There is no useful single number. A foreign founder needs to separate four buckets: qualifying capital, one-time formation, recurring company burn and personal relocation. Only then can the funding requirement be compared with the capital already inside the business.
1. Qualifying capital
For a Business Manager application, the current planning threshold is ¥30 million. This is company funding, not an immigration fee. A founder who does not need that residence status may choose a different capitalization based on commercial needs.
2. One-time setup
Budget for statutory registration, articles, seals, translations, professional support and the initial office deposit. Our default office-entry assumption is four months of stated rent; replace it with an actual quotation.
3. Monthly company burn
The model adds office rent, founder compensation, employee salary, a 15% employer payroll allowance and other recurring costs. Taxes and social insurance vary; the allowance is intentionally editable through the underlying inputs.
4. Launch cash
The calculator returns the greater of paid-in capital and the setup-plus-runway model. If the operating plan needs more than ¥30 million, the business—not the visa rule—sets the real funding requirement.
Primary sources
Rules change. Confirm the current official text before acting.
JETRO — Cost estimation model ↗JETRO — Setting up business ↗Apply it to your plan