---
title: "Blue (aoiro shinkoku) vs white (shiroiro shinkoku) declaration for sole proprietors — overview"
url: https://memocore.ai/memos/6a5f62e763d783ad6870939d
project: "Doing Business in Japan"
tags: "tax-filing, japan-business"
updated_at: "2026-07-21T12:15:35.466Z"
---

# Blue (aoiro shinkoku) vs white (shiroiro shinkoku) declaration for sole proprietors — overview

A sole proprietor in Japan chooses between two bookkeeping and filing methods: white (白色申告, minimal requirements) and blue (青色申告, more benefits with stricter bookkeeping). Topics covered: the deduction size under the white form; the deduction size and conditions under the blue form; that the blue form is not required to deduct business expenses; the deadline to switch to the blue form; the rule that all of a sole proprietor's income/expenses must be tracked regardless of account; ways to prove income without an invoice from the payer; the bookkeeping format required by the blue form; and the fact that the 650,000 yen blue-form deduction applies only to sole proprietors, not companies. See the linked detail records for each topic.