This article is a translation of the Japanese original. Where the two differ, the Japanese version prevails. Read the Japanese original（日本語版を読む）
A 1K of 20 square metres is a standard size for a single person in urban Japan, but size alone does not necessarily lead to a denial. What matters more in practice is whether the lease limits the number of occupants. If it does, you need to obtain the landlord's consent to living together before you apply.
An enquirer who has been in Japan for 2 months asks whether he can bring his wife over while living in a 1K of 20 square metres.
There is no clear numerical standard such as "below this size is for a single person". What matters is whether you can really live there.
The 地方出入国在留管理局 (Regional Immigration Services Bureau) does not have a clear numerical standard such as "below this many square metres is for a single person". In practice, it is said to be judged from points like the following.
In the Japanese property market, a 1K of around 20 square metres is almost always designed and advertised as being for a single person. So in screening, the documents are generally read on the assumption that the room is a single-person room.
Even in a 1K, if there is an independent living space with its own kitchen, toilet and bath, and there is room for the couple to sleep, the home can be accepted as a real place to live. The rough guide used in practice is that, with 20 square metres, life for 2 people is unlikely to be judged "extremely difficult".
The limit on the number of occupants in the contract matters more than the size itself.
If the lease says that only 1 occupant is allowed, having 2 people live in the room is a breach of the contract, and that can count against you as a question of obeying the rules.
If the contract limits the number of occupants, talk to the landlord or the managing company in advance and obtain their consent to a couple living there.
Even if the households are separate, if a friend or someone else is living at the same address, there is a risk that it will be doubted whether this really is a home for a married couple. If the friend genuinely lives there and the landlord knows about it and has approved it, there is no problem. But a situation where several people are registered at the address without actually living there can work against you in screening for your wife's 在留資格認定証明書交付申請, from the point of view of securing a lawful home.
3 points: sorting out the contract, adding an explanation in the 理由書, and proving that you can support the household.
What tends to be treated as a problem in screening is having no home at all, or many people living in poor conditions. If your current home is held under a proper contract and a married couple is allowed to live there, you do not need to worry too much about the size.
There is no clear numerical standard such as "below this many square metres is for a single person". It is judged by whether there is an independent living space and room for the couple to sleep.
Size alone does not necessarily lead to a denial. The rough guide used in practice is that, with 20 square metres, life for 2 people is unlikely to be judged extremely difficult.
Talk to the landlord or the managing company in advance, and either change the number of occupants to 2 or obtain a written consent allowing your spouse to live there. Being in breach of the contract can count against you as a question of obeying the rules.
It works well to write in the 理由書 that you plan to move to a larger place once life has settled down, and to show with documents such as your employment contract that you have a stable income that can support 2 people.
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This page is a translation of the Japanese original. Where the two differ, the Japanese version prevails.