Japan General Incorporated Foundation: Establishment Requirements and Process
#non-profit#foundation#establishment
On this page
- Wiki route
- Legal basis
- Required bodies (all mandatory)
- Prohibition of concurrent positions (important)
- Property requirement
- Term of office
- Substantive requirement for the frequency of board meetings
- Establishment costs (minimum)
- Standard establishment period: 1–2 months
- ⚠️ Note
- Public-interest certification (can be additionally obtained)
- Application scenarios
- 関連 wiki
- 来源
- Related
Wiki route
This entry sits under Japan Research Grant Map 2026 and should be read with FinWiki index.
[!info] TL;DR It is easily confused with a “public-interest incorporated foundation” or an “NPO corporation,” but the general incorporated foundation holds its own distinct position as a neutral corporate form. A form suited to research / advocacy-type organizations.
Legal basis
- Act on General Incorporated Associations and General Incorporated Foundations (平成18年 Act 第48号)
Required bodies (all mandatory)
| Body | Number of members | Governing provision |
|---|---|---|
| Councillors | 3 or more | Article 173 , Paragraph 3 |
| Directors | 3 or more (including directors at establishment) | Article 160 , Paragraph 1 ; Article 177 (applied mutatis mutandis); Article 65 , Paragraph 3 |
| Auditors | 1 or more | Article 170 ; Article 177 |
| Council of councillors | mandatory | Article 170 |
| Board of directors | mandatory | Article 170 |
Prohibition of concurrent positions (important)
- A councillor may not concurrently serve as a director, auditor, or employee of the foundation or its subsidiary corporation (Article 173 , Paragraph 2 )
- An auditor may not concurrently serve as a director or employee of the foundation or its subsidiary corporation (Article 177 applied mutatis mutandis; Article 65 , Paragraph 2 )
Property requirement
- Total contributed property at establishment of 300 万円 or more (Article 153 , Paragraph 2 )
- Articles of incorporation falling below 300 万円 are invalid
Term of office
| Body | Term | Whether the articles may extend it | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Directors | until the conclusion of the ordinary council of councillors for the last business year within 2 years after election | not possible | Article 66 applied mutatis mutandis |
| Auditors | within 4 years after election | may be shortened to 2 years | Article 67 applied mutatis mutandis |
| Councillors | within 4 years after election | may be extended to 6 years | Article 174 , Paragraph 1 |
Substantive requirement for the frequency of board meetings
An executive director must report his or her own status of execution of duties to the board of directors at least 1 time(s) every 3 months (Article 91 , Paragraph 2 applied mutatis mutandis).
→ In substance, holding the board of directors at least 4 time(s) per year is legally required.
Establishment costs (minimum)
| Item | Amount | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Articles-of-incorporation certification fee | 5 万円 | Notary Fee Order, Article 35 |
| Establishment-registration registration and license tax | 6 万円 | Registration and License Tax Act, Appended Table 1, 第 24 号 (1) (a) |
| Property at establishment | 300 万円 or more | Same Act, Article 153 , Paragraph 2 |
| Total | minimum 311 万円 |
Standard establishment period: 1–2 months
The Ministry of Justice does not publish an official “standard processing time” for a general incorporated foundation alone, but in practice:
- Drafting the articles + notary certification = 2–3 weeks
- Contribution of basic property + election of directors at establishment + investigation = about 1 weeks
- Application for establishment registration through completion = 3–7 business days
⚠️ Note
- A general incorporated foundation is not subject to the 24/48/72 -hour special processing for stock companies
- As a case-based reference, completion within 1 months is possible, but the standard should be regarded as 1–2 months
Public-interest certification (can be additionally obtained)
After establishment, “public-interest certification” can be applied for under the Act on Authorization of Public Interest Incorporated Associations and Public Interest Incorporated Foundations. Once certified:
- Corporate-tax preferences (the public-interest-purpose business portion is tax-exempt)
- Tax preferences for donations (also on the donor’s side)
- Permission to use the name “public-interest incorporated foundation”
However, the certification requirements are strict:
- The total of directors who have a “special interest relationship (spouse, relatives within the third degree of kinship, etc.)” with each director must not exceed 1 /3 of the total number of directors (Article 5 第 10 号)
- The 令和 6 年 amendment (enforced 令和 7 年 4 月 1 日) strengthened the exclusion of special interest relationships between directors and auditors
Application scenarios
- A neutral organization whose main purpose is research / policy advocacy
- Starting as a general incorporated foundation at first → accumulating 3–5 years of track record → the route of applying for public-interest certification
- Initial director composition: academics (research) + former bureaucrats (institutions) + field practitioners (the parties’ perspective)
- Auditors: legal / governance experts
- Councillors: a supervisory function independent of directors (concurrent positions prohibited)
When dealing with financial / policy research, use the systems of policy-finance INDEX and finance INDEX as the primary reference, and refer to business INDEX for cross-industry operator mapping.
関連 wiki
- japan-financial-regulation (adjacent legal systems in the financial domain)
- Japan Research Grant Map 2026 (a list of grants that can be sought after establishing a foundation)
- non-profit INDEX (reference to real-world examples of financial groups)
来源
- e-Gov Law Search https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/
- Japan National Notaries Association Q&A https://www.koshonin.gr.jp/
- Ministry of Justice Q&A https://www.moj.go.jp/MINJI/minji153.html
Related
- Wiki Index
- Japan Research Grant Map 2026
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