---
title: "Japan's Resignation Proxies: One in Four Went Quiet"
description: Teikoku Databank found 26.9% of 52 major resignation-proxy operators possibly stopped within a year, yet companies receiving proxy resignations rose to 8.7%.
image: https://nobusato.jp/hubfs/resignation-proxy-industry-shakeout-en.png
---

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# Japan's Resignation Proxies: One in Four Went Quiet

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

![Three bars comparing proxy firms founded in 2025, operators that possibly stopped, and companies that received a proxy resignation](https://nobusato.jp/hs-fs/hubfs/resignation-proxy-industry-shakeout-en.png?width=1200&height=630&name=resignation-proxy-industry-shakeout-en.png)

Japan's resignation-proxy businesses, the agencies that phone your company to say an employee is quitting, are starting to fold. Fewer agencies does not mean fewer of those calls. If you run a team in Japan, the second number is the one to watch.

Teikoku Databank, a Japanese credit research firm, tracked 52 major proxy operators from October 2025 to September 2026. For 14 of them, 26.9%, it could no longer confirm that the service was still running. Over roughly the same period, the share of companies that had received a resignation through a proxy went up.

## One in four, out of 52 major operators

The number counts operators that dropped out of view. It doesn't count confirmed bankruptcies. Teikoku Databank started from 52 operators whose activity it could verify in October 2025 and checked them again a year later. It flagged 14 as possibly stopped because the service could no longer be confirmed through normal channels. According to press coverage of the report, which was released on September 23, 2026, 10 of the 14 were ordinary companies and the rest were law firms or labor unions.

Two cautions. The 52 are the operators Teikoku Databank treats as major, so this is not the whole market. And a closed website is not a court filing. Some real exits did happen. The operator of a service called Smart Yamemasu was reported to have gone bankrupt in March 2026.

The entry side looks just as sharp. Tokyo Shoko Research, another credit research firm, counted 56 companies (law firms excluded) listing resignation proxy as a line of business as of May 2026. All were under ten years old. Thirty-two of them were founded in 2025. That is a different list from Teikoku Databank's, so the two can't be combined. Both point the same way, though. A crowd rushed in within a year, and a large part of it was out within a year.

One in four operators may have stopped in a year, yet more employers got the call

Entry, exit and employer-side contact for resignation proxies, June 2025 to September 2026. Tokyo Shoko Research, Teikoku Databank (via press coverage). Each figure has its own base.

1. Jun 20257.2% of firmshad received a resignation through a proxy (Tokyo Shoko Research)
2. Oct 202552 major operators trackedsame month, police search the operator of Momuri
3. Feb 2026Former president arrestedsuspected of referring clients to lawyers for fees
4. Apr 20268.7% of firmsshare receiving a proxy resignation up 1.5 points
5. May 202656 firms in the business32 of them (57%) founded in 2025
6. Sep 202614 of 52 possibly stopped26.9%, judged from visible signs such as closed sites

Demand has not gone. The providers are changing. Count each proxy call as a reading: someone could not tell their manager.

Figure 1. 14 of 52 major resignation proxy operators in Japan (26.9%) may have stopped within a year and 57% of the 56 firms in the business were founded in 2025, yet the share of employers that received a proxy resignation rose from 7.2% to 8.7%, so fewer operators has not meant fewer people who cannot tell their manager.

## If operators are leaving, is demand falling?

The employer data says probably not. In Tokyo Shoko Research's company surveys, 7.2% of firms had received a resignation through a proxy agency as of June 2025. By April 2026 it was 8.7%.

My reading is that the work is moving to different kinds of providers. In Teikoku Databank's October 2025 survey, the average lowest listed price was about 44,700 yen at law firms and about 22,500 yen at ordinary companies, roughly double. Since then large law firms have entered with cheaper plans. A company that can only pass on the message has little left to compete on. Coverage of the 2026 report says the average fee slipped from about 28,000 to about 27,000 yen. This is partly inference, and I'd want next year's survey before calling it a trend.

## What was the Momuri case about?

The other pressure is legal. On October 22, 2025, Tokyo police searched the offices of Albatross, the company behind Momuri, one of the best-known proxy brands. The suspicion, as reported, was that it referred clients to lawyers for fees without being licensed to do so, which the Attorney Act (Bengoshi-ho) prohibits. Its former president and others were arrested on February 3, 2026, and indicted on February 24. On August 28, 2026, the Tokyo District Court convicted them, according to Kyodo News and Tokyo Shoko Research: a two-year prison sentence suspended for three years for the former president, a suspended sentence for a former officer, and a 2 million yen fine for the company. I have not confirmed whether the ruling is final.

As reported, the case concerned referrals to lawyers and the fees taken for them. The court was not asked to rule on resignation proxies as such. Momuri made that point after the ruling and said it would keep operating. Still, the case put a hard question to the whole sector. How much can a non-lawyer actually do for a client? The Tokyo Bar Association had already warned in November 2024. In Tokyo Shoko Research's April 2026 survey, 30.4% of companies said they would not deal with a proxy that is neither a lawyer nor a union.

## How should a Japan entity respond when a proxy calls?

Find out who is calling. A lawyer, a labor union and an ordinary company have different powers.

- A lawyer can negotiate and sue. Route the conversation through your own counsel.
- A union can demand collective bargaining. Refusing without good reason can be an unfair labor practice under Japan's Labor Union Act, so take advice and engage.
- An ordinary company is a messenger. Don't negotiate leave, end dates or pay with it. Settle those with the employee directly, in writing.

I would not tell a team to ignore the call, even though almost a third of companies say they would. For a permanent employee, Article 627 of the Civil Code ends employment two weeks after notice. Treat the intention as received. Then process the final pay, separation paperwork and returned equipment calmly. That's usually what keeps the exit quiet.

After that, treat the call as data. Someone decided that paying a stranger roughly 20,000 yen was easier than telling their manager. Persol Research Institute's 2025 survey found that people who used a proxy were lonelier at work than other leavers, and more often had nobody to consult except their boss. A count of proxy resignations by team is a map of where bad news stops travelling upward. I wrote about that pattern in [why bad news doesn't reach managers](https://nobusato.jp/en/blog/psychological-safety-bad-news?hsLang=en).

I once tried to keep a team member who had decided to leave. The person refused to talk at all, and I never learned why. No proxy was involved. The message still stopped somewhere before it reached me.

## If you work in Japan and want to use one

Sort by who runs it. Article 72 of the Attorney Act bars non-lawyers from handling legal matters such as negotiations for a fee as a business, or from steering such work to lawyers for a fee (as of October 2026). So an ordinary company can deliver your resignation, and that's it. If it negotiates unpaid overtime, paid leave or your last day, it risks crossing that line. A union-run service can bargain over terms but can't represent you in court. A lawyer can do both and costs more. If there are unpaid wages or harassment, go to a lawyer. If you just want it said, the cheap option is fine. A "supervised by a lawyer" badge doesn't tell you who actually negotiates, so ask.

If all you need is to say it, you can still do that yourself. Here is [how to resign well in Japan](https://nobusato.jp/en/blog/how-to-resign-well-in-japan?hsLang=en), step by step. The numbers on how many people use these services vary wildly by survey. I went through them in [resignation proxy numbers](https://nobusato.jp/en/blog/resignation-proxy-numbers?hsLang=en). This post is general information, not legal advice. If terms are in dispute, talk to a lawyer or the labor consultation desk at your local Labor Standards Inspection Office.

One in four operators going quiet tells you about a crowded business. The 8.7% tells you about workplaces. That's the number I'll be checking next year.

データ出典 | Sources | 数据来源

- [Teikoku Databank, survey of major resignation-proxy services 2026 (Sept 23, 2026): 14 of 52 possibly stopped (26.9%); 10 run by private companies; average fee about ¥28,800 to ¥27,600 (checked against the report)](https://www.tdb.co.jp/resource/files/assets/d4b8e8ee91d1489c9a2abd23a4bb5219/915baeb994aa496c9d278a14ecf55c0a/20260923_%E4%B8%BB%E8%A6%81%E3%80%8C%E9%80%80%E8%81%B7%E4%BB%A3%E8%A1%8C%E3%82%B5%E3%83%BC%E3%83%93%E3%82%B9%E3%80%8D%E5%8B%95%E5%90%91%E8%AA%BF%E6%9F%BB2026.pdf)
- [Teikoku Databank, survey of major resignation-proxy services (Oct 24, 2025): law firms just over 30%, average lowest price 29,410 yen](https://www.zaikei.co.jp/releases/3151594/)
- [Tokyo Shoko Research (Aug 28, 2026): Momuri verdict; 32 of 56 firms founded in 2025; 30.4% won't engage](https://www.tsr-net.co.jp/data/detail/1203188_1527.html)
- [Tokyo Shoko Research (May 6, 2026): 8.7% of companies received a proxy resignation](https://www.tsr-net.co.jp/data/detail/1202792_1527.html)
- [Tokyo Shoko Research (Feb 3, 2026): arrest report; 7.2% in June 2025 survey](https://www.tsr-net.co.jp/data/detail/1202359_1527.html)
- [Kyodo News via Kumamoto Nichinichi Shimbun (Aug 28, 2026): suspended sentence for former president](https://kumanichi.com/articles/2029962)
- [Bengo4.com News (Oct 22, 2025): police search and Attorney Act Article 72 explained](https://www.bengo4.com/c_1009/n_19528/)
- [Bengo4.com News (Feb 26, 2026): indictment on Feb 24, citing NHK](https://www.bengo4.com/c_1009/n_20044/)
- [Persol Research Institute, survey on turnover and resignation proxies (2025): 5.1% of leavers used one](https://rc.persol-group.co.jp/thinktank/data/resignation/)

---

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