A business account in Tokyo rarely arrives when founders expect it. Most assume that once the company is registered, the bank follows automatically. In practice, the account often has to exist before the company does, since capital must sit somewhere before incorporation is final. This guide walks through where that catches people out, which banks actually say yes to foreign-owned entities, and what to prepare before you walk into a branch or open an app.
The capital deposit catch before your Tokyo company exists
Japanese law requires capital to be deposited into a bank account before a kabushiki kaisha (KK) can register. This typically means depositing funds into a personal account, often the founding director's, and obtaining a certificate of deposit or bank statement showing the transfer. For a founder who has just arrived in Tokyo, that personal account may not exist yet either.
For foreign founders, this can present challenges since opening a Japanese bank account often requires residence status. Some service providers offer resident representative services, where a Japanese representative temporarily holds the capital funds as proof of domestic deposit. This is not a loophole invented by consultants. It is a common workaround precisely because the sequence otherwise does not close.
The amount you declare matters too. While legal minimum capital is technically one yen, banks view companies with stated capital below one million yen as high-risk, which can result in bank account rejection regardless of how legitimate the business is. Treat the capital figure as a signal to the bank, not just a legal formality.
GMO Aozora net bank versus SMBC Trunk: applying to both pays off
Timing varies enormously by institution. Japan's corporate bank account opening process takes 2 to 8 weeks on average, with digital banks like GMO Aozora Net Bank approving applications in as little as one week, while megabank applications at MUFG, SMBC, or Mizuho routinely take 4 to 8 weeks due to rigorous KYC screening. If your runway is tight, that gap changes which bank you approach first.
SMBC entered this space directly with a digital product built for smaller companies. Trunk is the digital-only corporate account launched by SMBC in May 2025, designed specifically for corporate entities such as small to medium-sized businesses. But eligibility is narrower than it first appears. Foreigners can open a Trunk account only if they are registered representatives in Japan, and foreign corporations are not eligible. Sole proprietors are excluded as well, so this route only works once you have a registered KK or GK with a local representative.
GMO Aozora Net Bank solves speed but not everything. There is no direct pathway to full international banking services, so if your business model depends on receiving foreign payments, GMO Aozora Net Bank cannot be your only account. Consultancy AQ Partners frames the practical answer as redundancy rather than choice: by applying to both simultaneously, you maximize your chances of getting at least one account approved quickly, giving you SMBC Trunk as your primary operating account for international business and client interactions, with GMO Aozora Net Bank serving as your domestic operations and payroll account; if only one approves, you can function immediately and apply for the other later.
The paperwork megabanks still demand
Even with a fast digital option on the table, most founders still end up facing a megabank at some point, often because a client or landlord expects one. The document list does not change much between institutions. Japanese banks expect the company to be fully incorporated and require corporate documents such as the Certificate of Registered Matters, Articles of Incorporation, and Seal Registration Certificate, a company seal (hanko) for stamping contracts and bank forms, a valid residence card and passport for the representative director, and physical office proof such as a lease agreement, utility bills, or photos, since banks often reject virtual-only addresses.
The office requirement is stricter than it sounds. A physical office address is a non-negotiable requirement at virtually all banks: virtual offices and mail forwarding services are rejected by most institutions, and co-working spaces require proof of a dedicated desk or private office rather than shared-access membership. A shared hot desk at a popular Shibuya co-working space will not satisfy this on its own.
Dates matter as much as documents. Registration certificates and seal certificates must be issued within three months of your application date, and expired documents are the single most common reason for application delays. Build your bank appointment around the issue date of these certificates, not the other way round.
Given how much the requirements overlap across banks, there is little reason to apply to only one. According to JETRO, the required documentation is largely the same across institutions, meaning the marginal effort of parallel applications is low while the risk reduction is significant.
What if you have no Japan-resident representative?
This is the objection founders raise most often, usually after reading that a representative director must hold a residence card. The honest answer is that it is a real obstacle, not a myth to wave away. In practice, opening a corporate bank account is very difficult without a Japan-resident representative, making it effectively a near-requirement. A branch office makes this explicit rather than informal, since a branch office requires at least one representative resident in Japan.
There are still working paths around it. Where possible, appoint a resident representative, put real substance in place such as a physical office, your own website, and a Japanese-language business plan, and apply to several banks. None of these steps are instant, and each adds weeks before the first application even goes in. If your structure genuinely has no Japan-based representative yet, budget for this stage separately from the bank application itself, since it is the actual bottleneck more often than the bank's decision.
If you accept that the account opens later than the company, not alongside it, the whole sequence gets easier to plan. Deposit capital through a representative arrangement if you must, apply to a fast digital bank and a megabank at the same time, and keep your seal certificates fresh enough to survive the wait. JETRO's own starter guide for foreign companies walks through this exact sequence, from entry options through to opening the account itself, and it is worth reading before you approach any bank directly. The founders who move fastest through this process are usually the ones who stopped expecting it to be fast and planned for the delay instead.
Learn more about business account
- Business Starter Guide: Starting a Business in Japan (JETRO)
- How to open SMBC Business Account (Wise)
- Complete Guide To Opening a Corporate Bank Account in Japan (AQ Partners)
