Japan

Operating a business

Different types of companies	Number of partners/shareholders	Maximum and/or minimum capital	Liabilities	Registration fees
Kabushiki Kaisha (KK), Public limited company.	No minimum since the reform of the Commercial Code .	Minimum 10 million Yen	Limited to the amount of capital contributed	0,7% of the capital with a minimum of 150,000 YEN
Yugen Kaisha , Limited liability company	50 shareholders maximum	Minimum 3 Million Yen	Limited to the amount of capital contributed	60,000 YEN
Goshi Kaisha, Limited partnership	No minimum 2 types of partners: active partners and sleeping partners.	No minimum capital	Unlimited for the active partners Limited to the amount of capital contributed for the sleeping partners .	60,000 YEN
Gomei Kaisha, General partnership.	2 partners minimum	No minimum capital .	Unlimited	60,000 YEN

Business setup procedures: The administrative formalities depend on the structure created (branch office, subsidiary company or limited liability partnership). Click here to find the appropriate procedures to follow.
The competent organization: The administrative formalities must be carried out at the bureau of legal affairs of the Ministry of Justice.

Legal weekly duration: 8 hours per day and 40 hours per week
But employees frequently work 50 or 60 hours a week. Compared with the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Germany, Japanese employees work the most (in hours worked in industry).
It is also the country with the least annual vacation (weekly rest day and paid holidays included).
Retirement age: Age 65 with a minimum of 25 years of contributions (age 65 for men from 2013, and age 65 for women from 2018).
An early pension is payable between ages 60 and 64
Working contracts: In Japan, the contract determines if the employee is part of the regular or non-regular staff. Permanent employees form the regular staff. Among the non-regular staff, there are different types of contract: part-time workers, temporary workers, dispatched workers, fixed-term contract workers, entrusted employees (shokutaku).
Permanent contracts represent 65.4% of job total. 23% of jobs are non-regular jobs under part-time contracts.
Because of the economic recession which set in during the 1990’s, recourse to part-time jobs has developed considerably.

Minimum wage: There are three types of minimum wage:
- local minimum wage
- local industry-specific minimum wage- national industry
-specific minimum wage.
The prefectures set the amount of local minimum wages. Minimum wages (general and industry-specific) set by the prefectures are around 668 JPY per hour (weighted national average, as of March 31, 2006).
The industry-specific minimum wage set nationally is about 761 JPY per hour (weighted national average, as of March 31, 2006).
Average wage: It was 2 451 JPY per hour in the manufacturing industry (2002 figure, latest data available on 31 August 2007).
Social contributions: Social security contributions paid by employers: 10.89%
Social security contributions paid by employees: 11.27%

Bargaining power: 90% of unions are Company unions. Company unions (one per company) exist inside the Company to discuss working conditions.
Labor unions are organized cross-corporate organizations. The elements of claims made by the labor unions are then a basis for claims by the Company unions.
There are two types of labor unions: the Industrial Trade Unions and the National centers (mainly Rengo, the Japanese Trade Union Confederation).
Rengo and management organizations such as Nippon Keidanren (Japan Business Federation) have established a venue for regular discussions. For issues on which they share the same opinion, a joint policy proposal is duly submitted to the central government, especially at the Governmental Councils created for this. Every year between March and April, the unions launch an offensive on wages; it is known as Shunto, the spring wage offensive.
Unions: Nippon Keidanren
Rengo
Unionization rate: 18.7% in 2005.
The rate is constantly dropping with a reduction registered especially in the private sector, in SMEs and micro-enterprises.
Labor regulation bodies: The Labor situation in Japan: General Overview 2006/2007, published by the Japan Institute for Labor Policy and Training
Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare
The representation of the International Labor Organization in Japan