Help starting a business in japan
 

So I moved to Japan, Tokyo and have some money I would like to use and invest in the catering/food business in Japan. i don't know the language and I know this will be a hindrance, but I still want to give it a shot. I am on a working holiday visa currently.

Simply put my plan is to sell some Turkish food, starting off small and if successful to grow by preparing food/snacks, and potentially selling my 'product' to local shops or going to events and selling there.

I would like to get some advice/support or even find a potential business partner.

I understand that i would need to contact a legal adviser/accountant, I would also very much appreciate it if you could recommend any within the Tokyo area.

For more information please PM me, or send me an email.

Thanks in advance.

Re: Help starting a business in japan
 

I don't think you can setup a business on a WHV. Your best option will be go to the local immigration office for whichever ward you are living in and check before doing anything else. Violating the terms of your visa in Japan is a serious offence and could land you with a fine, a deportation order or even jail time. The office that deals with you is usually based on your juuminhyou so you can't ordinarily just go to any immigration office that you like, although they might be more open to you than normal if you're on a WHV.

Your business model could work, there's a Turkish guy near Narita who owns a few kebab/kofta trucks and does sterling business so far as I've seen however the process to get health certificates etc will not be available in English and you would also need a Japanese speaker constantly on hand to communicate with the customers.

Re: Help starting a business in japan
 

Thanks for the heads up!
I kind of had a feeling that I wouldn't be able to start a business with WHV. But yeah, I can go to my local civic center.

Re: Help starting a business in japan
 

To my knowledge only a few statuses of residence will allow a foreigner to setup a business in Japan. There's the investor visa obviously plus PR, SPR (zainichi), and family/spouse of a Japanese national. Humanities visa holders are permitted to teach languages part-time independently in addition to their sponsored full-time job but need special permission to actually set themselves up as a registered school.

Also keep in mind that the WHV for Japan is designed for sightseeing first and casual work second. You're not even really supposed to base yourself in the same place throughout your time there and starting a business is something that someone usually does when they are trying to establish roots in a place. I think immigration may give you a bit of a grilling over that and what would your plans be for after your visa expires considering the first year is normally the toughest time for any new business venture?

Re: Help starting a business in japan
 

I would also imagine that street vendors need to pay a "special insurance premium" as well...

Re: Help starting a business in japan
 

:lol: Yes in some areas that might be required especially for a gaijin-owned operation.

Re: Help starting a business in japan
 

So desu ne...

Re: Help starting a business in japan
 

怖いそうな。。 。。;)

Re: Help starting a business in japan
 

They're fine with the average punter, in fact they do a lot of what the regular police seem incapable of doing. They were truly impressive after the Great Kansai Jishin. But not good to get on their wrong side...

Re: Help starting a business in japan
 

Definitely. They will very seldom get involved with a foreigner unless that foreigner goes looking to become involved with them (like a lot of the illegals from Nigeria and a few other places end up doing). Just stay out of their way and out of places you shouldn't be in and you will usually have nothing to worry about.

The problem with them helping after natural disasters is that most normal Japanese don't want to accept their help. In fact they don't want anything to with them at all and for that reason they tend to have to give charity anonymously or through a 3rd party.

Re: Help starting a business in japan
 

Wow seems like there's quite a hurdle ahead of me. I thought of what the difference or if there even is a difference between self employment and what I want to do? Would it still require the same procedure?

If it becomes all too cumbersome, I could ask my fiancee to open the business in her name and I could just be an employee and manage behind the scene.

Re: Help starting a business in japan
 

Wait, wait, is your fiancee Japanese?

If so then my advice would be just to chill out for now and then get married and change your SoR to a spousal visa. That is pretty much the highest immigration status that any gaijin can get apart from PR or full naturalisation and there would be pretty much nothing to hold you back at that point.

Re: Help starting a business in japan
 

Yh she is full Japanese and I do plan on getting married but I really want to do something ASAP haha. The reason I moved to Japan with her was so that I can do something and make a saving, I don't want to just let time pass while not earning money. I am currently looking for a job (but it's not going great, been 2 months since I moved here), while trying to figure out to make some extra money.
It was a big decision for me and her to make because I had a stable job in the UK.

Re: Help starting a business in japan
 

I understand. Presumably you've been looking at food/service-related jobs, right? Most of them do want at least N5-level usually so you can basically communicate however maybe look at the places around Yokohama.

There are a lot of US military and expats based around there and therefore there's quite a high concentration of British pubs and diners where the first language will be English.

Re: Help starting a business in japan
 

Yh since I have experience in customer service and waiting but I have also started looking at teaching jobs but I just can't seem to get pass the interview stages haha. Thanks for the info, we stay in Tokyo and I'm don't think she is willing to move out.

Re: Help starting a business in japan
 

Scoring decent English teaching work on a WHV is notoriously difficult. Do you have a degree by any chance?

Honestly, I know you're keen to get some money coming in but the best thing you can do at this point is get some language ability under your belt and ditch that WHV because those two things will be holding you back atm.

Re: Help starting a business in japan
 

I have a computer science degree but I don't think my computing skills are any good because I haven't practiced since I graduated. Hmm I guess you're right, I definitely have to get at least basic conversational skills. But as you said I'm really trying to look for the quickest way to make some money(I'm not broke per se but oh well)

I'm really in a tight spot until I could improve my Japanese it seems.

But why is it especially more difficult to get a teaching job with a WHV? The visa permits me to work with out restrictions other then the adult industry.

Re: Help starting a business in japan
 

Simply because without any prior teaching experience or ESL teaching qualifications, a school will need to train you from the ground up and WHV holders by definition are slightly transient and short-term. Put yourself in the company's shoes. Would you want to hire someone with no experience of that industry if their visa only allowed them to work for another 9-10 months and they could leave the area or the country unexpectedly at any time?

Re: Help starting a business in japan
 

That makes sense, fair enough. I was actually looking into getting a TESOL certificate to increase my chances.

Re: Help starting a business in japan
 

That will definitely help you but it's a sizable investment and something you should only consider if you plan on teaching for at least a year or two.

Re: Help starting a business in japan
 

Well I do want to live here permanently, but it all depends how life goes here, haha. I guess I will invest, I mean if we don't take risks not much will happen right?

Re: Help starting a business in japan
 

Then you need to express that in the interviews. With a degree you are potentially eligible for Humanities visa sponsorship if it was ever needed. Just out of curiosity, what did you do for a living in the UK? I honestly think the WHV might be holding you back at this point.

Re: Help starting a business in japan
 

My latest job was a paediatric healthcare assistant, worked it for one year.
I'll have to check if I can switch visas but I don't think I can. Also I always mention my plans to stay in Japan because of my fiancé and what not.
I personally think it's my English that's holding me back, I mean I'm pretty good with the English language but my accent and way of speaking is really heavy East Londoner haha.

Re: Help starting a business in japan
 

Don't count too much on that relationship as a means to get a job. To Japanese it only counts if you are married. Any other form of relationship can be ended at any moment, in their opinion.

Re: Help starting a business in japan
 

Haha yeah I understand, right now I am looking into whether I can change my visa without having to leave the country.

Re: Help starting a business in japan
 

To change SoR from WHV to Spouse or Humanities I think you would need to leave the country. The most common technique is to do a visa run to Korea or Hong Kong, both fairly simple procedures for a UK citizen and cheap flights from NRT on JetStar, Air China, Vanilla etc make them very affordable these days.

For spouse you would need to go through the full CoE process as well because you're not in the UK anymore and the simplified financial self-sponsorship route is only valid via London.

What SushiFan just said about marriage is unfortunately 100% accurate. Especially when you're over 25-ish, Japan traditionally puts very little weight in unmarried couples and the western idea of a common-law relationship sadly just doesn't exist. If you can cohabit legally then you're welcome to do it and I know Japanese couples who do but it will never make a gaijin's life any easier and there are no legal allowances for it like there are in the UK.

Tbh, I am struggling to figure out why you are finding it so hard to secure teaching work though. A strong accent never helps and a British teacher will generally be expected to speak clearly and in something close to RP or even feign an American accent in some cases. Otherwise you have a degree, your age is fine and you're already legally in Japan.

It could be that your past work history is making you look over qualified but I'm just guessing there. Have you tried Gaba by any chance? They are usually a last resort for many teachers because of how their contracts work however they're known to be less picky than many of the other Eikaiwa corporations.

Re: Help starting a business in japan
 

I won't be getting a spouse visa since I'm not ready for marriage, but I could look into humanities visa.
As you mentioned I personally think it's my strong East Londoner accent, I don't think I'm over qualified. I tried gaba and after making me wait 2 weeks after the final interview, they said no.
I'm also going to start looking at part time and temporary work. I also read that there are editing/proofreading jobs out there.

I also just realised my visa also has designated activities on it. Does it make a difference? Because some WHV restrict your working hours, for example, being allowed to only work for 3 months with the same employer and what not. But as far as I know mine is only restricted to the adult industry. I can work full time with out restrictions. I don't think some employers consider this.

Re: Help starting a business in japan
 

OK honestly, if you're being knocked back by Gaba then you're doing something wrong. Gaba are one of the few 'big' schools who openly state they are happy to employ British WHV holders. That is mainly because very few long term foreign residents will actually work for them and many of the teachers they sponsor from overseas just use them to get into the country and then jump ship to another job as soon as they can.

Proof-reading/editing often needs some level of Japanese ability and seldom comes with visa sponsorship. Humanities visas are sponsored by the school and you need to have a firm job offer before you can get one. At this point I would really just try to get as much interview feedback as you can and look at where you might be going wrong.

Re: Help starting a business in japan
 

Haha yh the problem is me, no denying that. Well no point in getting depressed. Gotta move on and try harder!
Ganbarimasu!

Re: Help starting a business in japan
 

I'd maybe advise posting a thread on ESL Cafe because there are people on there who can offer pointers on eikaiwa interview technique and you might even be able to make some useful connections.

Re: Help starting a business in japan
 

Nice, thanks for everything!

Re: Help starting a business in japan
 

No worries man, good luck. :)

Re: Help starting a business in japan
 

:)