Wedding Gift Money (Goshugi) Amount Calculator — Giving Side
Select your relationship to the couple and your own age bracket to instantly see a general guideline for how much goshugi (wedding gift money) to give.
Goshugi amount guide by relationship and age bracket
| Relationship to the couple | Under 30 (in your 20s or younger) | In your 30s | In your 40s | 50 or older |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sibling | 30,000 yen | 50,000〜100,000 yen | 50,000〜100,000 yen | 50,000〜100,000 yen |
| Relative (cousin, aunt/uncle, etc.) | 10,000〜30,000 yen | 10,000〜30,000 yen | 30,000 yen | 30,000〜50,000 yen |
| Friend / acquaintance | 20,000〜30,000 yen | 30,000 yen | 30,000 yen | 30,000〜50,000 yen |
| Work relation (colleague, subordinate) | 20,000〜30,000 yen | 30,000 yen | 30,000 yen | 30,000〜50,000 yen |
| Work relation (boss) | 30,000 yen | 30,000〜50,000 yen | 30,000〜50,000 yen | 50,000〜100,000 yen |
What is the goshugi amount calculator (giving side)?
Goshugi (ご祝儀) is the gift money offered at a wedding reception as an expression of celebration for the couple. There is no legal rule for the amount, but the customary guideline generally rises with how close the relationship was and with the giver's own age, and etiquette references widely share amount guides organized around these two factors.
This tool lets you select your relationship to the couple (sibling, relative, friend, colleague/subordinate, or boss) and your own age bracket to instantly see a guideline amount for the goshugi you should prepare. It is the celebratory counterpart to the already-implemented koden_soba tool (condolence money guideline), and it accounts for the ways celebratory etiquette is the opposite of condolence etiquette — using brand-new bills and avoiding even numbers, for example.
How to use the goshugi amount calculator
- Select your relationship to the couple Choose from sibling, relative, friend/acquaintance, colleague/subordinate, or boss.
- Select your age bracket Choose from under 30, 30s, 40s, or 50 and older.
- Review the amount estimate A guideline goshugi amount for the selected relationship and age bracket is shown.
Tips for getting more out of it
- It is customary to avoid even-numbered amounts and amounts containing the digits 4 or 9. Even numbers are avoided because they can be split evenly, which evokes divorce or separation, though arranging an even total (such as 20,000 yen) with an odd number of bills is increasingly accepted.
- Unlike koden, it is customary to use brand-new, uncreased bills for goshugi — using crisp new bills expresses celebration for the couple's new start.
- Guests asked to serve as the main guest (shuhin) or to give a speech customarily add roughly 10,000 to 20,000 yen above the general guideline.
- When a married couple attends together, it is customary to give somewhat more than double a single guest's amount rather than exactly double (for example, around 70,000 to 100,000 yen for a couple when a single guest would give 50,000 yen).
When this calculator helps
Checking the amount right after receiving an invitation
Before replying to a wedding invitation, select your relationship and age bracket to instantly see a guideline amount.
Checking the guideline for a work-related wedding
See the typical amount for a colleague, subordinate, or boss so your goshugi does not stand out from other guests.
Coordinating amounts among siblings or relatives
Share a common guideline with siblings or relatives so amounts do not vary too widely from one another.
Goshugi terms explained
- Goshugi (ご祝儀)
- The gift money offered at a wedding reception as an expression of celebration for the couple.
- Goshugi-bukuro (ご祝儀袋)
- The envelope used to present goshugi. It uses a knot that is difficult to untie, rather than the easily-retied bow used for repeatable celebrations.
- Musubi-kiri (結び切り)
- A knot style that is difficult to retie once tied, used on goshugi envelopes for once-in-a-lifetime celebrations such as weddings.
- Shuhin (主賓)
- A guest invited as the representative of the groom's or bride's side at a wedding reception, typically expected to give a congratulatory speech.
- Shinsatsu (新札, brand-new bills)
- Freshly issued, uncreased bills. Using new bills for goshugi is customary as a way of celebrating the couple's new start.
Frequently asked questions
Side Note — why are even numbers avoided in goshugi amounts?
Avoiding even-numbered goshugi amounts comes from the idea that an even number can be split evenly, which evokes divorce or separation. Among odd numbers, 4 and 9 are still avoided because they echo the Japanese words for "death" and "suffering," a custom shared with both celebratory and funeral occasions.
That said, it has become increasingly common to treat an even total as acceptable as long as it is handed over as an odd number of bills — for example, a single 20,000 yen note (the newer 2,000 yen bill) paired with another bill, or a 5,000 yen bill plus a 10,000 yen bill. Among friends in their 20s in particular, 20,000 yen has become something of a de facto standard amount, suggesting that the number of bills now matters more than the total figure itself.
The use of a musubi-kiri knot on goshugi envelopes follows the same logic. A bow that can be retied easily is used for celebrations that are welcome to happen again and again, such as a birth or school entrance, but not for a wedding, where the wish is for it to be a once-in-a-lifetime event.