Business Plan for the Japan Startup Visa
What Is a Startup Visa Business Plan?
A business plan for the Japan Startup Visa (起業準備活動計画書) is the foundation of your visa application. It presents your business concept, market strategy, financial projections, hiring plan, and how your startup will contribute to Japan’s economy and local community. This is not just a formality—it's the document city officials will rely on to determine if you are eligible to enter and build your company in Japan under the Startup Visa program.
Each municipality has its own expectations, and your plan must be crafted to meet those specific criteria. A generic or poorly structured plan won’t pass review. Without a strong, submission-ready Japan startup visa business plan, your application will not move forward.
This plan is for informational purposes only. Photo credit: medium.com 2020
Why the Business Plan Matters — and What Happens If You Get Rejected
For foreign entrepreneurs applying for the Startup Visa, the business plan is the deciding factor. Immigration authorities and city officials use it to determine whether your business idea is practical, innovative, and aligned with the city’s strategic goals. If your plan is inconsistent, lacks detail, or fails to address key questions, your visa application will be rejected—regardless of your business experience or motivation.
Rejection comes with consequences. In many cities, you must wait several months before you can reapply. Worse still, city staff will treat your second application more cautiously, knowing your first attempt failed. Many rejected plans suffer from preventable issues: internal contradictions, unrealistic projections, vague language, or simply failing to answer what city reviewers are actually looking for.
One of the most common—and harmful—mistakes is using AI tools like ChatGPT or automatic translations to create your business plan. Reviewers can easily recognize these and are increasingly rejecting such plans for being shallow, generic, or culturally inappropriate. If you're serious about succeeding, you need expert Japan startup visa support from people who know what works—and what doesn’t.
There are sometimes only minor details and differences between a business plan that will be approved and one that will be rejected. In this particular case, the application was approved by the city of Fukuoka in 2024.
What Makes a Strong Japan Startup Visa Business Plan?
A successful Japan startup visa business plan is strategic, precise, and tailored to meet city-specific approval standards. The ideal length is usually around 10 pages, well-organized with relevant, actionable content (The required format varies by cities and will be standardised nationwide in 2025) . Submitting a 20–30 page plan is a common mistake that overwhelms reviewers and makes it harder to evaluate your proposal efficiently.
Most importantly, the business plan must be submitted in Japanese for the majority of cities in Japan. Cities like Tokyo, Fukuoka, and Osaka require the full document in native Japanese. Only a few cities—such as Sapporo—allow submission in English (But chances of approval are still higher if submitted in native Japanese). Using automatic translation tools can lead to awkward or incorrect language that reviewers quickly identify as inauthentic. Your plan needs to be written in natural, professional Japanese that meets the communication expectations of the reviewer.
City reviewers also expect to see innovation, realistic forecasts, local job creation, and a clear plan to scale your business in Japan. Submitting vague strategies, overly ambitious goals, or answers that don’t reflect Japan-specific knowledge is one of the fastest ways to get rejected. Our Japan visa business plan service ensures your content is accurate, well-structured, and written in the correct format and language—so your application stands out for the right reasons.
You Don’t Have to Do It Alone
Most people don’t get through this process by themselves—and they’re often right not to. Writing a plan for the Startup Visa isn’t something you need to figure out on your own. There are too many moving parts, too many silent expectations, and too much at stake to leave it to chance.
Getting help doesn’t mean giving up control. It means having someone experienced to guide you, ask the right questions, and help you avoid the common missteps others learn the hard way. If you're serious about moving forward in Japan, the smartest thing you can do is start with support.
