Japan
| Pros |
|---|
| Exceptional public safety and low crime rates protecting private property and personal security. |
| World-class infrastructure and reliable logistics networks for efficient business operations and connectivity. |
| High institutional transparency and minimal public sector corruption ensuring a predictable legal environment. |
| Cons |
|---|
| High corporate tax burdens and complex fiscal regulations limiting capital retention and reinvestment. |
| Rigid labor market regulations and bureaucratic hurdles hindering flexible employment and rapid scaling. |
| Stagnant domestic market growth due to severe demographic decline and aging population trends. |
Long story short: Starting a company in Japan feels like an initiation rite of stamps and paperwork: you'll grind for weeks before you bill your first client.
The flip side: zero corruption, a rock-solid banking system, infrastructure that runs like clockwork, and crime that's basically a non-issue in Tokyo's wealthier districts.
A few more things worth knowing: corporate tax bites hard, the food is a genuine joy, the scenery is worth the trip, and locals stay polite but keep their distance.
Will your income be taxed?
Long story short: YES, A LOT.
On paper, Japan shears you at up to 45%. In practice, the territorial regime only bites income sourced locally: foreign salary, foreign dividends, foreign gains walk through untouched. The sticker is there to scare; the machinery doesn't reach that far.
Earn your living abroad and the local taxman mostly waves at you from a distance.
If you earn a year, you will pay .
Roughly effective, with a marginal rate of .
Will your wealth be taxed?
Long story short: YES, FAIRLY.
Capital gains in Japan cost 20.3% on disposal, with no annual wealth levy. But inheritance comes back for seconds when assets pass down.
Same money, two tollbooths: the sale, then the succession.
Easy to run a company there?
Long story short: YES, BUT TAXED.
Corporate tax in Japan lands at a moderate 19%, no IP-box to soften it. Standard accounting, VAT at 10, the usual dose of paperwork. Nothing to celebrate, nothing to flee.
A good fit for a holding?
Long story short: NOT REALLY.
Japan brings an extensive treaty network (77 agreements) and a participation-exemption regime, but the exemption stops at 95%, so 5% of qualifying dividends still gets taxed at the corporate rate (19%).
For a holding, that residual slice is a slow leak in the hull: every distribution drips a few points overboard.
Decent, not elite. The treaties do the heavy lifting; the regime doesn't quite finish the job.
| Country | Status | Dividends | Interest | Royalties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
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| ∅ // no treaties match | ||||
Easy to come and go?
Long story short: LITTLE.
Coming and going from Japan costs you nothing worth mentioning. Territorial regime (foreign income stays foreign), no exit tax at the door.
You show up with your stuff, you leave with your stuff, plus whatever you earned abroad in between. Borders the way they should all work.
Is your money watched?
Long story short: YES, CLOSELY.
Yes, your money is watched here. Japan signed every major automatic-exchange framework: CRS, FATCA, CARF, MLI, MAAC. Open an account and it gets reported straight to your home tax authority (Americans: FATCA applies, no exceptions).
Corporate registries stay non-public, which saves a thin slice of ownership discretion. But your financial trail is made of glass.
Is it blacklisted?
Long story short: NO.
Japan is clean on every major blacklist (FATF, EU, France, Spain, Portugal, Brazil) and sits inside the FATF club.
Wiring money to or from here raises zero eyebrows: no flags, no extra questions, no compliance officer waking up. Reputationally, a non-event.
Do you feel free there?
Long story short: PARTLY.
Japan sits in the middle band of the RSF press-freedom index (rank #66): civil society functions, but the walls are real and you'll learn fast where they stand.
Crypto lives in the standard regulated tier.
| Program | Status | Cross-border | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Digital Yen
The upcoming program is an end-stage trial with an eye towards implementation. BOJ will work with private-sector banks to test deposits and withdrawals from accounts, and check whether the currency can work without internet access in emergency scenarios.
Bank of Japan
|
PROOF OF CONCEPT | — | announce → |
|
Stella
It explores the opportunity for DLT to improve financial market infrastructure to support payment and securities settlement.
Bank of Japan
|
RESEARCH | — | announce → |
Connected to the world?
Long story short: EXCELLENT.
Japan is wired straight into the global money grid: 9/11 of the services we track work here.
Stripe onboards you, so you can charge cards from a laptop the day you land. Amazon delivers to your door like it would in Paris or Berlin. Wise, Revolut, PayPal: pick your rails, they all run.
Other jurisdictions worth comparing
Picked by similarity of strategic profile to Japan. No editorial ranking — neighbours in the same scoring space.