When incorporating a company, it is required under the Companies Act to specify the location of its head office in the Articles of Incorporation. Accordingly, it is necessary to designate an address within Japan as the registered head office at the time of incorporation.

It is not required that the registered head office be a physical office actually used for business operations. It is permissible to use the address of a virtual office or a rental office, and it is also possible to temporarily use the residential address of a director or other person as the head office.

On the other hand, in the case of establishing a Branch Office in Japan (a Japan branch of a foreign company), it is possible to register a Representative in Japan without setting up an actual place of business (office) or virtual office.

However, for practical purposes such as opening a corporate bank account or completing administrative procedures, the presence of a physical office—such as exclusive premises and resident personnel—may be required. Therefore, securing an appropriate address is indispensable in practice.