Glossary
Juminhyo (residence certificate)
Your official proof-of-address record from city hall, required for registration, loans, and rental applications.
The juminhyo is the municipal record of where you are registered as living, and you get copies at your local ward or city office for a small fee. It functions as your official proof of address. The shiho-shoshi needs a current copy to register you as owner, lenders ask for it on a mortgage application, and landlords and guarantee companies request it for rental screening. You can only hold one in Japan after you have a residence card and have registered your address, so anyone buying purely from abroad cannot produce one and uses an affidavit instead.