Starting a business in Japan
The kojin jigyō opens with one free form - the blue return election beside it is worth real money, and the invoice system changed the old consumption-tax holiday.
Checked against the sources on 2026-08-30
Before anything else
A Japanese sole proprietorship (個人事業 kojin jigyō) starts with the kaigyō todoke - a one-page notification to the tax office within a month of starting, free, no approval involved. File the aoiro shinkoku (blue return) election alongside it: it buys a deduction of up to ¥650,000, loss carry-forwards and family-salary deductions for the price of proper books, and it must be elected within two months of opening - the classic missed deadline.
The consumption-tax picture changed in 2023: the old comfortable rule (exempt for two years, then only above ¥10 million of base-period sales) still exists, but the qualified invoice system means B2B customers can only deduct tax on invoices from registered issuers - so businesses selling to companies face commercial pressure to register and charge the 10% even while legally exempt. B2C freelancers keep the holiday; B2B ones should model both ways.
The legal shell
Kojin jigyō, GK, or KK?
Kojin jigyō
The solo default.
¥0.
Progressive personal rates plus local taxes; credibility with large clients is lower than a company’s.
GK (合同会社)
A cheap company: ~¥60,000 registration tax, no notarised articles.
~¥60,000-100,000 all-in.
Slightly lower prestige than a KK in conservative industries; conversion later is possible but is a project.
KK (株式会社)
The classic corporation clients and investors expect.
~¥200,000-250,000 all-in (¥150,000 minimum registration tax plus notarisation).
Cost and ceremony; director terms and announcements are real obligations.
The sequence
File the opening notification - and the blue return election
Where: The tax office for your address, or online via e-TaxCost: ¥0Takes: Minutes; no approval step
The kaigyō todoke within one month; the blue-return election within two months of opening (or by 15 March for an existing business). Freee and Money Forward generate both correctly - most founders never see the paper forms.
Watch out: Miss the blue-return window and the first year runs on the white return - the ¥650,000 deduction gone for a year.
Sort the personal insurances
Leaving employment means National Health Insurance and National Pension at city hall within two weeks. Both are unavoidable; NHI premiums scale with last year’s income, which surprises well-paid leavers.
Decide the invoice-system question
B2B sellers: registering as a qualified invoice issuer means charging and remitting consumption tax from day one, with transitional simplified calculations (the 2-wari measure and simplified taxation) softening the first years. B2C sellers keep the exemption until the ¥10M base-period test says otherwise.
What it costs to start
| What | Amount |
|---|---|
| Kojin jigyō | ¥0 |
| GK formation | ~¥60,000-100,000 |
| KK formation | ~¥200,000-250,000 |
| Accounting softwareFreee / Money Forward - effectively standard equipment. | ~¥1,000-3,000/month |
The words on the forms
- 開業届 (kaigyō todoke)
- The opening notification to the tax office.
- 青色申告 (aoiro shinkoku)
- The blue return - the deduction-rich election with its two-month window.
- 消費税
- Consumption tax, 10%, with the exemption and invoice-system interplay.
- インボイス制度
- The qualified invoice system pressuring B2B registration.
- 合同会社 / 株式会社
- The GK and KK company forms.
- e-Tax
- The online filing system.
- 国民健康保険
- National Health Insurance - the post-employment must-do.
The traps
- The blue-return election missed by weeks.
- NHI premiums calculated on the last employed year’s salary.
- B2B clients quietly dropping unregistered invoice issuers.
- A KK formed for prestige where a GK plus good work would have done.
Where to check this yourself
This is a map, not legal or tax advice - and an honest one about how it was drawn: the Germany guide was written by a person who walked the route; most other countries were drafted with AI against the official sources and have not yet been walked by someone who did it. Laws change. Every guide carries the date it was last checked and the sources to check it yourself - and if you have been through one of these routes, your corrections are exactly what this handbook wants.