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This new business visa thing in Japan is just so so stupid. As if people with money can't wrangle up 300k to get the business visa and then just do nefarious th

This new business visa thing in Japan is just so so stupid. As if people with money can't wrangle up 300k to get the business visa and then just do nefarious things like this, all the while locking out potentially millions of hard working entrepreneurial types from all over the world who would actually make good citizens, and good honest money.

rjzzleep 5mo ago
Sounds logical, but can you elaborate more on what is happening?
- keiferski 5mo ago
  Essentially the amount of capital needed to get a business visa went up dramatically. It used to be about 30k USD and now it’s almost 200k. Plus other more onerous requirements: https://www.bakermckenzie.com/en/insight/publications/2026/02/japan-revises-business-manager-visa-requirements https://www.bakermckenzie.com/en/insight/publications/2026/0... The result seems to be that a lot of smaller restaurants and other foreign-owned businesses can’t really function and will close.
socalgal2 5mo ago
Can you elaborate? My understanding: Before: Need $50k in bank, register business, sponsor yourself for a visa Result - lots of people just abusing the system for a visa After: Need $300k, must hire at least one local, must show a profit of $200k within 2 years. Must be reviewed by the government multiple times a year to show your business is serious I can see some issues. If you want to start a company that requires a year or more of R&D before you can ship you're S.O.L.
- bob001 5mo ago
  Yeah, if the foreign entrepreneur argument is that they're helping the Japanese economy and not just barely sustaining another person in japan then the new requirements seem exactly in line with that?
  - bamboozled 5mo ago
    I know several young people who have migrated to Japan and due to the low cost of starting a company ended up building great businesses with pretty serious revenue and employee ten to hundreds of staff. This wouldn’t have happened if they needed such a large amount of capital just to start. The problem I see with the new rules are it just stops entrepreneurs and rewards rich money launders. The visa applications should considered based on merit and not just about capital.
    - bob001 5mo ago
      > The visa applications should considered based on merit and not just about capital. If it has merit then you should have no trouble getting some investors lined up...
      - bamboozled 5mo ago
        Sales pitch to Sillicon Valley Based Hedge Fund: "Pizza Shop in Japanese Ski Resort Town".
- thenthenthen 5mo ago
  This is also a scam in China, but you just need 10k USD. Well thats not gonna work anymore. If you bring 300-500k tho…
aurareturn 5mo ago
This new law is doing what it's suppose to do. You can't get a business visa for $300k in the US. You need $800k in a bad area or $1m in a good area to get an investment visa. Why should Japan allow $30k? Doesn't make sense. I had a friend who was looking to move to Japan and abuse this visa. The business was only there to get the visa with no intention of operating it. I'm not Japanese and I don't live in Japan but even I think this new law makes more sense than previous.
- sashank_1509 5mo ago
  What is the demographic looking to immigrate to Japan. I’m surprised to hear Chinese as my outsider view was that China was as good if not better place to live compared to China, is it because they’re afraid of their government and want a liberal democracy instead? Or is folks from poorer and more distressed countries looking to come to Japan.
  - SenHeng 5mo ago
    Better passport for their kids, better and more reputable, internationally connected banking system to store their wealth. The latter bit is particularly important as China limits the amount of money one can send out of the country.
    - decafninja 5mo ago
      How would this give a passport to their kids? Isn’t Japanese citizenship notoriously difficult to obtain?
      - SenHeng 5mo ago
        It was always ridiculously easy to get Japanese citizenship. 5 years of residency, don’t break any laws including traffic, pay your bills on time. Done. It has recently been changed so that you now require 10 years of residency. https://www.turning-japanese.info/p/misinfo.html https://www.turning-japanese.info/p/misinfo.html
bob001 5mo ago
Does Japan need more small businesses owned by foreigners (that make so little money as to be useless for economic growth) or do they actually need more foreigners to change the adult diapers of their ever aging population?
- bamboozled 5mo ago
  Buddy, when your population is in decline at Japan levels I think it makes sense to have all the businesses you can get. I’ll also say compared to many local businesses in Japan, I know several that make 100-200x what the local, totally outdated <insert store / business type> make. I’m talking hospitality, bar owners , cafe, therapists, even people who have setup manufacturing businesses building anything from prefabbed affordable housing and to handmade skis. These are business that need a lot of materiel and help the economy keep moving here. Many of these businesses exist because it was cheap to get started. Young people who came here for various reasons , had visions and executed. Many being the kind of people that make the world a better place. Would you prefer Japan just imports south East Asian slaves and boots them at will, stifles any competition and just falls apart ? I honestly found your comment really short sighted / uninformed.
  - aurareturn 5mo ago
    The whole point of these investment visas is to inject large amounts of money into the country or build what the country wants to strategically. These $30k business visas, if it isn't a visa scam, is simply starting restaurants and small businesses that Japanese people can do themselves. So what if their population is in decline? It'll just pick back up when there is plenty of space. Just because their population is in decline now doesn't mean they should import from other countries who most certainly do not share the local culture an is a disruption to their way of life. Once again, I'm not Japanese and do not live there. What happens in Japan doesn't affect me. As a neutral bystander, the new rules make far more sense for Japan even if it hurts a few good honest foreigners.
    - bamboozled 5mo ago
      Hopefully people like you realize many good things about Japan come from outside of Japan. People act like the only way Japan can survive is to return to some sort of isolationist state. The good news is that once America becomes more liberal again, Japan will do, it's just a global outrage against "foreigners" going on right now which the herd follows.

rjzzleep 5mo ago

Sounds logical, but can you elaborate more on what is happening?

keiferski 5mo ago
Essentially the amount of capital needed to get a business visa went up dramatically. It used to be about 30k USD and now it’s almost 200k. Plus other more onerous requirements: https://www.bakermckenzie.com/en/insight/publications/2026/02/japan-revises-business-manager-visa-requirements https://www.bakermckenzie.com/en/insight/publications/2026/0... The result seems to be that a lot of smaller restaurants and other foreign-owned businesses can’t really function and will close.

socalgal2 5mo ago

Can you elaborate? My understanding: Before: Need $50k in bank, register business, sponsor yourself for a visa Result - lots of people just abusing the system for a visa After: Need $300k, must hire at least one local, must show a profit of $200k within 2 years. Must be reviewed by the government multiple times a year to show your business is serious I can see some issues. If you want to start a company that requires a year or more of R&D before you can ship you're S.O.L.

bob001 5mo ago
Yeah, if the foreign entrepreneur argument is that they're helping the Japanese economy and not just barely sustaining another person in japan then the new requirements seem exactly in line with that?
- bamboozled 5mo ago
  I know several young people who have migrated to Japan and due to the low cost of starting a company ended up building great businesses with pretty serious revenue and employee ten to hundreds of staff. This wouldn’t have happened if they needed such a large amount of capital just to start. The problem I see with the new rules are it just stops entrepreneurs and rewards rich money launders. The visa applications should considered based on merit and not just about capital.
  - bob001 5mo ago
    > The visa applications should considered based on merit and not just about capital. If it has merit then you should have no trouble getting some investors lined up...
    - bamboozled 5mo ago
      Sales pitch to Sillicon Valley Based Hedge Fund: "Pizza Shop in Japanese Ski Resort Town".
thenthenthen 5mo ago
This is also a scam in China, but you just need 10k USD. Well thats not gonna work anymore. If you bring 300-500k tho…

aurareturn 5mo ago

This new law is doing what it's suppose to do. You can't get a business visa for $300k in the US. You need $800k in a bad area or $1m in a good area to get an investment visa. Why should Japan allow $30k? Doesn't make sense. I had a friend who was looking to move to Japan and abuse this visa. The business was only there to get the visa with no intention of operating it. I'm not Japanese and I don't live in Japan but even I think this new law makes more sense than previous.

sashank_1509 5mo ago
What is the demographic looking to immigrate to Japan. I’m surprised to hear Chinese as my outsider view was that China was as good if not better place to live compared to China, is it because they’re afraid of their government and want a liberal democracy instead? Or is folks from poorer and more distressed countries looking to come to Japan.
- SenHeng 5mo ago
  Better passport for their kids, better and more reputable, internationally connected banking system to store their wealth. The latter bit is particularly important as China limits the amount of money one can send out of the country.
  - decafninja 5mo ago
    How would this give a passport to their kids? Isn’t Japanese citizenship notoriously difficult to obtain?
    - SenHeng 5mo ago
      It was always ridiculously easy to get Japanese citizenship. 5 years of residency, don’t break any laws including traffic, pay your bills on time. Done. It has recently been changed so that you now require 10 years of residency. https://www.turning-japanese.info/p/misinfo.html https://www.turning-japanese.info/p/misinfo.html

bob001 5mo ago

Does Japan need more small businesses owned by foreigners (that make so little money as to be useless for economic growth) or do they actually need more foreigners to change the adult diapers of their ever aging population?

bamboozled 5mo ago
Buddy, when your population is in decline at Japan levels I think it makes sense to have all the businesses you can get. I’ll also say compared to many local businesses in Japan, I know several that make 100-200x what the local, totally outdated <insert store / business type> make. I’m talking hospitality, bar owners , cafe, therapists, even people who have setup manufacturing businesses building anything from prefabbed affordable housing and to handmade skis. These are business that need a lot of materiel and help the economy keep moving here. Many of these businesses exist because it was cheap to get started. Young people who came here for various reasons , had visions and executed. Many being the kind of people that make the world a better place. Would you prefer Japan just imports south East Asian slaves and boots them at will, stifles any competition and just falls apart ? I honestly found your comment really short sighted / uninformed.
- aurareturn 5mo ago
  The whole point of these investment visas is to inject large amounts of money into the country or build what the country wants to strategically. These $30k business visas, if it isn't a visa scam, is simply starting restaurants and small businesses that Japanese people can do themselves. So what if their population is in decline? It'll just pick back up when there is plenty of space. Just because their population is in decline now doesn't mean they should import from other countries who most certainly do not share the local culture an is a disruption to their way of life. Once again, I'm not Japanese and do not live there. What happens in Japan doesn't affect me. As a neutral bystander, the new rules make far more sense for Japan even if it hurts a few good honest foreigners.
  - bamboozled 5mo ago
    Hopefully people like you realize many good things about Japan come from outside of Japan. People act like the only way Japan can survive is to return to some sort of isolationist state. The good news is that once America becomes more liberal again, Japan will do, it's just a global outrage against "foreigners" going on right now which the herd follows.