Chapter 3 | Startup Visa Deep Dive – Cities, Plans & Roadmap | Tsukuda Visa Support

This chapter is a practical deep dive on how to “make the most” of Japan’s Startup Visa. We cover how to choose the right municipality, how to write a plan that gets approved, and a month-by-month roadmap for your first 24 months in Japan.

◆ What You Can and Cannot Do with the Startup Visa

You can: enter and stay in Japan while preparing your company, searching for an office, gathering documents for a bank account, recruiting, doing market research, business meetings, and limited test sales (within permitted scope).
You cannot: run full commercial operations on a continuous basis; secure long-term residence status with this visa alone; or treat it as a permanent operating status.
Baseline: you obtain a Startup Confirmation from a municipality and stay under Designated Activities (Startup Preparation) for up to 2 years (details vary by city).

◆ How to Choose a Municipality (Quick Comparison Checklist)

Review focus: business uniqueness, local contribution, hiring prospects, feasibility (funding/team).
Forms & format: required plan template, attachments, whether English is accepted.
Support programs: mentor access, co-working discounts, housing/school assistance.
Process load: review lead time, renewal policy, interview requirements.
Property realities: whether home-office use is allowed; licensing constraints for regulated sectors (food, beauty, transport, etc.).

◆ Writing a Plan that Passes (Core Skeleton)

1) Value thesis & customer: whose problem you solve, how you solve it, and why you beat alternatives.
2) KPIs & P&L: 6/12/18/24-month targets for revenue, margin, customer counts, churn, and hiring.
3) Operations: address/office setup; suppliers; whether licenses are required and your acquisition plan.
4) Evidence: LOIs, quotations, PoC results, partner prospects, photos of potential locations.
5) Switch plan: how you will reach Business Manager requirements (capital, employee, office).

◆ First Things First: Address, Bank, Comms, Accounting/Tax

Address: lease type, whether home-office is acceptable, and mail handling.
Bank account: show real activity—plan, quotations, intent letters—plus articles & company seal consistency.
Comms & payments: corporate phone, credit card, and bookkeeping/invoicing SaaS (design your CoA, COGS, inventory).
Tax: business opening notice, blue return application, and (if relevant) consumption tax registration—these help demonstrate operating readiness when you switch visas.

◆ Family Stay & Daily Life Setup

Documents: marriage/birth certificates, notarization/Apostille, certified translations.
School & healthcare: timing and documents for enrollment; multilingual support availability.
Insurance: when to join National Health Insurance and how to combine with private coverage.

◆ Common Pitfalls & How to Avoid Them (from recent cases)

Bank account rejected: insufficient stay record and weak business evidence → within 1–2 months after arrival, assemble a bank evidence pack: meeting logs, quotations, website/brochure, preliminary contracts.
Regulated industries stall: food/beauty/transport require strict facilities and staffing → choose the property by working backwards from the licensing checklist; secure floor plans and equipment quotations early.
Vague KPIs: no numbers for “how many by when” → present 6/12/18/24-month tables with sources for market size, pricing, and conversion rates.

◆ Your 24-Month Roadmap (work back from the switch criteria)

Months 0–3: address, communications, website/brochure, start meetings and capture preliminary orders.
Months 4–9: decide office/store, pay-in capital, incorporate, first hires.
Months 10–18: complete any required licenses; show continuous revenue (invoices and bank receipts).
Months 20–24: package your Business Manager application (plan, performance, employee, office, capital).

◆ Preparing for the Expected Rule Update

Anticipated standard: ¥30 million capital + at least 1 full-time employee (Japanese or work-authorized foreign national).
Funding plan: own funds, family loans, or investment—document lawful sources and transfers.
Hiring: definition of “full-time,” social insurance enrollment, employment contracts, payroll records.