Tokyo Startup Visa: Eligible Sectors and Immigration Procedure

The eligible sectors are finance; information; environment and energy; health, medical care and welfare; culture and art; food, agriculture, forestry and fisheries; wholesale and retail; and other businesses recognized by the Governor of Tokyo. Tokyo's information page describes a new one-year Designated Activities period followed by up to two six-month renewals. By contrast, the April 2026 guidelines say the period decided may be one year or six months, renewals are six months, and the combined period including time under the former special-zone program is at most two years. This page does not reconcile those descriptions into one universal schedule. Confirm the period granted, renewal approval, and remaining renewal opportunities with both Tokyo and immigration.

Who it is for

• The plan must be for starting a new eligible business in Tokyo, carrying out startup preparation there, and establishing the business office there. Residence during preparation must be in Japan; the source does not require residence specifically in Tokyo.
• The business must fall within finance; information; environment and energy; health, medical care and welfare; culture and art; food, agriculture, forestry and fisheries; wholesale and retail; or another business recognized by the Governor of Tokyo. Do not broaden this list yourself.
• Only when a corporation is planned, the applicant's own ownership interest must be at least 51%. An application whose purpose is to establish a subsidiary is excluded.
• The startup-preparation plan must show that, ordinarily within one year, all three will be in place: at least one qualifying full-time employee, JPY 30,000,000 or more in property used for the business, and a business office in Tokyo. That one-year horizon concerns the plan; it is not the residence period immigration will grant.
• At application, the applicant needs at least one year of business management or administration experience OR a relevant doctoral, master's, professional, or equivalent degree. The applicant does not need to satisfy both alternatives. This is a Tokyo plan-confirmation condition, not the complete final Business Manager residence-status criteria; immigration applies its current criteria separately.

Points to note

• JPY 30,000,000 is the total business-use property required in the plan-confirmation branch. It is neither a cash grant nor a business loan from Tokyo to foreign entrepreneurs.
• Tokyo's confirmation is not a visa or residence permission. The confirmation certificate must be submitted to immigration within three months after issuance, after which immigration conducts a separate residence-status examination.
• The ordinary one-year plan horizon does not determine the granted residence period or renewal count. Neither official period description guarantees a particular grant, approved renewal, or number of opportunities remaining for an individual applicant.

Keep the two sources separate. Tokyo's information page describes a new one-year period and up to two six-month renewals. The April 2026 guidelines say the decided period may be one year or six months, renewals are six months, and the combined period including former-special-zone residence is at most two years. Do not turn these statements into a single guaranteed schedule or infer approval or remaining renewal opportunities. The former special-zone program ended intake on March 31, 2025, so do not use it in place of the current foreign entrepreneur program. No general application deadline or complete document list is fixed here; confirm current documents, submission method, receiving office, and acceptance status on Tokyo's official page when applying.

How it works

1. Use the current Tokyo official page to check the eligible sector, Tokyo business and office scope, ownership rule for a planned corporation, and the staffing and business-property plan conditions. No general application deadline or complete fixed document list is stated here. Confirm the current required documents, submission method, receiving office, and acceptance status on Tokyo's official page.
2. Follow Tokyo's current procedure to ask Tokyo and Business Development Center TOKYO to confirm the startup-preparation plan. They confirm the plan and issue the certificate, but do not grant or renew Designated Activities. Confirm the current submission method and receiving office on Tokyo's official page before filing.
3. Submit Tokyo's certificate to immigration within three months after issuance for the separate immigration procedure. Before filing, ask both Tokyo and the immigration bureau about the period that may be granted, whether a renewal is approved, and how many renewal opportunities remain in the individual case.