The Cost of Making a Family Tree — Doing It Yourself vs. Using a Service

How much does it cost to make a family tree? The way to think about the cost is completely different depending on whether you do it yourself or leave it to a service. In this article, we explain each separately.

How Much Is One Register? How Much in Total?

Here is the short answer first (as of September 2026).

• Certified copy of the family register (certificate of all matters): ¥450 per copy
• Certified copy of a closed register / pre-revision register: ¥750 per copy
• Actual costs when requesting by mail: Issuing fees for fixed-amount postal money orders (¥200 each) and postage both ways
• Total for tracing one lineage yourself: Roughly ¥10,000 up to the ¥20,000s
• Service (Family Research): ¥22,000 or ¥55,000 per lineage (tax included)

Family register fees are based on standard amounts set by the national government and are the same in almost every municipality. To be sure, please also check the website of the municipality you are requesting from.

If You Do It Yourself

The costs are the register fees and the actual costs of mailing. The fees are generally as follows.

• Certified copy of the family register (certificate of all matters): ¥450
• Certified copy of a closed register / pre-revision register: ¥750

On top of this come the issuing fees for fixed-amount postal money orders (¥200 each) and postage both ways.

Also, since March 2024, “nationwide issuance” has been available, which lets you request registers from other municipalities all at once at the counter of a municipality near you. If you pick them up at the counter, there are no mailing costs. However, you can only request registers for yourself, your spouse and your direct family (parents and grandparents, children and grandchildren), and it cannot be used by mail or through a representative.

The number of registers varies greatly from family to family. Even when tracing just one surname, if the registered domicile has moved, you need to make a request to each municipality involved. Sometimes a dozen or so is enough; sometimes it exceeds thirty.

As a rough idea, you can think of it as roughly ¥10,000 up to the ¥20,000s for one lineage. However, this is only a guideline, not a figure we can guarantee.

The Often-Overlooked Cost: Time

A mail request takes one to two weeks for the round trip. If there are five registered domiciles, you repeat this five times. What's more, you only learn where to request next by reading the register that just arrived — by its nature, this work can only proceed one step at a time.

It is not unusual to hear that it took several months.

If You Leave It to a Service

Our Family Research is priced as follows (tax included).

• Information gathering only: ¥22,000 per lineage
• Information gathering + map creation: ¥55,000 per lineage

What Is “One Lineage”?

It is the unit for tracing one surname. Tracing only your father's side is one lineage; tracing both your father's and mother's sides is two lineages. All four of your grandparents' families would be four lineages.

When comparing quotes, be sure to check how many lineages the amount covers. If this doesn't match, you are not really comparing like with like.

What Changes the Cost

• The number of lineages — this has the biggest effect
• The number of registered domiciles — if it has moved, a request is needed for each one
• How the registers have survived — the more old registers remain, the more work is involved

When You Pay

With us, no charge arises at the time you apply. After you confirm the details, fill in your information and mail the letter of authorization, you pay at the final step. We begin the research once we have confirmed your payment.

For details, please see our family tree creation service (Family Research).

For the overall process, see What Is a Family Tree? — How to Make One, Gathering Family Registers, and Costs.

For the steps of gathering family registers, please see How to Request Family Registers.

If you just want the key points, please also see the FAQ “How much does it cost to request family registers myself?”