Company Ownership, Capital Contribution, and Fund-Traceability Rules

The BM visa is issued to a company, not to an individual — sole proprietor (個人事業主) status generally does not carry a residence status of its own. The visa is granted only in connection with a KK or a GK. Company ownership itself carries no visa restrictions — even a student, a non-resident, or a dependent-visa holder can own a company. Serving as a director (an executive, representative director), however, is a matter of visa status. Anyone, on any visa, can start a company. Capital requirements for the BM visa are uniform across all of Japan regardless of region — there are no regional discounts or surcharges on the required amount. Contributing property (現物出資, informally "stuff") to registered capital instead of cash is permitted, usually without inspection. Where the property makes up a significant share of capital, an auditor's (検査役) opinion may be required — since 2006 this requirement has been waived where the in-kind portion is under 20% of capital. The value of contributed property is treated as income for the contributor and is taxable. Capital funds are typically first deposited into a personal account (before incorporation, while no company account yet exists), then transferred to the company account after incorporation. At registration, the 法務局 (Legal Affairs Bureau) requires a bank statement showing the amount arriving in a single transaction. In one real case, the 法務局 specifically requested the 通帳 (bank passbook) showing the transaction for the required amount, not just the account balance (残高) — confirming, in that instance, the common warning against the "recycling a balance in and out" (入れて出す) trick, although the chat has also seen successful workarounds without this in the past. The source of capital must be clearly traceable — every yen needs a documented origin. Borrowed funds (a loan or credit) are not accepted as a basis for capital; only an investment (purchase of a stake) or a gift on which gift tax has been paid qualifies. Gift tax (贈与税) can run as high as 50%, meaning an attempt to fund the 30-million-yen capital requirement via a gift from a relative could effectively cost around 45 million yen after tax. Bringing in capital through small tranches (via Wise plus Japan Post Bank/Yucho, ATM transactions) has worked for some chat participants, but this is not a guaranteed or officially sanctioned way to demonstrate the origin of capital.