Foreign Jurisdictions as an Alternative or Complement — Overview

As an alternative or complement to Japanese registration, chat participants discussed setting up an entity in Hong Kong, Singapore, or the US with a subsequent Japanese branch, the requirements for foreign-company branches, and the risks of opening a Russian company's subsidiary under current political conditions. Fully remote registration of a company in Japan without a physical presence is not possible. One practiced but unguaranteed scheme is setting up an entity in Hong Kong, Singapore, or the US and then opening a Japanese branch office, hiring oneself into it on an engineer visa — used as a way around capital and office requirements; a branch usually still needs a physical office. For the US, it is theoretically possible to keep the parent company's investments there and have the Japanese branch handle "orders" — this scheme is unconfirmed ("I'm not a lawyer," per the chat). In Singapore, a company can be opened remotely for about $2,000–2,500 plus a local director, address, and an Employment Pass valid for 2 years; taxes are among the lowest in the region; a bank account opens automatically once the EP is issued. Corporate accounts can realistically be opened through fintech banks (Aspire, WorldFirst); local banks are harder. For comparison, one video discussed in the chat claimed an EU company can be registered for 100 euros, without specifying which jurisdiction — unconfirmed. A foreign company doing business in Japan on a regular basis is required to appoint a representative in Japan — registered with the Ministry of Justice, a free and simple filing. If the foreign parent company's ownership share in a Japanese branch is 25% or more, an additional notification to METI and the Bank of Japan is required — particularly relevant for IT and dual-use goods, for example drone manufacturing. One case involved opening a foreign company's branch and appointing oneself as director, which was simpler for obtaining a Business Manager visa; it was also discussed that a UAE LLC can open a branch in Japan — cheaper and also a valid basis for a visa. To expand an existing foreign company into the Japanese market without a visa, options include opening a branch with limited rights, or setting up a partnership/agency agreement with a local company — an agent promotes the product and collects payment, settling under the contract. A scheme using 収納代行 (a payment-collection agent) is one form of local partnership for payment providers looking to enter the Japanese market. The law does not formally prohibit opening a subsidiary of a Russian company in Japan, but in practice, chat participants describe it as "a path of pain and suffering" under current political conditions, plus problems with the source of capital from Russia and with transfers. A chat recommendation is to consider registering a holding structure in a neutral jurisdiction before injecting capital into the Japanese company. When applying for a BM visa during periods of anti-Russian rhetoric, lawyers sometimes advise showing the closure or absence of entities in other "sensitive" countries — in one case a lawyer deliberately removed any mention of exports to Russia from the business plan, substituting Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and China with partner letters; this is not a universal rule, since other chat participants had entities abroad, including in Russia, without any problems arising. For a foreigner without residency status in Japan, opening a company "fully remotely" is unrealistic: the initial capital must be deposited into an account (usually the resident founder's personal account), and the procedure requires physical presence or a local director. Registering a company while abroad without legal status in Japan is not possible — neither the company nor a bank account can be opened; a BM visa valid for at least 4 months is needed first, to come and handle everything in person. One option is a partnership with a Japanese person who formally becomes the director/100% owner. Source: https://www.moj.go.jp/EN/MINJI/m_minji07_00002.html — Official Ministry of Justice page on the requirement for a representative of a foreign company in Japan.