Licensed Business Activities Relevant to Visa Applications

A number of business activities require separate licenses or permits, which matters when preparing a visa application and business plan: dealing in secondhand goods, operating a travel agency, importing goods, online gambling and betting restrictions, export/sanctions controls, and mobile care-bathing services. Dealing in used or secondhand goods (古物商, kobutsushō) requires a license issued by the police. Operating a travel agency or tour operator (旅行業者) requires a license held by a qualified 旅行業務取扱管理者 (travel service manager) and minimum capital of 3,000,000 yen; the exact capital requirement depends on the license class, and Class 3 (第3種) is likely the applicable category for a smaller operation. The license is obtained through the tourism division of the relevant prefectural government. Importing goods requires obtaining the corresponding permits or certificates for the specific product category; one real example involved assembling the documentation needed to import musical instruments from the United States. Online casinos and online betting are illegal in Japan; sports betting is permitted only on four officially sanctioned sports. Engaging in illegal online gambling or betting creates a risk to visa status if discovered. Evading sanctions — for example, exporting sanctioned goods to Russia — is a criminal offense in Japan, punishable by fines or imprisonment, and can result in the company being shut down. Japanese customs authorities catch such cases regularly; in one real case, a person was arrested in Osaka for exporting jet skis, engines, and motorcycles to Russia worth approximately 42,000,000 yen. Mobile in-home bathing/care-bathing services (訪問入浴, hōmon nyūyoku), typically provided to elderly or bedridden clients, constitute a separately licensed business activity.