Most English-language pages about the cost of starting a company in Japan give you a range and leave it there. This one is built from the prices firms actually publish on their own websites, gathered while compiling our provider directory and checked on the dates shown.
A warning before the numbers: of the 54 providers we have researched so far, 29 publish no prices at all. So this is not a market survey. It is what the minority who do publish are asking, which is the most you can know without picking up the phone.
USD figures throughout are rough conversions for scale, not quotes. The yen figure is the one that matters — check the current rate before budgeting.
First, separate the three kinds of money
Founders conflate these constantly, and it makes quoted “costs” impossible to compare.
- Capital. Money you put into your own company. Since 16 October 2025 the Business Manager Visa requires JPY 30 million paid in. You do not lose this — the company owns it and spends it on the business — but you must genuinely have it.
- Statutory costs. Fixed government charges. Nobody can discount these, and an honest quote shows them separately.
- Professional fees. What the firm charges for its work. This is the only part that varies, and it varies a lot.
If you have not yet settled on a company type, the KK/GK choice changes several of the numbers below — we work through that decision in KK or GK?
Statutory costs: the part nobody can change
| Item | KK (kabushiki kaisha) | GK (godo kaisha) |
|---|---|---|
| Registration licence tax | JPY 150,000 | JPY 60,000 |
| Articles of incorporation notarisation | approx. JPY 52,000 | not required |
| Statutory subtotal | approx. JPY 202,000 | JPY 60,000 |
These figures were consistent across every firm we checked that itemises them. If a quote shows a single all-in number, ask which part of it is this — it is roughly JPY 200,000 of a KK quote that has nothing to do with the firm’s own service.
Incorporation: published professional fees
| Provider | KK | GK | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oak Immigration Services | from JPY 250,000 | from JPY 200,000 | Before tax; statutory costs listed separately |
| Venture Japan | from JPY 358,000 | from JPY 254,250 | Branch office from JPY 283,000 |
| VentureINQ | approx. JPY 320,000 total | — | Includes approx. JPY 220,000 statutory; scrivener fee from JPY 100,000 |
| ACROSEED | JPY 400,000 | — | Incorporation alone, excluding tax |
Read that VentureINQ row carefully against the others: it is the only figure quoted as a total including statutory costs. Compared like-for-like, its professional fee is around JPY 100,000, which is the lowest here — but a careless reading would put it mid-table. This is exactly the trap in comparing quotes from different firms.
The Business Manager Visa itself
| Provider | Published fee | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Cuarteto Office | from JPY 148,000 | Visa application; excludes tax accountant fees and registration taxes |
| ACROSEED | JPY 150,000 | Visa application alone, excluding tax |
| JAPAN VISA SUPPORT | JPY 300,000–500,000+ | Business manager application, quoted as a band |
That spread — roughly JPY 150,000 at one end and JPY 500,000 at the other for nominally the same application — is not firms competing on price. It reflects how much work an application needs. A founder who already has the capital, the employee, the office and the Japanese-speaking staff member is a straightforward filing. A founder who needs restructuring to reach the criteria is not. JAPAN VISA SUPPORT quoting a band rather than a single figure is, if anything, the more honest presentation.
Bundled packages that combine incorporation and the visa are where the October 2025 change shows up most clearly in pricing. ACROSEED publishes both the old and the revised figures:
- KK + Business Manager Visa: JPY 593,500 → JPY 660,000 for applications after 16 October 2025
- LLC + Business Manager Visa: JPY 450,000 → JPY 600,000
The cost most guides omit entirely
Since October 2025 your business plan must be verified by a qualified professional — a Japanese tax accountant, CPA or SME management consultant. This is a separate professional engagement, and it is frequently not in the headline package price.
ACROSEED, to its credit, states plainly that the expert verification fee is charged separately at cost, and prices business plan preparation at JPY 100,000 on top. Most firms do not mention this cost at all in their published pricing.
When you compare two quotes, this is the first thing to ask about. A package that looks JPY 100,000 cheaper may simply have left the verification out. We wrote about how this requirement works, and what we found when we checked firms against the official register, in our guide to the October 2025 rules.
Ongoing costs
Setting up is the one-off. The recurring bill matters more over a first year:
- Accounting. Venture Japan publishes accounting from JPY 35,000 per month. Most firms in the directory publish nothing for the tax retainer, so budget a range and get quotes.
- Payroll. You now need at least one full-time employee for the visa, so payroll is not optional from day one — and the employer’s share of social insurance adds roughly 15-17% on top of salary. See hiring your first employee.
- Banking. Not a fee as such, but budget time: a corporate account for a new foreign-owned company can take weeks and is sometimes refused. See opening a corporate bank account.
- Office. A virtual office does not satisfy the visa’s premises requirement — you need an independent, lockable room, and immigration practice expects a lease term of at least a year. Published private-room pricing runs from about JPY 29,700 a month (Tensho Office) to JPY 100,000 a month (Servcorp, which is the one operator we have found that publishes prices and offers an English-language service). Note the trap: Servcorp’s virtual office at JPY 8,000 a month will not satisfy the requirement, however good the address. See office space in the directory.
- Consultation. Most firms offer a free first consultation. TKG Immigration Consulting Office instead publishes its rate — JPY 5,500 including tax, waived if you engage them, then JPY 11,000 per hour. Paid consultation is not a red flag; it often means the first meeting is substantive rather than a sales call.
A realistic picture
For a founder incorporating a KK and applying for the Business Manager Visa through one firm, published pricing puts the professional and statutory cost somewhere around JPY 600,000 to 800,000 (roughly USD 3,800–5,100), plus the business plan verification, plus the JPY 30 million in capital (approximately USD 190,000), plus an office lease and one salary.
Cost is only half the planning problem; the other half is sequence, which we set out in how long does it take to set up a company in Japan?
The capital requirement dominates everything else by an order of magnitude. If JPY 30 million is not available, the setup fees are not your problem — the Startup Visa route is the conversation to have instead.
How to use the numbers above
Ask every firm you approach the same four questions: what is your professional fee, what are the statutory costs, is the business plan verification included or extra, and what is the first year of accounting going to cost. A firm that answers all four in writing is telling you something useful about how it will behave later.
The directory shows which firms publish figures and which do not, with the date each listing was checked, and which firms publish their fees lists them side by side. Prices change; ours are a starting point for the conversation, not a quote.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to set up a company in Japan as a foreigner?
On published pricing, a founder incorporating a KK and applying for the Business Manager Visa through one firm should expect roughly JPY 600,000 to 800,000 in professional and statutory costs, plus the business plan verification, plus an office lease and one salary. Separately from all of that, the visa requires JPY 30 million in paid-in capital, which dominates every other figure by an order of magnitude.
What are the fixed government costs, and can they be discounted?
They cannot. A KK pays JPY 150,000 registration licence tax plus around JPY 52,000 to notarise the articles of incorporation, so roughly JPY 202,000. A GK pays JPY 60,000 and needs no notarisation. These figures were consistent across every firm we checked that itemises them. If a quote shows one all-in number, ask which part of it is this.
Why do quotes for the same visa application differ by three times?
Published fees for the Business Manager Visa application run from about JPY 148,000 to JPY 500,000 and above. That spread is not firms competing on price; it reflects how much work an application needs. A founder who already has the capital, employee, office and Japanese-speaking staff member is a straightforward filing. A founder who needs restructuring to reach the criteria is not.
Is the business plan verification included in package prices?
Usually it is not mentioned at all. Since October 2025 the plan must be verified by a tax accountant, CPA or SME management consultant, which is usually a separate professional engagement. One firm in the directory states plainly that the verification fee is charged separately at cost and prices business plan preparation at JPY 100,000 on top. A package that looks JPY 100,000 cheaper may simply have left this out, so ask about it first when comparing two quotes.
Do providers in Japan publish their fees?
Mostly not. Of the 54 providers researched for this directory, 29 publish no prices at all. Everything above is what the minority who do publish are asking, which is the most you can know without picking up the phone.
What are the ongoing costs after incorporation?
Published accounting starts from about JPY 35,000 a month, though most firms publish nothing for the tax retainer. Payroll is not optional, because the visa now requires a full-time employee, and the employer’s share of social insurance adds roughly 15–17% on top of salary. A qualifying private office runs from about JPY 29,700 to JPY 100,000 a month.