Attachment limits are set for each procedure
City and prefectural online applications in Japan run on systems such as the My Number Portal (Pittari Service) and LoGo Form. Attachment limits aren’t uniform across Japan; they’re set per system and per procedure.
Local government instructions often say “up to 10MB per file”, like the examples below. There may also be limits on total size or the number of files, so check both.
- Koto City, Tokyo (business loan applications via LoGo Form): about 10MB per item and about 100MB per application. If attachments reach the limit, you generally have to apply on paper.
- Edogawa City, Tokyo (building reports via LoGo Form): up to 10MB per file, PDF only
These are examples from specific procedures. Always check the actual limits in the instructions or on the application screen for your procedure.
Documents commonly attached to online applications
Most attachments are paper documents photographed on a phone or scanned. Photos and scans are large, so even a few pages can go over the limit.
- Copies of ID documents such as your My Number card or driver’s license
- Certificates such as a residence certificate (juminhyo), tax certificate or employment certificate
- Copies of receipts, quotes or contracts
- Scans of completed application forms
From phone photo to attachment
Photos of documents sometimes can’t be attached as they are, or are too large. Preparing them in this order makes it easier to fit the limit.
- Photograph the document (iPhone HEIC photos work as they are, with no conversion)
- Turn the photos into a PDF (you can put several photos into one PDF)
- Compress the PDF to fit the limit on this page
How numbers and names stay readable
The tool first compresses only the photos and scanned images in your PDF, keeping text and layout as they are wherever possible. Only if that isn’t enough are pages turned into images to shrink further, and never below a quality where text stays readable.
ID documents may be rejected if the number, name or photo can’t be read clearly. Check in the preview that even small text is readable before downloading.
If your PDF won’t fit
Documents with many pages or photos may not fit. Try these:
- Split the PDF by document and attach each one in a separate field
- Delete blank pages or pages that weren’t requested
- If color isn’t needed, convert to grayscale before compressing
- If it still doesn’t fit, ask the office how else you can submit
A note on PDFs sent with e-Tax
When you send PDF attachments with e-Tax, such as for a tax return, the limit is 14.0MB and 136 files in total per transmission. The PDFs must also be at least 200dpi and at least 256-level grayscale, and must not have a password.
If you set a very small target size, pages turned into images may drop below 200dpi. For e-Tax documents, use the largest target size that still fits the total limit.
ID documents stay on your device
Your PDF isn’t uploaded to a server; it’s compressed only on your device. Even sensitive documents such as a copy of your My Number card are never sent anywhere. The data is discarded when you close the page.