Before Leaving Your Country
Procedures for Entry into Japan
Before entering and staying in Japan, you must go through the procedures stipulated by the Japanese law. These procedures vary depending on whether you will engage in paid activities, or whether your stay will be short-term or mid- to long-term.
If NAOJ employs you as a staff or accepts you as a researcher, NAOJ will carry out the necessary procedures as your host institution.
If you are a graduate student enrolled at the Graduate University for Advanced Studies (SOKENDAI), please follow the instructions of the person in charge at SOKENDAI, for the procedures for entry to Japan will be carried out through SOKENDAI.
Please refer to the "NAOJ Pre-Arrival Handbook" for more details.
Accommodation and Housing
Mitaka Campus
There is an on-campus accommodation, Cosmos Lodge, available for short-term visitors who plan to stay at the Mitaka Campus for purposes such as joint research. However, if there is no vacancy at Cosmos Lodge, you will need to book and stay at a local hotel.
If you plan to study or work at the Mitaka Campus for three months or longer (for mid- to long-term period), you will usually stay at Cosmos Lodge, an on-campus accommodation for short-term visitors, for the first few weeks after your arrival at NAOJ. During this period, you will seek off-campus accommodation or apartments to live in (hereinafter collectively called “off-campus housing”).
Individuals with certain job titles may be allowed to stay at Cosmos Lodge throughout their entire period of stay at NAOJ. However, the maximum length of stay for those with other titles will generally be limited to 32 consecutive nights, and during this time, they need to find off-campus housing and sign a lease.
Please refer to the "NAOJ Pre-Arrival Handbook" for more details.
Mizusawa Campus
On the Mizusawa Campus, there is “Keyaki Kaikan” for short term visitors. Short-term visitors can also choose to stay at a nearby hotel.
Please refer to the "NAOJ Pre-Arrival Handbook" for more details.
Nobeyama Campus
There is no accommodation facility operated by NAOJ on the Nobeyama campus, but a nearby accommodation facility owned by another university may be available, depending on the time of year and the availability of rooms. For details, please contact your host researcher at the Nobeyama Campus.
Please refer to the "NAOJ Pre-Arrival Handbook" for more details.
Insurance
Those on a medium- to long-term stay who are employed by NAOJ with prescribed working hours of more than 29 hours per week, or who meet all the requirements for enrollment in the "MEXT Mutual Aid Association" will join this insurance on the first day of their employment.
Those on a medium- to long-term stay who do not have an employment contract with NAOJ or who have an employment contract with NAOJ but do not meet the requirements for enrollment in the "MEXT Mutual Aid Association" must join the National Health Insurance system.
Those on a short-term stay (less than three months) are not eligible for both social insurance and National Health Insurance.
Before leaving your country, you are highly encouraged to purchase the following insurance policies to protect yourself from illness, injury, or accidents that may occur during your stay (short-term visitors) or during the initial period before you are covered by social insurance/NHI (mid to long term visitors).
Please refer to the "NAOJ Pre-Arrival Handbook" for more details.
Directions to NAOJ
Please check the links below for directions to each campus: