Atotsugi — Sample issue
Issue 0 (sample) · Compiled 29 September 2026 · Source: public listings by the Hyogo Business Succession and Handover Support Center (兵庫県事業承継・引継ぎ支援センター), a government-run succession center.
What this is. A weekly English summary of small Japanese businesses whose owners are looking for a successor. Every item comes from a listing a government-run succession center has made public, and links back to it. We add three notes the Japanese listings don’t give you: whether a foreign buyer can own or run the business, how it lines up with the Business Manager visa, and what the seller has asked for.
Only listings marked open by the center are included. We are not a broker: contact the center directly.
How to read the notes
| Note | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Ownership ✅ / ⚠️ / ❌ | ✅ possible, ⚠️ check needed (for example a licence or FEFTA filing), ❌ not possible for a foreign buyer. |
| Visa fit High / Medium / Low | How well the business lines up with the Business Manager visa rules after the October 2025 revision (¥30M capital, one full-time employee, plus language, experience and business-plan checks). Not an assessment of your case. Residents with unrestricted work status can ignore it. |
| Seller conditions | What the seller wrote. Listings don’t say whether a foreign buyer is welcome; that has to be asked. |
This week’s listings
1. Kappo restaurant with land & building — Kobe
Hyogo 26-200 · Open · Restaurant (kappo / small Japanese restaurant)
- Location: Kobe · Staff: 2 or fewer · Revenue: not stated · Operating profit: not stated
- Asking price: ¥38M, including the real estate and all fixtures and equipment
- Highlights (as posted): long-running local Japanese restaurant known for live-prepared fish, seasonal dishes and a wide range of local sake. Shop with living quarters: 2-storey heavy-steel-frame building on about 20 tsubo (66 m²) of land.
- Ownership: ✅ No foreign-ownership restriction identified. Foreign buyers can generally buy real estate in Japan.
- Visa fit: Medium. No full-time employee today; the buyer must hire one.
- Seller conditions: a single asset sale (real estate plus fixtures and equipment). Open to handing over recipes and suppliers, and to training the buyer.
- Original listing: hyogo-hikitsugi.go.jp/transfer (search for 兵庫26-200)
2. Eyeglasses & hearing-aid shop — Awaji Island
Hyogo 26-061 · Open · Retail
- Location: Awaji Island · Staff: 2 or fewer · Revenue: ¥10–20M · Operating profit: ¥3–10M
- Asking price: not stated
- Highlights (as posted): competitors have left the area, leaving the shop as one of the few remaining. Customers transfer with the business, and the owner can pass on the technical skills.
- Ownership: ⚠️ No foreign-ownership restriction identified, but selling hearing aids requires a notification as a medical-device retailer and a qualified store manager. Check whether the current manager will stay.
- Visa fit: Low. A small business with no full-time staff to take over. Better suited to a buyer already living in Japan with unrestricted work status.
- Seller conditions: not stated.
- Original listing: hyogo-hikitsugi.go.jp/transfer (search for 兵庫26-061)
3. Bakery café, 10+ years — Hanshin area
Hyogo 26-087 · Open · Restaurant (bakery café)
- Location: Hanshin area (between Osaka and Kobe) · Staff: 3–5 · Revenue: ¥20–50M · Operating profit: under ¥3M · Net assets: ¥3–10M
- Asking price: negotiable, decided with the buyer based on its proposal and synergies
- Deal structure: a single transfer of the shop interior, kitchen equipment, brand and recipes
- Highlights (as posted): a well-known bakery café with deep local roots, operating for more than 10 years in a good location in the Hanshin area.
- Ownership: ✅ No foreign-ownership restriction identified.
- Visa fit: Medium. Staff are in place, but the seller prefers a corporate buyer (see below), and the ¥30M capital would come from the buyer.
- Seller conditions: corporate buyers preferred. The chef can provide technical training.
- Original listing: hyogo-hikitsugi.go.jp/transfer (search for 兵庫26-087)
4. Hand-made soba restaurant, about 30 years — East Harima
Hyogo 26-034 · Open · Restaurant (hand-made soba)
- Location: East Harima district · Staff: 3–5 · Revenue: ¥10–20M · Operating profit: ¥3–10M
- Asking price: not stated
- Highlights (as posted): a well-known shop founded about 30 years ago with many regulars. Customer numbers held at 97% of the previous year during COVID.
- Ownership: ✅ No foreign-ownership restriction identified.
- Visa fit: Medium. The seller wants the veteran staff kept on, which could help with the full-time employee rule if they qualify.
- Seller conditions: keep the current menu and keep employing the veteran staff.
- Original listing: hyogo-hikitsugi.go.jp/transfer (search for 兵庫26-034)
5. Restaurant bar, 50 years — southeast Hyogo
Hyogo 26-048 · Open · Restaurant
- Location: southeast Hyogo · Staff: 3–5 · Revenue: ¥10–20M · Operating profit: under ¥3M · Net assets: under ¥3M
- Asking price: not stated
- Highlights (as posted): a long-established, community-rooted restaurant bar founded 50 years ago. The owner is retiring because of age.
- Ownership: ✅ No foreign-ownership restriction identified. Serving alcohol late at night can require a separate notification to the police; check the current opening hours.
- Visa fit: Low. Staff are in place, but a small operating profit makes a ¥30M-capital business plan hard to justify.
- Seller conditions: the shop lease can be taken over, and the center’s hands-on support can continue with the new owner.
- Original listing: hyogo-hikitsugi.go.jp/transfer (search for 兵庫26-048)
Skipped this week
- Hyogo 26-249 — Real-estate brokerage, southern Hyogo: already in negotiation, so not open to new buyers. It would also need a licensed real-estate transaction agent (takken-shi).
- Hyogo 26-013 — Bread manufacturing and wholesale, North Harima: revenue, profit and terms are not stated, which is too little to write a useful brief.
Before you contact anyone
- Ask the center whether the seller will consider a foreign buyer. Listings don’t say.
- If you live outside Japan, buying shares in a Japanese company can be an inward direct investment under FEFTA, which may need prior notification or a post-deal report depending on the sector.
- Buying a business does not grant a visa. Check the Business Manager requirements (October 2025 revision) with a licensed immigration specialist (gyoseishoshi).
- Treat asking prices as starting points. A low price can still come with debts, leases, equipment to replace or personal guarantees.
Facts are as posted by the source center; figures are the ranges it publishes.
Information only. Not legal, tax, investment or immigration advice.
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