Completing the Livelihood Overview Form

One of the requirements for naturalizing is to show you have a reasonable chance of supporting yourself financially until the end of your days without ending up in poverty or on welfare in Japan.

Being wealthy or even well off is by no means a requirement. Being stable and predictable and consistent, however, may be. Also, you do not need to be self-made or self-sufficient; you may include assets and revenue from your family and household if you can show they are a consistent and reliable source for your livelihood.

The application contains a two part form, titled 生計の概要 {seikei no gaiyō} (livelihood overview), which is in our Documents and Forms page:

1. Part 1 of the form is used to summarize your personal income and your financial obligations
2. Part 2 of the form is used to detail your real estate assets, your bank holdings, your stocks and bonds, and extremely valuable assets such as jewelry

There is another completely separate form for detailing any business(es) you might run or own.

The example forms they include in the guidebook are very revealing regarding what type of livelihood they consider to be typical for an applicant. In the example application, the South Korean applicant has a salary that is actually less than what a JET Programme participant makes! However, it should be noted that his application also includes income from his spouse, real estate, revenue from a personal business enterprise, and he has some non-trivial assets (company issued stock). He also has substantial (structured) debt in the form of a car loan.

We must've forget, though, don't forget that these examples are rigged to show "one example of everything," so it's perfectly fine if, for example, you personally don't have a business on the side.

Part 1 of the example form, when translated into English, looks like this:

Livelihood Overview (part 1) YYYY-MM-DD completed
income	name	monthly income  (yen)	category	comment
	GIM, Yong-jak	284,000	Salary (at K.K. ABC)	started 1992
	(same)	65,000	business income  (building fees)
	GANG, Kazuko	64,000	Salary (at Eishokuhin, part-time)	started Jan-1998
	Total	413,000
expenses	expense category	amount (yen)	comment
	Food	120,000
	Housing	97,500	Rent (includes admin/maintenance fees)
	Education	33,000
	Loan repayment	28,500
	Life insurance	30,000
	Savings	70,000
	Other	34,000	Lighting/heating, water/sewage，medical, etc.
	Total	413,000
main debt	borrowing purpose	lender	balance	planned total repayment date
	automobile purchase	WX Bank YZ Branch	1,458,000	Jan-2011

Some notes about the previous form:

1. Each family member that is naturalizing (if naturalizing as an entire family) in the household should complete a separate form, and every member of a household that contributes income should be listed on all forms.
2. As for monthly income, list the latest amount, as recent as one month, prior to application.
3. List salary, enterprise/business income, and pensions in separately in different categories.
4. In the case when receiving remittance from others or family members, the amount received from remittances should be indicated in the monthly income column, the category column should indicate remittance, and who is sending and who is requesting the remittance should be noted in the comments column.

Part 2 of the example form, when translated into English, looks like this:

Livelihood Overview (Part 2)
real estate	type	area	current value etc	title/deed holder
	(in Japan) home shared residence: rebar concrete (overseas) home	495m² 76m² 130m²	current value: ~¥36,000,000 current value: ~¥30,000,000 current value: ~¥8,000,000	GIM, Yong-jak titleholder GIM, Yong-jak + GANG, Kazuko titleholders GIM, Jìdá　 titleholder
savings	firm		account name	balance (yen)
	WX bank YZ branch etc.		GIM, Yong-jak	2,000,000
	ABC post office etc		GANG, Kazuko	500,000
stocks・bonds etc	type	appraised value	title holder etc
	stock 3000 shares company bonds 100 bonds golf club １ membership	current value: ~¥1,200,000 current value: ~¥2,400,000 current value: ~¥3,000,000	GIM, Yong-jak GANG, Kazuko GIM, Yong-jak
valuable property	type	appraised value	title holder etc
	jewelry / precious metals std. automobile (2006 Crown 3,000cc)	current value: ~¥3,000,000 current value: ~¥3,500,000	GANG, Kazuko GIM, Yong-jak

Some notes about the previous form:

1. Only list valuable property that is worth more than ¥1,000,000
2. Make sure you list any real estate or property that is overseas