Office COSOMOPOLITAN assists foreign companies and individuals in setting up companies in Japan.
If you want to establish a company in Japan and any of the concerns below sound familiar, Office COSMOPOLITAN can help.
- I’d like to start a business in Japan, but I don’t know where to start.
- I want to set up a company in Japan, but I don’t know what type of company would be best.
- I’d like to know how a foreign company or an individual not living in Japan goes about setting up a company in Japan.
- I want to start on work visa application(s) while setting up a company.
- I’ll need an integrated consulting service to handle social insurance, human resources management, tax and other issues after setting up a company.
Office COSMOPOLITAN can provide you with solutions for these types of concerns.
When we handle establishment of your company, we give careful consideration to all aspects of setting up your business, including work visas, social insurance and labor insurance filings and applications, personnel management and tax issues.
How to set up a company in Japan
If you are considering forming a Japanese corporation (subsidiary) to start doing business in Japan, you will need to choose one of four types of companies contemplated by Japan’s Companies Act: a stock company (kabushiki kaisha), limited liability company (gōdō kaisha), limited partnership company (gōshi kaisha) or general partnership company (gōmei kaisha). Of these, the most common is the stock company, but for relatively small companies, limited liability companies are not unusual.
★ Those choosing to establish a stock company in Japan must follow the steps outlined below.
- Preparation
- Preparing the articles of incorporation
- Certification of the articles of incorporation
- Transferring or remitting capital
- Preparing the minutes and other required documents
- Application for registration with the Legal Affairs Bureau
You will need to determine your company’s profile, including trade name, location of head office, business activities, fiscal year, amount of capital, stock issue price, rules on the limitation of transfer of shares, board of directors, election of directors and representative directors, directors’ term of office, contributors and their contribution amounts and other information.
Articles of incorporation are drawn up according to the type of business to be formed and its purposes.
The articles of incorporation must be checked by a notary public, who will certify them if everything is in order. These certified articles of incorporation are submitted to the Legal Affairs Bureau together with other required documentation when application for registration is made.
A deposit should be made to a bank account within Japan in the name of a company promoter or representative director, and you will need to submit a copy of the deposit record. This copy will be required in the registration application made to the Legal Affairs Bureau.
Next, we prepare the documents required for submission to the Legal Affairs Bureau, including the proceedings of the promoters’ meeting.
The certified articles of incorporation and other documents prepared by our office are submitted as part of the application for registration to the company’s local Legal Affairs Bureau. If all the documents are in order, registration is usually completed in about one week, and the company can obtain its Certificate of Registered Company Information and company seal registration certificate.
★ Those choosing to establish a limited liability company in Japan must follow the steps outlined below.
- Preparation
- Other steps
Like stock companies, a limited liability company must determine its trade name, location of head office, business activities, fiscal year and capital. In addition, it needs to decide on its members and their contribution amounts, a representative member and a business executor (if the representative member is a corporation).
The set up of a limited liability company is essentially the same as that of a stock company, with the greatest difference being that certification of the articles of incorporation by a notary public is not required. Limited liability companies therefore have the advantage of lower set up cost since a notary public does not need to be paid for certification of the articles of incorporation.
Why Office COSMOPOLITAN?
- ♦ Office COSMOPOLITAN has years of experience, the necessary know-how and a proven track record in assisting foreign companies and individuals with setting up companies in Japan.
- ♦ We listen carefully to your needs in order to prepare your articles of incorporation and other documents.
- ♦ We take work visa application(s) into account at every step of your company’s set up.
- ♦ We are able to provide you with the integrated consulting services you need for your business, including social insurance and labor insurance filings and personnel management services, as well as tax consultation services through partnerships with numerous tax professionals.
- ♦ We use the electronic notarization system for articles of incorporation.
This saves you the revenue stamp cost of 40,000 yen required for certification of hard-copy articles of incorporation by a notary public office. This is one of the many cost savings we offer our customers.