How to expand to Amazon Japan: importer of record, consumption tax and FBA

Can you sell on Amazon Japan from the US?

Yes. Amazon says a business outside Japan may not need to form a Japanese company. With a US Professional account you add Japan from the Sell Globally dashboard. Linked accounts pay the lower of about USD 39.99 a month or the combined plan fees of regions with active listings.

Who is the importer of record for FBA Japan?

Not Amazon. Seller Central guidance says neither Amazon nor its fulfillment centers will be importer of record for FBA inventory; a shipment naming Amazon as importer is refused and returned at the shipper's cost. Every shipment must be Delivered Duty Paid.

Japan Customs requires a non-resident importer to designate a Customs Procedure Agent with an address in Japan, notified in advance on Form C-7500. If the agent is not a licensed customs broker, a broker files the declaration. Common setups are an IOR or customs-agent service, a Japanese subsidiary or distributor that imports itself, or a 3PL that clears customs and ships to Amazon as a domestic inbound.

Import consumption tax is 10% of the CIF value (cost, insurance, freight) plus duty, or 8% for reduced-rate items.

Which product rules apply?

Amazon makes you responsible for imported goods meeting Japanese law, and some categories need a Japanese party first:

• Electrical goods: the importer notifies METI, confirms conformity, self-inspects and applies the PSE label before sale; Specified Electrical Appliances also need a registered body's conformity assessment. Since 25 December 2025, an overseas seller with no Japanese importer files the notification itself and appoints a domestic supervisor in Japan.
• Wireless devices: home Wi-Fi gear and similar low-power radio equipment is license-free only with the Technical Conformity Mark.
• Medical devices, cosmetics and quasi-drugs: PMDA directs PMD Act procedures to a Marketing Authorization Holder in Japan.

How does consumption tax work for foreign sellers?

The NTA treats a sale of goods as made in Japan when the goods are there at the time of sale, so FBA stock in Japan produces taxable domestic sales. The Ministry of Finance notes that under current law the seller, not Amazon, owes that tax.

• A company is generally exempt for a period if taxable sales in its base period, the second preceding business year, were ¥10 million or less.
• From periods starting 1 October 2024, a foreign company is treated as having no base period in its first two years of selling in Japan, so capital of ¥10 million or more makes it taxable from the start. So does more than 50% control by a shareholder if it or one of its related companies has over ¥5 billion in worldwide revenue or ¥500 million of Japanese taxable sales. Nor can it use payroll in the specified-period test.
• Without a permanent establishment in Japan, a foreign business cannot use simplified taxation or the 20% transitional method.
• A company with no office in Japan must name a resident tax agent, and a registered invoice issuer files returns even under ¥10 million.

Plan for 1 April 2028. Under the FY2026 reform, a designated platform (over ¥5 billion a year in qualifying sales) owes the tax on goods foreign businesses sell in Japan through it. If Amazon.co.jp is designated, it owes that tax instead of you.

Do you need to register for the qualified invoice system?

Since 1 October 2023, business buyers take full input credit only with a qualified invoice from a registered issuer, numbered T plus 13 digits. Enter the number in Seller Central's tax settings and Amazon issues qualified invoices for you. Amazon Business customers can see which sellers are registered, and Amazon warns they may switch to them.

The NTA's schedule for credits on purchases from unregistered sellers:

Purchase date	Buyer's credit
1 Oct 2023 to 30 Sep 2026	80%
1 Oct 2026 to 30 Sep 2028	70%
1 Oct 2028 to 30 Sep 2030	50%
1 Oct 2030 to 30 Sep 2031	30%

From periods starting 1 October 2026, purchases above ¥100 million a year from one unregistered supplier get no transitional credit. Registering adds filing work; weigh it against your business sales.

What does selling on Amazon Japan cost?

• Professional plan: ¥4,900 a month before tax.
• Referral fee: a category percentage of the total sale (price, shipping, gift wrap and the customer's tax), with a ¥30 minimum in most categories, listed before tax.
• FBA fulfillment: per unit by size, 10% tax included. The small tier (up to 25 × 18 × 2.0 cm and 250 g) is ¥288, or ¥222 for items priced ¥1,000 or less.
• FBA storage: by daily average volume.

Add freight, IOR fees, duty and import tax before you set a yen price.

Shipping from the US with Fulfilled by Merchant makes the buyer the importer, and shipments with a total customs value of ¥10,000 or less are free of duty and consumption tax, except items such as leather bags and knitted apparel. Product rules still apply, including the domestic supervisor for PSE goods. From 1 April 2028, items priced ¥10,000 or less each before tax (separately charged shipping excluded), mail-ordered from abroad, are taxed when sold: a designated platform owes the tax on sales through it, otherwise the seller does unless it is under the ¥10 million threshold.

How does Growth OS run Amazon Japan alongside your other stores?

Growth OS is deployed on your own Amazon.co.jp account. For Japan we configure or build:

1. Yen pricing. Price floors from landed cost and fees, checked against your contribution margin target.
2. Japanese listings. AI listing agents, as in Grow8, draft Japanese titles, bullets and search terms for a native reviewer (AI-ready listings).
3. Replenishment. Reorder points that include freight, clearance and IOR prep time.
4. Tax data. Reports splitting yen sales by the 10% and 8% rates for your tax agent, flagging SKUs with no rate.
5. Margin-aware ads. Bids that follow Japanese margins, the approach behind Amazify.

We have built on Amazon's seller APIs since 2017 and shipped integrations for 20+ marketplaces. Custom Japan modules are yours; the Growth OS base is licensed to you.

Where should you start?

First check whether your operation can carry longer lead times, a second currency and a second tax regime. The free Quick Scan in our Ops Gap Diagnostic finds your top three Amazon operations gaps; the paid Deep Diagnostic adds country opportunities such as Japan. Or start with Growth OS.