---
title: "Japan's Business Manager Visa: ¥30 Million, One Local Hire"
description: Since 16 October 2025 Japan's Business Manager visa needs ¥30 million, one Japanese or permanent-resident employee and B2 Japanese. The money is the easy part.
image: https://nobusato.jp/hubfs/covers-2026-10/business-manager-visa-30-million-yen-cover-en-2026-10.png
---

[Nobu Sato](https://nobusato.jp/en?hsLang=en)

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[日本語](https://nobusato.jp/ja/blog/business-manager-visa-30-million-yen)[English](https://nobusato.jp/en/blog/business-manager-visa-30-million-yen)[中文](https://nobusato.jp/zh/blog/business-manager-visa-30-million-yen)

Japan by the Numbers

In this article

1. [Who does the ¥30 million apply to?](https://nobusato.jp/en/blog/business-manager-visa-30-million-yen#s1)
2. [Which of the five conditions is expensive?](https://nobusato.jp/en/blog/business-manager-visa-30-million-yen#s2)
3. [What happened in the first year?](https://nobusato.jp/en/blog/business-manager-visa-30-million-yen#s3)
4. [If the founder doesn't come, what are the other routes?](https://nobusato.jp/en/blog/business-manager-visa-30-million-yen#s4)
5. [The order has flipped](https://nobusato.jp/en/blog/business-manager-visa-30-million-yen#s5)

[Japan by the Numbers](https://nobusato.jp/en/blog/tag/japan-by-the-numbers)

# Japan's Business Manager Visa: ¥30 Million, One Local Hire

Business Manager visa, from 16 Oct 2025

[Nobu Sato](https://nobusato.jp/en/profile?hsLang=en)10 min read

Contents5

1. [Who does the ¥30 million apply to?](https://nobusato.jp/en/blog/business-manager-visa-30-million-yen#s1)
2. [Which of the five conditions is expensive?](https://nobusato.jp/en/blog/business-manager-visa-30-million-yen#s2)
3. [What happened in the first year?](https://nobusato.jp/en/blog/business-manager-visa-30-million-yen#s3)
4. [If the founder doesn't come, what are the other routes?](https://nobusato.jp/en/blog/business-manager-visa-30-million-yen#s4)
5. [The order has flipped](https://nobusato.jp/en/blog/business-manager-visa-30-million-yen#s5)

Since 16 October 2025, a foreigner who wants to run their own company in Japan on a Business Manager visa needs ¥30 million in capital, one full-time employee who is Japanese or a permanent resident, and Japanese at B2 level, either their own or that employee's. The old bar was ¥5 million, or two full-time staff in place of the capital. Everyone reported the six-fold jump in money. The money is the easy part. What changed the cost structure is that you now need a person in Japan before you can get the founder in.

## Who does the ¥30 million apply to?

Foreigners who run or manage a business in Japan on the Business Manager status of residence (keiei kanri), and anyone applying for it. At the end of 2025, 46,781 foreigners held that status, up 12.4% from 41,615 a year earlier, according to the Immigration Services Agency. That is 1.1% of Japan's 4,125,395 foreign residents. The agency's year-end summary does not break this status down by nationality.

The dates matter. The revised landing criteria took effect on 16 October 2025. Applications already under review the day before are judged on the old rules. People who already held the status get three years: renewals filed up to 16 October 2028 can be approved even if the new criteria aren't met, based on how the business is doing and whether it is likely to comply. After that, renewals must meet the new criteria in principle, with an exception for businesses that are performing well, paying their taxes and likely to comply by the next renewal.

Two closed doors are easy to miss. After the effective date, someone who doesn't meet the new criteria can't apply for permanent residence from this status. And the Highly Skilled Professional category for business management (type 1-c) is held to the same criteria: fall short, and neither the upgrade to type 2 nor permanent residence is available.

Why the change? At a press conference on 12 September 2025, the Minister of Justice gave two reasons for the review he had ordered in May: reports of improper use of the status, and a comparison with other countries. The public record says no more, and I won't add to it.

## Which of the five conditions is expensive?

The two about people. In the order the Immigration Services Agency lists them in its October 2025 guidance:

Capital. For a company, paid-in capital or total contributions of ¥30 million or more. For a sole proprietor, the total invested in the business, including office costs, a year of staff salaries and equipment.

A full-time employee. At least one, and only certain people count: Japanese nationals, special permanent residents, and foreigners on a Table 2 status, meaning permanent residents, spouses or children of Japanese nationals or permanent residents, and long-term residents. A colleague sent from head office on an Engineer/Specialist in Humanities visa doesn't count.

Japanese. Either the applicant or that full-time employee must have Japanese at B2 or above on Japan's reference framework. For anyone other than Japanese nationals and special permanent residents, that means JLPT N2 or higher, a BJT business Japanese score of 400 or more, 20 years' residence, a Japanese higher-education degree, or Japanese schooling through high school. If the founder has no N2 but the employee is Japanese, the box is ticked.

Experience or a degree. Three years of experience managing or running a business, or a master's or higher in management or a field related to the business. Time spent preparing a start-up on a Specified Activities visa counts as experience.

A reviewed business plan. The plan submitted with the application must be confirmed as specific, reasonable and feasible by someone with professional management expertise: as of the effective date, a certified SME management consultant, a certified public accountant or a licensed tax accountant. Officers and employees of the applicant's own company can't do it. The agency's materials don't say what the review costs, so I won't either.

One old condition is unchanged but enforced harder: a business premises that fits the scale of the business. A home address is generally not accepted.

The money went up to ¥30 million. The two conditions that changed the structure are about people: someone in Japan has to come first

Landing criteria for the Business Manager status, before and after 16 October 2025. Immigration Services Agency, guidance on the revised criteria (October 2025)

1. 01Capital: ¥5 million to ¥30 millionPaid-in capital for a company; total invested for a sole proprietor. Hiring two people no longer substitutes for the capital
2. 02Full-time employee: none to at least oneOnly Japanese nationals, special permanent residents, permanent residents, spouses or children of Japanese or permanent residents, and long-term residents count. Colleagues on work visas do not
3. 03Japanese: none to B2 for the founder or the employeeJLPT N2, BJT 400, 20 years' residence, a Japanese degree, among others. A Japanese employee satisfies it
4. 04Experience or degree: none to 3 years of management or a relevant master'sStart-up preparation on a Specified Activities visa counts as experience
5. 05Business plan: none to review by a professionalSME management consultant, CPA or tax accountant. Waived for listed-company scale

Capital can be wired from head office. People have to be found in Japan. The real gate in the new rules is that one full-time employee.

Figure 1. From 16 October 2025 the Business Manager visa requires ¥30 million in capital instead of ¥5 million, at least one full-time employee who is Japanese or a permanent resident, B2 Japanese from the founder or that employee, three years of management experience or a relevant master's, and a business plan confirmed by a professional. Existing holders have a three-year transition for renewals, to 16 October 2028.

## What happened in the first year?

New arrivals fell by four fifths. Kyodo News, reporting Immigration Services Agency figures, put new entrants on the Business Manager status at 635 in the first half of 2026, down 80.9% from a year earlier. In the same six months, 953 holders of the status left Japan without re-entry permission, 3.9 times the 246 of the year before. The 46,781 holders at the end of 2025 were about 1.7 times the number at the end of 2020, so a gate that widened for five years narrowed in one.

A government official quoted by Kyodo said more departures aren't good or bad in themselves; what matters is the quality of foreign residents. My reading is a little different. If new entries dropped 80%, a large share of the old plans must have stalled on the employee or the language requirement. ¥30 million on its own is a wire transfer.

## If the founder doesn't come, what are the other routes?

There are three, and none of them avoids having a person in Japan.

First, appoint a Japanese representative director and keep the founder at home. Since a Ministry of Justice notice of 16 March 2015, a Japanese company can be registered even if every representative director lives abroad. But a founder who comes to work still needs a work-eligible status, and a temporary visitor can attend meetings and negotiate but cannot run the business day to day. This route swaps a visa problem for a delegation problem: who holds the seat, and how much authority goes with it. I wrote about exactly that hole in [Who decides in the Japan entity when the boss is away](https://nobusato.jp/en/blog/who-decides-when-the-boss-is-away?hsLang=en).

Second, send someone from head office on an Intra-company Transferee visa. The conditions: at least one continuous year at the overseas office immediately before the transfer, work in Japan within the scope of the Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services category, and pay no lower than a Japanese employee would get for the same work. Note the scope: running the business isn't in it. You can send a CTO or a finance manager this way. You can't send the CEO to be the CEO.

Third, Highly Skilled Professional type 1-c, for advanced business management. Score 70 points or more on education, career, income and age, and you get a five-year stay, easier permanent residence and work rights for your spouse. But since 16 October 2025 this route has to meet the same Business Manager criteria, with the same three-year transition. A high score doesn't waive the ¥30 million or the employee.

## The order has flipped

The first employee now comes before the founder's visa. The old sequence, capital, then founder, then staff once there's business to do, runs backwards.

The slow part is that hire. Finding and onboarding one full-time employee usually takes months. In money, a hire through an agency costs about 1.5 times salary in the first year and about 1.2 times after that, which I worked through in [What one hire in Japan really costs](https://nobusato.jp/en/blog/true-cost-of-hiring-in-japan?hsLang=en). The founder's immigration timeline now runs on the recruiting timeline.

Who should that person be? The ordinance says "full-time employee" and nothing about the role. But as the first person on the Japanese side, they will in practice handle the bank, the landlord, the labor consultant, the tax accountant and the customers. I've argued before that [your first hire in Japan should not be a salesperson](https://nobusato.jp/en/blog/first-hire-in-japan-should-not-be-sales?hsLang=en). The revision has turned that sequence into something close to a legal requirement.

Honestly, for a company that means to build a business in Japan, the change matters less than the headlines suggest. ¥30 million is a fraction of a real first-year budget. One Japanese employee is someone you should have had anyway. What the new rules block is the plan with ¥5 million in capital, an apartment as the registered office, and the founder as the only employee.

Some of this has text and no cases yet. How tightly the "performing well and likely to comply" exception will be read after October 2028. How readily consultants and accountants will sign off on business plans, and at what price. This is as of October 2026. After that, go by the agency's latest notices.

This article is general information and does not constitute legal or immigration advice. For how the criteria and the transitional measures apply to a specific application or renewal, consult an administrative scrivener (gyoseishoshi) or attorney in Japan, or check directly with the Immigration Services Agency. The conditions described are those published by the agency in October 2025, as of October 2026.

Sources (as of October 2026)

- [Immigration Services Agency, revision of the ministerial ordinance on landing criteria for the Business Manager status (effective 16 October 2025; transitional measures to 16 October 2028)](https://www.moj.go.jp/isa/applications/resources/10_00237.html)
- [Immigration Services Agency, guidance on the revised Business Manager criteria (published 10 October 2025, updated 30 October 2025: each requirement, proof of Japanese ability, transitional measures)](https://www.moj.go.jp/isa/content/001448070.pdf)
- [Immigration Services Agency, outline of the revision (comparison with the previous ¥5 million or two employees)](https://www.moj.go.jp/isa/content/001448231.pdf)
- [Immigration Services Agency, notice for Highly Skilled Professional type 1-c holders](https://www.moj.go.jp/isa/content/001448226.pdf)
- [Ministry of Justice, summary of the Minister's post-cabinet press conference (12 September 2025)](https://www.moj.go.jp/hisho/kouhou/hisho08_00647.html)
- [Immigration Services Agency, foreign residents as of the end of 2025, with attachment (Business Manager 46,781, up 12.4%)](https://www.moj.go.jp/isa/publications/press/13_00062.html)
- [Kyodo News via Kumamoto Nichinichi Shimbun, foreign residents hit 4.28 million at end of June 2026, Business Manager entrants plunge after tightening (16 October 2026: 635 new entrants in H1 2026, down 80.9%)](https://kumanichi.com/articles/2047152)
- [Kyodo News via Kumamoto Nichinichi Shimbun, departures of foreign business managers up 3.9 times in H1 2026 (15 October 2026: 953 versus 246)](https://kumanichi.com/articles/2046876)
- [Immigration Services Agency, Intra-company Transferee status: activities and landing criteria](https://www.moj.go.jp/isa/content/001368446.pdf)
- [Immigration Services Agency, points-based system for highly skilled professionals](https://www.moj.go.jp/isa/applications/resources/newimmiact_3_system_index.html)
- [Ministry of Justice, commercial and corporate registration for foreigners and overseas residents (incorporation allowed with all representative directors resident abroad, notice of 16 March 2015)](https://www.moj.go.jp/MINJI/minji06_00104.html)

---

Author

[Nobu Sato](https://nobusato.jp/en/profile?hsLang=en)

Launching in Japan, starting with people and systems. I write about building organizations, sales teams and technology organizations in Japan, in English, Japanese and Chinese.

[Profile](https://nobusato.jp/en/profile?hsLang=en)[Contact](https://nobusato.jp/en/contact?hsLang=en)

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