Yes. Since March 1, 2024, the Japan Federation of Notaries Public Associations (日本公証人連合会) certifies a KK's Articles of Incorporation (定款) by web conference (ウェブ会議) by default, so a founder outside Japan need not travel for this step. The fee is also no longer flat: a December 1, 2024 amendment to the Notary Fee Order (公証人手数料令) tiers it at JPY 15,000 to 50,000 by capital amount and incorporator profile.
Do I Have to Fly to Japan to Notarize My KK's Articles of Incorporation?
No, not as a general matter. The default certification method for electronic Articles of Incorporation (電子定款) is now a web conference with the notary, and in-person attendance only applies if the party specifically requests it. This is a KK-specific step: a Godo Kaisha (GK) has no notary-certification requirement at all, so the entire question only arises for founders setting up a KK. If your structure question is closer to "which entity should I even form," our Articles of Incorporation drafting guide covers the content of the 定款 itself, separately from the certification mechanics addressed here.
The web-conference default is a procedural change at the notary level, not a change to who can be a KK incorporator or director. It removes a specific travel dependency: the historical requirement that the incorporator or their attorney physically appear before a notary in Japan to have the articles certified. Founders should still confirm with the notary handling their file, or with their retained judicial scrivener (司法書士), that their specific case qualifies for the remote track rather than assuming it automatically.
What Does Notary Certification of a KK's Articles of Incorporation Actually Cost in 2026?
The certification fee is not a flat figure anymore. Since the December 1, 2024 amendment to the Notary Fee Order, the fee sits in a tier structure of JPY 15,000, 30,000, 40,000, or 50,000, and which tier applies depends on the company's capital amount and the incorporator's profile. Older guidance, including some earlier posts on this site, still quotes an approximately JPY 50,000 flat fee; that figure predates the amendment and should not be relied on for a 2026 filing.
Because the exact tier depends on capital amount and incorporator profile, and that mapping is not something a general guide can state safely without confirming the current bands against the notary at the time of filing, this article does not attempt to tell you which of the four tiers applies to your company. Confirm the applicable tier with the notary or your judicial scrivener before budgeting the incorporation. For the fuller incorporation cost picture, including registration tax and other line items beyond the notary fee, see our company formation cost guide.
Does an Electronic Articles of Incorporation Avoid the Stamp Duty Too?
Yes, and this is a separate benefit from the fee-tier change above. A paper Articles of Incorporation is subject to a JPY 40,000 revenue stamp under the Stamp Tax Act (印紙税法). An electronic Articles of Incorporation remains exempt from that stamp duty. The two savings do not overlap in cause: one is the notary's own certification fee moving from flat to tiered, the other is a document-format exemption from a tax that only applies to a physical paper instrument.
Practically, this means a founder filing electronically clears two separate cost items differently from the paper route: the certification fee itself follows the new tiered schedule, and the stamp duty simply does not apply. Neither figure should be quoted to a client as a single combined number, because they come from different statutes and different mechanisms.
Key points:
(a) The remote-notarization option applies to a KK's Articles of Incorporation certification step only; a GK has no such step, so this entire question is moot for a GK formation. (b) Web-conference certification is the notary's default method since March 1, 2024; in-person attendance is now the exception, requested rather than assumed. (c) The certification fee has been tiered (JPY 15,000 to 50,000) since the December 1, 2024 fee order amendment, and the applicable tier depends on capital amount and incorporator profile, confirmed case by case with the notary or scrivener, not from a generic table.
A related but distinct notarization question comes up for a Godo Kaisha with a foreign corporate representative member: that scenario uses a home-country or consul-in-Japan affidavit process rather than the KK articles-certification process described here. See our separate guide on notarizing a foreign company's affidavit for a Japan GK if that is your actual fact pattern.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a foreign founder incorporate a Japan KK entirely without visiting Japan?
The notary-certification step for the Articles of Incorporation can now be completed remotely by web conference as the default method, which removes one of the historical travel dependencies for a KK founder based outside Japan. Other steps in a KK incorporation, such as opening a corporate bank account or handling registered-address arrangements, carry their own separate practical considerations that are not addressed by the notary's remote-attendance policy.
Is the old JPY 50,000 notary fee figure still accurate for 2026?
No. That flat figure predates the December 1, 2024 amendment to the Notary Fee Order, which replaced it with a tiered schedule of JPY 15,000, 30,000, 40,000, or 50,000 based on capital amount and incorporator profile. Any guide still citing a flat approximately-JPY-50,000 fee is describing the pre-amendment rule.
Does a Godo Kaisha (GK) need this notary certification step at all?
No. The notary-certification requirement for Articles of Incorporation applies to a Kabushiki Kaisha (KK) only. A Godo Kaisha has no equivalent certification step in its formation process, so the remote-attendance question and the tiered fee discussed here are not relevant to a GK filing.
Conclusion
The two changes worth carrying into a 2026 incorporation plan are procedural and financial: remote web-conference certification is now the default for a KK's Articles of Incorporation, and the certification fee is tiered rather than flat. Confirm the applicable fee tier with the notary or your judicial scrivener at the time of filing, since it depends on your specific capital amount and incorporator profile. For the broader incorporation process and structure decisions beyond this notarization step, see our company setup service page.
This article is informational only and does not constitute legal, tax, or regulatory advice. Consult a qualified advisor before acting on the content. Last updated: August 2026.