For foreign companies & international professionals in Japan
Termination rules that baffle your HQ. Employment contracts in two languages. Visas for your foreign staff. Hiroshi Chiba is a licensed Japanese attorney (bengoshi) with 30 years of experience — and he handles all of it directly in English. No interpreters. No lost nuance.
Invited to speak by international chambers & leading institutions —
Most “immigration lawyers” in Japan are administrative scriveners (gyoseishoshi): they file paperwork but cannot represent you in disputes. As a bengoshi, Hiroshi Chiba handles your visa and negotiates, advises and litigates when things go wrong.
A visa is never just a visa — it comes with an employment contract, working conditions and compliance duties. We handle the whole employment relationship: hiring, contracts, work rules, terminations, and the immigration paperwork around them.
Consultations, contracts, opinion letters and reports to your HQ — all in English, from the attorney himself. Legal nuance survives only when nothing is lost in translation. That is the whole point of this office.
As heard on — Export to Japan (founded with the British Embassy Tokyo)
“Employment Law in Japan,
with Hiroshi Chiba”
Invited by Export to Japan — the market-entry platform created with the British Embassy — to explain Japanese employment law to foreign companies entering the market. Listen to the attorney you would be working with, in his own words.
Listen to the podcast →Employment
Why “at-will” thinking fails in Japan, what a lawful separation looks like, and how to get there — negotiated packages, documentation, and dispute defense.
Documents
Bilingual offer letters, employment agreements and work rules (shugyo kisoku), checked against Japanese law — so your global templates actually hold up here.
Immigration
Work visas (Engineer/Humanities, Skilled Worker, Business Manager), renewals, permanent residency. Transparent flat fees; retainer clients receive 10–30% discounts.
HQ Relations
“Why can’t we just dismiss them?” We explain Japanese law to your headquarters in clear written English — memos, risk assessments, and calls with global counsel.
Training
Custom sessions for your HR team and foreign managers — the same lectures delivered at international chambers, tailored to your company’s situation.
Compliance
Japan’s revised Subcontract Act (Toriteki-ho, in force since January 2026) now captures more companies, including foreign affiliates. We audit and fix your exposure.
One monthly fee. Direct English access to a 30-year attorney. Most foreign clients choose the Global Retainer; companies with existing Japanese counsel add us as specialist “second counsel” for employment and immigration.
Most popular with foreign companies
From ¥200,000 / month (excl. tax, indicative)
For companies with existing Japanese counsel
From ¥35,000 / month (excl. tax, indicative)
Indicative pricing — final quotes follow a free initial consultation, based on company size and scope. Spot engagements (single disputes, one-off contract reviews, individual visa filings at flat rates) are also available without a retainer.
Directly in English, with the attorney himself. Hiroshi Chiba has lectured in English at the British, Belgian-Luxembourg, Norwegian and Australian-NZ chambers of commerce, and appeared on the Export to Japan podcast. Emails, video calls, written opinions — all handled in English without intermediaries.
Most of them are administrative scriveners (gyoseishoshi) — licensed to prepare filings, but not to give legal advice on disputes or represent you if something goes wrong. As an attorney (bengoshi), we can do all of it: the visa filing, the employment contract behind it, and the negotiation or litigation if a conflict ever arises. One office, no handoffs.
Yes — that is exactly what our Second Counsel plan is for. Your current firm keeps its role; we cover the employment-law and immigration questions they don’t specialize in, in English. Many clients start this way.
No surprises. Visa filings are flat-fee and published. Retainers are a fixed monthly amount agreed in advance. Anything outside the agreed scope is quoted before we start. The initial consultation to scope your needs is free and carries no obligation.
Yes, and we encourage it. We regularly write English memos for headquarters and join calls with global counsel to explain why Japanese law works the way it does — often the fastest way to unblock a decision that has stalled between Tokyo and your home office.
Write in English, as much or as little detail as you like. The first reply — and the first consultation — are free.
Contact us Hear the attorney first話す。書く。守る。— 日本語でも英語でも。