Every month Venture Japan incorporates new KK and GK companies for clients; every month we also manage opening bank accounts for them. Ten years ago, opening a corporate bank account in Japan for a new Japanese company was simple; we would walk into a local branch, complete some forms, and walk out with a passbook... Read More

So you want to start a consultancy business in Japan, but where do you find your first clients? I think the best advice to give any consultant thinking about expanding his or her consultancy business to Japan, is to contact the Japanese government agency JETRO (www.jetro.go.jp) as they should be able to assist, even to... Read More

JHOSPA (Japan Hygienic Olefin and Styrene Plastics Association) will shutdown on March 31, 2021. The Food Contact Materials Safety Center within JCII will assume JHOSPA’s polymer and additive certification business from April 1, 2021. This is important news in Japan’s food packaging industry and follows the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare’s introduction of the... Read More

In the excitement of incorporating a Japanese KK company, starting business in Japan, and recruiting Japanese employees, few if any foreign company executives consider what they would do with the KK company if sales don’t grow as expected, or a sudden unexpected event such as the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic brings business to a standstill. That’s... Read More

Most foreign companies need to include transactions with non-Yen invoice currencies in their Japanese subsidiary company or office’s financial statements and yearend tax-returns. Many don’t know, and their Japanese tax accountant might not have told them, that Japan’s Tax Code includes statutory rules governing the foreign currency exchange rates and currency conversion methodology a Japanese... Read More

Most foreign companies with balanced financial strategies charge intercompany management fees and recharge various expenses to their Japanese subsidiary company or office; some to such an extent the Japanese subsidiary company or office consistently makes a losses or minimal profits. Although it’s understandable that foreign company CFOs want to minimize taxable income in a relatively... Read More

Coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic, three words that have destroyed many companies’ finances, reduced corporate treasuries and savings accounts, and forced many companies, especially in the aerospace and travel sectors, to look closely at the Japanese subsidiary’s costs and performance. What many are finding is employees in Japan on inflated salaries, overly expensive prestige Tokyo offices now... Read More

This post was revised on June 26 to reflect the Japanese government’s increased COVID-19 subsidy daily amount and extended extraordinary period for application and grants. To combat the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, the Japanese government extended its existing business employment subsidy (the Employment Adjustment Subsidy) to include emergency cash relief for businesses affected by the COVID-19... Read More

COVID-19 affects us all: for some the effects are horrific, losing a loved one or suffering debilitating illness for weeks. For some, the effects are not physical but financial, such as for smaller companies which might have an office in Japan which has seen its income decimated by the coronavirus pandemic’s economic effects. Many companies... Read More