Your Japan Entity Is Registered. Now Comes the Hard Part: The Bank Account

Your Japan entity is registered. Congratulations. Now comes the hard part: opening a bank account.

In Japan, opening a corporate bank account after incorporation can take weeks — sometimes months.

Why It Takes Time

Banks in Japan screen new corporate accounts carefully. Foreign-owned companies and companies with non-Japanese representatives often face additional scrutiny — banks want to understand who is behind the company, what it will actually do in Japan, and where the money will come from.

Major banks are often harder to work with than regional banks or shinkin (credit unions), which can move faster.

How to Prepare

It helps to have a clear explanation of your business in Japan, a registered office address, your registered seal and seal certificate, and someone who can respond to the bank's questions in Japanese.

Without a bank account, you can't pay salaries, receive payments from Japanese clients, or settle taxes and social insurance smoothly. Budget time for this. It's one of the most underestimated steps in setting up in Japan.

Natsuki Suzuki is the founder of BANTO, which provides back-office support — accounting, HR and payroll, and administration — to overseas companies and their Japan entities. She spent 15 years in Europe and brings both sides of the cultural equation to every engagement.