Japan Business Manager Visa 2026: A Practical, Data-Backed Playbook for Serious Founders

1. Why the Japan Business Manager Visa Still Matters in 2026

Japan remains a USD 5 trillion-class economy with deep consumer spending power, predictable regulation, and high trust in long-term business relationships. For foreign founders and executives who actually want to operate in Japan—not just hold a visa—the Business Manager status of residence is still the primary, long-term immigration route.

But the ground has shifted.

On 16 October 2025, the Ministry of Justice and Immigration Services Agency implemented the most significant overhaul of the Business Manager framework in years:

• Minimum capital requirement multiplied from JPY 5M to JPY 30M (roughly USD 200,000+).

• At least one full-time employee in Japan is now mandatory.

• The applicant must show either 3+ years of management experience or a relevant master’s degree or higher.

• Japanese-language capability and an expert-reviewed business plan are now embedded into the standards.

These reforms are explicitly aimed at filtering out “paper companies” and under-capitalised experiments. Immigration officers are being asked to prioritise quality, sustainability and real economic contribution over the old “low capital and quick setup” playbook.

For founders who are willing to build an actual business—with substance, local structure, and a coherent Japan strategy—the visa is still powerful. The difference is that checklists are no longer enough.

2. Who Should Seriously Consider the Business Manager Visa?

The Business Manager Visa makes sense for:

• Founders and shareholders establishing a KK or GK and acting as representative director or managing member.

• Regional CEOs / country managers relocating to run the Japan subsidiary or joint venture.

• Owners of profitable overseas businesses who want a long-term operational base in Japan (with family dependents).

It is not a good fit if:

• The intended structure is a pure branch office of a foreign company with no clear local P&L responsibility.

• The founder wants a “backup residence” with minimal actual operations in Japan.

• The business model cannot reasonably justify capitalisation of JPY 30M and one full-time local employee within the first year.

If you are primarily a high-earning specialist or executive, the Highly Skilled Professional (HSP) visa may be more efficient, especially if your education, salary and experience can reach 70+ points on Japan’s points-based system.

3. What the Law Says vs. What Immigration Actually Evaluates

3.1 Formal 2026 Baseline Requirements

By late 2025, the “headline” Business Manager criteria are:

• Registered entity in Japan

  • Typically a Kabushiki Kaisha (KK) or Godo Kaisha (GK).

• Paid-in capital or equivalent investment of at least JPY 30M

  • Funds must be traceable and legitimately sourced.

• At least one full-time local employee

  • Japanese national, permanent resident, or long-term resident; contract and social insurance enrolment are expected.

• Dedicated physical office

  • Home offices, virtual offices, and hot desks are effectively disqualified; a private, lockable space with proper signage is expected.

• Applicant profile

  • At least 3 years of management / business experience or a relevant master’s degree or above (e.g., MBA, accounting, management).

  • Demonstrated Japanese-language capability on the applicant side or through core staff (e.g., JLPT / business-level Japanese).

• Business plan and documentation

  • Japanese-language business plan with market analysis, hiring plan and financial projections.

  • Prior expert confirmation of the plan (e.g., certified management consultant, accountant, or tax adviser).

3.2 The Unwritten Layer: Narrative Consistency

Immigration examiners are not just ticking boxes. They are asking:

• Does the business model make sense in Japan, at this location, with this capital and this team?

• Is the applicant clearly an active manager, or just a passive investor using a title?

• Do the numbers (rent, salaries, projected revenue) align with industry reality?

• Does the applicant—or at least the core team—have enough Japan literacy (language, culture, compliance) to actually execute?

What consistently passes in 2026 are applications where:

• The founder’s background, business model, and Japanese entity tell one coherent story.

• There is visible physical substance: proper office, signage, photos, equipment, and at least one local employee doing real work.

• The business plan reads like it was written by someone who understands Japan’s market and cost structure, not just copied from a generic “startup visa” template.

4. Two Real-World Patterns That Still Work

4.1 Software / SaaS Founder with Deep Domain Focus

A foreign freelance engineer with no university degree and limited formal management history:

• Formed a GK in Kyoto.

• Injected over JPY 30M as capital.

• Leased a small but private office, installed signage, and furnished actual workstations.

• Submitted a Japanese-language business plan explaining:

  • Product roadmap and development cadence.

  • GTM strategy (Japan-first or global with Japan as R&D hub).

  • Monetisation strategy and first-year client pipeline.

• Demonstrated that their day-to-day role was genuinely technical founder + manager, not a distant shareholder.

The visa was approved in under two months with a subsequent 3-year renewal. The lesson is not that “no degree is fine”—the lesson is that credible execution and narrative alignment can compensate for non-traditional CVs when the rest of the structure is strong.

4.2 Restaurant or Retail in High-Footfall Transit Zones

A restaurateur with prior food-service experience and business-level Japanese:

• Rented a fully-equipped unit in a commuter zone near Osaka.

• Submitted:

  • Floor plans and equipment list.

  • Commuter and foot-traffic data.

  • Organisation chart showing local staff and the founder as on-site manager.

• Showed actual progress: lease signed, interior prepared, hiring already underway.

The application passed on the first attempt and later renewed, in part because the business clearly existed in the real world, not just on paper.

Across sectors, what tends to work in 2026 is:

• Local insight + personal operational involvement + visible execution at the time of application.

5. Step-by-Step Roadmap for a 2026 Business Manager Application

5.1 Strategic Planning (Weeks 1–4)

• Define whether your Japan presence should be:

  • Operating subsidiary (KK / GK).

  • Joint venture.

  • Greenfield startup.

• Map out:

  • Expected revenue and cost structure for at least 2–3 years.

  • Timing and use of JPY 30M capital (not just “deposit and forget”).

  • How and when you will hire the first full-time local employee.

• Decide where to base the business (Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, regional hub) relative to your customers and hiring pool.
  

5.2 Entity Incorporation and Banking (Weeks 4–8)

• Draft Articles of Incorporation and register the company.

• Open a corporate bank account and inject the full capital with documentary proof of fund origin. (KPMG)

• Register for tax, social insurance and, where applicable, consumption tax.
  

5.3 Office and Hiring (Weeks 6–12)

• Sign a lease for a dedicated, lockable office, not just co-working desks.

• Set up: signage, desks, meeting area, basic IT infrastructure.

• Recruit the first full-time employee (or convert an existing trusted local into full-time staff) and prepare:

  • Employment contract.

  • Social insurance enrolment.

  • Salary payment evidence once operations start.
    

5.4 Building the Application File (Weeks 8–14)

Prepare a Certificate of Eligibility (COE) package including:

• Certified copy of company registry.

• Company seal certificate.

• Office lease and photo set (exterior, signage, interior, workstations).

• Business plan in Japanese, with:

  • Market sizing and segmentation.

  • Competitive landscape and positioning.

  • Revenue model and pricing.

  • Hiring plan and role definitions.

  • 2–3-year P&L projections.

• Evidence of capital injection (bank statements, remittance records).

• Organisational chart and role descriptions.

• Applicant-focused documents:

  • CV and work history emphasising management and leadership.

  • Statement of purpose explaining “Why Japan, why now, and why you are the right manager to run this business.”

• Expert confirmation (where required) of the business plan’s feasibility by a qualified professional.

5.5 Immigration Review and Issuance (Weeks 14–22)

• Submit the COE application through the regional Immigration Bureau.

• Expect 1–2 months of processing in ordinary cases; complex structures or unusual sectors may take longer.

• Once COE is granted, apply for the actual visa at the Japanese embassy / consulate in your current country of residence (often 1–2 weeks).

From first strategic decision to landing in Japan with a valid Business Manager visa, a realistic 4–6 month runway is common—assuming decisions are made promptly and documentation is handled professionally.

6. Cost Structure and Tax Reality: Planning for Year 1

While your JPY 30M capital is not a “fee”, it does need to survive real-world costs in Japan.

Typical outlays founders underestimate:

• Office deposits and key money (often several months’ rent upfront).

• Fit-out and furniture.

• First local hire (salary + social insurance + recruitment costs).

• Specialist fees (legal, immigration, accounting, payroll).

• Personal housing and relocation for the founder and dependents.

On the tax side:

• The national corporation tax rate is 23.2%, with SMEs able to access a reduced 15% rate on the first JPY 8M of taxable income.

• Local enterprise and inhabitant taxes push the headline effective rate for many corporations into the low-30% range, with a modest upward adjustment due to new defence-related surtaxes from 2025–2026.

Two important implications:

• You must model net, not gross. Immigration will expect to see projections that reflect Japanese tax and social security, not just optimistic revenue.

• Visa renewal is performance-sensitive. Year-1 accounts that show no activity, no payroll, and no tax filings are major red flags for 2028 renewals under the stricter regime.

7. Common Failure Modes in 2026 (and How to Avoid Them)

Patterns that repeatedly lead to rejection or painful renewals:

• Virtual or home office arrangements

  • Mailing addresses, “registered office only” services, or pure co-working desks generally fail to meet the “place of business” test post-reform.

• Thin or temporary capital

  • Short-term loans injected and withdrawn, or capital clearly insufficient to run the business for 12–18 months, undermine credibility.

• Generic, non-localised business plans

  • English-only documents, copied market data, and no reference to Japanese competitors or customer behaviour signal that the founder hasn’t done the work.

• Applicant is not actually in charge

  • “Nominal directors” or founders who are rarely in Japan can expect more scrutiny; immigration is looking for genuine day-to-day managers.

• Ignoring the 2028 transition deadline

  • Holders who entered under older rules may still renew temporarily, but by October 2028 they will be judged against the new capital, hiring, and substance criteria.
    

The underlying blind spot:

Treating the Business Manager Visa as a residency product, rather than a by-product of a well-designed Japan business.

8. Alternatives and Complements: HSP and Startup Visa

Depending on your profile and goals, it may be strategic to combine or sequence visa options.

• Highly Skilled Professional (HSP) Visa

  • Points-based; 70 points is the threshold, with 80 points opening a fast track to permanent residency in as little as 1 year in some cases.

  • Favourable for PhD / master’s degree holders, high-income executives, and researchers.

  • Can sometimes be paired with a role in your own company, but the company still needs to meet operational standards (office, payroll, tax).

• Local Startup Visa schemes (city-specific)

  • Certain municipalities offer “startup visa” frameworks with accelerators and relaxed initial conditions, but these programmes are narrow, time-limited, and not substitutes for long-term Business Manager status.
    

A well-structured plan might use an HSP or startup visa to enter Japan quickly and then transition into a full Business Manager structure once the company has the required capital, employee and office profile.

9. How ShinTai Strategy & Trading Helps You Build a “Passable in Real Life” Case

Your goal is not only to meet the letter of the law but to present a business that an immigration officer, a landlord, a tax auditor and a bank manager can all believe in.

ShinTai Strategy & Trading’s role is to integrate those moving pieces into one coherent execution plan, anchored around its Japan market entry and Business Manager visa advisory practice .

Typical support scope includes:

• Visa pathway design

  • Choosing between Business Manager, HSP, local startup visa or a combination, based on your personal profile and expansion timeline.

• Entity, capital and tax structuring

  • Selecting KK vs GK and designing a capitalisation plan that satisfies immigration while still working for your investors and tax planning.

• Business plan and financial modelling for immigration

  • Building Japanese-language business plans, realistic P&Ls and hiring plans that stand up to scrutiny and match sector norms.

• Office and location strategy

  • Identifying compliant office options, negotiating leases, and ensuring the physical setup (layout, signage, photos) aligns with immigration expectations.

• Application preparation and specialist liaison

  • Coordinating with licensed immigration specialists, judicial scriveners and tax advisers so the COE application and supporting documents are complete and consistent.

• Renewal and audit readiness

  • Preparing for periodic checks, tax filings and renewals up to and beyond the 2028 transition, so your Japan presence remains compliant and credible.
    

In practice, the difference between marginal and strong cases is less about one specific document and more about whether the entire package tells a believable, data-supported story about a real business in Japan. That is where integrated advisory brings the most value.

10. Final Thoughts and Next Step

The 2026 Business Manager regime is not designed for everyone. It is designed for founders and executives who are prepared to:

• Commit real capital to Japan.

• Build a real team and office in Japan.

• Operate a real business that can survive scrutiny from immigration, tax and regulators.

If that describes your intention, then the Business Manager Visa remains one of the most powerful tools for securing long-term residence and market access in Japan.

From there, you can work backwards: design the business first, then the visa—so that when Japan says “yes”, it is saying yes to a company that is ready to operate, not just to a stack of forms.