verify japanese supplier
How to Verify a Japanese Company Before You Pay
Almost every bad outcome in Japanese sourcing traces back to the same omission. The buyer verified the product and never verified the counterparty. Japan happens to be unusually good for this kind of due diligence: company identity is a matter of public record, the registers are cheap, and anyone may request an extract for any company. The obstacle is not access. It is that the records are in Japanese and most overseas buyers do not know they exist.
What you can check for free in ten minutes
The National Tax Agency publishes a free, searchable register of every corporation in Japan — roughly 4.5 million of them. It gives the three basic facts: registered company name, registered head office address, and the 13-digit corporate number. It also records changes and closures, so a company that has moved, renamed itself or been dissolved shows that history.
- If the counterparty cannot give you a corporate number, they are not a registered Japanese corporation. That is not automatically disqualifying — sole proprietorships are legal and common — but it changes the risk profile and it should be a conscious decision rather than a surprise.
- Check that the registered name matches the name on the quotation, exactly. Trading names and registered names differ more often than you would expect.
- Check that the registered address matches the address on their documents and website.
- Check the invoice registration number if they give you one. Registered invoice issuers are published by the same agency, and the number is the corporate number prefixed with a T.
A name or address mismatch between the quotation, the website and the register is the single cheapest red flag to find and the most frequently ignored. It costs nothing to check and it catches both impersonation and the more common case of an intermediary presenting a maker's identity as their own.
The commercial register extract
The free register gives identity. The commercial register extract gives substance. In Japan this is the certificate of registered matters, obtainable from the Legal Affairs Bureau over the counter or by post for a few hundred yen per copy, or viewed online through the registry information service for less. Anyone may request the extract for any company. You do not need the company's permission and they are not told.
What to actually read when you get one:
| Field | What it tells you | What should make you pause |
|---|---|---|
| Incorporation date | How long the company has existed | Incorporated recently, but quoting on a large order with confidence |
| Stated capital | The capital formally committed | Capital that is trivial relative to the order you are placing |
| Directors | Who is legally responsible | Frequent turnover, or a single director who is also the sole contact |
| Business purposes | The activities the company is registered to conduct | The thing they are selling you is not among them |
| Change history | Renames, relocations, capital changes | Repeated name or address changes over a short period |
None of these is proof of anything on its own. Read together they tell you whether you are dealing with an established operating business or a shell that was assembled recently, and that distinction is usually the one that matters.
Credit reports, and when they are worth it
Teikoku Databank and Tokyo Shoko Research are the two standard Japanese commercial credit agencies. A report is paid and is written in Japanese, and it goes well beyond the registers: a credit score, estimated turnover, payment behaviour, principal banks, main customers and suppliers, and often a narrative assessment from an analyst who has spoken to the company.
The economics are simple. A report costs a fraction of one bad shipment. If the order value is meaningful, or if you are about to make the supplier a dependency rather than a transaction, buy the report. Below that threshold the free registers plus a sample order carry the risk adequately.
Signals that cost nothing
- The address, on a map. Street view will tell you in seconds whether the registered head office is a factory, an office building, or a residential apartment. Virtual offices and rental mailboxes are legal and common, and they are also what you would expect to see if the company is a one-person intermediary rather than a maker.
- The phone number. A landline in the prefecture where the company claims to operate is a mild positive signal. A mobile number as the only contact for a company claiming factory capacity is a mild negative one.
- Domain age. A registration date from last quarter under a website claiming decades of history is worth a question.
- The Official Gazette. Bankruptcy filings, civil rehabilitation and corporate reorganisation notices are published there, and they are searchable.
- What they will put in writing. A supplier who answers specific questions about origin, capacity and certification by email, in writing, is behaving differently from one who keeps the answers verbal.
What verification cannot tell you
It is worth being precise about the limits, because buyers routinely over-read a clean register. The registers establish that a company exists, who runs it, and roughly how solid it is. They say nothing at all about whether it can actually produce what it quoted, whether it holds allocation of a scarce product, whether its quality is consistent between lots, or whether it will ship on time.
Those questions are answered by three things only: a paid sample, a small first order that you inspect against the sample, and someone physically present at the site. Verification tells you whether it is safe to start. It does not tell you whether it is worth continuing.
Scale the effort to the order
| Order size | Minimum verification | Payment structure |
|---|---|---|
| Sample / trial | Corporate number register, address on a map | Pay in full; the amount is the cost of the information |
| First commercial order | Register plus commercial register extract | Deposit and balance, balance against shipping documents |
| Recurring supply | Add a credit report | Negotiated terms, with the first few orders still split |
| Dependency or exclusivity | Credit report plus a site visit or proxy visit | Contract, defined remedies, and a second qualified source |
Payment structure is the protection verification cannot give you
- Pay the registered corporate account, and check the account name against the register. A request to pay a personal account, an account in a different name, or an account in a third country is the point at which the conversation should stop. This single check prevents most supplier-impersonation fraud.
- Avoid paying one hundred per cent in advance on a first commercial order. A deposit with the balance released against shipping documents is normal and is not an insult to ask for.
- Treat a change of bank details mid-transaction as fraud until proven otherwise, and confirm it by phone on a number you already had, never on a number in the email requesting the change.
- Above a threshold that suits your balance sheet, use a letter of credit or an escrow arrangement, and accept the cost as insurance rather than overhead.
Want the checks run for you, in Japanese?
GuideTech runs supplier verification from Tokyo: corporate number and register checks, commercial register extracts, credit reports where the order justifies one, and a physical or proxy visit to confirm that the address is what the documents claim.
Frequently asked questions
Can I search the Japanese corporate register in English?
The National Tax Agency's corporate number site offers an English interface for basic searches. The commercial register extracts and credit reports are issued in Japanese only, so they usually need someone who reads Japanese to be useful.
Can I obtain a commercial register extract from overseas?
The counter, postal and online routes are all built for people in Japan, and the online service in particular expects a Japanese payment method. In practice an overseas buyer uses a Japan-side agent or a licensed administrative or judicial scrivener to obtain it.
What if my supplier is a sole proprietor rather than a company?
Sole proprietors are not in the corporate register, so the identity check shifts to the invoice registration number, any licences the category requires, references from other buyers, and a smaller first order. It is not a reason to walk away, but it is a reason to keep the exposure small for longer.
How much should verification cost?
Free for the identity check, a few hundred yen for a register extract, and a meaningful but not large amount for a credit report. Set the spend against the order value: the point at which verification feels expensive is usually the point at which you have not priced the downside correctly.