Insights & Guides
Practical knowledge on Japan market entry — from company setup and visas to trade logistics and branding.
MLIT Flight Permission for Drones in Japan: When Registration Alone Isn't Enough (2026)
Registering a drone under the Civil Aeronautics Act (航空法) is mandatory for almost every unmanned aircraft in Japan, but it does not authorize where or how you can fly it. A separate flight...
Notarizing a Foreign Company's Affidavit for a Japan GK: The Consul-in-Japan Route (2026)
When a foreign corporation cannot produce a home-country company register extract in the form Japan's Legal Affairs Bureau (法務局) requires, the standard fix is a notarized affidavit (宣誓供述書) with a...
Do You Need EOR for a Two-Month Japan Hire? Short-Term and Seasonal Staffing Without a Japan Entity (2026)
Not every Japan hiring need is an open-ended headcount decision. A company might need someone on the ground for a trade show season, a product launch push, a market-validation pilot, or a defined...
Sending Product Samples to Japanese Influencers and Press: What International Brands Get Wrong About Customs (2026)
Marketing teams running influencer seeding and press sample programs into Japan almost always start from the same assumption: it is a gift, no money changes hands, so customs should not be an...
Shipping Kickstarter and Indiegogo Rewards to Japan: The IOR Guide for Crowdfunding Creators (2026)
Japan is consistently one of the strongest backer markets for hardware, gadget, and tabletop campaigns on Kickstarter and Indiegogo. Most creators do not think about Japan customs until the...
Japan ACP for Chilean Manufacturers: Choosing Between the Japan-Chile EPA and CPTPP (2026)
Chile is unusual among Japan's trade partners in one specific way: it has two separate preferential tariff routes into Japan running at the same time. The Agreement between Japan and the Republic...
What Is an Exporter of Record (EOR) in Japan? Export Compliance for Non-Resident Sellers and Re-Exporters (2026)
Search for "EOR in Japan" and most of what comes back is about hiring: payroll, work visas, and staffing a Japan team without incorporating. That is a real question with a real answer, but it is...
Japan Customs IP Recordation for Non-Resident Brand Owners: Why Enforcement Filing Sits Outside Your IOR Arrangement (2026)
A foreign brand that has structured legitimate imports into Japan through an Importer of Record (IOR) arrangement is often surprised to learn that a genuine, properly declared shipment has nothing...
Japan EOR and Benefits-in-Kind: Why Company Housing (社宅) and Commuter Allowance (通勤手当) Trip Up Foreign Employers (2026)
Foreign employers building a compensation package for a Japan hire through an Employer of Record (EOR) arrangement tend to focus on salary, bonus, and statutory social insurance, and treat...
Japan EOR and Paid Annual Leave: The 5-Day Mandatory Usage Rule Foreign Employers Miss (2026)
Foreign companies hiring their first employee in Japan through an Employer of Record (EOR) tend to treat paid annual leave (年次有給休暇) as a minor HR line item, something the EOR provider tracks in...