How much documents cost in Japan
Japanese fees are small and nationally tabulated — the koseki costs less than a lunch. The real bill of the Japan→Brazil corridor forms at two points: the payment's logistics (which accepts nothing international) and the sworn translation from Japanese in Brazil, one of the market's most expensive.
The typical items
Typical figures:
- Koseki tōhon: ¥450 per copy (national table); joseki/kaisei koseki: ¥750 — paid in teigaku kogitte (the Japanese postal money order).
- The kogitte's cost from outside: without someone in Japan, you pay an intermediary to buy it — the service costs more than the money order itself.
- The MOFA apostille: free of charge, as a rule — ordered at the counter (Tokyo/Osaka) or by post within Japan.
- Japan→Brazil shipping: ¥2,000-3,000 (EMS/registered) and up, by courier.
- Sworn translation from Japanese in Brazil: the dominant share — public translators of Japanese are rare; a family koseki can cost from several hundred to thousands of reais, per its length.
Where the bill surprises
- The koseki's length: the family sheet can run many pages (and the joseki/kaisei versions multiply) — and translation is charged per page. The ¥450 document can become thousands of reais of translation.
- Serial orders: rebuilding a lineage requires the current koseki + joseki + kaisei — each with its fee and its pages.
- Japan's internal logistics: a countryside municipality + the MOFA in Tokyo = one more leg of domestic mail or a trip by whoever is there.
A sample bill
Koseki tōhon + joseki (~¥1,200 in fees) + MOFA apostille (free) + EMS (~¥2,500) + sworn translation in Brazil (the bulk of the bill): the Japanese side rarely passes ¥5,000 — a few euros; the Brazilian one is measured in hundreds or thousands of reais of translation. The Japanese corridor's moral: save on the edges with someone local, and reserve the real budget for the well-made translation.
Frequently asked questions
Why can't I simply pay by card?+
The Japanese municipal postal-order system predates the card — and hasn't changed: teigaku kogitte bought at the Japanese post office, in yen. Some municipalities modernise slowly; most don't.
Is the MOFA apostille really free?+
As a rule, yes — a rare kindness. The cost is logistical: getting the document to the MOFA and back, within Japan.
Informative content about request procedures. We do not cover citizenship or visa eligibility. Rules and amounts may change; always confirm before acting.