事業承継 · Business succession
Practical, data-backed English intelligence on Japan’s ownership cliff — without marketplace hype or empty promises.
Advisor or local practitioner? Partnership overview
The market
Millions of Japanese SME owners are past retirement age. Roughly half have no identified successor. That ownership cliff is the story Keisho X exists to explain.
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Policy & Ecosystem 6 min
The regulatory layer for foreign buyers of Japanese businesses: how FEFTA notification actually works, which sectors are designated, the Business Manager visa path, banking and guarantee hurdles, and sequencing that keeps deals on track.
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Valuation & Economics 6 min
What Japanese SMEs actually sell for in succession deals: the net-asset-plus-goodwill convention, realistic earnings multiples, why reported profit misleads, and how deal structure changes the real price.
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Foreign Buyer Lens 8 min
How Japanese business succession (jigyo shokei) actually works for foreign buyers: the market reality, the process from thesis to close, realistic timelines, and the mistakes that end deals before they begin.
Read the guideWhy this exists
We explain how the ecosystem — platforms, government succession centers, regional banks, and advisors — actually works, and how foreign buyers can navigate it with clearer expectations.
Specific numbers, real process maps, honest limitations. Valuation ranges that reflect what actually closes, not what gets written about.
Authority content first, selective local partnerships second, facilitated deal flow only where trust is earned. Our model is explained transparently on the About page.
Weekly Brief
Ecosystem Watch 6 min
Japan's SME Agency is building a qualification for the brokers and advisers who sell small companies: a national exam, a public register of people who pass, and removal for ethics breaches, with the aim of putting it into law. Complaints to its information desk, adviser fees on small deals, and what changes for foreign buyers.
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Policy Watch 7 min
The special measure that lets family successors defer all gift and inheritance tax on company shares expires in 2027. On 9 October the Finance Ministry and the SME Agency put their evidence before a government tax panel, and METI is asking for a fundamental review. What the data says, what is undecided, and why it matters to outside buyers.
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Keisho X Update 6 min
Keisho X has opened a free, vetted register for foreign buyers of Japanese small businesses. Tell us what you'd buy in a minute or two, and, only if you choose, we share your profile with Japanese M&A advisers we have vetted. Here is what you give, what you get, and what you control.
Read the briefJapan Succession Brief · Buyer register
Policy changes, market data, and ground-level observations on Japanese SME succession, in your inbox as each brief publishes. Buyers can also join our vetted register for Japanese sell-side advisers.
Contact
If you're a qualified buyer or an advisor with aligned interests, we read every inquiry personally and reply within two business days.
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