They made zero changes to the proposal, so it’s 30mil capital for corporations/30mil in costs for sole traders, combined with the mandatory full time staff member.

They’ve also clarified that all existing BMV holders are expected to meet the new requirements within 3 years. So that’s going to mean a whole lot of people planning their exit unfortunately as they’ll be unable to grow their business that much and hire staff before that time is up.

This ain’t great, but the pessimists amongst us were expecting this to be the case.

To get to 2nd (instead of 4th) in economic status, what would Japan, practically-speaking, have to do to restructure their system? Is it realistic? What are their real options?

EDIT: @darkhydra made excellent points regarding short-term vs practical long-term growth. Regardless of how realistic the solutions are (EG population issues), I'm really just asking what would fundamentally need to happen to propel Japan back to top 3 economic status.

Nothing to do with "the 80s" or tying them to the U.S. in particular, unless that might be part of the actual solution. For example Toyota (and Japan by extension) hung its hat on hydrogen fuel cell autos for the future. That bet seems to have legitimately failed with China's innovation on EVs. So what innovation could again make Japan the forefront of technological advancement?

Article is in Japanese but basically the Immigration Services Agency (出入国在留管理庁) finalized their drafted changes to tighten requirements of the business manager visa and are now opening it up to a public comment period from now until September 25. It’s likely to be implemented in October 2025 right after.

The new requirements are: - 30 million yen capital requirement (6x more than original 5 million yen) - one full time employee (must be Japanese, on spouse visa, or permanent resident) - 3 years of management experience or master’s degree in business/management

According to Sankei Shimbun (in the attached link), of the 41,600 people who already have business manager visas, only 4% of them meet the new 30 million yen requirement. This information is from the ISA directly an it is unknown what the statistics are for holders that satisfy ALL requirements. There is concern that renewals will be held to these new requirements as well.

I am personally affected. I left my job this year after getting approved for business management visa to start a solo software company. I’m currently developing a SaaS product for farm labor management to help struggling farmers in Japan but will probably need to pack my bags and move to another country if the ISA doesn’t grandfather in current visa holders. There is still a public comment period but I’m starting plan my exit in case it does become a renewal requirement. It’s sad because I love this country and just got my business up and running and corporate bank account set up.

If you are a new founder, don’t make the mistake I did by applying for the business manager visa. Apply for the startup visa, you’ll have much more lax requirements and more time to get your company set up.

If anyone is an administrative scrivener and knows more information than the article tells, please let us know as well.

Major rant alert...

It is so frustrating to try to run an honest and legitimate business and dealing with Japanese banks. Feel like I am being treated like a criminal or n'er-do-well.

Trying to receive large bank wires from abroad for legitimate purposes and having to jump through constant hoops.

At first, even small international wires were held up and sent back if there were no matching invoices submitted - these were for small amounts.

But then the bank asked us to pay 50,000 yen to have special pre-advance permission for receiving 3-5 m a month from abroard but each time having to provide invoices and contracts etc. Sure fine - it is annoying and it takes more than a week to get it clear but it eventually comes through. It still cost time and money to get this special permission granted. These payments often take up to 10 days to clear. It is maddening.

Now we have a larger payment that we are trying to receive from a new client - around 9m yen. This is for a legitimate purpose - we have a contract and an invoice and it is for a business activity that we have a licence to operate in. But now this has been turned away as we need another special permission nonsense to submit.

But if it is completely turned back then it makes us look sketchy to our new client whom I am hoping for more repeat business.

Yes we are a small company but our business is a legit GK with me (foreign woman) as the daihyo.

What are we doing wrong in the set up? Surely big companies don't have to answer all these stupid questions each time they receive money from abroad. I don't want to pay the credit card fees otherwise I would do it this way.

My team have been following all of the instructions from the bank each damn time and each time they keep throwing new rules at us. Payments from our credit card company - Stripe - come through from abroad OK. It is just these ad-hoc direct payments.

The bank is Docomo SMTB netbank. We went with a netbank as the big banks like MUFG have horrible internet banking for corporate accounts and don't work on Macs - I dond't want to have to keep a windows machine just for corporate banking.

/rant

…and still falling.

As expected East Asian economies are heavily at risk from rising oil prices. About 90% of Japan’s crude comes from the Middle East.

EDIT: It appears they rejected me within 15 minutes of submitting the form. Not sure if that is relevant or not.

It's been three years since I applied for a corporate Amex CC. My KK is in it's 6th year. Once again, I was rejected. I understand that they look at the director's personal credit. My personal CC burns through about 1,000,000 yen a month and has never been late on a payment in a decade. I have no outstanding debts or loans. Our company's revenue exceeded 5000 man last year... I even went to get my CIC info just to be sure. After subjecting myself to their online humiliation ritual, it failed due to some middle-name-full-width-kana bullshit... So I had to apply with snail mail instead.

I was filled with the white hot anger of 1000 suns for a few minutes,... but honestly now... I just feel completely and utterly defeated. I'm so sick of trying to run a business as a third-class citizen. Opening bank accounts and getting a line of credit, let alone any loan have been pure hell.

My CPA says that it's fine to use my personal CC but obviously I want to separate them because I'm a normal human being.

Like, what do these demonic forces want? A blood sacrifice? A note from my 3rd grade teacher? Sorry, I guess I ended up ranting after all. I know the best advice people can likely offer is "better luck next time" but I thought I would post here about it anyway to see if anyone could offer me a sliver of hope.

I'm currently on a 6-month Strategic Zone Startup Visa with about 4 months left. Two weeks after I arrived in Japan, they announced new Business Manager Visa requirements (¥30M capital + 1 employee instead of ¥5M).

The government said they'd release official rules "beginning of October" but it's now October 8th and there's been complete silence. No publication, no announcement, no clarification on whether people transitioning from Startup Visas, J-find, will be exempt.

I'm avoiding incorporating my company because I don't know which rules will apply when I transition. If I spend ¥200,000-400,000+ on incorporation and they reject me under the new ¥30M requirement, that money is gone.

Keidanren and JVCA have both lobbied against the changes, specifically asking for exemptions for Startup Visa holders.

But still - nothing. Just silence.

What do you guys think about this?

Because kono san comment? Because BOJ intervened? Because Trump?

I run a business in Japan, and one of my employees is quitting. While I'm looking for a replacement, I wanted someone experienced to help cover the work for about 1–2 months.

I had heard that one of Japan's biggest platforms for hiring casual/day workers was a good option, so I thought it'd be worth trying. My thinking was simple: I'd offer above-market pay to attract someone experienced who could work with minimal supervision.

A couple of things surprised me.

First, I found out there's a payment cap per shift. At the hourly rate I wanted to offer, I could only post a 5–6 hour shift. If I wanted someone for a full 8-hour day, I had to lower the hourly rate to stay under the cap.

So I was essentially left with two choices:

• Keep the higher hourly rate, but limit each shift to around 5–6 hours.
• Lower the hourly rate so I could offer a full 8-hour shift.

From an employer's perspective, that creates an unexpected trade-off. If your goal is to cover a full workday, the system seems to make lowering the hourly rate the more practical option.

The second surprise was the matching system. I assumed I'd get a few applicants and be able to choose the one with the most relevant experience. Instead, I was automatically matched with a worker within about five minutes of posting the job.

It's great if your goal is to fill shifts as quickly as possible, but it wasn't what I was expecting. I was hoping to find one experienced person who could consistently cover the role for the next month or two, not necessarily a different person every shift.

Combined with the automatic matching system, I'm also not sure how much the "experience" aspect depends on luck. Since I couldn't compare multiple applicants, it felt like I was relying more on whoever happened to be matched with my posting than on being able to choose the most experienced worker. If that's the case, then offering a higher hourly rate may not have been as meaningful as I initially expected.

After trying it, my impression is that the platform seems optimized for:

• Filling shifts as quickly as possible.
• Matching workers automatically instead of letting employers choose.
• Individual shifts rather than ongoing temporary coverage.
• A payment structure where offering a higher hourly rate becomes less attractive if you also need longer shifts.

Overall, I can definitely see why platforms like this are popular if you just need someone today. But for my use case, finding one experienced worker to reliably cover a role for 1–2 months. It doesn't seem like the incentives are really aligned.

Curious if other employers have had a similar experience, or if I'm just trying to use this type of platform for something it wasn't really designed for.

Has anyone else used one of these casual/day-work platforms for temporary coverage like this? Did you end up finding a better approach or a different platform?

Edit: For context, this was for a 軽作業 (light warehouse/fulfillment) position involving packing, shipping, and general order fulfillment.

This will be my second renewal for my Business Manager Visa. My company is entering its third year soon.

My concern is that, although we are expecting a good payout this July, our fiscal year ends at the end of May, so on paper this year will look financially very bad. We do have some small revenue here and there, but we are operating at a loss because we paid more in salaries, rent, and taxes.

I believe there is a 3-year grace period, but the official wording also says Immigration will judge each case individually based on the company’s business condition and whether it seems likely to meet the new standards later. Am I screwed?

For additional context, the company’s current capital is 5M yen. I speak Japanese fluently, and a Japanese citizen owns about 33% of the company and is also registered as a director/役員.

Has anyone renewed their Business Manager Visa after the new requirements were introduced, especially without fully meeting them yet? I would really appreciate hearing about your experience, as I am currently in a very passive situation where I can't plan for my business or my life as everything is too risky.

Hey all,

I'm a founder in Tokyo, and I'm honestly trying to make sense of these new visa rules (the ¥30M capital, 1-employee req, N2, etc.). The 3-year grace period and the "prospect of compliance" part feel super vague too.

I'm trying to figure out the what to do (and cheapest) way to deal with this. My accountant hasn't been super helpful.

1. I am pretty worried about the ￥30M capital requirement but am I missing anything more dangerous?
2. How are you guys planning to solve/deal with this over the next few years? (I've been considering a JFC loan but honestly not sure my business can survive that much debt leverage.)
3. You guys know of any services that are helping out with navigating this right now? I could use a guide on what is happening here...

Trying to figure out what to do here...

Thanks for any comments you guys have.

I have several businesses in the United States. My family and I are moving to Japan early next year. Due to financial interests I have in the US, I think we'll ultimately be part-time residents, living in the US for 3-4 months of the year, and in Japan 8-9 months.

One idea I have been exploring is moving some of my operations to Japan: creative/marketing, marketing ops, biz ops, design, software development. Basically, anything that doesn't strictly need to be in the same time zone as the sales and delivery portions of the businesses. I have long-term reasons for doing this which aren't worth getting into. But in the end, I estimate this would be ~100 to 120 jobs across various functions, ramping up over the next 5 years.

My main concern is that I don't expect to be near a major metro area, and tend to lean toward in-office teams (vs fully remote). In the US, it's still reasonably common for a company to ask an employee to relocate for a corporate job. Many relocate themselves to high-opportunity areas find work (even traditionally undesirable ones, e.g. North Dakota or Texas for oil and gas).

Two questions:

1. How common is it for people in Japan to move for a job, especially it's NOT a major city? (Think Okayama or much smaller.)
2. If I'm willing to pay a premium for talent, are folks willing to move to even more rural areas? E.g. if I paid 2x the average salary for a particular position, would I find talent willing to move to a town of 20k people?

I know I'm asking for a broad generalization, but I'm more hoping to understand what kind of cultural trends I might be fighting with this approach. E.g., in the Philippines it's very common to move for jobs. In the US it's moderately common. My sense is that the cultural bias in Japan is to either stay roughly where you grew up, or to move to a much larger city.

P.S. Ideally I would have loved to ask this question in r/japanlife but as a prospective resident it looks like I'm not allowed to post there. However, I'm hoping since this is finance-adjacent folks here won't mind.

Have had a corporate Wise account for a year or so - don't use it for much except to pay some contractors abroad for software developement.

Today, they decided that my account needs some new investigation - they froze the account while they were needing additional verification.

I submitted my licence to operate as a kanri and had to give a description of my business activities.

We don't use Wise for much but I really need it to pay a developer tomorrow.

Just posting as a vent to add to my small business banking woes in Japan.

Edit: it is unlocked now as apparently my licence document was all they needed.

But I did get into the customer support chat and asked them to expedite it as I have transactions to do today.

Hi everyone,

Has anyone here actually published an app on the Google Play Store or Apple App Store while living in Japan?

I'm planning to publish a small app, initially monetized only through ads, and I'm trying to understand the practical/legal side of setting it up in Japan.
I’m planning to publish a small, fairly simple app that I’ve made as a personal project. I’m not really planning to start a company or make app development my main business. I mainly just want to publish the app and, if possible, have some advertising revenue from it.

From my research so far, I understand that I may need to decide between operating as a sole proprietor (個人事業主) or setting up a GK (合同会社), and that there are tax/business registration procedures involved.

A few things I'm particularly unsure about:

• If the app is only monetized through advertising, how did you handle the income/tax side?
• Did you start as a sole proprietor, or did you set up a GK/KK?
• What registrations or paperwork did you actually need to do?
• For the business/legal address, did you use your home address, an office, or a virtual office?
• If you used a virtual office, was it accepted for the purposes you needed it for?
• Are there any other legal/tax issues for app developers in Japan that I should be aware of?

I’d appreciate any kind of advice or insight you can share. I’m especially interested in hearing about your personal experience and what approach you took. Thank you!

Edited: I’ve edited the post to clarify my goal. I’m not trying to start a company or build a business around the app. I simply made a small personal project and would like to publish it, while understanding what I need to do legally/tax-wise in Japan.

I’ve been applying for accounts for my KK with 9M paid in capital at Resona, Rakuten, and GMO Aozora but rejected from all of them. I was careful with my paperwork and figured everything was set so I am unsure of what the cause is.

My visa is currently J-Find, so it’s a bit weak for a corporate bank account but the visa does allow business preparation activities as it’s a visa that transitions to the business manager Visa later. It’s got 3 months and 2 weeks left until expiration.

I’m also a US citizen so there’s the extra compliance layer with the banks for US citizens specifically. Plus I said I’d be doing foreign remittances (though I now realize that I actually won’t be doing foreign remittances so that’s one thing I can change on future applications to improve my chances).

I know there’s a discrepancy between my certificate of registered matters using Katakana and my IDs using Romaji script. I’ve asked the banks about this and some seem okay with it (Rakuten) and some seemed vague/unsure (Resona).

I’m not sure what to change, as I heard Rakuten was the easiest bank to go for and they rejected me after initially requesting additional documents on trade that I supplied properly.

I'm new to reddit so I hope this correct place to post this: As the title says, I just dissolved my Japanese stock company after couple years of very good business and I just don't see myself managing any business anymore.

I have been doing the accounting and pretty much all related processes as a business by myself except some in the very start I used help. I'd be glad to share if it helps someone.

I currently run a Japanese company under the Business Manager visa. My understanding is that under the new requirements, the relevant company must have at least ¥30 million in capital.

The requirement appears to apply to the capital of the company itself, rather than requiring the visa holder to personally invest the entire ¥30 million.

To be clear, I am not considering a merger as the preferred or easiest solution. I would first look at more straightforward options such as increasing revenue, bringing in outside investors, raising capital normally, or restructuring the business.

I am asking about a merger only as a possible last resort for two genuine businesses that are both commercially viable but cannot independently meet the ¥30 million capital requirement.

For example:

• Company A has ¥12 million in registered capital.
• Company B operates in a similar field and also does not meet the ¥30 million requirement.
• Both companies have real business activities, customers, assets and ongoing operations.
• The companies carry out a genuine absorption merger or establish a new company through a legal merger.
• Their businesses, assets, contracts, employees and operations are genuinely integrated.
• The surviving or newly established company registers at least ¥30 million in capital after the merger.

Would the post-merger company potentially satisfy the Business Manager visa capital requirement?

I understand that simply owning, managing or partnering with two separate companies would probably not allow their capital to be added together. I also understand that a merger does not automatically mean that the registered capital of both companies is simply combined, as some amounts may be recorded as capital reserves or other equity.

I am specifically asking about a properly structured, commercially genuine statutory merger where the final company’s corporate registry shows at least ¥30 million in capital.

The idea would be to genuinely combine two compatible businesses as a last-resort survival strategy if neither company could realistically satisfy the new requirement alone.

Has anyone discussed a similar situation with an immigration lawyer, judicial scrivener, tax accountant or the Immigration Services Agency?

I would also be interested in hearing about possible issues such as:

• whether Immigration would consider the merger artificial even if the businesses are genuinely integrated
• whether both former business owners could continue holding Business Manager visas
• whether Immigration would require enough business scale to justify two foreign managers

This is only a hypothetical discussion. I understand that this would be a complex and expensive option and that professional corporate, tax and immigration advice would be essential before taking any action.

I am a US citizen, living in the US right now. The goal is to move to Japan within the next ten years and ultimately become a PR. I own a business that is in the growth phases right now but is on the right track. I want to step back and be just owner/investor once I feel it can fly on its own then I’d like to officially move to Japan.

I’m a planner. So I’m doing all my research now regarding visas, travel, taxes, income, etc. Exactly what kind of professional/title do I need to look for to appropriately advise me on how receiving profit from a US company while living in Japan and/or being a PR of Japan works?

I’ve recently been working on developing a video game that I plan to sell on Steam.  I started looking into registering as 個人事業主 and was hoping to get some advice on whether it’s worth it to do so and what that entails.  I’ve found that I’ve already started incurring expenses through the course of game dev and I’ve been working nearly 12 hours a day.  I’ve started keeping track of my expenses and hours worked.

Is it a good idea for me to register as 個人事業主?
what are the pros/cons of doing so?

Some other possibly relevant info

- I'm on a spouse visa expiring mid 2027

- Myself and my Japanese wife are both currently unemployed and living off savings from my previous career

Thank you for reading. Any advice / info is appreciated.

First of all, mods, I am sorry if this doesn't fit the main goal to help other redditors of this sub, feel free to remove it. I'm posting here as I would like a real answer and not just a meme conversation, even though this looks more like a rant.

Into what the title is questioning, I have worked in 2 Japanese businesses (one of them international company but with presence in Japan for more than 25 years) and with both of them I have noticed how much B2B "overcharge" each other. Like, they will charge almost for sneezing. Back in Spain, at the company I used to work, we operated with fairly low margins to make the business as lean as possible due to competition, but here it doesn't seem to be the case.

What I would like to know is, if my current company (IT subcontracted services) gets hired by a bigger IT company (B) to do a task they don't have enough workforce to do/the gain is too low for them compared to the man-hours dedicated but that they got from customer company A, then that means that the cost my company charges is "rolled onto" that company A (with a margin for company B, even if it is small, doesn't this create a giant bubble?

The pricing that my boss offers is ridiculously high for the tasks to be done (and pays us very little) as one day he screen shared the semester balance by accident. That company B will charge company A a margin, and probably company A isn't even the final end user of that project, meaning they probably "sell" that project to a different, so how does this work? How is the end company able (and willing) to pay these fees? Maybe the end customer is always mega-big corporations/government that don't mind overpaying? Cost of living is not that high yet (although increasing) in Japan, so I really cannot comprehend where the money to for this overpriced projects is coming from...

As the common joke goes, "if everyone is a salesperson, then who is the buyer?"

Keyence always reports incredibly impressive numbers, but compared with its competitors, the only major difference stands out like it is the only fabless company in these markets, and relies entirely on “cooperative partners” for production.

Compare with Omron in sensors and PLCs, and Olympus/Nikon in electronic microscopes and lenses, all of its competitors cannot live without their own factories and production lines.

Also, According to securities report report, Keyence has 3,306 employees in Japan, but only 670 are based at its Osaka headquarters, another 189 in their test and research center in Osaka, and just 72 work at its development center in Takatsuki (also in Osaka prefecture).

And the remaining 2,500-ish people—are just those salespersons graduating from UTokyo/UKyoto/Waseda/Keio etc working in field sales and application-oriented roles close to manufacturing customers. So basically a professional sales team rather than a manufacturer like Omron (its main competitor in most fields) and Olympus/Nikon (In microscope).

How would their model work whey they seem to just bully their different manufacturing companies? Why don't those companies sell themselves but choose to work with keyence?

I’ve been in Tokyo for 3 years working in software development and I wanted to have a better understanding of whether my salary is ok for my experience or not.

I am 38 and have close to 15 years of experience. My primary language is C++ and I have more than 10 years professional experience. I am currently working on an equity trading system in an international company.

If it matters, my Japanese level is around N3 but still nowhere near business level ready. I should probably study more and honestly most of my practice just comes from speaking to my wife.

I currently earn 9.6 million yen gross total. Is that low, high or about right? I am thinking of changing jobs but would like to get a better idea of where I stand and what I should be expecting.

I don’t consider myself a particularly strong negotiator but would love to hear peoples opinions and to try and grasp myself how much I am worth. I’m not as familiar with the job market here and don’t have colleagues that I am close enough to ask.

I would truly appreciate any responses.