13 ms·

Japan eyes startup visa program

372 points by benguild 9y ago

cdancette 9y ago
France has the same thing, valid for 4 years. http://visa.lafrenchtech.com/ http://visa.lafrenchtech.com/
- jrs95 9y ago
  That graduate degree requirement sucks. I'd actually consider it (as an employee) even though pay is much lower in France than in the U.S., but I don't have any higher education at all!
  - cdancette 9y ago
    I think it's still easy to get a work visa for France even without this program. Salaries are lower, but you have social security, retirement, and very cheap education. You can't really compare gross salary.
    - jacquesm 9y ago
      And excellent, free healthcare.
      - datamingle 9y ago
        "free"
        scott_karana 9y ago
        Concealed/externalizer, then? Still much less expensive than in the US, inarguably. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_total_health_expenditure_per_capita https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_total_h...
- titanix2 9y ago
  Yes but why would you ever want to move there to create a startup? Not only you have to deal with enterprise related problems such as fiscal instability (rules changes almost every years, see for example how the auto-entrepreneur status changed over time), the URSSAF, a bureaucratic and slow administration but you have also to deal with a lot of issues on a personal level such as insecurity, terrorism, frequent riots and strikes, the administration (yes, again), ... No really, as a French and as someone who tried a minimal thing with the easiest available status, I don’t understand how my country can be attractive. I would rather deal with the Japanese administration, which asks for ridiculous amount of documents but does its job. And a country with working services (transports, post) is also a big plus.
  - ekianjo 9y ago
    > I would rather deal with the Japanese administration, which asks for ridiculous amount of documents but does its job. And a country with working services (transports, post) is also a big plus. Among developed countries, certainly France is in the best choices available, but as many pointed out in this thread, Japan, while having highly reliable services, is also kind of a late adopter for many technologies and often goes in trends that are quite different from the rest of the world.
  - ArmandGrillet 9y ago
    Did you ever work in another country? I work in Germany with colleagues from many different countries, and our country does not suck. The French post is one of the best in the World, train delays are the same in France as in Germany (shall we compare with the situation in the US?), the administration is a PITA but they actually try to help instead of killing you (+ the number of organisms to help startups in France is very high). Terrorism in France is a minimal cause of deaths compared to what happens in the US due to firearms. The fiscal instability is getting better with our current government (we know what is coming, not like in the US), the number of riots is low but they are highly mediatized. I am honestly surprised by this comment, would have expected it from someone not living in France. Compared to the UK and USA, France is a safer place to create your startup right now if you are a foreigner. The language is a pain and there are other alternatives (Canada, Singapore, Hong Kong, Germany) but if you want a country in the Western World that tries to help you instead of making everything possible to have you back at the border, France is attractive. PS: If you ask « Why is it attractive? »: Paris is full of investors/incubators, young people do speak English, people in the startup environment interact a lot and you will find mates to work and speak about your issues easily. Paris has two major airports (compared to Germany with old airports in Berlin and a too small one in Hamburg) + train stations to go everywhere (i.e. London, Bordeaux, Lyon).
pkaye 9y ago
Is a 1 year visa long enough to do anything serious?
- ajdlinux 9y ago
  It's probably long enough to get a company to the point where the company can sponsor you for a longer term visa.
  - agibsonccc 9y ago
    Can confirm this is true. It was easy enough for me to sponsor myself after the company was setup. In my case my first hire helped us set it up, and then he handed director over to me. You obviously have to do this with someone you trust. Would not recommend this for every situation. Edit: I obviously hit a nerve here somewhere. I stand by my position here. Get the right legal help. I can say it was a pain to find but once I did the process was smooth. It's not impossible like people make it out to be. Any process has bumps. Don't be crazy and do it yourself though.
- ekianjo 9y ago
  But what's the point anyway to be in Japan? If your startup targets the Japanese market you are better off working with local Japanese in the first place and share the risk with them. If you don't target Japan, there is close to no good incentive to being based there for business (apart if you just like living there).
partycoder 9y ago
Good luck finding a place to rent.
- kevin_thibedeau 9y ago
  Plenty of abandoned buildings in the countryside.
- agibsonccc 9y ago
  Silicon valley -> Tokyo expat here. It took me < 2 weeks. This process is hard but not as nightmarish as people who don't live in the country reading articles make it sound. Just like anything, there's right and wrong ways to do it. If you do it the traditional way with a japanese speaking landlord who mistrust foreigners, yes it can be hard. That is a significant portion of the market. One thing I will say, there are real estate companies that actually cater to foreigners. This has been my landlord for a year and I just renewed: http://tokyoeasyrent.com/en/ http://tokyoeasyrent.com/en/ There are other companies like this in the space. Look on places like gaijinpot for more information like this: https://gaijinpot.com/ https://gaijinpot.com/ It's just like any real estate market, do your research beforehand. Where I will admit it can be harder is when you want to procure a larger house. They don't tend to ask too many questions for studios (which should be enough for entrepreneurs family aside). That being said, if you do have family, spend your time finding right place and ask for referrals. Japan has its downsides but it's by far the best place I have ever lived (especially compared to SF) both food wise and price wise.
  - gozur88 9y ago
    I've read getting a place to stay has become easier, but I still hear people complain about getting a bank account without help from an employer.
    - agibsonccc 9y ago
      Yes the bank account is hard. I still use my foreign account. I setup my company and then got my bank account. I still don't use it. I'm assuming anyone in this thread looking seriously at japan will be hiring the right operations person to help you. Otherwise, you can't get much done without speaking the language (day to day is fine, but for example the immigration office expects you to know some japanese if not just bringing someone with you to help you)
microcolonel 9y ago
I wonder if this could be chained together with the working holiday visa.
alexasmyths 9y ago
I can see why these things make sense to legislators and policymakers - but in all pragmatic reality, I'm weary of it actually working. 1) Most startups fail. What happens then? What is the path? Many folks will come from 2cnd-tier economic nations, and don't want to go back. It gets complicated. 2) Investment requirements are easily provided for by people who want to 'buy citizenship' and it's easy enough to hire a few friends/family members, park their money in an account, and pull it out when they are done. The 'businessperson' visa was widely used as a backdoor to a passport in Canada. It might make sense to make the visa commensurate on $X in a round A or something, but then it all gets very complicated. It might be just better to have a smart immigration policy to retain top talent across the board in the first place. It's really not 'founders' that make the business - it's 'the founders and everyone else'.
- ntsplnkv2 9y ago
  > 1) Most startups fail. What happens then? What is the path? Many folks will come from 2cnd-tier economic nations, and don't want to go back. It gets complicated. Just take the risk and eat the cost. Sometimes investments don't work out. You hope the ones that do make up for it.
arvinder 9y ago
>Based on the New Business Implementation Plan, Fukuoka City officials will conduct a review on the progress of startup businesses founded by entrepreneurs who utilized this system and received approval for his/her Business Manager residential status. There will be three review sessions during the six-month period, of which at least one session will be held either at the entrepreneur’s place of business or residence. During the review sessions, the business’s bank account, lease for the place of business, and employment contracts may be reviewed. If progress is not satisfactory, Fukuoka City may direct the entrepreneur to return to his/her home country. Sounds like a lot of biannual headache.
- agibsonccc 9y ago
  It can be yes. The govt agencies have their downsides. We worked with jetro (skymind): https://www.jetro.go.jp/usa/topics/companies-chosen-global-innovation-centers-subsidy-announced.html https://www.jetro.go.jp/usa/topics/companies-chosen-global-i... While it has not been too bad, the paperwork and initial startup was a bit of a hassle. I would be careful around this route.
  - arvinder 9y ago
    Wow, that is very cool. Congrats on getting through it.
- nihonde 9y ago
  Try opening a business bank account in Japan. Or any bank account for that matter. Be prepared to start every handwritten form over if you make even the slightest error, and I hope you’ve been practicing your kanji. No credit cards or foreign transfers until you’ve got a few years in your business. Capital requirements. It’s a whole different ballgame, for better or worse.
  - sasas 9y ago
    > and I hope you’ve been practicing your kanji Shinsei bank offer applications in English > or foreign transfers until you’ve got a few years in your business Fortunately there are options to transfer JPY funds overseas using companies like Transferwise.
davidw 9y ago
I don't think Italy is a great place to do business, but it's a good place to live in many ways. They've got something similar that might be of interest to the right person http://italiastartupvisa.mise.gov.it/#ISVhome http://italiastartupvisa.mise.gov.it/#ISVhome
- graeme 9y ago
  That website is compeltrly broken on mobile. Is there another link with a summary of the program. (The link jumps erratically, and completely breaks the back button)
  - jgh 9y ago
    http://italiastartupvisa.mise.gov.it/media/documents/summary_of_the_application_process.pdf http://italiastartupvisa.mise.gov.it/media/documents/summary... (non-incubator version)
  - davidw 9y ago
    Uh, you want to live in Italy, you'd better get used to shitty government web sites ;-)
sytelus 9y ago
This is quite something because traditionally Japanese culture has been fairly close to foreigners and probably for a good reason. Japanese people are likely the most courteous and honest people in the world. You can leave your luggage in the middle of the road and come back to find it still there. These folks have little experience with foreigners and often even western culture would be too harsh and rowdy for them. Some people are even afraid of impact of foreigners coming down during Olympics. Overall, this is interesting times when world's supposedly most open country like USA is closing borders to foreign talent while supposedly most closed country opens up their border for the same.
- matt4077 9y ago
  That's quite a roundabout way of saying "foreigners are criminals"... Seriously, I'm extremely deferential to the local customs when I'm abroad. But I felt being pushed into a subway car during rush hour to be quite "harsh and rowdy". Not to mentioned the drunk guys who spit in my faced an laughed.
  - lovemenot 9y ago
    Your experience of being spat at in Japan was utterly unrepresentative. In twenty years I never seen, nor can even imagine seeing, such a scenario. Just maybe in Roppongi on a Saturday night. As for the subway trains. It's certainly not rowdy. Uncomfortable, sure, but it's as ordered as possible under the logisical constraints present.
  - brogrammernot 9y ago
    I spent two and half weeks in Japan recently, didn’t have a single issue. Not trying to be confrontational but did you do any research before you went to Japan? Online it says to avoid public transit during rush hour. When I checked into my hotel the front desk even went out of their way to tell me which trains to avoid during rush hour because of how crazy it is. 3.7M people pass through Shinjuku Station daily. It’s going to be a bit crazy. @OP, the narrative you’re painting is also quite exaggerated. Westerners are going to have to learn and respect the traditions/culture of Japan but with how incredibly hard the people work there it’s a great place to start a company.
matt4077 9y ago
> During the review sessions, the business’s bank account, lease for the place of business, and employment contracts may be reviewed. If progress is not satisfactory, Fukuoka City may direct the entrepreneur to return to his/her home country. Thanks, but I didn't move out of my parents' house just to recreate the experience in Japan...
Keyframe 9y ago
Wait, what are the benefits apart from 'we let you stay here and do your business and here are some lawyers and maybe a good word here and there'? This is absurd.
- Buge 9y ago
  What are the downsides? If it's an improvement and not a regression I don't see a reason to call it absurd.
  - Keyframe 9y ago
    Improvement over what? I haven't read any business argument so far why it would make sense.
- whatyoucantsay 9y ago
  It's safe. There are fewer homicides in the entire country of 125 million than just the city of Chicago each year.
  - psergeant 9y ago
    Homicide rate seems a ridiculous rate to use; I suspect the homicide rate per 100,000 startup founders is a rounding error of — for example — road traffic accidents.
    - whatyoucantsay 9y ago
      A low violence, high trust society has spillover benefits. Aside from not being likely to be murdered, you can expend much less energy on safety. If your concern is just survival, then perhaps Japan's perennial rank at the top of WHO life expectancy rankings is something that would interest you.
  - ekianjo 9y ago
    Yes, very safe indeed. It can be quite fun when you are in your 20s, if you live in big urban centers (night life, etc.) - but it's also an impenetrable society. Not being Japanese will place barriers around you in many aspects of the society, sooner or later (even if you are fluent in the language). It's important to be aware of this.
jacquesm 9y ago
Same story as always: you take the risk, invest your time and break up your life. If it works you are welcome to stay. If it doesn't work you get cut loose and you likely will take years to recover whereas the other side hasn't risked a thing. These kind of propositions only make sense if you have nothing to lose.
- benguild 9y ago
  I agree with this. With Japan, there is no soft landing. But part of the problem is that they’re still trying to avoid immigration chaos, and without a viable business there isn’t much validation to you being there....
  - zaptheimpaler 9y ago
    Its cool, pretty soon, with some help from the GOP there will be no soft landings left in the US either. All the poors and dumbs will die of no healthcare and taxes, and only the strong will remain yay! (sarcasm btw..)
- rtpg 9y ago
  If your passport isn't from the right country you might have nothing to lose. If you have decided to move to some other country, and are looking for the place with the least legal headaches for immigration, _and have a college degree_, then Japan is probably the best on that metric. You don't have the uncertainty of the green card lottery (the permanent residency requirements are pretty well defined), no employer-based indentured servitude (you can change jobs easily on any visa), and if you are not doing unconventional jobs there's not much issue. There's of course the cultural difficulties, and the initial difficulty finding an employer for initial sponsorship (though these sorts of visas are trying to make this easier). But the country has a high quality of life and you can carve out your own bubble without having the fear of getting your life uprooted due to legal issues.
  - qaq 9y ago
    This pretty much describes all countries aside from US
ekianjo 9y ago
You don't make up for a missing ecosystem of investment by tweaking the visa rules. Japan getting things wrong again.
- Buge 9y ago
  What do you think they should do? This is at least a step in the right direction, and could lead to more of an ecosystem developing.
  - ekianjo 9y ago
    Before anything Japan needs to be a lot more flexible in terms of culture, rather than tweaking the rules to follow the trends. It's like the fool being pointed the moon and looking at the finger. Cultural changes will not occur in a short timeline, and even more so in Japan where there is deference to age, experience and authority. On top of that in recent years the country has closed itself even more so than let's say 10 years ago (you can see that in politics a lot as well) , and it's not really a positive mindset to be in when you have the ambition of being a global player. I still think Japan will change, but I expect them to change when they have their back against the wall rather than being very proactive about it.
toomanybeersies 9y ago
To add to all the other posts saying that their country offers a similar visa, New Zealand also offers one: https://www.newzealandnow.govt.nz/investing-in-nz/visas/entrepreneur-visa https://www.newzealandnow.govt.nz/investing-in-nz/visas/entr...
hardwaresofton 9y ago
As an "entrepreneur" (closer to a freelancer/independent contractor, self employed through a company I created) that's currently living in Japan, a few notes: - Things get a lot easier when a Japanese person is involved. - Paperwork pain will be real, hire someone else to do it. Japan is almost completely about the appearance of propriety -- getting everything filled out properly is 90% of the difficulty. - Hire a cheap japanese accountant, at least for the first year. Once you have your feet under you, then look into how to use the efiling system (most accountants just do this for you anyway, japan has an absurd amount of their taxes filed electronically, despite their paper-heavy seeming nature). (https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics-Economy/Policy-Politics/Japan-to-make-electronic-tax-filing-mandatory-for-businesses https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics-Economy/Policy-Politics/Jap...) - Initial capital requirements are a thing, you can actually get away with a fairly small amount though, like 10/20k USD -- this is impossible in countries like the US where you need millions to even get in the H1-B LOTTERY (so even if you get in, you still maybe don't win). Japan is surprisingly lax, and I think they've been this way -- it's not even a recent change. - You will never be completely trusted as a foreigner in Japan, nor will you ever completely fit in. - Japan is VERY easy to live in, even for someone who doesn't speak Japanese. While this is true, you should strive to speak japanese if you live in Japan -- your experience will be severely limited otherwise. - There's a monthly HN meeting here that's not half bad (https://hntokyo.doorkeeper.jp/events/upcoming https://hntokyo.doorkeeper.jp/events/upcoming) - Japan's tech skill is low. While I expect people on HN to know a little more, the mainstream media often only catches a whiff of japan at the peak of it's technical prowess (robots in Kyoto, interesting breakthroughs, etc), but the vast majority of businesses here are WOEFULLY inefficient and have not embraced technology and the current rush to build good technical knowledge. Sending a fax for business purpose (like for example your startup sending a fax to another company to get them to perform some function) is a thing that people actually expect you to do here, while offering no API alternative or anything. - The japanese market is NOT your home market, and not even some generic "global/international market". Japan is 95%+ ethnic japanese, and this makes it a complete different ballgame. If you've never been, learning how the culture works (what makes a "salaryman" a "salaryman"). Funnily enough, if you're a huge company (FB, Google, etc), then you actually CAN treat japan as just another global/international market, because name recognition has already pierced the japanese public and if the association is good (fashionable/smart/innovative/trend-setting foreign brand) then they'll buy what you're selling without much thought. - Fiber is very cheap and accessible, the intra-country connections are blazing fast, but the connections to the outside world (like the USA) can be slow. - The NHK fee is a thing, look it up and decide what you want to do before you come over (I wish someone had told me). - Conglomerates are a huge thing in Japan, there are virtually no anti-trust laws. Companies like Toyota or Yamaha get their fingers in almost everything in Japan. - Building trust as a company in japan takes a long time, but is even easier if you seem like a "japanese" company. I'm almost 100% sure that LINE has come as far as it has because people thought it was a japanese company at the beginning (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Line_(software)#History https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Line_(software)#History). - This startup program looks most enticing for big established companies that want to create a japanese entity. Why would a company need to do that? because Japan's market is completely different, and often just making a branch office won't work. - If you have 50K you can get into japan relatively scot-free by getting an investor visa, and likely fast-tracking yourself to a status called "Highly Skilled Professional" with the right job, which can lead to a "permanent resident" visa (you never become a citizen if you're not japanese). - The most important thing I can tell you about japan is that it's greatest strength is it's greatest weakness: just about everyone is in the same "lane". When you leave that lane, things get extremely difficult, but if you stay in the lane, everything is smooth and easy. The lane includes things like politeness-by-default, general honesty & propriety, but also includes overly-intense-sometimes-blinding-nationalism (nationalism != patriotism). There's a lot more I could say, but this list is plenty long (and random) already. Small plug for myself -- I'm the CTO of an exceptionally small "startup"/consultancy: https://gaisma.co.jp https://gaisma.co.jp (the homepage is in japanese and pretty skint but we mostly write software). If you've got questions about how I got to Japan or how it is, or you've got some cool projects for me to undertake, feel free to get in touch (see my profile or the gaisma page) vados@gaisma.co.jp
jswizzy 9y ago
Good luck with that. I would advise against it having been stationed in Japan, in Yokosuka, on the first Nuclear vessel forward deployed ever. It's an awesome place for tourists but it will never be a place that anyone who is not 100% Japanese can call home. You will always be an outside over there.
- pwim 9y ago
  Having lived here a decade, I consider it my home. While I’ll never be considered Japanese, I do find acceptance in society here. Japanese society classifies people as insiders or outsiders. The key I’ve found is to become active in some community where you can become an insider. For instance, I’ve been active in the Japanese Ruby community where I’ve found acceptance.
  - mikekchar 9y ago
    Also moved here 10 years ago (though spent 2 years in the UK in the middle). I'm married to a Japanese woman and her family accepts me completely. My mother in law refers to me as her son and introduces me that way to people who don't know me. Some people are surprised, but people treat me exactly the same way they treat everybody else. In my neighbourhood, I know pretty much everybody (mainly because I work from home and go for many walks). People call out to chat with me and I'm involved with community groups, etc. One time one of the young girls in the neighbourhood had a friend over and the friend said "Hello" to me in English. The girl said, "Don't bother. He's Japanese." She had no idea that I was Canadian. The inside/outside issue is really the key. Everybody is an outsider in some context. Understanding your place and whether or not you are inside or outside is critical. If you want to be inside, you also need to follow the inside rules -- even if you don't agree with them. In my experience, this is where people get into troubles. If you say, "Hey, I don't agree with that, I don't want to do it" the response is universally, "OK. There is absolutely no problem with that. You are outside." In short, there is no problem getting inside, but you actually need to want to be inside -- not one foot in and one foot out. If you want to be accepted as Japanese, then you have to be Japanese. Most immigrants do not actually want this for some reason.
ransom1538 9y ago
Slightly off topic. But this Japanese program sounds totally dressing and covered in tape. If you work remote and are completely self sufficient is there any country that will just let you live there?
- dzonga 9y ago
  I would be interested in knowing replies to this as well !
- laktek 9y ago
  Singapore? http://www.mom.gov.sg/passes-and-permits/entrepass/eligibility http://www.mom.gov.sg/passes-and-permits/entrepass/eligibili...
- pentae 9y ago
  Thailand, for sure.
  - beagle3 9y ago
    It was never officially approved in Thailand, and now it's officially illegal: https://www.bangkokpost.com/learning/work/693976/visa-runs-now-illegal-for-tourists-say-police https://www.bangkokpost.com/learning/work/693976/visa-runs-n... - I know people are still doing it, and I know of very public enforcement for a very short time (probably done to make a statement). YMMV.
EGreg 9y ago
patio - any thoughts?
nlh 9y ago
I eagerly await @patio11’s thoughts on all of this. I imagine he’s got >0 to say...
laurieg 9y ago
Japan's immigration system seems heavily set up to encourage young people to come, work and then leave. This startup visa is good for getting a toe-hold on Japan but only targets people out of country. If you live in Japan already (so you might already speak the language and have helpful local knowledge) there aren't any great paths to starting a business without permanent residency. You can't start a side business on a regular work visa. If you change your visa to manage the business and the startup failed you are likely to be "directed to return to your home country", losing all the residence time you have accrued so far. I've been working as an engineer in Japanese startups for the past few years and I'm kept on 1 year visa renewals. On a one year visa you can never apply for permanent residency. And on top of this, there is the 5 year "technical trainee" visa, which is a means of getting manual labor in the country temporarily without having to publicize it. All the people on this visa do not have university degrees so after their 5 years are up they must return home and have no chance of residence in Japan (outside of marriage). Of course, Japan is free to set its own laws. If you look at them the message is clear: "Japan wants your work and taxes, but it doesn't want you"
- hardwaresofton 9y ago
  I absolutely agree with the message you've arrived at and think you're right, along with the fact that they're free to set their own laws/determine their stance about the outside world. One minor correction: I think you can become eligible for permanent residency with consistent 1 year visas -- from what I understand as long as the TYPE of visa is unchanged and you've had the same type of visa for 5-7 years it counts well towards the (quite recently developed) points system they use. Previously, I thought it was just 5-7 years of same VISA and you're in a pretty good spot, but turns out there's a point system now. Here's the official documentation (japanese, unfortunately): http://www.immi-moj.go.jp/english/tetuduki/zairyuu/eizyuu.html http://www.immi-moj.go.jp/english/tetuduki/zairyuu/eizyuu.ht...
  - laurieg 9y ago
    Regular working visas and the points system are completely seperate systems. It is true that if you have enough points on the highly skilled professional visa you can get permanent residence (PR) in only one year. On a regular work visa you must have 10 years consecutive residence in Japan and "must hold the longest visa type available to you (for these purposes longest means 3 or 5 years)" (my rough translation). I have consulted with an immigration lawyer on the topic of applying for PR with a 1 year visa and he confirms this.
alhafizco 9y ago
All kind of printing and Designing Center in Kuwait. Design here, Customize and print items. http://www.alhafiz.com/ http://www.alhafiz.com/
neya 9y ago
Just curious, anyone knows what's the advantage of starting up in Japan over say, Singapore? I know Singapore is predominantly English-speaking, you get all kinds of food and the laws are friendly to startups as well. If I'm an English speaker in Japan, there is a huge language barrier, on top of which there are also other minor nuances to be paid attention to such as: high rent (depends on your area), finding Non-Japanese food and so forth. Anyone with insights into the contrasts between both these countries, would love to hear :)
- opportune 9y ago
  The biggest pro is of course the easier access to the Japanese market. This market is much bigger than the Singaporean market (of course both pale in comparison to global markets) and although gdp PPP/capita is higher in Singapore, Japan has a lower gini coefficient, so the consumers are about as well off. On the B2B side, Japanese companies make tons of products, so if your startup is a B2B solution for a specific product, it's more likely to be needed in Japan than in Singapore. Additionally, Japanese businesses can be absolutely massive, so you might have less sales overheard. Japan is also of course known for their electronics, so if you're doing something electronics-heavy (e.g. making a phone or working with transportation systems) the demand of your product as well as the supply of workers with the skill to work on that product will be higher in Japan.
- jsemrau 9y ago
  I have lived and created startups in Japan and Singapore. Japan is the much larger mature market compared to Singapore. If you can penetrate it you have good business for decades. But the barriers of entry are really really high. Both markets are expensive to live, but Singapore still has a huge influx on really cheap labor (~500 SGD per month) and cheaper corporate services (legal, accounting, shared co-working, etc)
  - stealthcat 9y ago
    Slightly off topic, what about startup, business and market in Malaysia? I am from Malaysia, but now studying in Japan. Not sure if it worth it to struggle starting a business or working in Japan after graduating.
denisehilton 9y ago
This is a really good initiative. However, there is still a language barrier. Until English becomes a common language there it won't be feasible for most businessmen to shift their businesses there.
throwaway31293 9y ago
Why on earth would anyone move to Japan ? You get treated like shit, get paid shit, do shitty work, and work under morons whose only qualification is the ability to speak Japanese and bullshit in English... and this for Machine Learning. I can't imagine the things one has to put up with for more vanilla jobs. Moving to Tokyo must be one of the biggest regrets of my life. I'd look for Singapore or India even, compared to 'grorious Nippon'.
- jpatokal 9y ago
  Sounds like your employer is pretty shitty (and to be fair, Japan has more than its fair share of shitty employers), but that's an attribute of your company, not Japan itself. And if you're coming over on a startup visa, it's your company and you set the rules. All that said, it's hard to people with no connection to Japan opting to start up in Japan -- as patio11 notes, doing so without fluent Japanese is playing life in hard mode.
- wakkaflokka 9y ago
  Can you expand on this? I've looked into several data science positions in Japan and they pay on-par with the U.S. From what I've experienced as a person who spent decades there, the key is to not work for a Japanese company...
yomly 9y ago
As an aside, how are software engineer salaries in Japan?
- jpatokal 9y ago
  Absurdly low by Valley standards: 6 million yen a year (~$53k) is normal, senior folks might pull in 10m (~$88k).
  - Zakiazigazi 9y ago
    Additionally, in normal Japanese companies that 6M _is_ the senior salary with starting salaries around the 3M~4M range. A 10M salary is basically a non-starter right off the bat at most places, they'd basically laugh you out the door with that, well, if you got a chance for an interview in the first place, but you wouldn't. That said, 10M is of course not impossible, but in my experience it is mostly reserved for larger foreign companies, the banking sector or if you somehow manage to get to an executive level. And maybe a handful of very specialized very well funded companies.
bovermyer 9y ago
Japan seems like a bad place to try and start a business, given what I've heard about its bureaucracy and hostility towards immigrants. Is my information correct, or do I need to explore this further?
known 9y ago
Very rigid policy
DoodleBuggy 9y ago
One year is pretty short. I suspect Japan would have to change a lot of policy if they really wanted to encourage immigrant driven startups to flourish and stay long term.

372 points by benguild 9y ago

cdancette 9y ago

France has the same thing, valid for 4 years. http://visa.lafrenchtech.com/ http://visa.lafrenchtech.com/

jrs95 9y ago
That graduate degree requirement sucks. I'd actually consider it (as an employee) even though pay is much lower in France than in the U.S., but I don't have any higher education at all!
- cdancette 9y ago
  I think it's still easy to get a work visa for France even without this program. Salaries are lower, but you have social security, retirement, and very cheap education. You can't really compare gross salary.
  - jacquesm 9y ago
    And excellent, free healthcare.
    - datamingle 9y ago
      "free"
      - scott_karana 9y ago
        Concealed/externalizer, then? Still much less expensive than in the US, inarguably. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_total_health_expenditure_per_capita https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_total_h...
titanix2 9y ago
Yes but why would you ever want to move there to create a startup? Not only you have to deal with enterprise related problems such as fiscal instability (rules changes almost every years, see for example how the auto-entrepreneur status changed over time), the URSSAF, a bureaucratic and slow administration but you have also to deal with a lot of issues on a personal level such as insecurity, terrorism, frequent riots and strikes, the administration (yes, again), ... No really, as a French and as someone who tried a minimal thing with the easiest available status, I don’t understand how my country can be attractive. I would rather deal with the Japanese administration, which asks for ridiculous amount of documents but does its job. And a country with working services (transports, post) is also a big plus.
- ekianjo 9y ago
  > I would rather deal with the Japanese administration, which asks for ridiculous amount of documents but does its job. And a country with working services (transports, post) is also a big plus. Among developed countries, certainly France is in the best choices available, but as many pointed out in this thread, Japan, while having highly reliable services, is also kind of a late adopter for many technologies and often goes in trends that are quite different from the rest of the world.
- ArmandGrillet 9y ago
  Did you ever work in another country? I work in Germany with colleagues from many different countries, and our country does not suck. The French post is one of the best in the World, train delays are the same in France as in Germany (shall we compare with the situation in the US?), the administration is a PITA but they actually try to help instead of killing you (+ the number of organisms to help startups in France is very high). Terrorism in France is a minimal cause of deaths compared to what happens in the US due to firearms. The fiscal instability is getting better with our current government (we know what is coming, not like in the US), the number of riots is low but they are highly mediatized. I am honestly surprised by this comment, would have expected it from someone not living in France. Compared to the UK and USA, France is a safer place to create your startup right now if you are a foreigner. The language is a pain and there are other alternatives (Canada, Singapore, Hong Kong, Germany) but if you want a country in the Western World that tries to help you instead of making everything possible to have you back at the border, France is attractive. PS: If you ask « Why is it attractive? »: Paris is full of investors/incubators, young people do speak English, people in the startup environment interact a lot and you will find mates to work and speak about your issues easily. Paris has two major airports (compared to Germany with old airports in Berlin and a too small one in Hamburg) + train stations to go everywhere (i.e. London, Bordeaux, Lyon).

pkaye 9y ago

Is a 1 year visa long enough to do anything serious?

ajdlinux 9y ago
It's probably long enough to get a company to the point where the company can sponsor you for a longer term visa.
- agibsonccc 9y ago
  Can confirm this is true. It was easy enough for me to sponsor myself after the company was setup. In my case my first hire helped us set it up, and then he handed director over to me. You obviously have to do this with someone you trust. Would not recommend this for every situation. Edit: I obviously hit a nerve here somewhere. I stand by my position here. Get the right legal help. I can say it was a pain to find but once I did the process was smooth. It's not impossible like people make it out to be. Any process has bumps. Don't be crazy and do it yourself though.
ekianjo 9y ago
But what's the point anyway to be in Japan? If your startup targets the Japanese market you are better off working with local Japanese in the first place and share the risk with them. If you don't target Japan, there is close to no good incentive to being based there for business (apart if you just like living there).

partycoder 9y ago

Good luck finding a place to rent.

kevin_thibedeau 9y ago
Plenty of abandoned buildings in the countryside.
agibsonccc 9y ago
Silicon valley -> Tokyo expat here. It took me < 2 weeks. This process is hard but not as nightmarish as people who don't live in the country reading articles make it sound. Just like anything, there's right and wrong ways to do it. If you do it the traditional way with a japanese speaking landlord who mistrust foreigners, yes it can be hard. That is a significant portion of the market. One thing I will say, there are real estate companies that actually cater to foreigners. This has been my landlord for a year and I just renewed: http://tokyoeasyrent.com/en/ http://tokyoeasyrent.com/en/ There are other companies like this in the space. Look on places like gaijinpot for more information like this: https://gaijinpot.com/ https://gaijinpot.com/ It's just like any real estate market, do your research beforehand. Where I will admit it can be harder is when you want to procure a larger house. They don't tend to ask too many questions for studios (which should be enough for entrepreneurs family aside). That being said, if you do have family, spend your time finding right place and ask for referrals. Japan has its downsides but it's by far the best place I have ever lived (especially compared to SF) both food wise and price wise.
- gozur88 9y ago
  I've read getting a place to stay has become easier, but I still hear people complain about getting a bank account without help from an employer.
  - agibsonccc 9y ago
    Yes the bank account is hard. I still use my foreign account. I setup my company and then got my bank account. I still don't use it. I'm assuming anyone in this thread looking seriously at japan will be hiring the right operations person to help you. Otherwise, you can't get much done without speaking the language (day to day is fine, but for example the immigration office expects you to know some japanese if not just bringing someone with you to help you)

microcolonel 9y ago

I wonder if this could be chained together with the working holiday visa.

alexasmyths 9y ago

I can see why these things make sense to legislators and policymakers - but in all pragmatic reality, I'm weary of it actually working. 1) Most startups fail. What happens then? What is the path? Many folks will come from 2cnd-tier economic nations, and don't want to go back. It gets complicated. 2) Investment requirements are easily provided for by people who want to 'buy citizenship' and it's easy enough to hire a few friends/family members, park their money in an account, and pull it out when they are done. The 'businessperson' visa was widely used as a backdoor to a passport in Canada. It might make sense to make the visa commensurate on $X in a round A or something, but then it all gets very complicated. It might be just better to have a smart immigration policy to retain top talent across the board in the first place. It's really not 'founders' that make the business - it's 'the founders and everyone else'.

ntsplnkv2 9y ago
> 1) Most startups fail. What happens then? What is the path? Many folks will come from 2cnd-tier economic nations, and don't want to go back. It gets complicated. Just take the risk and eat the cost. Sometimes investments don't work out. You hope the ones that do make up for it.

arvinder 9y ago

>Based on the New Business Implementation Plan, Fukuoka City officials will conduct a review on the progress of startup businesses founded by entrepreneurs who utilized this system and received approval for his/her Business Manager residential status. There will be three review sessions during the six-month period, of which at least one session will be held either at the entrepreneur’s place of business or residence. During the review sessions, the business’s bank account, lease for the place of business, and employment contracts may be reviewed. If progress is not satisfactory, Fukuoka City may direct the entrepreneur to return to his/her home country. Sounds like a lot of biannual headache.

agibsonccc 9y ago
It can be yes. The govt agencies have their downsides. We worked with jetro (skymind): https://www.jetro.go.jp/usa/topics/companies-chosen-global-innovation-centers-subsidy-announced.html https://www.jetro.go.jp/usa/topics/companies-chosen-global-i... While it has not been too bad, the paperwork and initial startup was a bit of a hassle. I would be careful around this route.
- arvinder 9y ago
  Wow, that is very cool. Congrats on getting through it.
nihonde 9y ago
Try opening a business bank account in Japan. Or any bank account for that matter. Be prepared to start every handwritten form over if you make even the slightest error, and I hope you’ve been practicing your kanji. No credit cards or foreign transfers until you’ve got a few years in your business. Capital requirements. It’s a whole different ballgame, for better or worse.
- sasas 9y ago
  > and I hope you’ve been practicing your kanji Shinsei bank offer applications in English > or foreign transfers until you’ve got a few years in your business Fortunately there are options to transfer JPY funds overseas using companies like Transferwise.

davidw 9y ago

I don't think Italy is a great place to do business, but it's a good place to live in many ways. They've got something similar that might be of interest to the right person http://italiastartupvisa.mise.gov.it/#ISVhome http://italiastartupvisa.mise.gov.it/#ISVhome

graeme 9y ago
That website is compeltrly broken on mobile. Is there another link with a summary of the program. (The link jumps erratically, and completely breaks the back button)
- jgh 9y ago
  http://italiastartupvisa.mise.gov.it/media/documents/summary_of_the_application_process.pdf http://italiastartupvisa.mise.gov.it/media/documents/summary... (non-incubator version)
- davidw 9y ago
  Uh, you want to live in Italy, you'd better get used to shitty government web sites ;-)

sytelus 9y ago

This is quite something because traditionally Japanese culture has been fairly close to foreigners and probably for a good reason. Japanese people are likely the most courteous and honest people in the world. You can leave your luggage in the middle of the road and come back to find it still there. These folks have little experience with foreigners and often even western culture would be too harsh and rowdy for them. Some people are even afraid of impact of foreigners coming down during Olympics. Overall, this is interesting times when world's supposedly most open country like USA is closing borders to foreign talent while supposedly most closed country opens up their border for the same.

matt4077 9y ago
That's quite a roundabout way of saying "foreigners are criminals"... Seriously, I'm extremely deferential to the local customs when I'm abroad. But I felt being pushed into a subway car during rush hour to be quite "harsh and rowdy". Not to mentioned the drunk guys who spit in my faced an laughed.
- lovemenot 9y ago
  Your experience of being spat at in Japan was utterly unrepresentative. In twenty years I never seen, nor can even imagine seeing, such a scenario. Just maybe in Roppongi on a Saturday night. As for the subway trains. It's certainly not rowdy. Uncomfortable, sure, but it's as ordered as possible under the logisical constraints present.
- brogrammernot 9y ago
  I spent two and half weeks in Japan recently, didn’t have a single issue. Not trying to be confrontational but did you do any research before you went to Japan? Online it says to avoid public transit during rush hour. When I checked into my hotel the front desk even went out of their way to tell me which trains to avoid during rush hour because of how crazy it is. 3.7M people pass through Shinjuku Station daily. It’s going to be a bit crazy. @OP, the narrative you’re painting is also quite exaggerated. Westerners are going to have to learn and respect the traditions/culture of Japan but with how incredibly hard the people work there it’s a great place to start a company.

matt4077 9y ago

> During the review sessions, the business’s bank account, lease for the place of business, and employment contracts may be reviewed. If progress is not satisfactory, Fukuoka City may direct the entrepreneur to return to his/her home country. Thanks, but I didn't move out of my parents' house just to recreate the experience in Japan...

Keyframe 9y ago

Wait, what are the benefits apart from 'we let you stay here and do your business and here are some lawyers and maybe a good word here and there'? This is absurd.

Buge 9y ago
What are the downsides? If it's an improvement and not a regression I don't see a reason to call it absurd.
- Keyframe 9y ago
  Improvement over what? I haven't read any business argument so far why it would make sense.
whatyoucantsay 9y ago
It's safe. There are fewer homicides in the entire country of 125 million than just the city of Chicago each year.
- psergeant 9y ago
  Homicide rate seems a ridiculous rate to use; I suspect the homicide rate per 100,000 startup founders is a rounding error of — for example — road traffic accidents.
  - whatyoucantsay 9y ago
    A low violence, high trust society has spillover benefits. Aside from not being likely to be murdered, you can expend much less energy on safety. If your concern is just survival, then perhaps Japan's perennial rank at the top of WHO life expectancy rankings is something that would interest you.
- ekianjo 9y ago
  Yes, very safe indeed. It can be quite fun when you are in your 20s, if you live in big urban centers (night life, etc.) - but it's also an impenetrable society. Not being Japanese will place barriers around you in many aspects of the society, sooner or later (even if you are fluent in the language). It's important to be aware of this.

jacquesm 9y ago

Same story as always: you take the risk, invest your time and break up your life. If it works you are welcome to stay. If it doesn't work you get cut loose and you likely will take years to recover whereas the other side hasn't risked a thing. These kind of propositions only make sense if you have nothing to lose.

benguild 9y ago
I agree with this. With Japan, there is no soft landing. But part of the problem is that they’re still trying to avoid immigration chaos, and without a viable business there isn’t much validation to you being there....
- zaptheimpaler 9y ago
  Its cool, pretty soon, with some help from the GOP there will be no soft landings left in the US either. All the poors and dumbs will die of no healthcare and taxes, and only the strong will remain yay! (sarcasm btw..)
rtpg 9y ago
If your passport isn't from the right country you might have nothing to lose. If you have decided to move to some other country, and are looking for the place with the least legal headaches for immigration, _and have a college degree_, then Japan is probably the best on that metric. You don't have the uncertainty of the green card lottery (the permanent residency requirements are pretty well defined), no employer-based indentured servitude (you can change jobs easily on any visa), and if you are not doing unconventional jobs there's not much issue. There's of course the cultural difficulties, and the initial difficulty finding an employer for initial sponsorship (though these sorts of visas are trying to make this easier). But the country has a high quality of life and you can carve out your own bubble without having the fear of getting your life uprooted due to legal issues.
- qaq 9y ago
  This pretty much describes all countries aside from US

ekianjo 9y ago

You don't make up for a missing ecosystem of investment by tweaking the visa rules. Japan getting things wrong again.

Buge 9y ago
What do you think they should do? This is at least a step in the right direction, and could lead to more of an ecosystem developing.
- ekianjo 9y ago
  Before anything Japan needs to be a lot more flexible in terms of culture, rather than tweaking the rules to follow the trends. It's like the fool being pointed the moon and looking at the finger. Cultural changes will not occur in a short timeline, and even more so in Japan where there is deference to age, experience and authority. On top of that in recent years the country has closed itself even more so than let's say 10 years ago (you can see that in politics a lot as well) , and it's not really a positive mindset to be in when you have the ambition of being a global player. I still think Japan will change, but I expect them to change when they have their back against the wall rather than being very proactive about it.

toomanybeersies 9y ago

To add to all the other posts saying that their country offers a similar visa, New Zealand also offers one: https://www.newzealandnow.govt.nz/investing-in-nz/visas/entrepreneur-visa https://www.newzealandnow.govt.nz/investing-in-nz/visas/entr...

hardwaresofton 9y ago

As an "entrepreneur" (closer to a freelancer/independent contractor, self employed through a company I created) that's currently living in Japan, a few notes: - Things get a lot easier when a Japanese person is involved. - Paperwork pain will be real, hire someone else to do it. Japan is almost completely about the appearance of propriety -- getting everything filled out properly is 90% of the difficulty. - Hire a cheap japanese accountant, at least for the first year. Once you have your feet under you, then look into how to use the efiling system (most accountants just do this for you anyway, japan has an absurd amount of their taxes filed electronically, despite their paper-heavy seeming nature). (https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics-Economy/Policy-Politics/Japan-to-make-electronic-tax-filing-mandatory-for-businesses https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics-Economy/Policy-Politics/Jap...) - Initial capital requirements are a thing, you can actually get away with a fairly small amount though, like 10/20k USD -- this is impossible in countries like the US where you need millions to even get in the H1-B LOTTERY (so even if you get in, you still maybe don't win). Japan is surprisingly lax, and I think they've been this way -- it's not even a recent change. - You will never be completely trusted as a foreigner in Japan, nor will you ever completely fit in. - Japan is VERY easy to live in, even for someone who doesn't speak Japanese. While this is true, you should strive to speak japanese if you live in Japan -- your experience will be severely limited otherwise. - There's a monthly HN meeting here that's not half bad (https://hntokyo.doorkeeper.jp/events/upcoming https://hntokyo.doorkeeper.jp/events/upcoming) - Japan's tech skill is low. While I expect people on HN to know a little more, the mainstream media often only catches a whiff of japan at the peak of it's technical prowess (robots in Kyoto, interesting breakthroughs, etc), but the vast majority of businesses here are WOEFULLY inefficient and have not embraced technology and the current rush to build good technical knowledge. Sending a fax for business purpose (like for example your startup sending a fax to another company to get them to perform some function) is a thing that people actually expect you to do here, while offering no API alternative or anything. - The japanese market is NOT your home market, and not even some generic "global/international market". Japan is 95%+ ethnic japanese, and this makes it a complete different ballgame. If you've never been, learning how the culture works (what makes a "salaryman" a "salaryman"). Funnily enough, if you're a huge company (FB, Google, etc), then you actually CAN treat japan as just another global/international market, because name recognition has already pierced the japanese public and if the association is good (fashionable/smart/innovative/trend-setting foreign brand) then they'll buy what you're selling without much thought. - Fiber is very cheap and accessible, the intra-country connections are blazing fast, but the connections to the outside world (like the USA) can be slow. - The NHK fee is a thing, look it up and decide what you want to do before you come over (I wish someone had told me). - Conglomerates are a huge thing in Japan, there are virtually no anti-trust laws. Companies like Toyota or Yamaha get their fingers in almost everything in Japan. - Building trust as a company in japan takes a long time, but is even easier if you seem like a "japanese" company. I'm almost 100% sure that LINE has come as far as it has because people thought it was a japanese company at the beginning (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Line_(software)#History https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Line_(software)#History). - This startup program looks most enticing for big established companies that want to create a japanese entity. Why would a company need to do that? because Japan's market is completely different, and often just making a branch office won't work. - If you have 50K you can get into japan relatively scot-free by getting an investor visa, and likely fast-tracking yourself to a status called "Highly Skilled Professional" with the right job, which can lead to a "permanent resident" visa (you never become a citizen if you're not japanese). - The most important thing I can tell you about japan is that it's greatest strength is it's greatest weakness: just about everyone is in the same "lane". When you leave that lane, things get extremely difficult, but if you stay in the lane, everything is smooth and easy. The lane includes things like politeness-by-default, general honesty & propriety, but also includes overly-intense-sometimes-blinding-nationalism (nationalism != patriotism). There's a lot more I could say, but this list is plenty long (and random) already. Small plug for myself -- I'm the CTO of an exceptionally small "startup"/consultancy: https://gaisma.co.jp https://gaisma.co.jp (the homepage is in japanese and pretty skint but we mostly write software). If you've got questions about how I got to Japan or how it is, or you've got some cool projects for me to undertake, feel free to get in touch (see my profile or the gaisma page) vados@gaisma.co.jp

jswizzy 9y ago

Good luck with that. I would advise against it having been stationed in Japan, in Yokosuka, on the first Nuclear vessel forward deployed ever. It's an awesome place for tourists but it will never be a place that anyone who is not 100% Japanese can call home. You will always be an outside over there.

pwim 9y ago
Having lived here a decade, I consider it my home. While I’ll never be considered Japanese, I do find acceptance in society here. Japanese society classifies people as insiders or outsiders. The key I’ve found is to become active in some community where you can become an insider. For instance, I’ve been active in the Japanese Ruby community where I’ve found acceptance.
- mikekchar 9y ago
  Also moved here 10 years ago (though spent 2 years in the UK in the middle). I'm married to a Japanese woman and her family accepts me completely. My mother in law refers to me as her son and introduces me that way to people who don't know me. Some people are surprised, but people treat me exactly the same way they treat everybody else. In my neighbourhood, I know pretty much everybody (mainly because I work from home and go for many walks). People call out to chat with me and I'm involved with community groups, etc. One time one of the young girls in the neighbourhood had a friend over and the friend said "Hello" to me in English. The girl said, "Don't bother. He's Japanese." She had no idea that I was Canadian. The inside/outside issue is really the key. Everybody is an outsider in some context. Understanding your place and whether or not you are inside or outside is critical. If you want to be inside, you also need to follow the inside rules -- even if you don't agree with them. In my experience, this is where people get into troubles. If you say, "Hey, I don't agree with that, I don't want to do it" the response is universally, "OK. There is absolutely no problem with that. You are outside." In short, there is no problem getting inside, but you actually need to want to be inside -- not one foot in and one foot out. If you want to be accepted as Japanese, then you have to be Japanese. Most immigrants do not actually want this for some reason.

ransom1538 9y ago

Slightly off topic. But this Japanese program sounds totally dressing and covered in tape. If you work remote and are completely self sufficient is there any country that will just let you live there?

dzonga 9y ago
I would be interested in knowing replies to this as well !
laktek 9y ago
Singapore? http://www.mom.gov.sg/passes-and-permits/entrepass/eligibility http://www.mom.gov.sg/passes-and-permits/entrepass/eligibili...
pentae 9y ago
Thailand, for sure.
- beagle3 9y ago
  It was never officially approved in Thailand, and now it's officially illegal: https://www.bangkokpost.com/learning/work/693976/visa-runs-now-illegal-for-tourists-say-police https://www.bangkokpost.com/learning/work/693976/visa-runs-n... - I know people are still doing it, and I know of very public enforcement for a very short time (probably done to make a statement). YMMV.

EGreg 9y ago

patio - any thoughts?

nlh 9y ago

I eagerly await @patio11’s thoughts on all of this. I imagine he’s got >0 to say...

laurieg 9y ago

Japan's immigration system seems heavily set up to encourage young people to come, work and then leave. This startup visa is good for getting a toe-hold on Japan but only targets people out of country. If you live in Japan already (so you might already speak the language and have helpful local knowledge) there aren't any great paths to starting a business without permanent residency. You can't start a side business on a regular work visa. If you change your visa to manage the business and the startup failed you are likely to be "directed to return to your home country", losing all the residence time you have accrued so far. I've been working as an engineer in Japanese startups for the past few years and I'm kept on 1 year visa renewals. On a one year visa you can never apply for permanent residency. And on top of this, there is the 5 year "technical trainee" visa, which is a means of getting manual labor in the country temporarily without having to publicize it. All the people on this visa do not have university degrees so after their 5 years are up they must return home and have no chance of residence in Japan (outside of marriage). Of course, Japan is free to set its own laws. If you look at them the message is clear: "Japan wants your work and taxes, but it doesn't want you"

hardwaresofton 9y ago
I absolutely agree with the message you've arrived at and think you're right, along with the fact that they're free to set their own laws/determine their stance about the outside world. One minor correction: I think you can become eligible for permanent residency with consistent 1 year visas -- from what I understand as long as the TYPE of visa is unchanged and you've had the same type of visa for 5-7 years it counts well towards the (quite recently developed) points system they use. Previously, I thought it was just 5-7 years of same VISA and you're in a pretty good spot, but turns out there's a point system now. Here's the official documentation (japanese, unfortunately): http://www.immi-moj.go.jp/english/tetuduki/zairyuu/eizyuu.html http://www.immi-moj.go.jp/english/tetuduki/zairyuu/eizyuu.ht...
- laurieg 9y ago
  Regular working visas and the points system are completely seperate systems. It is true that if you have enough points on the highly skilled professional visa you can get permanent residence (PR) in only one year. On a regular work visa you must have 10 years consecutive residence in Japan and "must hold the longest visa type available to you (for these purposes longest means 3 or 5 years)" (my rough translation). I have consulted with an immigration lawyer on the topic of applying for PR with a 1 year visa and he confirms this.

alhafizco 9y ago

All kind of printing and Designing Center in Kuwait. Design here, Customize and print items. http://www.alhafiz.com/ http://www.alhafiz.com/

neya 9y ago

Just curious, anyone knows what's the advantage of starting up in Japan over say, Singapore? I know Singapore is predominantly English-speaking, you get all kinds of food and the laws are friendly to startups as well. If I'm an English speaker in Japan, there is a huge language barrier, on top of which there are also other minor nuances to be paid attention to such as: high rent (depends on your area), finding Non-Japanese food and so forth. Anyone with insights into the contrasts between both these countries, would love to hear :)

opportune 9y ago
The biggest pro is of course the easier access to the Japanese market. This market is much bigger than the Singaporean market (of course both pale in comparison to global markets) and although gdp PPP/capita is higher in Singapore, Japan has a lower gini coefficient, so the consumers are about as well off. On the B2B side, Japanese companies make tons of products, so if your startup is a B2B solution for a specific product, it's more likely to be needed in Japan than in Singapore. Additionally, Japanese businesses can be absolutely massive, so you might have less sales overheard. Japan is also of course known for their electronics, so if you're doing something electronics-heavy (e.g. making a phone or working with transportation systems) the demand of your product as well as the supply of workers with the skill to work on that product will be higher in Japan.
jsemrau 9y ago
I have lived and created startups in Japan and Singapore. Japan is the much larger mature market compared to Singapore. If you can penetrate it you have good business for decades. But the barriers of entry are really really high. Both markets are expensive to live, but Singapore still has a huge influx on really cheap labor (~500 SGD per month) and cheaper corporate services (legal, accounting, shared co-working, etc)
- stealthcat 9y ago
  Slightly off topic, what about startup, business and market in Malaysia? I am from Malaysia, but now studying in Japan. Not sure if it worth it to struggle starting a business or working in Japan after graduating.

denisehilton 9y ago

This is a really good initiative. However, there is still a language barrier. Until English becomes a common language there it won't be feasible for most businessmen to shift their businesses there.

throwaway31293 9y ago

Why on earth would anyone move to Japan ? You get treated like shit, get paid shit, do shitty work, and work under morons whose only qualification is the ability to speak Japanese and bullshit in English... and this for Machine Learning. I can't imagine the things one has to put up with for more vanilla jobs. Moving to Tokyo must be one of the biggest regrets of my life. I'd look for Singapore or India even, compared to 'grorious Nippon'.

jpatokal 9y ago
Sounds like your employer is pretty shitty (and to be fair, Japan has more than its fair share of shitty employers), but that's an attribute of your company, not Japan itself. And if you're coming over on a startup visa, it's your company and you set the rules. All that said, it's hard to people with no connection to Japan opting to start up in Japan -- as patio11 notes, doing so without fluent Japanese is playing life in hard mode.
wakkaflokka 9y ago
Can you expand on this? I've looked into several data science positions in Japan and they pay on-par with the U.S. From what I've experienced as a person who spent decades there, the key is to not work for a Japanese company...

yomly 9y ago

As an aside, how are software engineer salaries in Japan?

jpatokal 9y ago
Absurdly low by Valley standards: 6 million yen a year (~$53k) is normal, senior folks might pull in 10m (~$88k).
- Zakiazigazi 9y ago
  Additionally, in normal Japanese companies that 6M _is_ the senior salary with starting salaries around the 3M~4M range. A 10M salary is basically a non-starter right off the bat at most places, they'd basically laugh you out the door with that, well, if you got a chance for an interview in the first place, but you wouldn't. That said, 10M is of course not impossible, but in my experience it is mostly reserved for larger foreign companies, the banking sector or if you somehow manage to get to an executive level. And maybe a handful of very specialized very well funded companies.

bovermyer 9y ago

Japan seems like a bad place to try and start a business, given what I've heard about its bureaucracy and hostility towards immigrants. Is my information correct, or do I need to explore this further?

known 9y ago

Very rigid policy

DoodleBuggy 9y ago

One year is pretty short. I suspect Japan would have to change a lot of policy if they really wanted to encourage immigrant driven startups to flourish and stay long term.