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02-11-2011, 02:32 AM
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They can hire you just as easily as a tourist as they can from abroad, but I think you can't start working until you get the visa, or at least apply for it. Get contract -> apply for visa -> start working 
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02-11-2011, 01:39 PM
This is all very encouraging.
 Thanks for the further clarification James. You mentioned that you eventually started your own school. Is there a good source of info (website?) available for what's required to start your own business in Japan? Any tips you can give to someone thinking about that route (eventually)? Is your business just you teaching in the local coffee shop? Or do you have a building, employees, etc.? (I seem to have hijacked the OP's thread. Should I start another? My questions are still more-or-less related. I think.  )Thanks! Greg
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02-11-2011, 02:50 PM
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a location, office or whatever, other than your residence at least one full time Japanese employee to have spent 5mil yen on the business (first fees, renovations, equipment, furniture, etc) it's a serious shit-show getting it all organized since you technically can't earn any money working for yourself on a working visa, but you also technically can't get a business visa without all of the above, making it this ridiculous limbo. I was lucky enough to have the most awesome immigrations officer who explained to me, off the record, that none of it makes sense and that's so that they get to deny you if they don't like your face. He also waived the full time staff req (I started with a pt staff) and the 5mil req, I had spent 2.8mil, and he ignored the 3 months of income I had made with my business while waiting for the whole thing to process. It's hard to believe this is the way it is, but.. this is the way it is. I have a lot of tips and knowledge to pass on about the various aspects of starting a self proprietorship in Japan, enough to write a book about lol, so you'll have to narrow down the questions Glad I can help, and for what it's worth I think your questions are on-topic, but I'm no mod.
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02-11-2011, 10:20 PM
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 I have no problems with the hijacking. In fact, I am glad you did. You're asking questions I too am interested in. I don't have time to respond to any of this for the next few days, so keep it up! Also, James, you're a great help and a plethora of knowledge. Once again, thank you. And maybe you should consider writing that book 
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02-12-2011, 12:33 PM
I had thought of opening an English schooling Japan, but considering the high overhead costs (rent, utilities, equipment, advertising, literature, signs, flags, etc.), I decided it wasn't for me. Instead, I started an internet business selling goods from Japan to foreign markets.
One reason I chose this was the low overhead cost, another reason was that I could base and incorporate my business in America, where I better understand the laws and taxation system. I work part-time in Japan to maintain my visa, and to pay for insurance, pension, and such. The main difficulty with being based in America is that I am getting paid in dollars, which I must exchange for yen. At the current exchange rate I am feeling a little pain. Once I better understand the regulations in Japan, I will incorporate here, that way I can take advantage of deductions for travel and operating expenses. I will open a second store this summer, and hopefully a third next year.
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02-12-2011, 01:37 PM
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 A few questions from what you wrote: 1. You have to invest 5mil into your business before you can even get the visa? What if they don't give it to you because they don't like your face?  (Although, my face is quite likable )2. What do you mean he ignored 3 months of income? Were you running the business for 3 months before you applied for the visa? Do you NEED that particular visa in order to open/run a business? Or is it that running a business just allows you to get that visa? 3. How much work/paperwork is involved in actually "forming" a business/company? (Compared to U.S.? I have experience starting/running a one-man S-Corp here.) Did you incorporate? Is there huge red-tape when you have an employee (or many) - like in the U.S.? I'm probably getting WAY ahead of myself here. I just need to get over there and start teaching first. But I figured I'd ask since you're feeling so generous with your time. I should probably be much more worried about getting a first apartment over there... something that sounds quite painful, financially.  Greg
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02-12-2011, 01:43 PM
Way to go!
The overhead is minimal, if you do it right, but I like your idea too, it's more pro It doesn't really matter where you incorporate, the taxes are virtually the same, I looked into that too. I'm keeping it SP until I hit the 10mil a year on profit and then going KK, that way I optimize tax savings and have no restrictions on employee status, other than 1 full time Japanese citizen. I like to remember that nothing is as hard as I thought it would've been after I try to do it.
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02-12-2011, 02:08 PM
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I also haggled a little with my immigrations officer, he allowed me to keep the remainder of the 5mil in a Japanese bank account to show I at least had it, and to show that spending any more on my business at that point would be financially foolish. 2; The rules are not clear at all, and 4 different immigrations had 4 different very strong opinions on what I could or couldn't do. Don't be afraid to come back when the dick-officer has a day off! You can not earn money or operate a business on a working visa. You can not start a business on a working visa. You can not apply for the business visa without having spent 5mil on starting it, and having a ft jp staff on payroll, be renting an office different from your place of residence (and several other things, which are relatively easy to do so I ignore them) You can not be employed by any company under a business visa. So somehow you gotta magically stop working, start a business, hire a staff, spend 5mil, rent a location, etc etc in like 1 day. Like I said, if they don't like you face they will use any of the rules you need to break to start a business to send you home. Oh and also, to add to the fun, most business offices require for you to have registered your business with the city tax office in order to rent from them under a separate business account, which the bank wont let you open unless you are also certified, which you can't do on a work visa. Yes I was running my business for 3 months before I could even apply for the visa. 3; I didn't incorporate, It's suicidal to do that if you are starting with just 1 staff. Employing is dead simple, go to city office, register the employee, send a cut of their pay to their combined pension/health/tax bill, give them the remainder and the slip, rinse and repeat. Let me try to walk you through the most sane, and unavoidable illegal in some aspect, way of starting an SP. - save 5mil - go to a Hanko shop and get a business stamp, use that stamp for all business items - go to the bank, open a regular bank account, but give it the name of your business, they'll need an address, give them your home address at first, change it later to the business one - go to city hall, tax office section, register your business, tell them your application for a business visa is underway (they'll be glad you are registering as they get your tax, even if it's not proper), they'll need an address, give them your home address at first, change it later to the business one, but don't tell them it's where you live! (you might draw a short straw and land the one asshole that knows you can't do that, most don't know though, not their MO) - rent a location, make sure to keep that juicy receipt for the 1st fees, will likely be around 1.5mil yen for an average place. try to pay for the first years rent all at once to double that figure. - change all your addresses - get renovations, this is to pump up the capital-spent figure - hire a part time staff but word the contract so it doesn't look that way, give her an up-front bonus and call it an expense, you should be real close to that 5mil spent figure, and feeling sick to your stomach for all the money you spent. - go to immigrations, keep talking to immigrations officers starting with "if I do (what you did) then I'm all ok right? find one who says yes, give him the paper work and wait a few weeks. you also need a business plan with monthly detail for the first year, an quarterly for the 2nd year, and exact figures on all finances. the other stuff is childs-play
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02-12-2011, 02:10 PM
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one tip on that is Japanese people are insane about the age of a building, whereas most westerners don't care, generally. So find a 30 year old building and enjoy the traditional feel with cheap rent and cold winters lol
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