Japanese KYB combines the National Tax Agency's Corporate Number (hojin bango) system, which provides a public identifier and basic data for every registered company, with the Legal Affairs Bureau (Houmukyoku) commercial register that holds the detailed corporate record. The kabushiki kaisha (KK) and godo kaisha (GK) are the dominant forms. Filings are predominantly in Japanese, and there is no comprehensive public beneficial-ownership register.
Business verification (KYB)
First Mile Labs resolves a Japanese company through its Corporate Number and retrieves the registered details — legal form, registered address, representative directors, and capital — from the commercial register (tokibo) record. Japanese-language filings are processed in the original, the registered representatives are reconciled against the application, and because public UBO data is limited, beneficial ownership is established from company documentation with gaps flagged.
Identity verification (IDV)
Japanese directors and beneficial owners are verified using the My Number Card or passport, with document authentication, liveness, and face-match. The driver's license is accepted as a secondary document, and non-nationals resident in Japan are verified via their Residence Card (zairyu card).
Sanctions, PEP & adverse media (AML)
Japanese entities and individuals are screened against the Ministry of Finance / METI sanctions measures, UN, OFAC, and further watchlists, with PEP and adverse-media checks running continuously and feeding the shared risk model.
From our compliance team
Japan is high-trust and high-friction at once. The corporate record is reliable, but it is Japanese-first, ownership is not held in a convenient public register, and the seal-based (hanko) governance tradition means authority does not always map cleanly onto a named individual. We process the register in the original language and treat establishing the true beneficial owners as a documentation exercise rather than a registry lookup.
Japan onboarding — FAQ
How are Japanese companies identified?
Through the National Tax Agency Corporate Number (hojin bango), which provides a public identifier and basic data. First Mile Labs uses it to resolve the company and then retrieves the detailed record from the Legal Affairs Bureau commercial register.
Are Japanese-language filings supported?
Yes. The commercial register record and documents are processed in the original Japanese, with extracted fields reconciled against the applicant's declaration.
Is there a public beneficial-ownership register in Japan?
No comprehensive one. The platform establishes beneficial ownership from company documentation and flags cases where it cannot be confirmed, routing thin cases to enhanced due diligence.
Coverage in other markets
Onboarding customers in Japan?
Book a demo and we'll walk you through a full Japan case — registry, identity, screening, and decision.
Request a demo →