---
title: "Statutory Capital — Overview"
url: https://memocore.ai/memos/6a5f631363d783ad687093df
project: "Doing Business in Japan"
tags: "japan-business, company-registration"
updated_at: "2026-07-21T12:16:19.271Z"
---

# Statutory Capital — Overview

A company (KK or GK) can formally be registered with as little as 1 yen of capital — the 5 million yen requirement applies to the Business Manager visa, not to registration itself. Capital is paid into the founder's personal account, can and should be spent on the business, and shares need not be split strictly in proportion to each person's cash contribution. There are legal and semi-legal schemes for "showing" capital through a director's loan. Crossing the 10 million yen capital threshold changes the company's tax burden. Ways of raising capital (増資) for a KK after formation are covered in a related overview. See: Ways to Increase Capital (増資) for a KK.