Domestic contact · 国内連絡先 · since April 2024
Somebody in Japan, on the record for your property.
When an owner living abroad registers Japanese property, the registration now asks for a contact in Japan. We act as yours: we sign the consent letter your judicial scrivener needs, and whatever reaches us about the property, you see in English.
Included in every paid plan · From ¥66,000 a year, tax included
“His knowledge and responsiveness is second to none!” — James Lauro
What the rule actually says
The rule exists because too many owners abroad could not be traced when their land or buildings needed attention. Here is what it asks of you, from the Ministry of Justice guidance.
- Who it applies to
- An owner whose address is outside Japan, at the point ownership is registered — buying, inheriting, or registering a change of address to one overseas.
- What gets recorded
- The name and Japanese address of the contact. For a company, its name and the location of its office.
- Who can be one
- Any person or company in Japan who agrees to it. The Ministry of Justice expects this to be a real estate business, a judicial scrivener or similar. No licence is required.
- What the contact signs
- A consent letter (承諾書) naming the property, filed with the registration. An individual also supplies a seal certificate; a registered company with a corporate number does not.
- If you have nobody
- You can register that there is no domestic contact, with a signed statement. Nothing stops the registration — but nobody in Japan is then reachable about your property.
- In force since
- Applications filed on or after 1 April 2024.
Source: Ministry of Justice — ownership registrations from 1 April 2024 (法務省). General information, not legal advice.
How we act as your domestic contact
Being named is the easy part. What matters is that somebody opens the letter two years later and tells you about it.
- Step 1
We sign the consent letter
One letter per property, prepared to the Ministry of Justice format and signed by Japan YES as a registered company — so no seal certificate is needed from us.
- Step 2
Your judicial scrivener files it
The letter goes in with your ownership or address-change registration. If you do not have a scrivener, we introduce one who works with overseas clients.
- Step 3
Whatever reaches us, you see
Letters and calls about the property come to our office. Post is scanned within three business days and summarised in English in your dashboard.
- Step 4
We answer in Japanese
Where somebody needs a reply — the municipality, a neighbour, the legal affairs bureau — we tell you what they want and respond once you have decided.
Three roles that are easy to confuse
Each one is “somebody in Japan who acts for you”, and each comes from a different law. Arranging one does not arrange the others.
- Domestic contact (国内連絡先)
- Recorded with the property registration. Somebody who can be reached about the property. This page.
- Tax representative (納税管理人)
- Appointed with the municipal tax office. Receives property tax notices and pays them. Tax representative guide
- Domestic manager (国内管理人)
- For condominium owners, since April 2026, where the owners’ association requires one. Attends meetings and handles association matters. Domestic manager rule
Side by side: 納税管理人 vs 国内管理人 vs 国内連絡先.
Who could be your domestic contact
Any of these is allowed. The question is who will still be reading your post in five years.
A friend or relative in Japan
Free, and somebody you trust.
Their name and address go on the record for your property. Letters reach them in Japanese, and moving house or losing touch leaves the record pointing nowhere.
The agent who sold you the property
Convenient at the time of purchase.
Often offered as a courtesy with no ongoing service behind it. Ask who will open the post and tell you about it two years from now.
Your judicial scrivener
Already involved in the registration.
Some will act as contact, usually for a fee. Few will scan, translate and act on day-to-day post.
Japan YES
Included in every paid plan, alongside tax representation and mail scanning, with one address for all of it.
We do not file registrations ourselves — your scrivener does that part.
Questions about the domestic contact
- Is a domestic contact legally required?
- Since 1 April 2024, an owner living abroad is asked to give a domestic contact (国内連絡先) whenever their ownership is registered, or to state that there is none. So you can register without one — but then the government, a neighbour or a buyer has no one in Japan to reach about the property, which is exactly the problem the rule was introduced to solve.
- I registered my property before April 2024. Do I need to do anything?
- Not immediately. The rule applies when a registration is filed. The point most existing owners will meet it is an address change: registering a move to an overseas address requires a domestic contact if one is not already on record. Address changes must now be registered within two years, so it is worth arranging before then.
- Is a domestic contact the same as a tax representative (納税管理人)?
- No. A tax representative is appointed with the municipal tax office and receives your tax notices and pays them. A domestic contact is recorded with the property registration and is simply someone in Japan who can be reached. They come from different laws and are arranged separately. We act as both, at the same address.
- Will my overseas address disappear from the register?
- No. As the owner, your own name and address stay on the register. The domestic contact is recorded in addition, so that there is somebody in Japan who can be reached — it does not replace your details.
- Does the domestic contact have authority to act for me?
- Being recorded as a contact gives no power to sign, sell or decide anything on your behalf. We pass on what reaches us and act only on your instructions.
- What does it cost?
- Acting as your domestic contact is included in every paid plan, from ¥66,000 a year including tax, with a one-time setup fee of ¥22,000 in the first year. The plan also covers tax representation and mail scanning. The judicial scrivener’s fee for the registration itself is separate and paid to them.
- What if I cancel?
- Tell us before you go and we will explain how to replace the contact on record. The change itself is a registration, filed by your judicial scrivener.
Changing your address abroad? Read address change registration for overseas owners.
Buying, inheriting or moving abroad?
Tell us where the property is and which registration is coming up. We will tell you what your scrivener will need from us — a free 15-minute call, in English, with our founder.
Get in touchNo credit card required · Property anywhere in Japan