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Foreign business owners are scrambling to raise capital to stay in Japan

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Re: Foreign business owners are scrambling to raise capital to stay in Japan

#41

Post by Gareth321 »

torben-friis wrote: post #23
fc417fc802 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel like letting people buy their way in to visas is actually a pretty good system from a strictly pragmatic standpoint but 5 million yen seems far too low.

>I feel like letting people buy their way in to visas is actually a pretty good system That depends of what you're hoping to prevent. If you want to filter out people who can't sustain themselves, petty crime or the like, it works. But it can open the door to a lot of unwanted effects. A foreign national that just extracts capital by capturing real state and collecting rent is a great example, this person is a large…

> A foreign national that just extracts capital by capturing real state and collecting rent is a great example, this person is a large net loss for the country.

Is this a creative way of arguing that landlords are a net loss for the country? Because I would like to remind you that MANY people cannot afford to buy homes, and renting is how they make sure they don't become homeless.

Re: Foreign business owners are scrambling to raise capital to stay in Japan

#42

Post by Semaphor »

trashcan2137 wrote: post #39
Semaphor wrote: post #5

Thought the name seems familiar: Jake Adelstein got his 2009 memoir Tokyo Vice turned into a (fun to watch, apparently very dramatized, though that was already criticized for the memoirs) 2 season HBO series in 2022.

The newspaper he apparently worked in stated that he was never part of the reporting teams for organized crime and had written only a very few articles about the yakuza during his time there. He got called out several times about his stories so I wouldn't be surprised if he's making stuff up again.

> He got called out several times

Good point, WP [0] has some details, looks like pretty credible call outs.

I did read about that when I watched the show, but proceeded to forget because I didn’t actually care that much ;)

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jake_Adelstein#Career

Re: Foreign business owners are scrambling to raise capital to stay in Japan

#43

Post by Gareth321 »

fc417fc802 wrote: post #9
tristanj wrote: post #2

A large number of Airbnb hosts were using this Business Manager Visa as a way to stay in Japan. People in China realized they could just buy/lease a guesthouse in Osaka / any tourist hotspot, and rent it out on Airbnb. Then they become a "business manager" and get a Japanese resident visa within 3 months. All you needed is to invest 5million yen, which is like 31k USD, which isn't much. People wrote entire online gui…

I feel like letting people buy their way in to visas is actually a pretty good system from a strictly pragmatic standpoint but 5 million yen seems far too low.

It's not a popular opinion but I agree. As long as the price is very high, it is almost guaranteed to be a net social benefit. Even more beneficial is that people who are wealth enough to buy a visa will usually also consume a lot (paying a lot of consumption tax), stimulate the economy, create businesses, and invest. Wealthy people are also significantly underrepresented in crime.

Re: Foreign business owners are scrambling to raise capital to stay in Japan

#44

Post by bombcar »

hirako2000 wrote: post #33
tristanj wrote: post #2

A large number of Airbnb hosts were using this Business Manager Visa as a way to stay in Japan. People in China realized they could just buy/lease a guesthouse in Osaka / any tourist hotspot, and rent it out on Airbnb. Then they become a "business manager" and get a Japanese resident visa within 3 months. All you needed is to invest 5million yen, which is like 31k USD, which isn't much. People wrote entire online gui…

And how are they not managerial, entrepreneur, doing business ? Is there something illegitimate in doing an activity that yield profit when the national is Chinese ? Or when it's a short term let ? Or when it is something that doesn't directly contributed to innovation benefiting the nation ?

It’s the difference between setting up a system to encourage investment and hoping for a factory, or at least a large department store, and instead getting a DataCenter that employs 30 people total.

Re: Foreign business owners are scrambling to raise capital to stay in Japan

#45

Post by ffaccount2 »

Gareth321 wrote: post #41
torben-friis wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I feel like letting people buy their way in to visas is actually a pretty good system That depends of what you're hoping to prevent. If you want to filter out people who can't sustain themselves, petty crime or the like, it works. But it can open the door to a lot of unwanted effects. A foreign national that just extracts capital by capturing real state and collecting rent is a great example, this person is a large…

> A foreign national that just extracts capital by capturing real state and collecting rent is a great example, this person is a large net loss for the country. Is this a creative way of arguing that landlords are a net loss for the country? Because I would like to remind you that MANY people cannot afford to buy homes, and renting is how they make sure they don't become homeless.

And MANY people, like me, can afford to buy a home, butprefer to rent anyway.

Re: Foreign business owners are scrambling to raise capital to stay in Japan

#46

Post by mytailorisrich »

eloisant wrote: post #13
ElProlactin wrote: post #6

Many countries are tightening the immigration screws. For example, Thailand just reduced visa exempt stays for most countries from 60 to 30 days and have been going hard after illegal foreign businesses set up under Thai nominees. While there are usually political and economic factors that contribute to these decisions, I've been living overseas for almost two decades and have noticed that rampant abuse is now almost…

That's pretty crazy when you see that in developed countries, Japan in particular, population is aging and declining. Countries should be competing for the best immigrants, not closing their doors.

This has to be balanced with preserving culture and social homogeneity. A country is not just an economic entity and individuals are not just producers and consumers...

Population has also exploded in never seen before proportions everywhere on Earth (Japan had a population of only 45 million in 1900...) and it is probably a blessing in disguise if it reduces.

Re: Foreign business owners are scrambling to raise capital to stay in Japan

#47

Post by timr »

tristanj wrote: post #2

A large number of Airbnb hosts were using this Business Manager Visa as a way to stay in Japan. People in China realized they could just buy/lease a guesthouse in Osaka / any tourist hotspot, and rent it out on Airbnb. Then they become a "business manager" and get a Japanese resident visa within 3 months. All you needed is to invest 5million yen, which is like 31k USD, which isn't much. People wrote entire online gui…

Yep. There was also a proliferation of Indian restaurants in the major cities, for the same basic reason. (Though I have to say that seems like a much harder road than operating a guesthouse for people from your own country, which is what I presume was the Chinese approach.)

Since you can bring in relatives on this kind of visa, I’ve heard the expression “One curry pot equals three people”. There have been stories in the Japanese press about long-time restauranteurs being shut down by the new rules.

Re: Foreign business owners are scrambling to raise capital to stay in Japan

#48

Post by embedding-shape »

junon wrote: post #40
rwmj wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> A [person] that just extracts capital by capturing real state and collecting rent is a great example, this person is a large net loss for the country. Even to their home country.

Genuine question: how so? I'm not familiar with the economics of this.

The general feedback loop is "have lots of money === easier to make more money", and doing so via passive approaches like "own property, rent it out" basically spirals out of control to a few owning a lot, unless you try to restrict it somehow. Add in that "vacation rentals" is hugely interesting for real estate owners as you get so much more per owned property, and suddenly local residents are even harder hit by property not being available even for long-term rent anymore. Final drop being that the real estate owner doesn't even live, work or spend their money in the country of the property itself, and suddenly it's basically all downside for the country and the people living there.

Re: Foreign business owners are scrambling to raise capital to stay in Japan

#49

Post by myrmidon »

Gareth321 wrote: post #41
torben-friis wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I feel like letting people buy their way in to visas is actually a pretty good system That depends of what you're hoping to prevent. If you want to filter out people who can't sustain themselves, petty crime or the like, it works. But it can open the door to a lot of unwanted effects. A foreign national that just extracts capital by capturing real state and collecting rent is a great example, this person is a large…

> A foreign national that just extracts capital by capturing real state and collecting rent is a great example, this person is a large net loss for the country. Is this a creative way of arguing that landlords are a net loss for the country? Because I would like to remind you that MANY people cannot afford to buy homes, and renting is how they make sure they don't become homeless.

I'm from a region negatively affected by this.

Foreign capital is undesirable in the housing market because:

1) It raises demand (when buying a home as a local, you now also have to compete with foreigners "investing", and this raises prices).

2) It often develops housing in a very unhealthy direction: Airbnbs and vacation apartments are toxic for local society and must be kept in check, otherwise you end up with half the houses just being shuttered for the whole off-season, and towns becoming empty husks.

3) Rent is a lot of money, and its obviously beneficial if it stays in the local economy instead of flowing abroad.

Re: Foreign business owners are scrambling to raise capital to stay in Japan

#50

Post by consp »

TFNA wrote: post #24
fc417fc802 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel like letting people buy their way in to visas is actually a pretty good system from a strictly pragmatic standpoint but 5 million yen seems far too low.

A number of European countries have allowed this; the 2010s were the heyday of this path. But it turns out that a lot of the people with big money to buy residence, got their money from organized crime, and it isn’t always easy to vet applicants (or corrupt officials could overlook the applicant’s background).

The Maltese route is still open but a bit different since 2025. It's now citizenship by merit (aka the old by investment, since dumping money is considered a cultural contribution).
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