A long stay in Izu from elsewhere in Asia: visas, where to base yourself and what to budget

Stay · Izu Peninsula · Published 2026-10-25.

Planning weeks rather than days in Izu from Singapore or another Asian base: visa rules, the best towns for a long stay, monthly costs and how it compares with keeping your city home.

Tokyo → Atami

Tokaido Shinkansen, about 40–50 min

Digital nomad status

up to 6 months, income ≥ ¥10 million, private medical insurance

Best bases

Atami, Ito / Izu-Kogen, Shuzenji, Shimoda

Most visitors give the Izu Peninsula a weekend. A growing number of people who already live in Asia, in Singapore, Hong Kong, Seoul or Bangkok, give it a month or more: a winter of onsen and sea views, a working stay between projects, or a slow trip that ends with a decision about where to live next. This guide is for them. It covers what the rules allow, which towns work for a long stay, what a month costs and how to think about it against the rent you keep paying at home.

Who is coming, and why Izu

Travel from Singapore to Japan has reached record levels. Japan National Tourism Organization figures show 691,226 visitors from Singapore in 2024, a record at the time, and a preliminary 726,200 in 2025. Many of them head for Tokyo, Kyoto or Hokkaido. Izu appeals to the ones who want something quieter but still connected: the Tokaido Shinkansen reaches Atami from Tokyo in about 40 to 50 minutes, so a month on the coast does not mean a month away from the city, its airports or its offices.

For residents of Singapore the trade-off is easy to frame. Private rents there kept rising in 2025, with the official rental index up again in the third quarter after a slower 2024. Keeping a city flat while spending a month away doubles the bill, which is why many long-stayers time an Izu stay with the end of a lease, a move between flats or a sabbatical rather than adding it on top. Whatever your base, it is worth comparing what you pay there each month with the cost of a furnished holiday rental on the coast before you decide how long to stay.

What the visa rules allow

Visitors from many Asian countries and territories, including Singapore, can enter Japan without a visa for short stays as temporary visitors. That status covers tourism and visiting, not working for a Japanese client or employer. The usual limit is 90 days, but the exact period depends on your nationality, so check before you book a long stay.

Since 2024 Japan has also offered a specific status for digital nomads. According to the Immigration Services Agency, it allows a stay of up to six months for people who work remotely for a foreign employer, or who sell services or goods to clients abroad using the internet. Applicants need an annual income of at least 10 million yen, private medical insurance, and nationality of one of the countries and territories on the eligible list. The six months cannot be extended, and the status does not allow employment by a Japanese company. A spouse and children can come under a related status. If your plan is a working stay of two to six months, this is the route to look at first, and the official page is the reference: read it rather than a summary, because the conditions are detailed.

Choosing a base

For a long stay, the town matters more than the view from one hotel. Four bases cover most needs.

• Atami is the practical choice: Shinkansen station, supermarkets, clinics and plenty of apartments and holiday flats, many of them on a steep hillside with sea views. It is busy at weekends and quiet midweek.
• Ito and Izu-Kogen offer a slower pace and a lot of holiday homes in the woods around Izu-Kogen, with the JR Ito line for errands. Ito also has a network of small public bathhouses that makes daily onsen cheap.
• Shuzenji, in the centre, is the classic onsen town: a river valley, a temple, bamboo paths and direct trains to Mishima for the Shinkansen. It suits writers and anyone who wants calm more than beaches.
• Shimoda is the beach town at the southern tip, with surf in summer and very quiet winters. It is the furthest from Tokyo by train, so it works best if you rarely need to go back.

Our guide to Izu's onsen towns compares their baths and atmosphere in more detail.

Finding somewhere to live for a month

Ordinary Japanese leases are built for residents: two-year terms, key money, a guarantor company and paperwork in Japanese. For a stay of one to six months, foreign visitors usually look instead at three kinds of accommodation.

• Licensed holiday rentals. Whole homes and flats rented by the night, often with weekly or monthly discounts. In Japan they must be registered under the private lodging law or run as licensed inns, so check that a listing shows a registration or licence number.
• Monthly apartments. Furnished flats let by the month, with utilities included, mainly in larger towns such as Atami and Ito. They are simpler than a lease but usually require a stay of at least 30 days.
• Ryokan and hotels with long-stay plans. Some inns offer rates for stays of a week or more, sometimes with breakfast only, which is a comfortable way to start before moving into a flat.

Whatever you choose, ask about heating before a winter stay: many older houses on the coast are built for summer, and a well-insulated flat matters more in January than a sea view.

Budgeting a month

Costs vary with the season, the town and the size of the place, so treat the following as the items to budget rather than fixed prices.

• Accommodation: the largest item. Prices peak in Golden Week, in August and during the Kawazu cherry blossom festival in February, and drop sharply midweek and in early winter outside the holidays.
• Transport: a car is useful for the west coast and the Amagi highlands; without one, budget for trains and buses. Our guide to getting to Izu from Tokyo lists the main routes and journey times.
• Daily onsen: public baths are one of the pleasures of a long stay and cost far less than a ryokan day visit. Several towns sell multi-entry tickets.
• Food: supermarkets and local fish markets make self-catering easy; eating out is cheapest at lunch.
• Insurance and connectivity: medical insurance is required for the digital nomad status and wise for any long stay; a local data SIM or eSIM is easier than relying on rental Wi-Fi.

Working from Izu

For remote workers, the practical questions are time zones, connectivity and a place to sit. Japan is one hour ahead of Singapore, Hong Kong and Taipei and two hours ahead of Bangkok, so a normal working day overlaps easily with colleagues across the region. Fibre broadband is standard in Japanese homes, but holiday rentals vary: ask the host for a recent speed test before you book, and carry a mobile data plan as a backup. Cafés in the bigger towns tolerate laptops on weekday afternoons; for calls, a quiet room at home is more reliable. If you need to be in Tokyo for meetings, plan them around the Shinkansen from Atami or Mishima and avoid the Friday-evening and holiday rush, when trains towards Izu fill up with weekend visitors.

A month also leaves time to explore the parts of the peninsula that day-trippers miss: the west coast, the Amagi highlands and the small fishing towns of the south. Weekdays are the time to do it, when buses, boats and baths are at their quietest.

Living locally for a few weeks

A month changes how you see the peninsula. You can wait for a clear morning to see Mount Fuji from the west coast, go back to the same public bath until the regulars nod at you, and follow the seasons as they move down the coast: narcissus in December, plum in January, cherry in February, azaleas and hydrangeas in spring and early summer.

Some practical habits help. Rubbish in Japan is sorted by type and collected on fixed days that differ from town to town; your host should give you the local calendar, and following it matters to neighbours. Many small shops and buses take IC cards such as Suica, but some inns and rural restaurants are still cash only. Pharmacies are easy to find in the main towns, and Atami, Ito and Shimoda all have hospitals.

Is a long stay in Izu for you?

If you want nightlife, international schools or a big expatriate community, Izu is a place to visit rather than to live. If you want sea air, hot springs, fresh fish and the option of a Tokyo meeting in under an hour, a month here can be one of the best ways to know Japan. For many people already based in Asia it is also a useful test: a few weeks of living somewhere else, with a lease at home that can be renewed, ended or moved, is the most honest way to find out whether a change of base is worth it.