A Story Of Starting A Business In Japan • Hacker News Board

Re: A Story Of Starting A Business In Japan

#41

Post by mikekchar » Thu, Jan 19, 2017, 3:07 AM UTC

archseer wrote: post #38

mikekchar wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

But the problem is that you can't change your study visa to a working visa (BTW, this is not legal advice! Make sure to check what I'm saying with a lawyer). So you will lose residency when you change visas.

Potentially the easier way to go (assuming you are doing some high tech thing and you are getting an equivalent to an "engineering" degree -- CS should be fine) is to get a job and have the company sponsor your visa. At that point you can start your your company no problem and hire yourself. This is one way to avoid having to sponsor your own visa (which will have capitalisation requirements).

I was in a similar situation before I got married. I was teaching English and I wanted to set up an IT consulting company. My visa was as an instructor and there was no way to switch it to an engineering or business person's visa. So I would have had to sponsor my own visa. As it turned out, I got married, moved to the UK for a few years and then set up my company when I returned.

Edit: Even easier approach (though time consuming) is to get a job and stay long enough to get permanent residency. Then you have no issues at all. Minimum time frame is 5 years IIRC. Normally being married helps a lot, but I suspect if you have gone to school in Japan it will help equivalently.

Re: A Story Of Starting A Business In Japan

#42

Post by hardwaresofton » Thu, Jan 19, 2017, 3:11 AM UTC

po wrote: post #35

If 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

Thanks for posting this, had no idea there was a meetup like this.

Re: A Story Of Starting A Business In Japan

#43

Post by hardwaresofton » Thu, Jan 19, 2017, 3:12 AM UTC

As a solo founder that's currently living in japan, wanted to let everyone know that this post is long, accurate, and a good representation of what it takes to start a business in Japan.

There's a lot that could be said about Japanese culture that was left out (probably for the best, brevity wise), and my path was slightly different, but this was a great read.

For those here looking for good consultation as far as lawyers in japan, check out:

http://www.juridique.jp/profile_en.html

They personally helped me incorporate, prices are reasonable in my experience, and their advice has been outstanding.

Re: A Story Of Starting A Business In Japan

#44

Post by android521 » Thu, Jan 19, 2017, 3:12 AM UTC

mikekchar wrote: post #34

I 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 Americ…

The downside is that if your relationship goes sour, your wife owns your company.

Re: A Story Of Starting A Business In Japan

#45

Post by raleighm » Thu, Jan 19, 2017, 3:38 AM UTC

archseer wrote: post #39

patio11 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Sounds like you need a new lawyer.

Re: A Story Of Starting A Business In Japan

#46

Post by laurieg » Thu, Jan 19, 2017, 3:59 AM UTC

romanovtexas wrote: post #36

po wrote: post #35

If 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.

There's no Hacker News meetups but there are a few general programmer meetups that might be of interest to you.

If you are interested come to the meetup on Wednesday nights in AIP Cafe, Daimyo.

Re: A Story Of Starting A Business In Japan

#47

Post by laurieg » Thu, Jan 19, 2017, 4:04 AM UTC

patio11 wrote: post #14

archseer wrote: post #12

I'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…

This flexibility can be a blessing or a curse. Usually it's the latter.

A good immigration lawyer should know the ins and outs of your local immigration office and be able to tell you fairly confidently (not 100%) what will and won't work.

Re: A Story Of Starting A Business In Japan

#48

Post by contingencies » Thu, Jan 19, 2017, 4:09 AM UTC

bpodgursky wrote: post #22

rev wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or still yet, a robot-care business staffed by ever more populous and longer living Japanese. Because Japan!

There's some evidence that much of the reason the Japanese are so "long lived" is just pension fraud by surviving relatives: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/15/world/asia/15japan.html

Hahahaha. Awesome. I'd never heard of that, but based upon observations of the same elsewhere I'd lend it credence. I certainly didn't see loads of super old people in Japan on my (month long) trip, even in places they might traditionally be found (high ranking Buddhist monasteries) but perhaps that was just the places I was hanging out (rural north of Kansai, Kansai).

Re: A Story Of Starting A Business In Japan

#49

Post by laurieg » Thu, Jan 19, 2017, 4:12 AM UTC

jpatokal wrote: post #29

jstandard wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone with close friends in Japanese government (Ministries), I can tell you they do care VERY much about about their declining birthrate and stagnant economy.

...they're just unwilling to actually do anything about it. Allow immigration? Make it possible for women to have careers after childbirth? Stop funding increasingly ridiculous infrastructure boondoggles and give tax cuts to consumers instead of zaibatsu? Hire and promote based on talent, not seniority and what school you graduated from? Nope nope, it's all too muzukashii. I've been visiting Japan regularly for 20 ye…

What do you mean by "allow immigration"? If you have a degree and a job you can come work and live in Japan. Japanese immigration is not that restrictive. My native country, the UK, has far more hoops to jump through to get permission to work.

The social changes are a much bigger challenge. If your family sees you as a bad mother for working while raising children then financial incentives and back to work schemes will only get you so far.

Re: A Story Of Starting A Business In Japan

#50

Post by agibsonccc » Thu, Jan 19, 2017, 4:26 AM UTC

I'm based in Tokyo now. It took me a while to find a good immigration firm. All I can say: I moved here from SF and it has worked out quite well for me. I run an enterprise company though. Part of what got me to move here was JETRO. If you are looking to start a startup in japan, they've been very helpful for us: http://jetro.go.jp/usa/topics/companies-chosen-global-innova...

One caveat is we're enterprise though. Consumer will be harder.

We broke in to japan by hiring someone and having them help us start a subsidary. I moved here using that subsidary. It should be possible to do something similar for others.