The Legal Affairs Bureau (法務局) examines every officer appointment in your company registration application. If a proposed director does not meet the eligibility criteria under the Companies Act (会社法), your application is rejected. You then need to find a replacement, amend your articles of incorporation, and re-file — losing days or weeks.
The eligibility rules are not complicated, but they are specific. Article 331 of the Companies Act lists disqualification grounds for KK directors. Article 598 addresses GK managing members. Article 335 adds restrictions for auditors. Missing any of these provisions can derail your timeline.
Checking eligibility takes minutes. Recovering from a rejected registration takes much longer.
MmowW Scribe's Director Eligibility Checker walks you through the statutory requirements as a series of clear questions. You do not need to read the Companies Act yourself — the tool translates the legal provisions into plain language.
Choose KK or GK. The eligibility rules differ between entity types, and the tool applies the correct provisions automatically.
Select the role: director (取締役), representative director (代表取締役), auditor (監査役), or accounting advisor (会計参与). Each role has specific eligibility requirements.
The tool asks a series of yes/no questions based on the statutory disqualification grounds. For example:
The tool provides one of three results:
Repeat the process for each proposed officer. A KK requires at least one director. If your articles of incorporation provide for a board of directors, you need three or more directors plus at least one auditor.
Use our free tool to check your compliance instantly.
Try it free →Three co-founders forming a KK with a board of directors: Each founder needs to pass the eligibility check independently. The tool screens all three in sequence. One founder discloses a prior corporate law violation — the checker identifies the applicable waiting period and determines whether it has elapsed.
Solo founder appointing themselves as sole director and representative director: For a KK without a board of directors, one person can serve as both director and representative director. The checker confirms there is no conflict-of-interest issue in this arrangement under the Companies Act.
Company appointing an auditor who is also a director at another company: The checker confirms that serving as a director at a different company does not disqualify someone from being an auditor. However, it flags that the auditor cannot simultaneously be a director, manager, or employee of the appointing company itself (Article 335(2)).
Q: How long does the eligibility check take?
A: Typically 2-3 minutes per officer. The questions are straightforward yes/no responses.
Q: Does the tool check for conflicts of interest between officers?
A: The tool screens each officer individually against the statutory disqualification grounds. Conflicts of interest between officers (such as competitive business restrictions under Article 356) are governance matters addressed separately in MmowW Scribe's SaaS guidance.
Q: What if I am unsure about the answer to a screening question?
A: If you cannot answer a question with certainty, the tool recommends professional consultation. It is better to seek clarity before filing than to risk a rejected registration.
Screen your directors in minutes — not days:
Use the Director Eligibility Checker →
Directors confirmed. Now file with confidence. MmowW Scribe covers every subsequent step — articles of incorporation, seal registration, and submission to the Legal Affairs Bureau.
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