The October 2025 reform put the Business Manager Visa out of reach for a lot of people. JPY 30 million in paid-in capital, a full-time employee, Japanese at N2, three years of management experience — that is a serious bar, and it is meant to be.
The Startup Visa is the route for founders who cannot clear it on day one. It is not a softer version of the Business Manager Visa. It is a runway to reach it.
What it actually is
METI’s own description is unusually clear: you can stay in Japan for up to two years and prepare to start a business before the Business Manager requirements are met. During that time a Foreign Entrepreneurship Promotion Organization supports you.
So the sequence is: get the Startup Visa, use the runway to raise the capital, secure the office, make the hire and build the business, then switch to the Business Manager Visa before the time runs out.
Two changes made this route materially better in 2025. The period was extended from six months to up to two years, and the programme was expanded from a handful of cities to a nationwide framework.
How you get one — and the part people miss
There are two examinations, not one.
- A municipality or approved private organisation — officially a Foreign Entrepreneurship Promotion Organization — examines your business plan.
- The Immigration Services Agency then runs its own examination.
You have to pass both. This is structurally different from the Business Manager Visa, where you deal with immigration alone, and it explains why the Startup Visa feels slower to arrange even though its financial bar is lower. You are persuading a local government first.
Where you can apply
METI publishes the list of approved organisations. As of the page we checked it includes:
- Cities: Fukuoka, Osaka, Sendai, Yokohama, Shibuya (Tokyo)
- Prefectures: Aichi, Gifu, Mie, Hokkaido, Ibaraki, Oita, Kyoto, Hyogo, and Niigata (listed as in preparation)
METI states plainly that requirements, including which business fields are accepted and which documents are needed, vary by municipality or organisation. That sentence is the single most important thing on this page. There is no one Startup Visa process — there are a dozen, and they differ.
Reported application fees to the municipality range from nothing to around JPY 50,000, plus the standard immigration application fee of JPY 4,000. Initial grants are commonly six months or one year depending on the municipality, with renewal up to the two-year maximum.
What it costs you in obligations
The money bar is lower; the supervision is higher. Most municipalities require interviews at least monthly to review progress against the business preparation plan you submitted.
That is a real commitment, and it is worth understanding as a feature rather than a nuisance. The municipality has staked its name on you. Founders who treat the check-ins as a formality tend to find the relationship less useful than those who use them.
Choosing where to apply
Because the criteria differ, this is a genuine decision rather than a default to Tokyo.
- Which business fields does the organisation accept? Some target specific industries. If your business is outside their focus, a different municipality may be a better fit than a stronger application to the wrong one.
- How long is the initial grant? Six months versus one year changes how much you can realistically achieve before the first renewal.
- What support comes with it? Some municipalities run programmes to help with the application itself.
- Can you actually live and operate there? The visa is tied to preparing a business in that area. Applying to Fukuoka while intending to build in Tokyo is not the plan the scheme is for.
The hard part: what happens at the end
This is where the October 2025 reform bites.
The Startup Visa was designed as a bridge to a Business Manager Visa that required JPY 5 million and no mandatory employee. That destination has moved: it is now JPY 30 million, a full-time employee, N2-level Japanese, three years of management experience, a business plan vetted by a qualified professional, and an independent office.
So the two years are not a grace period during which the requirement quietly goes away. They are the time you have to assemble all of that. Concretely, before the Startup Visa expires you need to have:
- JPY 30 million genuinely paid into the company
- An employee hired and on payroll, with the right status of residence
- An independent office on a lease long enough to satisfy immigration
- A business plan a qualified professional is willing to put their name to
- Ideally, a corporate bank account that actually opened
Plan backwards from the expiry date, not forwards from today. If capital is the constraint — and for most people it is — the question to answer before you apply is not “can I get a Startup Visa” but “what is my realistic path to JPY 30 million within 24 months”.
Who this route suits
It fits a founder with a fundable business and a credible path to the capital, who needs to be in Japan to build it — talking to customers, hiring, and dealing with people in person.
It fits badly as a way to live in Japan while deciding what to do. The monthly reviews will surface that quickly, and the two years end regardless.
Who to ask
The municipal stage is a business plan exercise; the immigration stage is a visa application. Firms in our immigration section handle the second. For the first, start with the municipality itself — several run support programmes, and it costs nothing to ask. JETRO is also worth a call before you are paying anyone.
One caveat, and it matters more here than in most of our guides: because requirements vary by municipality and the programme changed recently, treat everything above as orientation and confirm the specifics with the organisation you intend to apply to. This is not advice on your case.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Startup Visa in Japan?
A status that lets a foreign entrepreneur stay in Japan for up to two years to prepare a business before the Business Manager Visa requirements are met, with support from a Foreign Entrepreneurship Promotion Organization. It is not a softer version of the Business Manager Visa — it is a runway to reach it.
How is it different from the Business Manager Visa?
The financial bar is lower but there are two examinations rather than one. A municipality or approved private organisation examines your business plan first, and the Immigration Services Agency then runs its own examination. You have to pass both, which is why the Startup Visa can feel slower to arrange even though it asks for less money up front.
Where can I apply for a Startup Visa?
METI publishes the list of approved organisations. As of the page we checked it includes the cities of Fukuoka, Osaka, Sendai, Yokohama and Shibuya in Tokyo, and the prefectures of Aichi, Gifu, Mie, Hokkaido, Ibaraki, Oita, Kyoto and Hyogo, with Niigata listed as in preparation. METI states plainly that requirements — including which business fields are accepted — vary by municipality, so there is no single process.
What does a Startup Visa cost?
Reported municipal application fees range from nothing to around JPY 50,000, plus the standard immigration application fee of JPY 4,000. Initial grants are commonly six months or one year depending on the municipality, renewable up to the two-year maximum.
What obligations come with it?
The money bar is lower and the supervision is higher. Most municipalities require interviews at least monthly to review progress against the business preparation plan you submitted. The municipality has staked its name on you, and founders who treat the check-ins as a formality get less out of the relationship.
What happens when the Startup Visa expires?
You need to have met the Business Manager Visa criteria, which moved in October 2025. Before expiry that means JPY 30 million genuinely paid into the company, an employee on payroll with the right status of residence, an independent office on a long enough lease, a business plan a qualified professional will put their name to, and ideally a corporate bank account that actually opened. Plan backwards from the expiry date, not forwards from today.