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What is Secondhand Goods Dealer License in Japan ?
Necessary documents to obtain Second-hand Goods Dealer License in Japan
Legal knowledge to manage Kobutsusho Business
Secondhand dealer permit and status of residence in Japan
Would your business need a Japanese second-hand goods dealer permit?
The illegality of ticket scalping, reselling in Japan
What is Secondhand Goods Dealer License in Japan ?
In the case you purchase Second-hand Goods (Kobutsu=古物) from other person and sell or export it, you need to obtain license in Japan.
Because some persons try to steal something from other persons and sell it to Second-hand Goods dealer shop.
So if you purchase a used vehicle from car auction in Japan, you still need to obtain Second-hand Goods dealer dealer.
If you purchase an item (Not used item) from retailer shop and sell it to other person, you do not need to obtain this Kobutsu Sho License.
If you used a car for several years and decide to sell it to other person, you do not need to obtain Secondhand Goods dealer permit = permit.
If you are not living in Japan and purchase used items from Japan and sale it to other country or in Japan, you (non-resident of Japan) still needs to obtain this permit.
This license, permit is called “Kobutsusho kyoka”.
Second-hand Goods dealer needs to make a record of seller of such goods and prevent from theft.
That is why, you can apply for Second-hand Goods dealer license to police department.
Then in order to obtain this permit, you need to prepare physical office space and a resident of Japan. And if you do not have a legal address, you will not be able to prepare physical office space. In that case, you will find a business partner in Japan. If you can not find it, you can contact me.
Or even if you are living in Japan as a company employee, you may not be allowed to operate your business in Japan. In that case, we will establish a company together and you may work as an employee (otherwise, you need to obtain status of residence of Business Manager)
We may be able to work together to operate your business in Japan ‼
akiyama(a)japan-law-tax.com Tomohiko AKIYAMA
Necessary documents to apply for Second-hand Goods dealer license in Japan
1 Application paper
2 Lease contract paper of office space.
(You can use your residence as your office space. But you need to receive permit from landlord. If you can not acquire it by yourself, you can contact me. If you do not have legal address in Japan, you will not be able to rent an office space in Japan. In that case, I will try to prepare it on your behalf depending on conditions. ) Email me. akiyama（a）japan-law-tax.com
If you rent an office space in rural area, amount of monthly rent will be 30,000 yen or less.
However you will not be able to find administrator in neighborhood.
So you will look for it in Kachidoki, Chuo-ku, Tokyo. In this area, lowest rental fee will be 60,000 yen per month.
However you may be able to find an administrator.
3 Written oath
(You need to declare that you will operate your business abide by law)
4 Lease contract paper of parking lot
(Depending on situation, it is not necessary. If you purchase a car at car auction site and send it to port directly, you will not use parking lot. In that case you do not need to prepare parking lot to acquire the license. )
5 Certificate of residence
(If you are living outside Japan, you will be able to acquire issued by notary public etc. or competent authorities).
6 Certificate that you are qualified person to operate this business (Mibun shomeisho issued by city hall)
7 Resume (past for 5 years)
etc.
8 Administrator in Japan
(If you are not living in Japan, you can not become administrator of this business. So you needs to resident of Japan)
When you apply for this license, government fee of 19,000 yen is necessary.
Even if it is rejected, this money is not returned to you.
Once you can acquire Kobutsu License, you will be able to participate in this car auction by your name.
Appointment of Administrator
In order to obtain Kobutsu Sho Kyoka, you need to appoint administrator, called Kanrisha.
If you establish several offices, you need to prepare administrator in each office.
She should be full time employee of your business and she needs to stay at your office when she is operating second hand goods dealer business.
So if her address is far from office space, it is not feasible to obtain this license.
In the case you sell a vehicle, bike, administrator needs to have necessary business experience.
If you sell a jewelry, the administrator needs to have necessary skill to find fake jewelry.
In order to obtain Kobutsu License, Office space is necessary
You can not use shared office to obtain Second hand goods dealer license.
In the office space, administrator needs to stay always and prepare registry, signboard of Kobutsu Business.
In the office space, you will purchase used item.
So if you use the space only as warehouse or parking or sale, it is not included in Office space.
And even if an address is registered as head office of your company, when it is virtual office, it is not included in Office space.
You need to have a right to use the space as Office space for Kobutsu Business.
If you are renting an office building or own residential apartment, you need to acquire permit from owner of office building or apartment owners association.
In the case of residential apartment, apartment management rule will indicate that residents can not operate business in the apartment.
In that case, you need to obtain permit from apartment management company.
（Depending on local police department, you do not need to such written consent)
Penalty of illegal operation of Secondhand articles dealer business
If you operate Secondhand articles dealer business without permit or operate the business unlawfully, you will be punished by imprisonment with work not exceeding three years or a fine not exceeding one million yen, or both.
For example, you obtain the license by your personal name and operate the business by your company name, it is illegal.
If you allow other person to operate Secondhand Goods Dealer business by your name, it is illegal.
If you do not keep necessary record relating to Secondhand goods business, you will be punished by imprisonment with work not exceeding six months or a fine not exceeding 300,000 yen, or both.
Revocation of Kobutsusho Kyoka
Assumed that you have obtained the license. However you do not operate this business for six months or more.
Or location of Kobutsu Sho Business is not found by authorities for 3 months or more.
In these situation, Kobutusho Kyoka can be revoked by authorities.
If your license is revoked by government, you and your company can not obtain the license within five year again.
According to alternation of law, you needed to submit this paper by end of March 2020.
You need to inform authorities of your main office.
Even if you have license certificate, without submission of this paper, you can not operate Secondhand Goods Dealer Business legally.
So your license can be revoked.
After date of enforcement of Secondhand goods dealer business law, you can obtain from one police department.
For instance, you are going to start Kobutsusho Busness in Tokyo prefecture and Chiba prefecture.
In this case you can choose one main office (assumed Tokyo) and obtain permit from Police department of Tokyo.
And you can file submission to police department in Chiba.
Operation of Kobutsu Business in temporary facility
In the case you receive secondhand goods from ordinary person, you need to receive it at your office or her residence.
However after enforcement of new Kobutsu Sho law, you can receive it at temporary facility as far as you notify it to police department in advance.
Notification of URL
In the case you operate Secondhand Goods Dealer Business using your website, you need to notify URL of the website to Police Department.
When you make website and sale Secondhand Goods, you need to follow this obligation.
Assumed that you make a page in Amazon or Yahoo and sale Secondhand Goods, notification of URL is necessary.
When you submit URL of your website, content of the website should be prepared.
If it is not made completely, you can complete the website and submit URL to police department.
Necessary days to obtain Secondhand Goods Dealer License
In view to obtain Secondhand Goods Dealer License in Japan, you need to prepare several documents and submit them to police department in person.
You can not submit it via internet nor by post.
After submission of documents, it will take about 40 days to obtain the license.
By the way, if you purchase second-hand vehicle and take away vehicle parts from it, you need to obtain Vehicle Dismantler License (Kaitai Gyo Kyoka), too.
Legal Knowledge in management of Second Hand Goods Dealer Business
In the case you purchase a used goods from a person, you need to inspect her driver’s license and confirm her address, name, date of birth and job in person.
If you can not meet with her in person, you need to receive her information via internet etc. and receive her seal certificate by post.
She will write her name, address, date of birth and job on a document and affix her seal on it. And she needs to send the document to you with her seal certificate by post.
Registry = 帳簿.
As for registry, if you can request me, I will send it to you via email.
When you operate your business, you need to make a registry and keep it for 3 years. When you purchase or sell second hand goods, you need to fill in required items in registry.
If you change your address, name etc., you need to inform police station in advance.
When you obtained this license, you receive a license card. At the time you engage in this business, you need to bring the car always.
And in your office, you need to post this signboard.
Secondhand dealer permit and status of residence in Japan
You are thinking of running an antique business in Japan.
Because you have seen things imported from Japan being used in your home country. However, if you are going to run a secondhand goods business, you need to think about your status of residence in Japan.
If you are a company employee and not a highly skilled professional =高度専門職 , you cannot run a second-hand goods business.
With a status of residence of Specialist in Humanities/International Services, Enginner, Dependent Visa, or Student, you can not operate your business.
Even if you run your business under the radar, a customer who buys used goods from you may report you to the immigration authorities. You don’t want to run a business with a ticking time bomb.
In such a case, you will try to find someone to hire you as an employee and you can run your secondhand goods business as an employee.
If you can’t find someone to hire you, you can contact me.
Would your business need a Japanese second-hand goods dealer permit?
Reselling(転売) is a popular side business in Japan.
This is because it is easy to start without any specialized knowledge. Reselling means that you buy something in one place (e.g. Mercari=メルカリ) and sell it in another place (e.g. Amazon) to try to make a profit.
（If you can not sell an item in Amazon owing to strict rule, you can sell it at Mercari）
But depending on what you buy, you may have to get a secondhand dealer licelinse.
You may say, “I only buy new items from individuals, so I don’t need a secondhand dealer permit.
But even if you buy new items from individuals, you may still need to obtain an Secondhand goods Dealer’s Permit.
In the following cases, you do not need to obtain a secondhand dealer license.
1) You buy a computer at an electronics store and sell it on Mercari.
2) You buy a new comic book at a bookstore and sell it on Jimottee (ジモティー).
（You can purchase or sell any kind of items from or to your neighboring persons.）
However, you do need to obtain a secondhand dealer permit in the following cases
Nancy bought a pair of shoes from a local street store for her own use.
However, she sold them to you without opening the box.
Although the shoes are still unused, they are included in the secondhand goods category.
So, if you buy these shoes for your business, you need to obtain an Secondhand Goods Dealer’s Permit.
If an ordinary person buys something for his/her own use, it becomes secondhand goods even if the ordinary person does not use it.
Therefore, if you buy something from a recycle store, you need to obtain a secondhand dealer permit.
This is because recycle stores buy items from the general public.
The illegality of ticket scalping, reselling in Japan
In Japan, it is illegal to resell tickets for events such as concerts or sports games at a higher price than the regular price. It is prohibited by the Ticket Resale Prohibition Act.
Ticket scalping, such as reselling concert tickets at exorbitant prices or buying up tickets for resale, became a social problem. That’s why the Ticket Resale Prohibition Act was created.
Even if you have a secondhand dealer license, you cannot resell event tickets at a higher price than the regular price(定価).
If you resell event tickets at a higher price than the regular price, or buy event tickets for resale at a higher price than the regular price, you may be sentenced to imprisonment for up to one year and/or fined up to one million yen.
If you bought an event ticket but cannot attend due to some reason, you can sell the ticket without violating the Ticket Resale Prohibition Act.
However, even in such cases, be careful not to sell the ticket at a higher price than the regular price, as it will be a violation of the Ticket Resale Prohibition Act.
Tomohiko AKIYAMA
akiyama(a)japan-law-tax.com
