Here is the information about the registration process, fee and risks of starting a business as a foreigner.
First of all, a foreigner needs a visa to stay in Japan except the cases of permanent residence or marriage with a Japanese.
Generally a “Human scientific knowledge and international business” or “Engineer” is the basic one.
For the case of starting a business, the visa is called “Investment and management.”
In order to apply for this visa, a foreigner needs to register a new company in Japan in advance, which is to prove that you are ready for doing business in Japan.
Therefore, a foreigner needs to register a new company before applying for the “Investment and management” visa.
The registration process is exactly the same to how Japanese people register their companies.
It would be easy if a foreign is living in Japan and has the living address since a living address is necessary to register a company. If the foreigner is living outside of Japan, he/she will need a partner who is living in Japan and has the living address to help him/her register the company together.