Once you get your visa or if you already have a valid visa, you go to the City Hall to register yourself as a foreigner. Then, you can open an account at a bank(Joyo Bank, at the Tsukuba center, if you are affiliated with U of Tsukuba), buy a cellular phone, and get your driver's license.  If you are a Korean, there is an agreement between Korea and Japan for mutually exchanging dirver's license. So you don't need to go through the expensive driving exam in Japan(I heard it cost you over 500,000 yen). Also, you need to register your sertified stamp(seal) and certificate of it to buy a car.  You need to apply for the health insurance here.

The application form for chaning your foreign driver's license to Japanese driver's license.  You have to circle "Ordinary(普通)" on the top and "Foreign license(外國免許)".  Also, in Korea, 1st Class license let you drive bigger cars but in Japan 2nd class license let you dirve bigger cars, which is opposite to Korea.  Also, the official at the windown will ask you several questions on your lisence (such as how long is the atptitude test valid) to make sure you got the license legally.

 

The police station at Mito for dirver's license management.  Try to get there as early as possible(they will not accept application after 09:30am).  I got there first and the process started at 10:00 am.  The 4th person applied began her process at 11:00am.  So you are a 6-7th person who applied in that morning, expect to finish in the afternoon.

Window 14 is where you apply for driver's license for foreigners.  In front of the  window, there are forms(above picture) to fill out.


 

When you apply, you need to buy stamps here. Once your application is cleared, you take the eye exam and buy additional stamps here.

A map to the police station.  You exit at Ibaraki highway exit and take the Route 50 and dirve south.

After you get yourself registered as a foreigner, you need to open an account here.  Don't open an account at Toho bank(next of this bank).  Make sure you get there before 15:00 because they close at 15:00.

Inside of the Joyo bank.  You go up front and take the slip which will give you a service number.  There are different slip for different serives. You want a slip for new account.

To buy a car in Japan, you need a police document that proves you have a parking space.  You get a document from the university or if you are not eligible for parking space at the university, you need to get one from a realter.  Usually cost you 15,000 yen.  You bring the documents and certified seal and other required documents to here to get police certificate of parking space.

 In Japan, like in Korea, you need a registered seal(a stamp) to register yourself as a foreigner and to buy a car, etc. It takes about an hour to make one and it will cost you about 2000 yen for the cheapest one.  Here is the map.  It is near (One hundred Flavor Bower; 百香亭), about 100 meters south.