How To Open A Business in Japan

[Lespaul1216]

I do not know how the Japanese government operates in term of outside potential business investors. I am an East Asian studies major and been learning Japanese for 2 years now. One of my goals is to be a successful bar owner in America and Japan.

Besides money, would it be easier for me to do business in Japan in terms of opportunity and leanway because of my future degree and Japanese fluency?

 

[FrustratedDave]

You have a lot more to learn than just Japanese. I run a business here and someone with just 2 years a Japanese study will be opening them selves up to a lot of risks. I am not saying it is impossible, just next to impossible.

What are you going to use for capital?
How do you expect anyone to rent you a place for business?
What are you going to do for staff?
Do you have any knowledge in regards to the law and employment?
Do you have any knowledge about the Tax system?
Have considered the fact that you will most likely need an accountant? (Expensive)

Just a few things to take into consideration.

My advise would be to come here, work in a bar for a few years and learn the in's and out's of the trade. Just comming here with a wad of cash and saying you want to run a bar does not seem like a sound business plan to me.

 

[Lespaul1216]

I have a 2 year degree in business and I ran my uncles business for 5 years. When I ran the business, we were generating $450,000 a year. We were three employees in total. I'm very intelligent. I know accounting, marketing, and I even know real estate. Not only did I learn at my community college but my uncle taught me.

 

[Lespaul1216]

We lasted for 20 years. Due to the bad economy, we filed for bankruptcy. We had a good run though. The others also shut down. Quite sad.

 

[FrustratedDave]

There is an old saying here, "A clever falcon hides his claws." You might want to read up on that.

As for you experience. Seeing as someone in your age bracket may appreciate this, do you think a world class skateboarder who has never surfered in his life, would be able to jump on a surf board and be a wold class surfer? The motions are pretty similar, both use boards and the only difference is the medium on which they ride these boards on. But, I guarantee you no one on this planet could not bring themselves up to world class standards without some sort of intense training. Business in Japan is completely different to how business are run in the States, even though it may seem similar looking in from the outside.

As I stated earlier, do you know anything about the law and employment system in 'JAPAN'?
Do you know anything about the Tax system in 'JAPAN'?
And just refer and answer my other questions before you move ahead in this thread.

Your 2 year degree in business in 'America' , while may provide a little bit of a head start on some without one, will still not be of that much help here. Business customs are completely different to the States and learning by yourself would be next to impossible here, which is why I suggested you work at a bar here first and have someone show you all the in's and out's.

But, don't take my word for it, as the companies my wife and I own only turned over $50 million US dollars last year.

 

[Lespaul1216]

by all means, I enjoy learning. I am only 25 years old... a very responsible adult. Before investing, I intend on looking up a good Japanese business consultant. A man doesn't jump in the woods without a survival knife.

 

[FrustratedDave]

Have you even tried to answer my first set of questions? If you don't know the answer to any of those, you are doomed from the start. Not to mention another big factor I addressed in my second post and that is the completely different culture in regards to how businesses are run here.

And if you find a good Japanese business consultant that does not charge half your life savings, give me their number.

 

[Lespaul1216]

You seem wise. Thanks for replying. And no, I am not familiar with their tax system, however, I am familiar with their cultural customs. Like I said before, I have no problem learning. I've had a fascination with Japan since I was a kid. I love the Japanese culture and intend on learning everything about it before I graduate.

And by the way, American business consultants are no different. Business people = Sharks. That is universal. When I took general business a few years back, the author of my book was this European business man. He stated that nice people don't last in business; meaning that you gotta be a shark and know everything you know about system. I even wrote a 18 page paper on the Japanese economy.

 

[Glenski]

Lespaul,

Junior college and an uncle in the U.S., as well as an academic paper and a general business course will only scratch the surface of what you need to know if any foreign land. And, what does a "European business man[sic]" know about Japan?

In Japan, you will also need to know enough of the language to be able to READ and WRITE important documents. How good is your language ability right now?

And, don't say that all biz consultants are sharks. They operate differently in Japan and U.S. because of the culture. You said you are "familiar with their cultural customs". Baloney! You probably know next to nothing about the real business customs needed. What do you really know?

The first thing you need to do IMO is find out the requirements for the work visa that you will need to open the business. It is called an Investor/Business Manager visa. I believe you will need to prove you have 2 Japanese full-time employees, too.
Table.3 Supporting Documents
Application for Certificate of Eligibility

窶愿ｺ窶怒窶邸窶氾淒?Oﾂ坂?佛津ｪ窶禿ｳﾆ断ﾂーﾆ耽ﾆ遅ﾂーﾆ湛ﾆ歎ﾆ湛ﾆ弾ﾆ停ぎ - [窶邸窶氾溪?怒窶｢ﾂｶ窶｢\ﾅｽﾂｦ] - ﾂ出窶愿ｼﾂ坂?佛?ﾃ??板昶?ｹy窶堙鯛?愿ｯ窶督ｯ窶戳窶凖ｨ窶邸窶佚ｦﾅｽﾂｵﾂ湘ｰ窶佚ｦﾋ?ｪﾂ坂ぎ窶佚ｦ窶愿ｱﾂ坂??窶堙固?ﾃｮﾂ鞘ぎ窶堙ｰ窶凖ｨ窶堙溪?堙ｩﾂ湘遺?氾歇/url]

Criteria: Investor/Business Manager visa

(i) In cases where the applicant intends to commence the operation of international trading or any other business, he/she must fulfill all of the following requirements.
(a) The facilities to be used as the office for the relevant business must be located in Japan.
(b) The business concerned must have the capacity to employ at least 2 full-time employees in Japan (excluding foreign nationals residing in Japan under a status of residence listed in the left-hand column of Appended Table I of the Immigration Control Act) in addition to those who operate and/or manage the business.

(ii) In cases where the applicant intends to invest in international trading or any other business in Japan and to engage in the operation of such business, or in cases where the applicant intends to engage in the management of international trading or any other business on behalf of a foreign national (including a foreign juridical person; hereinafter the same shall apply in this section) who has begun such operations in Japan or who has invested in such a business in Japan, he/she must fulfill all of the following requirements.
(a) The office for the relevant business must be located in Japan.
(b) The business concerned must have the capacity to employ at least 2 full-time employees in Japan (excluding foreign nationals residing in Japan under the status of residence listed in the left-hand column of Appended Table I of the Immigration Control Act) in addition to those who operate and/or manage the business.

(iii) In cases where the applicant is to engage in the management of international trading or any other business in Japan, he/she must have at least 3 years' experience in business operation and/or management (this includes any period he/she has spent studying business operation and/or management at the post-graduate level) and must receive no less remuneration than would a Japanese national for comparable work.

Have you looked into what JETRO might be able to explain to you about this?
See also [url=http://www.daijob.com]ﾅ?Oﾅｽ窶佛地窶彎ﾂ職窶ｹﾂ?人ﾆ探ﾆ辰ﾆ暖ﾂ［ﾆ胆ﾆ辰ﾆ淡ﾆ停?｡ﾆ置 Daijob.comﾂ］窶ｰpﾅ津ｪ窶堙ｰﾅ?ﾋ??堋ｩ窶堋ｵ窶堋ｽﾅｽdﾅｽ窶凪?堋ｪ窶毒ｾﾂ催 ﾅ?Oﾅｽ窶佛地ﾂ、窶ｰpﾅ津ｪﾂ、ﾆ弛ﾆ辰ﾆ椎?ﾆ停?愴狸ﾆ停?ｹ窶堙娯?彎ﾂ職ﾂ・窶ｹﾂ?人ﾂ湘ｮ窶｢ﾃｱﾂ、窶ｰp窶｢ﾂｶ窶版｡窶氾ｰﾂ鞘?麓/url] and its articles/advice from Terrie Lloyd.
This link might also give you some advice. [url=http://injapan.gaijinpot.com/category/work/starting-a-business-work/]Starting a Business Archives - GaijinPot

 

[Lespaul1216]

This is exactly why I came here.

Thank you for broadening the scope.

I'm going to read over all this tomorro and do research. This is fantastic!


very wise.

ありがとう

 

[Glenski]

More to chew on.
Setting Up Enterprises In Japan - Jetro Book

 

[BlkCollarBoxing]

Thank you for this information. It will be helpful for me as well.