanwhile, those who have moved into the area from outside Osaka City and already have the handbook are required to apply for changing the handbook to the one issued by Osaka City.

Contact: Nishiyodogawa Ward Office
Tel:06-6478-9907

Tell me about the municipal health consultation service for mothers and babies.

Osaka City provides pregnant and postpartum women with consultation services on health, advice on diet and nutrition and how to prepare for childbirth, etc., as well as diseases, health conditions and growth of babies. These services are provided by health nurses by telephone or interview.

Contact: Nishiyodogawa Ward Office
Tel:06-6478-9907

Where can I apply for day nursery admission for my child?

Application for day nursery admission from the beginning of the following fiscal year is accepted around early November each year. Admission in the middle of the year is acceptable at any time. Apply for admission at the Public Health and Welfare Center or the day nursery you wish your child to enter.

Contact: Nishiyodogawa Ward Office
Tel:06-6478-9907

I want to receive advice on child-raising.

The Public Health and Welfare Center provides consultation services for people who are experiencing difficulty raising their children.

Contact: Nishiyodogawa Ward Office
Tel:06-6478-9907

I want to receive advice regarding child abuse.

The Public Health and Welfare Center provides consultation services on child abuse. Immediately contact us if you have any child-abuse-related concerns (for example, you may abuse your child, or it appears that your neighbor is abusing his/her child), even if it seems very trivial.
Your notification or reporting will be kept strictly confidential. In addition, we would not interrogate you or a person suspected of child abuse, on the basis of the assumption that you or such person abuses a child.

Contact: Nishiyodogawa Ward Office
Tel:06-6478-9907

When can I apply for municipal housing?

Applications for municipal housing are accepted in February and July each year (scheduled). Contact us for the schedule for application form distribution and other information.
* Applicant families are required to complete foreign resident registration in Osaka City.

Contact: Nishiyodogawa Ward Office
Tel:06-6478-9907

Tell me about the rent subsidy system for newlyweds.

For newlywed couples living in Osaka City, Osaka City has a system through which the city subsidizes part of their monthly rent. The application form is available at the Information Section, 1st floor of Nishiyodogawa Ward Office.
* Applicant couples are required to complete foreign resident registration in their residential areas.

Contact: Nishiyodogawa Ward Office
Tel:06-6478-9907

Where can I obtain tax-related certificates?

Certificates for municipal tax payment and taxation are available at the municipal tax offices and ward offices in Osaka City. To obtain these certificates, you are required to present some form of identification showing your name such as driver?s license, health insurance card, etc. If you entrust an agent other than one of your family members to make a request for such certificates on your behalf, a letter of entrustment is required.
* There is no specific form for the letter of entrustment. The letter shall include the following: words expressing intention of entrustment, name and address of both entruster and entrustee, items entrusted, date on which entrustment was made. In addition, the seal of the entruster must be affixed on the side of his/her name.

Contact: Nishiyodogawa Ward Office
Tel:06-6478-9907

Where can I pay the municipal tax?

You can pay the tax at banks (Japan Post Bank and almost all banks, credit unions, credit corporations, agricultural cooperatives, industrial banks, and other banking facilities in Osaka City), municipal tax offices, ward offices, and satellite branches of banks at Osaka City Hall building. You can pay the tax also at major convenience stores with a bar-coded tax payment slip.
* Tax payment can be made at the counter of branches and central branches of banks throughout Japan, via ATMs and via the Internet using the Pay-easy service. These services are available at the following banks: Risona Group, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Mizuho Bank, Japan Post Bank.
* For other financial facilities such as credit unions, tax payment can be made at the counter of branches and central branches (designated by Osaka City only) in Osaka Prefecture or via the Internet using the Pay-easy service.

Contact: Nishiyodogawa Ward Office
Tel:06-6478-9907

For tax-related inquiries other than those described above, contact the Administrative Affairs Section, Umeda Municipal Tax Office (Tel: 06-4797-2948).

What should I do if I am suddenly taken ill?

Remain calm and call 119.

I want to start learning Japanese. Where can I do this?

You can learn Japanese reading, writing, etc. at several public facilities including the Osaka Municipal Lifelong Learning Center and CREO Osaka West. In Nishiyodogawa Ward, a Japanese literacy and conversation class starts from 7:00 p.m. on Tuesdays at Dekijima Elementary School.

Contact: Osaka Municipal Lifelong Learning Center (Ekimae Dai-2 Bldg. 5F, 1-2-2-500 Umeda, Kita-ku, Osaka Tel:06-6345-5009)
CREO Osaka West (6-1-20 Nishikujo, Konohana-ku, Osaka Tel:06-6460-7800)

My bicycle was removed from the front of a station where I parked it. Where should I make inquiries to recover my bicycle?

Osaka municipal government will immediately remove bicycles or minibikes left in no-parking zones in the vicinity of stations and other areas, and will dispose of them if there is no report or inquiry from their owners one month from the day such bicycles or minibikes were removed.
Confiscated bicycle storage sites in Nishiyodogawa Ward:
Ohwada bicycle storage site (Near stations: JR Mitejima Sta., Kashima Sta.)
Fukumachi bicycle storage site (Near stations: JR Tsukamoto Sta., Hanshin Himejima Sta., Chibune Sta., Dekijima Sta.)
Open: 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. (closed: Mondays, following national holidays, year end and New Year holidays)
Requisites for recovering bicycles:
The key of the bicycle, payment of custody charge (2,500 yen and 4,000 yen for each bicycle and minibike, respectively), and a form of identification, e.g.: driver?s license, health insurance card.

Contact: Nishiyodogawa Ward Office
Tel:06-6478-9907

I am annoyed by rats and cockroaches in my house. How can I exterminate these pests?

The Public Health and Welfare Center will provide you with guidance on pest control methods.
In addition, during Cockroach Extermination Promotion Month (June) and Rat Extermination Promotion Months (February and November), the Center distributes pesticides (insecticide, rat poison), gives instruction on how to use such pesticides, and makes pest control tools including rat traps and pesticide sprays available free of charge.

Contact: Nishiyodogawa Ward Office
Tel:06-6478-9907

I am annoyed by noise and vibration caused by the construction work being carried out near my house. Where can I receive advice on how to eliminate such annoyance?

Contact the Public Health and Welfare Center regarding public nuisances such as noise, vibration, offensive odor, etc.

Contact: Nishiyodogawa Ward Office
Tel:06-6478-9907