The main difference between a limited liability company (Godo Kaisha) and a joint stock company (Kabushiki Kaisha) is the difference in the way the organization of the corporation is formed and the way capital is invested.

In terms of business, there is not much difference regardless of which type of company is established.

Also, there is no advantage in obtaining a visa for either of them.

Although the establishment and maintenance costs of a limited liability company (Godo Kaisha) are lower than those of a joint stock company (Kabushiki Kaisha), there is no doubt that a joint stock company (Kabushiki Kaisha) is still more well-known.

However, the number of people who choose to form a limited liability company is on the rise as the name recognition of limited liability companies has been increasing recently.

When many people rather than one person invest in a limited liability company, a joint stock company is more suitable because it is easier to grant voting rights in proportion to the investment ratio and to distribute profits in proportion to the investment ratio.

Note that a limited liability company (Godo Kaisha) is sometimes abbreviated as an LLC (*). Unlike LLCs in the U.S., Japanese LLCs are not subject to pass-through taxation, and judging an LLC by its name alone may result in tax treatment that differs from the taxation system the promoter had in mind.

If you have a vision of going public and increasing the size of your company in the future, please be aware that a Godo Kaisha cannot go on the market.