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Osaka, Japan
Photo: 663highland · CC BY 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons

Osaka

Japan · Asia · 2,752,412 people · Asia/Tokyo · JPY

Osaka scores 64.9/100 for digital nomads under balanced weights, ranking 425 of 1501 cities. Expect about $1,690 per month, a nomad visa (Digital nomad visa (Designated Activities)), and a measured median download speed of 48.7 Mbps.

Osaka gives you Japan's infrastructure and safety with lower rents and a warmer, louder personality than Tokyo. Kyoto is 15 minutes by train.

  • Street food (kuidaore)
  • Cheaper than Tokyo
  • Kyoto and Nara nearby
  • Loud and friendly
Cost of living: 5.4 of 65 points (scores 49/100)Safety: 10.5 of 65 points (scores 94/100)Healthcare: 10.2 of 65 points (scores 92/100)Internet: 8.2 of 65 points (scores 74/100)Visa ease: 7.2 of 65 points (scores 65/100)Getting there & around: 5.2 of 65 points (scores 47/100)Climate: 0.0 of 65 points (scores 0/100)Air quality: 10.0 of 65 points (scores 90/100)Quality of life: 8.3 of 65 points (scores 74/100)65
Balanced score
out of 100
Vibe check
  • Cost5.4
  • Safety10.5
  • Health10.2
  • Internet8.2
  • Visa7.2
  • Mobility5.2
  • Climate0.0
  • Air10.0
  • QoL8.3

Rank 425 of 1,501

For US nomads

  • US passport entry
    90 days visa-free
    no visa needed for a visit
  • Time vs New York
    14 hours ahead of New York
    0h of a 9–6 day overlap with Eastern time
  • Time vs Los Angeles
    17 hours ahead of Los Angeles
    0h of a 9–6 day overlap with Pacific time
  • Non-stop from the US
    4 US airports
    Wikipedia, 2026-11

Prices are in US dollars. US citizens are taxed on worldwide income; the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion and state residency rules are worth a look before a long stay.

Eating out

OpenStreetMap, 2026-1116

2,900restaurants within 3 km

Mapped around the centre of Osaka: one of the densest dining scenes in the dataset. A count of what is on the map, not a rating, and it does not affect the score.

How Osaka scores, factor by factor

Superscripts link to the source list at the bottom. Country-level figures apply to all of Japan.

Cost of living

Monthly cost for one person (log-scaled, cheaper is better).
49
  • Monthly cost, one person: $1,6902 · city-level, 2026-07
  • Central one-bedroom rent: $8932 · city-level, 2026-07

Safety

Homicide rate and political stability (country-level).
94
  • Homicide rate: 0.23 per 100k4 · country-level, 2024
  • Political stability: 87.7/1005 · country-level, 2025

Healthcare

WHO universal-health-coverage index and life expectancy (country-level).
92
  • UHC service coverage: 86/1006 · country-level, 2023
  • Life expectancy: 83.9 years7 · country-level, 2023

Internet

Median measured download and upload speed (M-Lab, city-level; the province or country aggregate where the city has too few tests).
74
  • Median download: 48.7 Mbps8 · city-level, 2024
  • Median upload: 17.2 Mbps8 · city-level, 2024
  • Tests measured: 172,8598 · city-level, 2024
  • Starlink: Available9 · country-level, 2026-10, not scored

Visa ease

How easily your passport gets in and stays: visa-free days, eTA, visa on arrival, e-visa or consular visa, plus a nomad visa and how affordable its income threshold is. Averages US, EU and UK passports until you pick yours.
65
  • Nomad visa: Digital nomad visa (Designated Activities)10 · min income $5,285/mo
  • Entry, US passport: 90 days11 · country-level, 2026-02
  • Entry, EU passport: 90 days11 · country-level, 2026-02
  • Entry, UK passport: 90 days11 · country-level, 2026-02

Getting there & around

Non-stop airport destinations (hub size) plus editorial walkability and transit ratings.
47
  • Non-stop destinations from KIX/ITM: 8112 · city-level, 2026-11
  • Walkability: 4/513 · editorial, 2026-09
  • Public transit: 5/513 · editorial, 2026-09

Climate

Share of months that are comfortable: 59–82°F (15–28 °C) mean, at most 5.9 in (150 mm) rain, at most 85% humidity.
0
  • Comfortable months: 0 of 1214 · city-level, 2001–2020 normals

Air quality

Annual mean PM2.5 on a fixed scale: 5 µg/m³ (WHO guideline) scores 100, 50 µg/m³ or worse scores 0.
90
  • Annual mean PM2.5: 9.4 µg/m³15 · city-level, 2022

Quality of life

Human Development Index and English proficiency (country-level).
74
  • Human Development Index: 0.92517 · country-level, 2023
  • English proficiency: low18 · country-level, 2024

What does Osaka cost per month?

Total, one person$1,690city, outskirts one-bedroom
Total with a central one-bedroom$2,033derived
One-bedroom rent, centre$893city
One-bedroom rent, outskirts$550city
Country cost index (US = 100)74country

Can you stay legally?

Digital nomad visa · Japan

Digital nomad visa (Designated Activities)

Not yet reviewedSubmit a review →
Income
$5,285/month
Initial stay
6 months, not renewable
Apply
At a consulate
Read the Japan digital nomad visa guide →for Osaka
Nomad visaDigital nomad visa (Designated Activities)
Minimum income$5,285/month
US passport90 days
EU passport90 days
UK passport90 days

Visa rules change often. Verify with the issuing government before you book.

Do you pay tax here on income from abroad?

Tax status · Japan

Up to 55.945% on worldwide income; for 5 years, foreigners pay on foreign investment income only if brought in

Worldwide income

Japan taxes residents on worldwide income, but a foreigner who has lived there 5 years or less in the last 10 is a non-permanent resident: foreign investment income is taxed only if paid in Japan or remitted. Pay for work done while in Japan is always taxed, at 5%–45% national tax plus a 2.1% surtax and 10% inhabitant tax. Listed share gains and dividends pay 20.315%. Digital nomad visa holders (6 months) are usually non-residents.

  • Remote work income

    Salary from a foreign employer or fees from foreign clients

    Taxed

    5%–45% progressive national income tax plus 2.1% reconstruction surtax, plus 10% inhabitant tax

  • Investments and pensions

    Dividends, interest, gains, rent and pensions from abroad

    Taxed if brought in

    20.315% on listed share gains and listed dividends; foreign deposit interest, rent and pensions at 5%–45% plus 2.1% surtax and 10% inhabitant tax

  • Wealth

    Net wealth and inheritance

    No wealth tax

    Inheritance tax applies

Tax resident after
home or ties test
Top income tax rate
55.95%

On the nomad visa

The Designated Activities (Digital Nomad) status gives up to 6 months, with no extension, no residence card and no resident registration, so holders normally have no domicile in Japan and are non-residents. Their foreign investment income is then not taxed in Japan, and they owe no inhabitant tax. Pay for remote work done in Japan is still Japan-source income, but the visa is only open to nationals of countries with a tax treaty with Japan, and the Immigration Services Agency says the pay is exempt when the treaty conditions are met: typically 183 days or less in Japan in the tax year or any 12 months and an employer that is not a Japanese resident. Without the exemption, a non-resident's Japan-source pay is taxed at 20.42% on a return. Holders cannot join Japanese public health insurance and must carry private cover.

Not yet reviewed by a person · compiled from official pages read on 2026-10-27

General information, not tax advice. Tax treaties, your citizenship and your home country's exit rules can change the answer. US citizens are taxed by the US wherever they live.

Airports and nonstop flights

Osaka is served by 2 airports; a destination reachable from more than one counts once in the total.

AirportNonstop destinationsInternationalFrom US airports
KIXKansai International Airport62484
ITMItami Airport2900
All airports, unique destinations81484

Wikipedia airport pages as of 2026-11: seasonal routes included, charters and announced-but-not-started routes excluded.

What is the weather like through the year?

No month meets the comfort rule here. Rank cities for Dec–Feb →

MonthJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Mean °F373944546370777972615141
Rain in2.63.14.65.36.38.48.778.97.63.73
Humidity %848280787983858484848484

Green temperatures mark months that meet the comfort rule (59–82°F, ≤5.9 in rain, ≤85% humidity). NASA POWER 2001–2020 climatology at the city coordinates.

Where can you stay in Osaka?

Three ways to live here, and what each does to the monthly budget. Rents are the one-bedroom figures from the cost table; hotels and short lets are priced per night and cost more, most of all in high season.

OptionRent per monthMonthly totalNotes
One-bedroom outside the centre$550$1,690The basis of the monthly cost and the cost score.
One-bedroom in the centre$893$2,033The monthly total with the central rent swapped in.
Hotel or short let——For the first weeks or a stay under a month. Compare hotels on Navoy →

Monthly rents assume an unfurnished lease of six months or more; furnished monthly lets usually cost 20 to 50 percent more.

Cities with a similar profile

Also in Asia: Abbottabad, Agra, Ahmedabad, Ahvaz, Akita, Almaty

Where Osaka ranks

Ready to see Osaka for yourself?

Nostos tells you where. Navoy, the AI travel planner behind it, builds the trip: itineraries, places to stay and what to book before you land.

Opens on navoy.io.

The vibe

What people post about living in Osaka, read for its mood. It is a reading of opinions, not a fact, and it is not part of the score.

Liked · 78Commenters who have lived or worked in Osaka describe it as affordable, friendly and easygoing, a more relaxed alternative to Tokyo, with few real warnings beyond ordinary big-city issues.

People praise
  • affordability
  • weak yen value
  • food
  • easygoing pace
  • relaxed alternative to Tokyo
  • cleaner than before
  • good work-life balance
People warn about
  • limited detail on internet
  • mostly generic comments
  • few firsthand accounts of daily frictions
  • Osaka feels cheaper and less crowded than Tokyo for remote workers
  • Food and gym-plus-work routines make daily life enjoyable
  • The city has cleaned up and feels more pleasant than decades ago
  • Commenters call it a hidden gem worth a longer stay
  • Content is thin, so the picture leans on a few sources

Read from 8 videos, 22 comments and 0 posts on 2026-11-07; the summary is written by a language model and can misread sarcasm.

Frequently asked

How much does it cost to live in Osaka as a digital nomad?
A single person typically spends about $1,690 per month in Osaka, renting a one-bedroom outside the centre (about $550). A central one-bedroom costs about $893, which brings the total to roughly $2,033. That is a 49/100 cost score, where 100 is the cheapest city in the dataset.
Is Osaka safe for digital nomads?
Osaka scores 94/100 on safety. Japan records 0.23 homicides per 100,000 people per year (WHO, 2024) and a political-stability score of 87.7/100 (World Bank WGI). Both figures are national, so neighbourhood-level risk can differ.
Does Japan have a digital nomad visa?
Yes. Japan offers the Digital nomad visa (Designated Activities) with a minimum income of about $5,285 per month. Verify current rules with the issuing authority before applying. Full guide: https://nostos.navoy.io/visas/japan
How fast is the internet in Osaka?
Measured median download speed in Osaka was 48.7 Mbps (upload 17.2 Mbps) across 172,859 M-Lab tests in 2024. Measured speeds run below advertised plan speeds everywhere, so compare cities rather than reading the number as a plan.
Is Starlink available in Osaka?
Yes. Starlink's availability map lists residential service as available in Japan (checked 2026-10), so a dish can serve as a backup line in Osaka. Check the exact address on starlink.com before ordering, since capacity varies by area.
Which airports serve Osaka and how many nonstop flights are there?
Osaka is served by Kansai International Airport (KIX) with 62 nonstop destinations and Itami Airport (ITM) with 29 nonstop destinations, 81 unique destinations across all of them, of which 48 are international. 4 US airports have a nonstop link. Source: Wikipedia, 2026-11.
When is the best time of year to be in Osaka?
No month meets our comfort rule (59–82°F / 15–28 °C mean, at most 5.9 in / 150 mm rain, at most 85% humidity). Mean temperatures range from 37°F (3°C) in Jan to 79°F (26°C) in Aug (NASA POWER 2001–2020 climatology).
Osaka or Fukuoka: which is better for digital nomads?
Fukuoka is the city with the closest factor profile to Osaka in this dataset. Which one wins depends on your weights; the comparison page puts every factor side by side with the numbers behind them.

Sources

Dataset 2026.11.3, published 2026-11-10. Download the full dataset or read the methodology.

  1. 1.City population (latest census or official estimate), Wikipedia (citing national statistics offices). CC BY-SA 4.0. Retrieved 2026-09-22. City-proper figures; the per-city source URL is stored with the seed row.
  2. 2.Cost of Living Global 2026 (city rows), WhereToEmigrate. CC BY 4.0. Retrieved 2026-09-22. monthly_cost_single_eur and rent_1br_center_eur, converted to USD at the ECB reference rate on the retrieval date (see ecb-frankfurter).
  3. 3.2026 Cost of Living Index (country level), WhereNext. CC BY 4.0. Retrieved 2026-09-22. Country-level monthly estimate used only where no city-level figure exists; cost_index kept for every city.
  4. 4.Victims of intentional homicide per 100,000 population (national data, latest year), United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, dataUNODC. UNODC data, free to reuse with attribution. Retrieved 2026-10-12. Police- or statistics-office-recorded rates reported to UNODC's crime-trends survey, latest year per country (2024 for most), both sexes, all ages; the United Kingdom uses England and Wales. Replaces the WHO modelled estimate wherever UNODC has a figure from 2018 or later; WHO's 2021 estimates ran several times above recorded figures for El Salvador and Honduras. Workbook data_cts_intentional_homicide.xlsx (July 2026) reduced by scripts/build-dataset/inputs/convert-unodc-homicide.py.
  5. 5.Worldwide Governance Indicators — Political Stability and Absence of Violence (score 0–100), World Bank. CC BY 4.0. Retrieved 2026-09-22.
  6. 6.UHC service coverage index, World Health Organization, Global Health Observatory. CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (WHO data policy). Retrieved 2026-09-22.
  7. 7.Life expectancy at birth (years), both sexes, World Health Organization, Global Health Observatory. CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (WHO data policy). Retrieved 2026-09-22.
  8. 8.M-Lab NDT statistics (city aggregates, 2024), Measurement Lab. CC0 1.0. Retrieved 2026-09-22. Median of daily median download/upload throughput over 2024 for the city aggregate; sample count is the number of tests. Speeds reflect user-initiated tests, not advertised plans.
  9. 9.Starlink availability map, SpaceX (Starlink). Factual status cited from starlink.com. Retrieved 2026-10-07. Residential service status per country from the file Starlink's map loads. Grouped as on the map: launched or available = available; coming soon, pending regulatory approval or test = coming soon; blacklisted = not offered; unknown or excluded = unknown. Shown on city pages and as a ranker filter; not part of any score. Roaming and maritime plans can work in more places.
  10. 10.Nostos long-stay visa guides, Navoy. CC BY 4.0. Retrieved 2026-10-04. One record per country in data/manual/visas/<iso2>.json, compiled into data/visa-guides.json. Each guide lists the official government pages it was compiled from with retrieval dates. A guide's `verification` field is set only when a named person has re-read every source; until then pages say the guide is not yet reviewed by a person.
  11. 11.Passport Index dataset (visa requirements, 199 passports × 199 destinations), Ilya Ilyankou (compiled from passportindex.org). MIT. Retrieved 2026-09-22. Days per visit where stated; 'visa free' without a limit is credited as unlimited; eTA, visa on arrival, e-visa and visa required are credited 0 days for scoring but shown by kind. The default US/EU/UK figures use the US, German and British passports.
  12. 12.Airport destinations (Wikipedia airline and destination tables), Wikipedia contributors; countries via Wikidata. CC BY-SA 4.0. Retrieved 2026-09-24. Distinct destination airports listed in each airport article's passenger table, resolved through Wikidata. Seasonal routes count; charters and routes announced but not yet flying are excluded. The as-of date is the newest article revision among the city's airports. Falls back to the OpenFlights snapshot when an airport has no article or table.
  13. 13.Walkability and transit ratings (editorial), Navoy. CC BY 4.0. Retrieved 2026-09-22. Judgment ratings, not measurements. Explained on /methodology.
  14. 14.NASA POWER climatology (2001–2020 monthly means), NASA Langley Research Center. Public domain (US Government). Retrieved 2026-09-22. T2M, PRECTOTCORR and RH2M at the city coordinates (0.5° grid). Monthly precipitation = mm/day × days in month.
  15. 15.WHO Ambient Air Quality Database, June 2026 update (V8), World Health Organization. CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (WHO data policy). Retrieved 2026-09-22. Annual mean PM2.5 for the most recent year available for the city.
  16. 16.OpenStreetMap restaurants (Overpass API), OpenStreetMap contributors. ODbL 1.0. Retrieved 2026-10-02. Count of OpenStreetMap elements tagged amenity=restaurant within 3 km of the city centre coordinate. Measures how many restaurants are mapped, which tracks real density well where OpenStreetMap is well maintained (Europe, the Americas, East and Southeast Asia) and under-counts where it is not (parts of Africa and Central Asia).
  17. 17.Human Development Index (HDR 2025, HDI 2023), United Nations Development Programme. CC BY 3.0 IGO. Retrieved 2026-09-22.
  18. 18.EF English Proficiency Index 2024 (band), EF Education First. Proprietary; band cited as a fact with attribution. Retrieved 2026-09-22. Only the proficiency band is stored, transcribed by hand from the public ranking.