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By Olami, AbroadPilot · Reviewed September 2026
Quick summary: Japan has no single published minimum yen figure for a student visa. The government’s own Study in Japan site, run jointly by MEXT and JASSO, asks only for a “savings balance certificate, income certificate covering the past year, and documentation identifying sources of funds” — with no threshold amount stated. The actual figure your file needs to clear is set by your accepting school when they sponsor your Certificate of Eligibility, and it varies by institution, city, and programme.
Why there’s no fixed figure to quote
Japan’s Immigration Services Agency (ISA) doesn’t publish a nationwide minimum balance for the “Student” residence status, unlike the UK’s daily rate or Canada’s per-applicant figure. Instead, the principle is that you must show you can cover tuition and living costs for your full programme without needing to work illegally or fall into hardship — and it’s your accepting school, acting as your proxy when applying for the Certificate of Eligibility (COE), that translates this into an actual number for your specific case.
That means two applicants to two different schools in two different cities can face genuinely different figures, both entirely legitimate, because the requirement was never a single national number to begin with.
What actually counts as proof
Per Japan’s official Study in Japan website, when applying for a COE or visa you may be asked for:
- A savings balance certificate from your financial sponsor — this must be a bank-issued document, not a printed online statement.
- An income certificate covering the past year — a tax return, employer-issued income statement, or pension statement for the sponsor.
- Documentation identifying the source of funds — where the money in the account actually came from.
Your financial sponsor can be yourself or a guarantor, such as a parent. Whoever it is, the underlying test immigration officers apply is the same as everywhere else: a large, unexplained lump sum deposited shortly before your application is a red flag, while funds with a documented history of being earned, taxed, and saved over time are not.
What this means practically
- Ask your accepting school directly for the specific yen figure and documents they require — this is the one number that actually governs your application, and it comes from your school, not from a government table.
- Widely circulated figures online — commonly cited ranges around ¥2,000,000–¥2,500,000 for a one-year programme, or roughly ¥1,500,000 for six months — reflect common school practice, not a published government minimum. Treat them as a rough planning benchmark, not a number you can rely on for your specific school.
- Statements are generally expected to be recent — commonly within the last three months — so time your bank documentation to when you’ll actually submit your COE application, not months in advance.
Frequently asked questions
How much money do I actually need to show for a Japan student visa?
There’s no single answer, because there’s no single published government figure. Your accepting school sets the specific requirement when they sponsor your Certificate of Eligibility, based on your programme, its cost, and its length. Contact the school directly for the number that applies to you.
Is the commonly cited ¥2,000,000 figure official?
No. It’s a widely repeated planning benchmark based on typical school practice for a one-year programme, not a figure published by MOFA, the Immigration Services Agency, or the Ministry of Justice. Treat it as a rough guide, not a guarantee of what your school will require.
Whose bank account can be used as proof of funds?
Either your own or your financial sponsor’s — commonly a parent’s. The documents required are the same either way: a bank-issued savings balance certificate, an income certificate for the past year, and evidence of where the funds came from.
Why does a large recent deposit cause problems?
Because Japan’s process, like most countries’, is checking the legitimacy of your funds over time, not just their existence on the day you apply. A large sum that appeared shortly before your application, without a documented source, reads as money staged for the application rather than genuinely available support.
Free tools for this
- Budget Breakdown by Destination — keep locked figures separate from your own estimates
- Proof of Funds Calculator — the UK, Canada, US, Australia, and Germany figures in one place
Official sources
Checked directly against the official source as of September 2026:
Because Japan sets this requirement per school rather than nationally, there is no single live government page with one figure to re-check — confirm the current number directly with your accepting institution before finalizing any budget.
Explore more on our Proof of Funds Requirements by Country hub.
