Japan

Identity Verification & KYC For Japan

Q: What are the main identity documents used for KYC in Japan?

In practice, My Number Cards, passports, residence cards, special permanent resident certificates and driver’s licences are the main documents seen in onboarding. Japan’s AML framework expressly recognises several of these as accepted identity evidence.

Q: Can a Japanese passport be used if a customer does not present a My Number Card?

Yes. A passport is a practical fallback document for citizens. Firms should still handle name-format differences carefully, because alternative names can appear in the visual zone but not in the MRZ or chip.

Q: How do you handle name variants in Japan?

Japanese onboarding often mixes kanji, kana and Roman letters. Long vowels and approved non-standard spellings can create multiple legitimate forms of the same name, so matching logic should normalise and compare variants rather than forcing exact text equality.

Q: What usually belongs in a Japan KYB file?

A practical file often starts with a commercial registry extract, representative authority evidence, Corporate Number data, tax registration evidence where relevant, and beneficial owner or shareholder evidence for control review.

Q: Do firms in Japan need domestic screening inputs as well as global sanctions and PEP data?

In practice, yes. Japan-facing AML controls usually need global sanctions and PEP coverage, but also local risk logic, domestic escalation handling, and case evidence that makes sense to Japanese supervisors and auditors.

Q: How are suspicious transaction reports filed in Japan?

Under Article 8 of the Act on Prevention of Transfer of Criminal Proceeds, specified business operators file suspicious transaction reports to competent administrative authorities. JAFIC then collects, arranges and analyses that information. Official guidance describes filing methods including electronic application through e-Gov, alongside other supported submission routes.

Q: Can data stay in Japan?

Yes, Japan has multiple in-country cloud options, including AWS in Tokyo and Osaka, Azure in Japan East and Japan West, Google Cloud in Tokyo and Osaka, and Oracle regions in Tokyo and Osaka.

Q: How long should KYC and AML evidence be retained in Japan?

The APTCP framework requires preservation of customer verification and transaction records for seven years. Firms often align internal retention settings to that baseline, then extend them if sector rules or internal policy require it.

Q: How do you reduce drop-off and retries in Japan onboarding?

Start with the documents customers are most likely to hold, handle Japanese and Roman text together, and route address or residence-status exceptions into clear follow-up steps instead of restarting the whole journey.

Shufti unifies KYC, KYB, and AML controls for Japan in one platform, built for customer due diligence under the Act on Prevention of Transfer of Criminal Proceeds, FSA AML/CFT expectations, JAFIC STR workflows, and APPI data governance.

Operational performance for Japan KYC

Our Numbers Speak Volumes

99.60%

Pass rates

< 5 sec

Verification
Time

11%

EIDV
Verification

Evidence-Ready Checks Across People & Businesses

Individual Documents We Verify

Shufti supports 25 Japanese national document types across remote and assisted onboarding journeys.

View All Supported Documents

My Number Card

A major resident identity document for many domestic onboarding flows. It carries name, address, date of birth, sex, Individual Number, and photo. JPKI is the card’s electronic certificate function, not a separate document.

Japanese Passport

A strong fallback for citizens in remote onboarding. Japan issues IC passports, but alternative surnames and given names may appear only in the visual zone, not in the MRZ or chip.

Residence Card

For mid-to-long-term foreign residents. This is separate from the My Number Card and shows identification details, period of stay, and status of residence.

Driver’s Licence

Widely used photo ID for domestic checks. It remains a practical KYC document, especially where a customer does not present a My Number Card first.

National / Local Tax Payment Receipt

Used as supporting address evidence in exception handling, especially where a current residential address needs corroboration in the customer file.

Social Insurance Premiums

Used as supplementary residence evidence in edge cases where the onboarding file needs additional current-address support.

Business Entity Identity

Certificate Of Registered Matters

Proves legal existence, registered name, address and officers. It is a standard company identity document in Japan and a common starting point for KYB files.

Articles Of Incorporation

Helps evidence the nature of business and legal formation details. FSA AML/CFT guidance also treats notarised articles as a reliable input in beneficial owner verification work.

Certificate Of Seal Impression

Used to support representative authority and corporate authenticity in formal business onboarding and contract execution.

Sector-Specific Licences Or Permits

Where the business activity is regulated, licence or permit evidence can be critical to a defensible KYB file and should sit alongside registry and tax materials.

Representative Authority Evidence

Where the acting person is not clearly authorised from the registry alone, additional authority evidence should be collected to support execution and onboarding controls.

Business Tax Identity

Corporate Number

Japan’s 13-digit Corporate Number helps confirm the legal entity and basic registered data through the National Tax Agency publication site.

Qualified Invoice Issuer Registration Number

Useful for checking consumption tax registration under Japan’s invoice system, in force since 1 October 2023.

Corporate Tax Return Appendix Or Tax Evidence

Often used in enhanced checks where tax presence, operating status, or beneficial owner corroboration needs stronger documentary support.

Ownership & Control (UBO)

Beneficial Ownership Of Legal Persons List

A Legal Affairs Bureau certified list can support beneficial ownership checks for eligible company types and adds a strong domestic evidence source to KYB review.

Shareholder Register

A practical ownership source in Japan. FSA AML/CFT guidance names it as reliable evidence when verifying beneficial owners.

Director And Officer Records

Officer data from the commercial register or annual securities reporting helps confirm control and representation for escalation or EDD review.

Business Activity Or Operating-Status Evidence

For higher-risk files, contracts, financial statements or other activity evidence can help corroborate that the company is operating as claimed.

Languages We Cover

Document Text Handling

Japanese KYC records often mix kanji, kana and Latin script. Shufti supports extraction and review across these formats in one onboarding flow.

Name Matching Controls

Japan name matching is rarely one-to-one. Shufti helps compare kanji, kana, long-vowel, Romanised and passport spelling variants with controlled matching rules.

Evidence Consistency

The same customer may appear in kanji, Roman letters and app input variants. Shufti links these records across steps for a cleaner decision trail.

GOVERNANCE & CONTROLS

Audit-Ready Decisions, Lower Operational Drag

Fewer Avoidable Re-submissions

Design flows around the documents people in Japan actually present first, then catch address mismatches, glare, script differences and missing fields earlier in the journey.

Cleaner Audit Trails

Keep verification evidence, review actions, decision reasons and screening outcomes together, which helps with FSA supervision and Japan’s seven-year AML record preservation duty.

Better Name Matching Outcomes

Handle kanji, kana and Roman-letter variants in a controlled way, including long-vowel and approved alternative passport spellings that often create manual review.

One Workflow, One Back Office

Run KYC, KYB and AML review in one operating view, so teams do not have to rebuild the same case across identity, business and screening systems.

My Number-First Flow Design

Prioritise My Number Card where that fits the customer journey, then route to passports, residence cards or driver’s licences without breaking the evidence chain.

Enterprise-grade compliance infrastructure

Japan IDV/KYC Challenges

Romanised Name Variants Across Documents

Passports, customer input, residence documents and domestic records do not always align the first time. Long vowels, approved alternative spellings and cross-script differences create avoidable exceptions in name matching.

Address Evidence Gaps In Remote Onboarding

In practice, firms may need supplementary address evidence where the current residence differs from the ID record or where a passport cannot establish an address cleanly enough for the onboarding file. That adds friction to remote onboarding and manual review.

Mule-Account And Identity Abuse Pressure

Special-fraud losses remain high, and authorities continue to flag misuse of accounts linked to identity abuse, impersonation and residence-status issues. Front-end checks need to do more before activation.

Fragmented Registry, Tax And Ownership Evidence

Registry data, Corporate Number data, invoice registration data, representative-authority evidence and beneficial-owner materials sit across separate systems. Compliance teams still spend time stitching one defensible file together.

Shufti’s IDV/KYC Solutions for Japan

KYC Solutions

Face Verification

Helps counter impersonation, phishing-led account opening and mule activity in Japan by linking the claimant to the presented identity document before the account or service goes live.

Age Verification

Supports selfie-based age estimation first, with a document verification step when required, using Japanese identity evidence such as My Number Cards, passports or residence cards.

Address Verification

Shufti can verify any address-bearing document, including utility and bank evidence commonly seen in Japan such as TEPCO, Tokyo Gas, NTT East, MUFG, SMBC and Mizuho documents.

Document Verification

Supports key Japanese KYC documents including My Number Cards, passports, residence cards and driver’s licences, while handling Japanese and Latin text, fine print and capture inconsistencies.

KYB Solutions

Business Verification

Checks Japanese business identity using commercial registry evidence, Corporate Number data, qualified invoice registration, and officer or ownership records needed for defensible KYB review.

Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD)

Supports enhanced reviews where source of funds, source of wealth, complex ownership, sanctions exposure or higher-risk country links need structured evidence and a clear audit trail.

AML Screening

Utilise artificial intelligence models and 1700+ sanction and watchlists to identify and prevent money laundering attempts.

Business AML Screening

Screens the legal entity and relevant controllers against domestic and global watchlist expectations, helping firms combine Japan-specific risk handling with wider sanctions, PEP and adverse media controls.

Transaction Screening

Supports ongoing monitoring for patterns that matter in Japan, including mule-linked behaviour, unusual transfers, higher-risk foreign exposure and cases that may need escalation into suspicious transaction review.

REGULATORY ALIGNMENT

Built to Fit Japan's Compliance Landscape

Financial Services Agency

Supervises banks, insurers, securities firms and many fintechs. Shufti helps evidence risk-based CDD, sanctions checks, UBO review and review logic.

Japan Financial Intelligence Center, National Police Agency

Leads Japan’s STR framework. Shufti helps preserve verification records, support suspicious case review and maintain evidence for disciplined reporting.

National Public Safety Commission

Important in Japan’s AML/CFT governance structure through oversight of the National Police Agency and the broader FIU context.

Personal Information Protection Commission

Oversees APPI privacy rules. Shufti supports controlled data handling, purpose-bound workflows and retention settings around KYC, KYB and AML evidence.

Digital Agency

Relevant to Japan’s digital identity environment. Shufti helps support card-led digital identity journeys where My Number Card workflows are in scope.

Japan Agency for Local Authority Information Systems (J-LIS) and JPKI

J-LIS supports the public infrastructure behind My Number Card operations, while JPKI is the card-based public personal authentication service. Shufti helps build card-led identity flows and capture evidence from My Number Card-based digital verification journeys.

Immigration Services Agency

Administers residence status and residence cards. Shufti helps review expiry, status inconsistencies and foreign resident document exceptions in onboarding.

Ministry Of Justice And the Legal Affairs Bureaus

Runs commercial registration and beneficial ownership list processes. Shufti helps organise registry, authority and ownership evidence into one KYB file.

National Tax Agency

Maintains Corporate Number and invoice registration systems. Shufti helps cross-check legal entity identity and tax registration data during onboarding.

Ministry Of Finance

Relevant to Japan’s domestic sanctions and asset-freeze framework, including official economic-sanctions target lists used in Japan-facing screening controls.

Deployment Choice

Available through Japanese cloud regions including AWS, Azure, Google Cloud and Oracle, with deployment design shaped by service configuration, operational needs and APPI governance rather than by a blanket localisation rule.

Regulatory Alignment

Built to support Japan’s APTCP verification, suspicious transaction reporting and seven-year recordkeeping requirements, alongside FSA AML/CFT expectations and APPI governance obligations.

Retention controls

Retention and purge settings can be aligned to Japan’s seven-year preservation requirement for verification and transaction records, plus internal policy.

Encryption posture

Personal and business data handling should sit inside APPI-aligned safeguard governance, with encryption, access control, purpose limitation and cross-border transfer controls applied consistently across the chosen deployment model.

Data Controls & Privacy for Japan

BUILT FOR COMPLIANCE TEAMS

Japan AML Sources That Strengthen Decision

Ministry of Finance, Japan - Economic Sanctions and Target Lists

Japan Financial Services Agency - Illegal Financial Companies

Ministry of Justice

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Ministry of Finance

Public Prosecutors Office

Supreme Court

Ministry of Finance, Japan - Economic Sanctions and Target Lists

Japan Financial Services Agency - Illegal Financial Companies

Ministry of Justice

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Ministry of Finance

Public Prosecutors Office

Supreme Court

Ministry of Finance, Japan - Economic Sanctions and Target Lists

Japan Financial Services Agency - Illegal Financial Companies

Ministry of Justice

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Ministry of Finance

Public Prosecutors Office

Supreme Court

Ministry of Finance, Japan - Economic Sanctions and Target Lists

Japan Financial Services Agency - Illegal Financial Companies

Ministry of Justice

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the main identity documents used for KYC in Japan?

In practice, My Number Cards, passports, residence cards, special permanent resident certificates and driver’s licences are the main documents seen in onboarding. Japan’s AML framework expressly recognises several of these as accepted identity evidence.

Can a Japanese passport be used if a customer does not present a My Number Card?

Yes. A passport is a practical fallback document for citizens. Firms should still handle name-format differences carefully, because alternative names can appear in the visual zone but not in the MRZ or chip.

How do you handle name variants in Japan?

Japanese onboarding often mixes kanji, kana and Roman letters. Long vowels and approved non-standard spellings can create multiple legitimate forms of the same name, so matching logic should normalise and compare variants rather than forcing exact text equality.

What usually belongs in a Japan KYB file?

A practical file often starts with a commercial registry extract, representative authority evidence, Corporate Number data, tax registration evidence where relevant, and beneficial owner or shareholder evidence for control review.

Do firms in Japan need domestic screening inputs as well as global sanctions and PEP data?

In practice, yes. Japan-facing AML controls usually need global sanctions and PEP coverage, but also local risk logic, domestic escalation handling, and case evidence that makes sense to Japanese supervisors and auditors.

How are suspicious transaction reports filed in Japan?

Under Article 8 of the Act on Prevention of Transfer of Criminal Proceeds, specified business operators file suspicious transaction reports to competent administrative authorities. JAFIC then collects, arranges and analyses that information. Official guidance describes filing methods including electronic application through e-Gov, alongside other supported submission routes.

Can data stay in Japan?

Yes, Japan has multiple in-country cloud options, including AWS in Tokyo and Osaka, Azure in Japan East and Japan West, Google Cloud in Tokyo and Osaka, and Oracle regions in Tokyo and Osaka.

How long should KYC and AML evidence be retained in Japan?

The APTCP framework requires preservation of customer verification and transaction records for seven years. Firms often align internal retention settings to that baseline, then extend them if sector rules or internal policy require it.

How do you reduce drop-off and retries in Japan onboarding?

Start with the documents customers are most likely to hold, handle Japanese and Roman text together, and route address or residence-status exceptions into clear follow-up steps instead of restarting the whole journey.

Build a Japan-ready KYC, KYB & AML programme with Shufti

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PROVEN WORKFLOWS

Use Cases for Regulated Growth in Japan

Fintech

Forex

Banking

Gaming

Gig Economy

Crypto

Marketplace

Fintech

Forex

Banking

Gaming

Gig Economy

Crypto

Marketplace

Fintech

Forex

Banking

Gaming

Gig Economy

Crypto

Marketplace

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