Doing business in Japan.
I moved to Tokyo, set up here, and worked out the paperwork the slow way. These are the guides I wish had existed: what the visas actually require, where you file, and what the 2025 rule changes mean if you were counting on the old numbers.
The Business Manager Visa After the 2025 Rules Change
Japan raised the Business Manager visa capital requirement from 5 million yen to 30 million, and added staff, experience and language conditions. Here is what actually changed and who it breaks.
August 8, 2026 · 857 words
Which Japan Visa Should You Actually Apply For
Most people pick the wrong Japanese visa first and lose months. A plain map of the main statuses of residence, who each one is really for, and how to tell which one fits you.
August 7, 2026 · 853 words
The Certificate of Eligibility, and Why Everyone Gets the Order Wrong
The COE is the step that actually decides whether you get into Japan, and it happens inside Japan before you ever visit an embassy. Here is the real sequence and where the months go.
August 6, 2026 · 765 words
The Startup Visa, and Why It Matters More After 2025
Japan's startup visa gives you a preparation period to build a business before facing the full Business Manager requirements. Since those requirements jumped in 2025, this route went from convenient to essential.
August 5, 2026 · 683 words
Where You Actually Apply, and What to Do in Your First Two Weeks
Which office handles what, why the ward office matters more than immigration once you land, and the fourteen-day clock that gates your bank account, your phone and your health insurance.
August 4, 2026 · 736 words
KK or GK: Which Japanese Company Should You Actually Register
Kabushiki Kaisha or Godo Kaisha. The real differences in cost, credibility and control, and why the cheaper one is right more often than foreigners are told.
August 3, 2026 · 652 words
The Highly Skilled Professional Visa Is Better Than You Think
A points system most people never check, that gets you a five-year stay, permanent residency in as little as one year, and a spouse who can work. Plus J-Skip and J-Find, the newer fast lanes.
August 2, 2026 · 685 words
Permanent Residency in Japan, and the Mistakes That Reset the Clock
Ten years, or three, or one. What permanent residency actually requires, why unpaid pension contributions sink more applications than anything else, and how PR differs from citizenship.
August 1, 2026 · 693 words
Tax and Social Insurance When You Run a Company in Japan
The costs that arrive after incorporation and surprise people: corporate tax even in a loss year, employer social insurance at roughly fifteen percent, and the consumption tax threshold that catches new companies.
July 31, 2026 · 781 words
The Office Requirement Is Stricter Than You Think
A virtual office will not satisfy immigration, a co-working desk usually will not either, and renting a flat and calling it an office often fails. What actually counts as an office for the Business Manager visa.
July 30, 2026 · 768 words
Renewals, Job Changes, and the Rules People Break Without Noticing
Leaving a job does not cancel your visa, but there is a fourteen-day notification and a three-month rule that quietly ends it. What to do when your work or your company changes.
July 29, 2026 · 754 words
What Nobody Tells You About Actually Moving a Business to Japan
The paperwork is documented. The rest is not: the bank account that takes six months, the seal culture, the invoice system, and why the second year costs more than the first.
July 28, 2026 · 814 words