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Understand Your Options

Let us explain the different types of companies in Japan and which one is best for you.

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Our team is comprised of deeply experienced legal experts, judicial scriveners and administrative scriveners to ensure compliance.

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We will set your company up faster than any other firm in the market.

Native English

Japanese law and culture is night and day when compared to American culture. Let us explain things in a way that you can understand.

Darya Hardzei

Finance Manager, OnRobot

You and your team are for sure the most proactive team I ever had worked with. It means a lot when lots of things are going on at the same time for me.

James Kelly

CFO, Taiga Bio-technologies

I wanted to send a quick note to let you know your team is doing a great job getting us up and running. Everyone is on top of things and so detail oriented. Makes my life easier.

Steve Berger

Head of APAC, membr Fitness

The entire team is extremely attentive and diligent.  We started with another provider initially but once we understood what weConnect could do we had to make the switch.

Kabushiki Kaisha (KK)

Kabushiki Kaisha Advantages

Most common type of entity in Japan with a higher credibility which can be helpful when dealing with local customers, employees and business partners. The GK, while still very credible, is a newer type of entity recently established in 2006, and therefore still has a weaker image in Japan. That being said, the difference between a KK and a GK in terms of image has become impossible to quantify now that the GK has been around for a while.

KK allows for a scalable organization, with the ability to have a Board of Directors, list on the stock exchange, and raise additional money through selling shares, etc. In contrast the GK can do none of these things.

Clear organizational distinction between ownership (shareholders) and management (directors). In contrast GK investors are legally considered partners, who help run the company, and investment amount is not automatically proportionate to authority over the company or voting rights.

Goudou Kaisha (GK)

Goudou Kaisha Advantages

The registration process and ongoing corporate compliance for GKs is simpler and less expensive compared to KKs. KKs are required to submit an Articles of Incorporation, and annually hold shareholders' meetings, publish financials and submit other reports, whereas GKs do not have any of these requirements.

If the GK is wholly owned by an American corporation, the American corporation has the option to elect the GK to be considered a “disregarded entity,” allowing it to be treated as a branch of the US for US tax purposes. This option does not exist with the KK.