On 16 October 2025 Japan raised the bar for the Business Manager Visa — the status most foreign founders need in order to run their own company here. The changes were not incremental. The capital threshold went up six-fold, hiring became mandatory, and three requirements that did not previously exist were added.
A great deal of English-language material online still describes the previous rules. This guide sets out what actually applies now, and what it means in practice.
What changed
| Requirement | Before | From 16 Oct 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Paid-in capital | JPY 5 million | JPY 30 million approx. USD 190,000 |
| Full-time employee | Capital or two employees | Capital and at least one employee |
| Japanese language | No requirement | CEFR B2 / JLPT N2 or above |
| Management experience | No requirement | Three years, or a relevant degree |
| Business plan | Optional in practice | Must be verified by a qualified professional |
| Office | Loosely applied | Independent premises required |
None of this depends on which company type you choose — a GK satisfies the visa just as a KK does. That decision turns on other things, which we cover in KK or GK?
The capital requirement: JPY 30 million
This is the headline change and the one that removes the most people. Paid-in capital must now be JPY 30 million, up from JPY 5 million — roughly USD 190,000 depending on the rate.
The figure has a second effect that is easy to miss: at JPY 30 million the company is three times over the threshold that cancels the consumption tax exemption new companies normally get, so it is a taxable business from day one — see the consumption tax trap in the JPY 30 million rule.
Capital is not a fee. It is money paid into the company that the company then owns and can spend on the business. But it does have to be genuinely paid in and evidenced, and the source of the funds is examined. A loan from a friend that arrives the week before filing and leaves the week after is the kind of thing that sinks applications.
Only stated capital counts. The Agency excludes capital reserve, capital surplus and retained earnings from the figure. That matters because splitting a contribution between stated capital and capital reserve is ordinary Japanese incorporation practice — and a JPY 30 million contribution booked half to reserve leaves you with JPY 15 million of stated capital and a failed criterion. If your incorporation adviser and your immigration adviser are different people, put this question to both. A sole proprietor is measured on a different basis entirely, which we compare in sole proprietor or company?
The employee requirement
Previously you could satisfy the test with capital or by employing two people. That choice is gone: you now need the capital and at least one full-time employee residing in Japan.
Who counts is narrower than most guides suggest. The Immigration Services Agency limits this employee to Japanese nationals, special permanent residents, and holders of a Table 2 status — permanent resident, spouse of a Japanese national or permanent resident, or long-term resident. A person on an ordinary work visa (Table 1) does not satisfy this requirement, however well qualified they are. This is a real payroll commitment from day one, not a formality, and it should be in your cash flow planning before you look at the capital figure.
We work through who qualifies, what the employer’s share of social insurance adds, and the sequencing problem between the hire, payroll and the bank account in hiring your first employee in Japan.
The Japanese language requirement
Either you or a full-time employee must demonstrate Japanese at CEFR B2 level or above. The Agency names JLPT N2 or higher, a BJT score of 400 or more, or an equivalent qualification as ways to show it.
Note the “or”. A founder with no Japanese can still qualify if the full-time employee they hire has N2. In practice this makes that first hire a much more consequential decision than it looks — that person may be carrying the language requirement for the entire application.
There are five accepted ways to show it and only two are tests — a Japanese university degree is one of the others, which means many founders satisfy this already. We set them out, and the footnote that widens which employee may carry it, in the Japanese language requirement.
The management experience requirement
Applicants must show three or more years of business management or administration experience, or hold a bachelor’s degree or higher in a relevant field. The Immigration Services Agency states the two as alternatives, so a relevant degree can stand in place of the experience. First-time founders with neither are now outside the criteria in a way they were not before.
The business plan must be vetted — and this one is widely underestimated
The business plan now has to be confirmed by a person with professional knowledge of business management. The Immigration Services Agency names exactly three qualifications: certified SME management consultant (中小企業診断士), certified public accountant (公認会計士), and certified tax accountant (税理士). The credential must be the Japanese one — a US CPA does not qualify.
Here is the practical consequence that catches people out: the firm handling your visa application is not automatically able to verify your business plan. A gyoseishoshi is not one of the three qualifications, and the gyoseishoshi is exactly who most founders engage for the visa itself. The verification has to come from somewhere else.
We originally reported this requirement as resting on registration with the Small and Medium Enterprise Agency as a certified support organization (認定経営革新等支援機関), and corrected it on 29 August 2026 after checking the Agency’s own Q&A. That register is a different scheme. What the visa rule asks for is the qualification, not the registration — which makes your options wider than we first said.
If your firm is not registered, the verification has to come from somewhere else — an in-house professional, an affiliated one, or someone you engage separately.
When you compare quotes between firms, check whether the expert verification is included in the price or billed on top. At least one firm in our directory states explicitly that it charges this separately at cost, which is honest but means the headline package price is not the whole number.
You can check whether a professional is registered using the Small and Medium Enterprise Agency’s official search system. Search by prefecture and firm name. Two cautions: registered names sometimes differ from the trading name a firm uses publicly, so try the corporate name and the representative’s name; and registration is renewable, so confirm the certification is current rather than historic.
We checked every firm in our directory
We have now run every firm in our directory through that register, searching by trading name in the prefecture each firm is based in — Osaka for the Kansai firms, Kanagawa for the Kawasaki one, and both where a firm has offices in two places. Three are registered: TOMA Consultants Group, Koyano CPA Group and ACROSEED Tax Corporation, all tax practices. Twenty-five returned no match, and they are overwhelmingly the immigration and incorporation specialists — which is the pattern the scheme would predict, since the professions it names are tax accountants, CPAs and SME management consultants.
One firm we could not check at all: it trades only under an English name and we could not establish which Japanese registered entity to search against. A second has a tax corporation of the same name in the register, but the entity we list is its gyoseishoshi corporation, and we will not merge the two on a name alone. We say so on both listings rather than guessing.
Be careful how much weight you put on a blank result. A no-match is not proof that a firm is unregistered — the registered legal name is often not the brand name. The practical rule still holds: assume the firm handling your visa cannot verify your business plan until they tell you otherwise. Ask directly, ask early, and get a straight answer before you engage anyone. If the answer is no, one of the registered firms can do that part separately.
Our listings record what each search returned, with the date, so you can see which firms we have checked and which we have not yet. The full results, the method and the caveats are set out on who can verify your business plan.
The office requirement
What the Immigration Services Agency actually states is narrower than most summaries suggest, and worth separating from what advisers add. The Agency says premises must be “necessary and sufficient” for business activity at the revised scale, and that using your home as the office is not permitted in principle — that home-office exclusion is the part the revision made explicit. It does not name virtual offices or coworking spaces, and it sets no measurement.
The rest — walls and a door, partitions that reach the ceiling, a lease clearly for business use — is practitioner convention built on how applications have actually been decided. It is well-founded and worth following, but it is guidance, not a published standard, and the difference matters when you are deciding how much to commit to.
No minimum lease term is published. Advisers commonly recommend a year or more because a short term reads as impermanence, but a reader who treats “two years” as a rule may over-commit to a lease on a business that has not started. We separate the published requirement from the convention in what the office rule actually says. Several rental office operators in Tokyo now market rooms for this requirement — see the office space section of the directory.
If you already hold the visa
There is a transition period, and if you already hold the status it is the only date that concerns you — we work through it in your deadline is October 2028. Existing holders have until 16 October 2028 before the new standards apply in full, with renewals expected to move progressively toward them. This is not a permanent exemption — it is three years to restructure, and the planning for that is worth starting well before the deadline rather than at the renewal that fails.
If the new criteria are out of reach
The Startup Visa is the usual alternative. It allows a foreign entrepreneur to reside in Japan for up to one to two years while preparing the business, without needing the JPY 30 million, the office or the employee in place beforehand. It is a runway to meet the Business Manager Visa criteria, not a substitute for them — but for founders who cannot meet the new thresholds on day one, it is the route worth asking about.
One question the requirements do not address, and that decides whether a move happens at all: the family. A spouse and children can come as dependants — parents cannot, and a dependent spouse may work at most 28 hours a week. We set out what is allowed in bringing your family.
What to do with this
The requirements now interact: your first hire may determine whether you meet the language test, your office lease term may determine whether your premises are accepted, and your choice of adviser may determine whether your business plan can be verified at all. Getting each one right individually is not sufficient if they do not fit together.
Our directory records which firms cover which parts of this, which of them publish their fees, and when each listing was last checked. It will not tell you whether your own application will succeed — for that you need a licensed professional, and this guide is not a substitute for one.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much capital do you need for a Business Manager Visa in Japan?
JPY 30 million in paid-in capital, since 16 October 2025. The previous threshold was JPY 5 million, so the requirement went up six-fold. Capital is not a fee — the company owns the money and spends it on the business — but it must be genuinely paid in and evidenced, and the source of the funds is examined.
Do I need to speak Japanese to get a Business Manager Visa?
Not necessarily yourself. The requirement is CEFR B2, equivalent to JLPT N2 or above, from either you or a full-time employee. A founder with no Japanese can still qualify if the employee they hire holds N2. That makes the first hire a much more consequential decision than it appears, because that person may be carrying the language requirement for the whole application.
Can the firm handling my visa application verify my business plan?
Usually not. Verification must come from a certified SME management consultant, CPA or tax accountant holding the Japanese qualification. A gyoseishoshi — the profession that handles most Business Manager applications — is not on that list, so the verification is normally a second engagement. See who can verify your business plan.
Does a virtual office satisfy the premises requirement?
No. An address and a mailbox is not a place of business. Neither is a coworking desk, nor a booth divided by partitions that do not reach the ceiling. What is expected is a room separated by walls and a door, on a lease clearly for business purposes, with a term of at least one year and preferably two.
I already hold the Business Manager Visa. Do the new rules apply to me?
Not in full, yet. Existing holders have until 16 October 2028 before the new standards apply completely, with renewals expected to move progressively toward them. It is three years to restructure, not a permanent exemption.
What if I cannot meet the JPY 30 million requirement?
The Startup Visa is the usual alternative. It allows a foreign entrepreneur to reside in Japan for one to two years while preparing the business, without the capital, office or employee in place beforehand. It is a runway to meet the Business Manager Visa criteria, not a substitute for them.