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Certified Japanese Articles of Incorporation Translation
Certified translation of the documents that constitute and evidence a Japanese company, with the corporate form, the registry references and the powers of the representatives reproduced exactly rather than mapped onto US equivalents that carry different law.
$24.95/page
Flat rate per page, up to 250 words. No hidden fees.
100% USCIS acceptance
Every certified translation is guaranteed to be accepted by USCIS.
24-hour delivery
Most 1-3 page documents are delivered within 24 hours. Same-day available.
Teikan, and the notary who approves rather than drafts
A Japanese company is constituted by teikan (定款), the articles of incorporation, which for a kabushiki kaisha must be authenticated by a notary before the company can be registered. The notary does not draft it — that is the founders' job — but without the authentication the articles have no effect, which inverts the civil-law pattern a reader may expect.
A godo kaisha, the closer analogue to an LLC, requires no notarial authentication at all, so two Japanese companies present entirely different formation files.
The registry certificate is what offices want
What a foreign counterparty normally needs is not the teikan but the tokibo tohon (登記簿謄本) or its current form, the zenbu jiko shomeisho — the certificate of all recorded matters from the Legal Affairs Bureau. It shows the company as it stands: capital, purpose, directors, representative director and every change recorded.
A seal registration certificate (印鑑証明書) is a separate document again, and it is the one that matters when a signature is in question — see below.
The company seal, not the signature
Japanese companies execute by affixing a registered company seal (会社実印), and the seal registration certificate is what proves the impression is the registered one. A contract carrying a signature and no seal is frequently not executed in the way a Japanese counterparty expects.
Where a document carries a seal impression, we describe it and translate the characters in it rather than ignoring it as decoration. The representative director (代表取締役) is the officer whose seal binds.
Era dates, and the company in two scripts
Japanese corporate records date by imperial era — Reiwa, Heisei, Shōwa — so a company incorporated in "Shōwa 58" was incorporated in 1983 and nothing on the page says so. Each date is converted individually and both are shown.
The company name appears in Japanese and frequently in a romanised form that is not a translation of it. We reproduce both and identify which is which. See our Japanese page.
Ordering, and what the certification covers
Upload the document, choose certified translation at $24.95 per page of up to 250 words, and it comes back typically within 24 hours as a PDF formatted to mirror the original, with a signed certificate of translation accuracy on letterhead. Every seal, stamp, notarial recital and registry annotation is translated — a corporate document with its endorsements missing is not a complete document. See how we translate and certified versus standard.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need the teikan or the registry certificate?
Usually the registry certificate — it shows the company as it stands. The teikan shows only how it was constituted.
Why does a notary authenticate but not draft?
For a kabushiki kaisha the founders draft and the notary authenticates. A godo kaisha needs no authentication at all.
What is the seal certificate for?
It proves that a seal impression on a document is the company's registered seal. In Japan the seal, not the signature, executes.
What year is Shōwa 58?
1983. We convert every era date individually and show both.
Ready to get started?
Upload the deed or the registry extract and receive the certified translation, typically within 24 hours.