Other issues to be considered for the corporation

Questions and Answers

Is the shareholders’ meeting required to be held in Japan?

Regular shareholders’ meeting must be held no later than 3 months after the company’s fiscal year end. The company’s financial statement must be approved by the regular shareholders at that meeting.

What is the type of working visa?

There are different types of visa listed as follows. However most of our clients apply for "Investor/Business Manager" or "Intra-company Transferee".
Primarily, we advise our clients to set up KK/branch in Japan and apply for "Investor/Business Manager" if the employee assumes the position of the management. If the employee is not management position of the Japan entity, we apply for "Intra-company Transferee".
The requirement of both visa statuses depends on the investment amount for Japan entity, number of years with the company etc. We advise you if you provide us further information.

<Type of visa>

• Investor / Business Manager
• Legal / Accounting Services
• Engineer
• Specialist in Humanities / International Services
• Intra-company Transferee
• Skilled Labor

Is it common to register the signature for the bank in Japan?

It is not common for the signature of the authorized company representative to be registered at the bank for the purpose of verifying identification.
Instead, the company’s seal (called "Hanko") is registered at the bank. A cash withdrawal is then made by using this registered Hanko.

Is it available to use check in the daily transactions in Japan?

In Japan, rather than checks, most payments are made using cash remittances through ordinary bank accounts. Therefore, it is advisable to open an ordinary account with a Japanese bank.

How to find an office location?

Generally, it is not easy to find an office location without experienced assistance. It is quite difficult to understand the terms and conditions of lease agreements and, although office rents have dropped as a result of the slowdown of the Japanese economy, office owners are, in some cases, still reluctant to lease their offices to foreign owned companies. Consequently, bilingual estate agencies which deal specifically with foreign tenants to overcome these problems have appeared in Tokyo.

Geographical convenience is a very critical factor for determining office location. Most employees usually commute to work by train, underground or other public transportation. We can recommend or assist to choose good bilingual estate agencies.

What is "key money"?

A leasehold deposit, and occasionally key money, is required by the landlord for renting an office.
Key money, a charge which is very common, is non-refundable.

Could you tell us the ways to recruit new staff?

There are several ways to recruit new staff, including:

• An Employment Service for university graduates, training schools etc.
• Public employment security office
• Private employment agencies
• Advertisements in newspapers or magazines
• Direct recruiting through personal contact

If a candidate is required to have business experience, professional expertise or English language ability, private agency is effective methods. We can recommend or assist to choose good bilingual agencies.

Is it popular to hire temporary staff in Japan?

Some agencies specialize in recruiting staff from specific professions, e.g. secretarial, clerical, accounting and engineering.
One particular benefit of using the staffing service provided by such agencies is that an employer who uses temporary staff does not need to concern itself with the social insurance and withholding income tax matters associated with the temporary staff, as these will be taken care of by the agencies.
Therefore, hiring temporary staff from an agency can be extremely beneficial in the start-up stage of the company, when its payroll function has not yet been established.

We can recommend or assist to choose good bilingual agencies.

Could you explain us about the social security system in Japan?

The social security system in Japan is composed of:

• Social insurance (administrated by the Ministry of Health and Welfare) and
• Labor insurance (administered by the Ministry of Labor)
  (perce)

Employer and employee each pay half of the premium. The premium is a certain percentage of the employee’s salary. The percentage is as follows.

Name		Percentage (on salary)		Note
		Employer	Employee
Social insurance	Health insurance	4.61%	4.61%	*1
	Pension insurance	8.03%	8.03%	*2
	Childcare allowance	–	0.13%	*3
Labor insurance	Unemployment insurance	0.60%	0.95%	*4
	Workers accident compensation insurance	–	0.30%	*4
Note	(infromation as of Oct 2010)
*1	Maximum amount Monthly salary: Bonus	Employee: approx.676,000yen/year Employer: approx.676,000yen/year Employee: approx.251,000yen/year Employer: approx.251,000yen/year
*2	Maximum amount Monthly salary: Bonus	Employee: approx.600,000yen/year Employer: approx.600,000yen/year Employee: approx.120,000yen/month Employer: approx.120,000yen/month
*3	Maximum amount Monthly salary: Bonus	Employee: approx.600,000yen/year Employer: approx. 9,000yen/year Employer: approx. 2,000yen/month
*4	Tax rate depends on the category of business

How do you pay the social security premiums?

There will be a payment notice sent to you from the social security office around fourth week of every month. You will then take the notice to the nearest bank and pay it at the teller window.
The payment due date will be at the end of every month.

We send expatriates to Japan. Are they required to participate in the Japanese social security system?

If the expatriate’s salary is paid in Japan, the expatriate must participate in the scheme. However if such expatriate receive his salary outside Japan, he cannot participate in the scheme in practice.

How many banks in Japan are there that corresponds to English?

Most of the big mega banks in Japan correspond to English.
However, very few has an English sites in the internet banking section. In addition, there are no banks that allows you to have both the internet banking in English and could disburse cash from the nearest bank or the ATM.