When planning to live and work in Japan as a missionary, you will inevitably need to know how much money it will take for you to live and work in Japan.
Depending on who you talk to and which organization you go with, you will get vastly different numbers for how much you should raise in total. Like the U.S. the cost of living in Japan can vary greatly from place to place, so we cannot provide you with a one-size-fits-all approach and give you a single number. However, we do wish to share some considerations so you can better plan how much to raise.
While this article primarily geared for those doing long-term ministry, those who are on short- and medium-term work will also be able to glean some insights.
Living expense considerations for missionaries in Japan
Financial consideration 1: Location
Where you live should be at the top of your list because it will change most of the other variables. Just like the cost of living is higher in New York City than it is out in Montana, so the cost of living is higher in cities versus the countryside.
Even with the cities, you will find a vast difference between the cost of living between Tokyo and Nagoya for example. This is one of the reasons we chose Nagoya, Japan to start our initial work because even though Nagoya is a large city with over 2 million people, land and the cost of living are much lower here when compared to Tokyo.
Cities and their suburbs also have different cost of living. Those who are single can often afford to live closer to the middle of the city, but those who marry and have children often move to the suburbs or what the Japanese call “bed towns.” This would be the case for workers who find more affordable housing but work closer to the middle of the city. Whether you are living and working in a “bed town” of a major city or living and working directly in the middle of the city will drastically change your budget.
Financial consideration 2: Length of stay
The length of your stay will also dictate how much to raise.
Raising all the money you need up front is ideal for short-term stays. This includes our 1-week reconnaissance tours and short-term internships (3-6 months).
However, those coming for longer stays such as our 2-year language and ministry internships or those who move to the next phase in being deployed to a new area for planting a new church will need to raise recurring financial support.
Financial consideration 3: Life stage
Your life stage will drastically affect how much you will need to raise. It will often affect your location as well since trying to have a family and live in a downtown area will incur higher costs.
Singles can get around using public transportation or a scooter in many cities and save. Families may find the need to purchase a car which will incur additional costs such as parking (apartments often do not include parking in the rent), mandatory car inspection every two hears (several hundred dollars) and annual weight tax among other things.
Financial consideration 4: Exchange rate fluctuation
When visiting an area and looking at prices, you will need to be careful not to just convert the yen amount into dollars using the rate on that day and be done. If you are planning on being in Japan for a long time, you will need to learn from the past and be prepared to weather some financial storms.
The dollar to yen exchange rate has taken a number of turns over the years. As of this writing, 1 USD is about 140 Japanese yen. However, in times of economic crisis, that has gone as low as 79 yen per dollar. This is not an everyday occurrence, but it has happened in my lifetime.
When my wife and I first arrived on the field, we got 103 yen for every dollar with some fluctuations.
As of this writing, our recommendation is to take all of the costs you anticipate using the exchange rate or $1=100 YEN. This will create some breathing room for you. If the rate becomes favorable to you (such as 120 or 1300 consider using the extra money for ministry purposes or save it for an emergency.
Financial consideration 5: Set-up fees
Be sure to budget for initial setup fees if you are planning on a longer stay.
Areas that you will probably need to have money up-front include realtor fees for an apartment or house, vehicle, language school tuition, furniture, phone and internet contract setup fees.
Financial consideration 6: Trips to the U.S.
Those who come for the 2-year language and ministry internship will need to be prepared to not only come and live in Japan, but also be ready to return to the U.S. This means interns will also need to have enough money set aside to purchase plane tickets to get back.
Those who move into the church-planting stage will also need to build budgets that have savings for scheduled and emergency trips back to the U.S. The size of your family and where you are flying back to will determine these costs, so plan accordingly.
Ministry expense considerations for missionaries in Japan
Up to this point, we have looked at some considerations for those who plan to LIVE in Japan. However, doing ministry in Japan is more than simply existing on the other side of the ocean.
Ministry Expense consideration 1: Who’s buying?
As you start a work as a team, you will need to determine how primary ministry expenses will be handled. Especially if you are part of differing organizations, you will need to make sure discuss and clarify how much each person is gringing to the table. This would be the broad picture you need to figure out before diving into the specifics of how much things cost.
Ministry expense consideration 2: Meeting Location
Depending on whether you rent a space for a few hours or permanently as a tenant will be a significant factor. Be sure your budget includes breathing room for growth because your expenses will most likely INCREASE before offerings will begin to cover expenses.
Be sure to read our article on meeting about finding a meeting space to get an idea of what you can do and where you might be able to meet.
Ministry expense consideration 3: Promotions
You will need to determine what kind of budget you will need for promotional materials and advertising. Japan is a first-world country, so don’t settle for anything less that great for all of your materials. This includes everything from flyers and tracts to your website. Online ads, websites, flyers, tracts, and everything else costs money. Plan accordingly.
Ministry expense consideration 4: Materials and equipment
Whether you put verses on a TV screen, or simply hand out Bibles, both incur costs. Presently the going rate for the 2017 Shinkaiyaku Bible which conservative churches use is about 8000 Yen for the large print one that is easy to read. Using the conversation rate from earlier in this article 8$1=100 yen), that would be about 80 dollars plus tax.
New testaments go for about 400 yen and you can also buy the gospel of John for 100 yen so those would be more economical options if you want to give them out to people.
If you opt for using more technology, you will want to think about purchasing equipment that is designated for the task (i.e. having a “church computer) instead of using a personal device (i.e. someone’s personal laptop or tablet). This is to keep the task from being tethered to one individual. Using someone’s personal device can save you money but is also risky because if that person doesn’t show up you don’t have access to what people are accustomed to seeing. One way to temporarily get around this would be to use cloud storage and shared files, but having a designated device will save you time and hassle.
Ministry expense consideration 5: technology for day-to-day work
While we are on the subject of technology, let us not forget that the computer you use for work will eventually wear out as well. Be sure to budget savings so you can replace old/outdated computers and hardware thus working from an obvious disadvantage.
Ministry expense consideration 6: software and subscription based tools
Be willing to spend the money on good software and programs to make things so easier and faster. Whether it is a CRM for managing your donor list or design software like Canva to help you produce good graphics based on pre-made templates, these programs will save you time when used properly. Usually they are subscription based so you will need to consider these costs as well.
A final word about finances
Depending on your mission agency, how funds are handled will be different. Some missionary agencies treat the missionaries as w-2 employees. Others sending agencies treat their missionaries as 1099 contractors. Be sure to read our article about choosing a mission board as well.
The main thing to keep in mind is that during your fundraising, you are not only raising money to live in Japan, but also to work in Japan. If you think about it in business terms, you need money to pay your employee’s salary (your living expenses) as well as cover the costs of your business expenses. You may need to explain this when doing your fund raising so people understand that not all of the money is simply for yourself.