lol i have to like natto to start a business there?
A Story Of Starting A Business In Japan
31–40 of 65 posts
Re: A Story Of Starting A Business In Japan
#32I'm currently going through the same process for a business investor visa. However, my lawyer claims that immigation office changed the requirements this december to also require at least one (can be part-time) employee (other than yourself). Apparently this is something not stated anywhere, but a whim of the immigration office... Can anyone confirm?
patio11's reply is correct as far as I know, but I'll pitch in a little more. When I was researching setting up my business in Japan, I was told I would need to hire a resident to be a business manager in the case that I wanted to sponsor my visa through the company. So this may be what you are running into. In my case I was getting a spousal visa, and incorporating after immigrating, so I could be the resident if I wanted.
Re: A Story Of Starting A Business In Japan
#33Visa cost: ¥5M Y
Isn't "5M JPY investment" (45k USD) the requirement for the visa, not the cost?
There is a minimum capitilisation requirement of 5M JPY to sponsor a visa. For people starting a company and coming in on a business visa (forget the actual name), you will need at least 5M JPY in your company. This is to ensure that your company has enough money to support you for a year. This amount is very much dependent upon a variety of factors, so it may be more than 5M JPY, as far as I know.
The money is still held by your company and you can own the stock, so it's not like you are "spending" it.
Re: A Story Of Starting A Business In Japan
#34I haven't read the whole article, but it looks interesting. A couple of pointers/tips, though: The way expenses and depreciation are handled between godo kaisha and kabushiki gaisha are different. Make sure you understand those differences before you choose your path. There are advantages and disadvantages. The absolute first thing to do before you even see a lawyer is to find a good tax accountant.
If you are American (or if you are a citizen of a country with similar tax laws), it is very important to talk to someone who understands the intricacies of how the IRS works. I'm Canadian, so I don't know the details, but ownership of a foreign company can incur significant responsibilities with the IRS. The easiest way around this if you have a Japanese spouse is to have your spouse own the company. Again, see a tax accountant.
Finally, if you have a Japanese spouse who is dependent on you for income, then it is incredibly useful to have them be the CEO and president of the company. Income splitting in Japan is not legal. If you hire your spouse, they have to work for the company exclusively and get paid an amount representative of their position. It turns out, though, that the president of the company has no defined salary range and no defined duties. This is exceptionally useful.
In my company, my wife is both CEO and president. She has to work exclusively for the company, but I didn't really imagine that she would be very busy. As it turned out, though, even though I am fairly good at Japanese, having my wife handle all the business affairs has been incredibly useful. She can do everything twice as fast as me. Also, people we need to talk to are much more comfortable knowing that there is a Japanese person there would can navigate any language/cultural issues that might crop up. Dealing with the bank, government officials, etc, etc is just hugely easier and more efficient.
Re: A Story Of Starting A Business In Japan
#35If you're reading this and are in Tokyo already you should come out to the Hacker News Tokyo reader meetup. It's a great place to find cofounders, talk shop and discuss these kinds of issues. We hold them once a month.
You can sign up here and you'll get notified about the next one when it gets scheduled:
https://hntokyo.doorkeeper.jp/
edit If you're not in Tokyo I know there's one in kansai too: http://hnkansai.org
Re: A Story Of Starting A Business In Japan
#36If you're reading this and are in Tokyo already you should come out to the Hacker News Tokyo reader meetup. It's a great place to find cofounders, talk shop and discuss these kinds of issues. We hold them once a month. You can sign up here and you'll get notified about the next one when it gets scheduled: https://hntokyo.doorkeeper.jp/ edit If you're not in Tokyo I know there's one in kansai too: http://hnkansai.org
I hope there's one in Fukuoka too, really miss the Tokyo meetup scene here.
Re: A Story Of Starting A Business In Japan
#37From my understanding, lawyers working with non-Japanese-speaking clients charge a premium. This is true for essentially all professional services in Japan (and, relatedly, can be true for renting depending on how one goes about that), and it is not driven entirely by costs. Partly, this is simply "You require something which is much harder to deliver than standard services; this restricts your labor pool by > 98% he…
Isn't it the same for any foreigner in any country? The US tries to be multicultural in some respects but not being able to speak English hampers you quite a bit too.
Re: A Story Of Starting A Business In Japan
#38I'm currently going through the same process for a business investor visa. However, my lawyer claims that immigation office changed the requirements this december to also require at least one (can be part-time) employee (other than yourself). Apparently this is something not stated anywhere, but a whim of the immigration office... Can anyone confirm?
patio11's reply is correct as far as I know, but I'll pitch in a little more. When I was researching setting up my business in Japan, I was told I would need to hire a resident to be a business manager in the case that I wanted to sponsor my visa through the company. So this may be what you are running into. In my case I was getting a spousal visa, and incorporating after immigrating, so I could be the resident if I…
I'm here on a study visa, arrived last year, so I do have a temporary residency status.
Re: A Story Of Starting A Business In Japan
#39I'm currently going through the same process for a business investor visa. However, my lawyer claims that immigation office changed the requirements this december to also require at least one (can be part-time) employee (other than yourself). Apparently this is something not stated anywhere, but a whim of the immigration office... Can anyone confirm?
Individual regional immigration offices and the individual clerks at them have pretty substantial latitude with regards to how they interpret the regulations. Another similar issue is how much salary you need to have to "self-sponsor" one of the professional visas (which is a thing which isn't really anticipated in the written regulations per se but can be finangled out of Immigration). The amount can, depending on t…
My lawyer... is very japanese-esque inflexible. No other lawyer (or friends that recently acquired the same visa) mentioned this new requirement; but the lawyer refuses to check with the immigration office.
Re: A Story Of Starting A Business In Japan
#40From my understanding, lawyers working with non-Japanese-speaking clients charge a premium. This is true for essentially all professional services in Japan (and, relatedly, can be true for renting depending on how one goes about that), and it is not driven entirely by costs. Partly, this is simply "You require something which is much harder to deliver than standard services; this restricts your labor pool by > 98% he…
Yes, exactly. The increased cost can also let Japanese lawyers avoid doing the work - by pricing the client out - without saying no. Providing services in English is a lot of work for a Japanese lawyer. Can't easily use off-the-shelf memos or leverage past work, etc. Not many are eager to do it.
There are non-Japanese lawyers in Tokyo (I'm one) but they're not allowed - or usually competent - to advise on Japanese legal matters. And the supply of Japanese lawyers itself is limited, so unfortunately there aren't many options. Lawyer-to-population ratio in Japan is close to 1:3000 as opposed to 1:300 or so in the US.