The Five Methods and the Procedure, Cost, and Timeline

有償増資 is the issuance of new shares to existing owners, proportionally, in exchange for real money — the most transparent and most commonly used way of increasing a KK's capital: shareholders contribute real funds in exchange for new shares, in proportion to the existing ownership structure. 現物出資 is contributing non-cash assets to the company's capital: computers, vehicles, equipment, inventory, cryptocurrency, real estate, or intellectual property. If the amount exceeds 5 million yen, or the asset is poorly documented, an inspector (検査役) must be appointed. The downside is that these assets then have to be depreciated in the books. For small companies this is one of the two realistic ways to raise capital (alongside 無償増資), for example by purchasing equipment or other capital-intensive assets. 無償増資 is converting accumulated retained earnings into capital; it requires a general resolution (普通決議) of the shareholders' meeting and a balance sheet (貸借対照表) — turnover, sales, or future contracts are not taken into account. According to an immigration lawyer, this is a significantly more labor-intensive procedure than a direct cash contribution. For small companies it is the other realistic method of raising capital, alongside 現物出資 (accumulate profit, then convert it into capital). 資本準備金の資本金組入れ converts capital reserves into ordinary capital. 債務の株式化 converts debt into shares: a creditor forgives a debt in exchange for new shares; this method also requires an inspector and is a more complex path. The cost of the capital-increase procedure through a notary/Legal Affairs Bureau is whichever is larger of 0.7% of the increase amount or 30,000 yen. Example: increasing capital from 5 million to 30 million yen means 25,000,000 × 0.7% = 175,000 yen. A judicial scrivener (司法書士) can be hired for 50,000–100,000 yen and typically takes one to two weeks. The Legal Affairs Bureau process usually involves two shareholders' meetings (announcing the meeting plus the meeting itself), followed by the share issuance handled by two more meetings; proof of payment for the shares is needed (screenshots of transfers from the personal and corporate bank accounts). If the authorized share limit was not raised initially (particularly for non-voting class A shares), a capital increase may first require raising that limit before shares can be issued — changing the share limit does not require renotarizing the articles, just amending the teikan and filing the meeting documents with the Legal Affairs Bureau. The total number of shares for an unlisted company is not restricted to any multiple (the "4x issued shares" rule applies only to public/listed companies); the par value is usually set at 100 yen per share, allocated according to each person's contribution to capital. Actual processing times for capital-increase filings at the Legal Affairs Bureau: about 1.5 months in Shibuya, about one month in Chiyoda (Tokyo's main bureau).