This note summarizes practical documentation points for small company founders preparing Business Manager visa-related materials in Japan.
The information is provided for general reference only. It does not replace advice from a qualified immigration lawyer, administrative scrivener, tax accountant, or other professional adviser.
Background
For foreign founders operating or preparing to operate a company in Japan, the Business Manager status of residence is closely connected to the substance of the business.
The application is not only about company registration. It may also require evidence that the business has a real operating base, sufficient scale, clear management activity, financial basis, and a feasible business plan.
For small companies, the practical challenge is often documentation. The business may be real, but if the documents are incomplete, inconsistent, or too informal, the application may become difficult to understand.
Revised Business Manager requirements
The Business Manager standards were revised in 2025 and became stricter.
Founders should confirm the latest official requirements before preparing any application. As of the revised standards, important requirements include the following.
Business scale and financial basis
The business must show a scale of at least JPY 30 million.
For a company, this generally refers to paid-in capital or total investment. For an individual business, this may include amounts invested into the business, such as business premises, one year of employee salary, equipment investment, and other business-related expenditures.
This is a major change from the older JPY 5 million standard. Small founders should not assume that the former level is still sufficient.
Full-time employee
The business must employ at least one eligible full-time employee.
For the employment requirement, eligible employees generally include Japanese nationals, special permanent residents, permanent residents, spouses or children of Japanese nationals, spouses or children of permanent residents, or long-term residents.
A foreign national holding a working status under Appended Table I is generally not counted for this employment requirement.
Japanese language ability
Either the applicant or a full-time employee must have a certain level of Japanese ability.
The official standard refers to B2 level under the Japanese language education framework. Examples of acceptable proof may include JLPT N2 or higher, BJT Business Japanese Proficiency Test score of 400 or higher, long-term residence in Japan, graduation from a Japanese higher education institution, or completion of Japanese compulsory education followed by high school graduation.
Applicant background
The applicant must generally show either relevant graduate-level academic background or at least three years of experience in business management or administration.
This makes the applicant’s role, background, and actual management involvement more important than before.
Business plan review
The business plan must be specific, reasonable, and feasible.
Under the revised handling, the business plan should be reviewed by a qualified professional with business evaluation capability. Examples include a Small and Medium Enterprise Management Consultant, certified public accountant, or tax accountant in Japan.
Business types and structures that require caution
The official materials do not provide a simple public list of business types that are no longer accepted.
The safer way to understand the revised standard is that immigration will look more carefully at whether the business has real substance, real management activity, proper office facilities, proper permits, enough scale, and a sustainable financial basis.
The following structures should not be assumed acceptable without careful professional review.
Restaurant and food-service businesses
Restaurant businesses are not automatically excluded from Business Manager status.
However, they require careful structuring because restaurant operations usually involve on-site work such as cooking, serving customers, cleaning, cashier work, purchasing, and daily shift operation. These activities are not the same as business management.
For a restaurant business, the applicant should be able to show that their main role is management, such as financial control, staff management, supplier contracts, business planning, compliance, reporting, and overall decision-making.
A restaurant structure may become risky if the applicant is mainly working in the kitchen, serving customers, handling ordinary floor work, or performing the same duties as restaurant staff.
Restaurant businesses should also organize food-service permits, hygiene responsibility, lease documents, staffing records, payroll, accounting records, supplier information, menus, and evidence of actual operation.
The issue is not that restaurants are banned. The issue is whether the applicant is truly managing the business rather than mainly performing restaurant labor.
Paper companies
A company that exists mainly on paper, without real business activity, customers, operations, office function, or financial substance, is high risk.
Mostly outsourced businesses
If most business activity is outsourced and the applicant is not actually involved in day-to-day management or does not understand the business contents and financial condition, the activity may not be recognized as genuine Business Manager activity.
Home-office businesses
Using a home as the business office is generally risky for Business Manager purposes, especially under the stricter business scale requirement.
The business office should be suitable for real management activity and should be clearly separated from ordinary personal residence use.
Businesses without required permits
If the business requires a license, approval, registration, or permit, the founder should prepare evidence of the permit or a written explanation if the permit cannot be obtained before receiving the status of residence.
Examples may include food service, accommodation, real estate, secondhand goods, recruitment, travel, finance, and other regulated activities depending on the business model.
Legal or accounting service businesses without qualification
Business Manager status does not cover management of legal or accounting services that legally require professional qualifications under the separate Legal/Accounting Services category.
Nominal management roles
If the applicant is described as a manager but another person actually controls the business, handles all decisions, or performs the real management work, the role explanation may become weak.
Inconsistent public information
Public titles and website descriptions should not contradict legal documents.
For example, if someone is not the registered representative director or legal CEO, the website should not describe that person in a way that conflicts with the company registry or visa documentation.
Key documentation areas
Founders should organize documents around several core areas.
Company structure
Basic corporate documents should clearly show the company name, address, representative, capital structure, directors, business purposes, and registration details.
The information should be consistent across the company registry, business plan, lease documents, tax filings, bank documents, website, and other submitted materials.
Business office
The business office should be documented clearly. Important materials may include the lease contract, permitted use of the premises, office layout, photographs, signage, and evidence that the office is actually available for business activity.
A business address should not be treated only as a formality. It should support the explanation that the company has a real operating base in Japan.
Business activity
The documents should explain what the company actually does, who its customers are, how revenue is expected to be generated, and who is responsible for management and execution.
For operating businesses, supporting materials may include contracts, invoices, menus, websites, supplier records, permits, staff records, and financial reports.
Financial basis
Financial materials should show how the business is funded and how the company expects to continue operating.
Depending on the situation, this may include capital records, bank statements, investment records, accounting reports, budget plans, sales assumptions, cash-flow forecasts, and evidence of ongoing expenses.
Management role
The founder or applicant’s role should be explained carefully. The documents should show actual management activity, decision-making responsibility, and involvement in the business.
If different people handle capital, legal representation, operations, accounting, website management, or day-to-day execution, the role separation should be explained in a simple and consistent way.
Practical checklist
Before preparing or submitting materials, small company founders should check the following:
- Company documents use the same company name, address, and representative information.
- The office contract and business use are clear.
- The business plan matches the actual business model.
- The business plan has been reviewed by an appropriate qualified professional where required.
- The business scale and financial basis are supported by evidence.
- The full-time employee requirement is understood and documented.
- Japanese language ability evidence is prepared where applicable.
- The applicant’s academic background or management experience is documented.
- Financial assumptions are realistic and supported by records.
- Management roles are described consistently.
- Website and public information do not contradict official documents.
- Tax, social insurance, labor, and permit-related matters are organized.
- Japanese wording is factual, restrained, and not promotional.
- Important explanations are supported by evidence, not only narrative.
Common risks
Several problems can weaken the documentation:
- The business plan says one thing, but the website or actual operation says another.
- The applicant’s role is described too vaguely.
- The office appears temporary, residential, or not suitable for the claimed business.
- Financial projections are optimistic but unsupported.
- The company structure is explained differently across documents.
- Public titles such as CEO, director, owner, or representative are used inconsistently with legal records.
- The business appears dependent on informal personal arrangements instead of company-level systems.
- The business cannot show sufficient scale or financial basis.
- The applicant is not meaningfully involved in management.
- Required permits or licenses are not addressed.
- Tax, labor insurance, social insurance, or other public payment obligations are not organized.
- In a restaurant business, the applicant mainly performs cooking, customer service, cashier work, or other floor/kitchen duties instead of management activity.
Documentation principle
A strong file should be understandable to someone outside the business.
Each document should answer a simple question:
What does this company do, where does it operate, who manages it, how is it funded, and how will it continue?
For small companies, clarity and consistency are often more important than lengthy explanations.
Notes
Immigration rules and screening practice may change. Founders should confirm current requirements with official sources and qualified professionals before relying on any checklist.
This article is a general corporate note from Mae & BK’s Home Co., Ltd. It is not legal advice and does not evaluate any individual application.