— Guide · Visa & entity
Japan’s ¥30 million Business Manager visa rule: does it apply to you?
On October 16, 2025 Japan made its Business Manager visa six times harder to get. Every foreign founder planning a Japan launch has now heard the number, and most of them are asking the wrong question. The right question is not how to raise ¥30 million. It is whether anyone on your team needs this visa at all.
— Short answer
The rule applies only to a person who will live in Japan and run a business there. It requires ¥30 million in capital or total investment (up from ¥5 million), at least one full-time employee who is a Japanese national or permanent resident, Japanese at CEFR B2 held by the manager or that employee, a master’s degree or three years of management experience, a business plan reviewed by a CPA, tax accountant or SME consultant, and a physical office. A foreign company that sells into Japan from its home entity, or that incorporates with a Japan-resident director, needs none of it. Existing holders have until October 2028 to comply.
By Yuki Kishi · Updated September 23, 2026 · 8 min read
— What changed
The rule before and after October 16, 2025.
| Requirement | Before | Since October 16, 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Capital or total investment | ¥5 million | ¥30 million |
| Employees | Two full-time employees, or the ¥5 million capital instead | At least one full-time employee who is a Japanese national, permanent resident, spouse of either, or long-term resident — in addition to the capital |
| Japanese language | No requirement | CEFR B2 (JLPT N2 or equivalent), held by the manager or by that full-time employee |
| Manager’s background | No requirement | Master’s degree or higher in a business-related field, or at least three years of business management experience |
| Business plan | Submitted by the applicant | Reviewed and confirmed by a certified public accountant, tax accountant or certified SME consultant |
| Office | Physical premises required; enforcement uneven | Physical premises suitable for the scale of the business; virtual offices and mail-drop addresses rejected |
| Applies to | Business Manager status | Business Manager; also Highly Skilled Professional (i)(c) and (ii) holders running businesses, at extension or change of status |
Summarised from the Immigration Services Agency’s amended landing and residence criteria for the Business Manager status, as reported by immigration counsel. Orientation only — confirm your own case with an immigration lawyer (gyoseishoshi) before filing.
Two of the changes matter more than the headline. The employee requirement is no longer an alternative to capital; it is added to it, and the employee has to be someone with a permanent right to work in Japan, which rules out the common workaround of hiring a fellow foreign national on a work visa. And the business plan now needs a professional’s signature, which turns a document founders used to write in a weekend into a review that takes weeks and costs money.
The stated purpose is to stop shell companies set up mainly to obtain residence. The practical effect is that the visa has become a serious commitment: roughly ¥30 million of capital, a ¥4–6 million a year salary for the qualifying hire, an office lease, and a reviewed plan, all in place before the application is decided.
¥30M
Minimum capital or total investment — six times the old ¥5M threshold
16 Oct 2025
Effective date for new applications and for status changes
Oct 2028
End of the transition period for holders granted under the old rules
— Who it affects
Who needs to care, and who does not.
| Situation | Affected? | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| A founder or executive relocating to Japan to run the Japanese entity | Yes | The whole rule applies: ¥30M, the qualifying employee, B2 Japanese (yours or theirs), the reviewed plan, the office |
| A solo entrepreneur setting up a small company in Japan | Yes | This is who the reform was aimed at; the old ¥5M / two-employee route is closed |
| An existing Business Manager visa holder | From renewal | Transition consideration until October 2028; full compliance after |
| A foreign company selling into Japan from its home entity | No | No resident manager, no visa, no capital requirement; this is how most B2B software and services companies start |
| A Japanese subsidiary whose representative director is a Japanese national, permanent resident or local hire | No | Nobody needs a residence status, so the visa criteria never arise; the entity can be capitalised at any level the business needs |
| An employee transferred to Japan in a non-managerial role | No | Different residence statuses (Intra-company Transferee, Engineer/Specialist in Humanities) with their own criteria; check the role’s actual duties with counsel |
The pattern in the table is simple. The visa is about a person, not a company. If the person who runs Japan for you already has the right to live and work here — a Japanese national, a permanent resident, or a fractional Country Manager who is already resident — the reform does not touch you. It bites when a founder or executive who does not have that right wants to relocate and be the manager of record.
One nuance worth checking with counsel: an executive posted from head office to run the Japanese subsidiary usually also falls under the Business Manager status, so the subsidiary’s capital and the rest of the criteria apply to that posting too. Non-managerial transfers use different statuses with different rules.
— Your options
Three ways into Japan, only one of which needs the visa.
- 01
Sell from your home entity with a fractional Country Manager
No Japanese company, no office lease, no visa. A senior operator who already lives and works in Japan represents you under your email domain and title, opens the doors, runs the meetings and builds the pipeline. Most foreign B2B companies sign their first Japanese customers this way and only incorporate once a customer or a licence requires it. Year-one cost is $80k–$175k in our cost guide, almost all of it stoppable on 30 days notice.
- 02
Incorporate with a Japan-resident director
When a customer needs a yen invoice from a Japanese counterparty, or a regulated activity needs a local licensee, set up a GK or KK with a representative director who does not need a visa: a Japanese national, a permanent resident, or a senior local hire. The entity can be capitalised at whatever the business needs rather than ¥30 million, and the founder keeps running the company from home with periodic trips on a business visitor status.
- 03
Capitalise at ¥30 million and relocate
The right choice when the founder’s presence in Tokyo is the strategy: consumer or relationship-heavy businesses, a Japan-first product, or a decision that the family moves. Plan three to six months from decision to visa in hand, covering incorporation, a bank account (the hardest step for a new foreign-owned company), the reviewed business plan, a lease, and the qualifying hire. The ¥30 million sits in the company; it is not lost, but it is committed before a single Japanese customer has said yes.
The sequence most companies get right
Route one first, for twelve to eighteen months, until a Japanese customer has paid and you know why. Route two when that customer, or a regulator, asks for a Japanese counterparty. Route three only if, by then, the founder’s presence in Tokyo has turned out to be the thing that moves deals — and by that point the ¥30 million is a decision about a market you understand, not a bet on one you do not.
— If you do need it
What the application actually involves.
| Step | What it takes | Typical time |
|---|---|---|
| Incorporate the Japanese entity (GK or KK) | Articles, registered address, capital contributed to a Japanese account — which for a new foreign-owned company can itself take one to three months to open | 1–3 months |
| Secure physical premises | A lease or serviced office that qualifies as business premises; virtual offices are rejected | 2–6 weeks |
| Business plan reviewed by a CPA, tax accountant or certified SME consultant | A plan credible enough that a licensed professional will put their name to it | 2–6 weeks |
| Hire the qualifying full-time employee | Japanese national, permanent resident or equivalent; B2 Japanese if the manager does not have it | 1–3 months |
| Certificate of Eligibility, then the visa | Application to the Immigration Services Agency, then the consulate abroad | 1–3 months |
Steps overlap; three to six months from decision to visa in hand is a realistic plan. YKBridge does not file immigration or corporate applications — we help you decide whether you need to, and we can introduce counsel who does.
— Where we come in
Most of our clients never need this visa.
YKBridge exists for route one. A fractional Country Manager who already lives and works in Japan joins your team under your email domain and title for 16–32 hours a month, opens the doors, runs the meetings and builds the pipeline, and tells you at month three whether Japan is real. No entity, no lease, no capital tied up, and a decision about relocating that you make with a pipeline in hand rather than a spreadsheet.
— Questions founders ask
The ¥30M rule, answered.
No. The Business Manager visa is a residence status for a person who lives in Japan and runs a business there. A foreign company that sells to Japanese customers from its home entity, with a Country Manager on the ground who is already entitled to work in Japan, needs no visa and is not affected by the capital, employee or language requirements.
— Go deeper
- How much does it cost to enter Japan? Three 12-month budgetsThe three routes above, costed line by line — with and without an entity.
- How Much Does It Cost to Set Up in Japan in 2026? A Line-by-Line Budget After the ¥30M Visa RuleEntity types, employment multipliers, office deposits and EOR in more detail.
- Hire a Japan Country Manager, go fractional, or use an agency?Who should own Japan if the founder does not relocate.
- Japan Market Entry Timeline: What Actually Happens in Months 1–12Why the entity question usually arrives in month nine, not month one.
— Ready when you are
Japan can be your next chapter.
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