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Keisho X

For foreign buyers

From curiosity to a credible process

The path is real — but it rewards preparation and punishes shortcuts. Here's how to use this site well.

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Foreign buyer touring a Japanese family manufacturing facility with the owner

Buyer register · Free

Get on the radar of Japanese sell-side advisers

Tell us what you'd buy. It takes under a minute, and you get every new Japan Succession Brief by email.

About you

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What you're looking for

Four quick taps. Change them any time from the link in your email.

Which best describes you?

Helps advisers send you deals that fit how you buy.

Deal size you'd consider

Enterprise value in yen, with a rough US dollar guide. A range is fine.

Sectors · pick any

So you only hear about businesses you'd actually look at.

Where in Japan? · pick any

"Anywhere in Japan" is selected for you. Pick regions instead to narrow it.

A bit more about you · optional, helps advisers prioritise
When would you like to buy?
Your Japanese
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Recommended path

  1. 01 — Understand

    Read the cornerstone guides

    Start with the Complete Foreign Buyer's Guide, then valuation and FEFTA. An hour of reading here saves months of confusion.

  2. 02 — Stay current

    Join the buyer register

    Tell us what you'd buy and get policy, data, and market observations by email as each brief publishes, archived in the Weekly Brief.

  3. 03 — Engage

    Start a qualified conversation

    When your thesis, budget, and timeline are roughly formed, use the structured inquiry. Serious inquiries get personal replies and, where appropriate, warm introductions.

Regional edge

Why we start with Kansai

Succession pressure is national, but relationships are local. Our ground presence and partner focus is the Kansai region — Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe, Shiga, and Nara — home to dense clusters of family-owned manufacturing, craft, food, and hospitality businesses, many with decades of profitable history and no successor.

  • Kyoto — craft manufacturing, traditional goods, hospitality with global brand value
  • Osaka — industrial SMEs, wholesale trade, logistics, B2B services
  • Kobe & Hyogo — port-linked trade, food processing, precision manufacturing
  • Shiga & Nara — supply-chain manufacturers and tourism-adjacent businesses

The buyer's library

Japanese and foreign professionals exchanging documents in a Tokyo office with Tokyo Tower in the background

Policy & Ecosystem 6 min

FEFTA, Visas, and Foreign Ownership Practicalities in Japan

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.

Read the guide
Japanese owner, advisor, and foreign buyer reviewing financial statements and earnings multiples in a Tokyo office

Valuation & Economics 6 min

Valuation Reality in Japanese Succession Deals

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.

Read the guide
Japanese SME owner and foreign buyer shaking hands across a conference table in a Tokyo high-rise, with advisors looking on

Foreign Buyer Lens 8 min

The Complete Foreign Buyer's Guide to Japanese SME Succession

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 guide
Elderly Japanese factory owner explaining a lathe to a foreign buyer and bilingual advisor inside a small precision machining workshop

Process & Reality 11 min

Which Japanese Businesses Actually Change Hands: A Sector Map for Buyers

The sectors where Japanese succession deals actually close, why the industries with the most successor-less owners are not the ones that transfer most often, and how licensing, channel, and workforce age should shape your target list.

Read the guide