How to Get a Death Certificate in Japan

Getting a death certificate in Japan involves two separate documents that English speakers frequently confuse — and confusing them can delay every other filing by weeks.

The Medical Death Certificate (Shibou Shomeisho)

This is issued by the attending physician at the time of death. If the person died in a hospital, the doctor provides it immediately. If the death occurred at home or in suspicious circumstances, the police coroner conducts an examination and issues a Post-Mortem Certificate (Shitai Kanzatsusho) instead. Both carry identical legal weight.

The medical certificate fills the left half of a standard A3 form. The right half is the Death Notification (Shibotodoke) — the municipal filing that you'll submit to the ward office. They're literally two halves of the same piece of paper.

Filing the Death Notification (Shibotodoke)

You must submit the Shibotodoke to the municipal, ward, or town office within seven days of learning of the death. You can file at any of three locations: the office where the death occurred, the deceased's registered domicile, or your own place of residence.

The filing itself is straightforward — the right side of the death certificate form, filled in with basic information about the deceased and the person reporting the death. But there's a catch: it must be in Japanese. If you can't read Japanese, bring someone who can, or ask the funeral director to handle the filing as part of their service.

Weekend and holiday filings go through the ward office's night duty room (Yatoshitsu). They'll accept the form for custody, but won't process it or issue any permits until the next business day. Plan around this.

Once the Shibotodoke is accepted, you simultaneously receive the Certificate of Permission for Burial or Cremation (Maiso Kaso Kyokasho). Without this permit, no crematorium will accept the remains.

Getting an English Translation

Japanese death certificates are issued exclusively in Japanese. No official English-language version exists. To use the certificate abroad — for embassy reports, insurance claims, or foreign probate proceedings — you need a certified translation.

The translation must be complete, include the translator's name and seal, and match every detail on the original document exactly. Discrepancies in name spellings between the death certificate, passport, and any Japanese registration records (old Residence Cards, etc.) will cause delays at banks and the Legal Affairs Bureau.

If you need the certificate apostilled for use in countries that are parties to the Hague Apostille Convention, submit it to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Gaimusho) for authentication. For countries outside the convention, you'll need consular legalization through the relevant embassy instead.

Multiple Certified Copies

Request multiple certified copies of the death certificate at the ward office when you file. Banks, insurance companies, the Legal Affairs Bureau, and the tax office will each need originals — not photocopies. The fee is JPY 350-750 per copy depending on the municipality.

You'll typically need at minimum four to six copies: one for each bank account, one for the Legal Affairs Bureau if there's real estate, one for the National Tax Agency for inheritance tax, and one to keep.

What Happens After Filing

The moment the ward office processes the Shibotodoke, several things happen automatically: the deceased's family register (Koseki) is updated with the death, their resident record (Juminhyo) is removed, and the municipal office begins the process of cancelling their National Health Insurance and pension enrollment.

This also starts the clock on other deadlines — 14 days to return the Residence Card to Immigration, 14 days to notify if a dependent visa holder has lost their sponsor, and three months to decide whether to accept or renounce the inheritance.

The Japan Death Guide for English Speakers includes the complete document filing sequence with bilingual reference sheets for every ward office interaction.

See more Japan guides →