How to Sell Japanese Property From Abroad Without a Seal Certificate

This article is part of Zagdim’s guide to selling property in Japan, for owners who hold Japanese real estate but live outside Japan and do not plan to fly there just to complete the sale. It covers how to handle the signing required for the transfer registration, and how to arrange a tax agent and a domestic contact person in Japan. For the full selling process, see Zagdim’s main guide to selling property in Japan as a foreigner.

Why the Seal Certificate Becomes a Problem From Abroad

When registering a property transfer in Japan, the seller is normally required to attach a seal certificate (inkan shomei), which proves that the seal stamped on the documents belongs to that person. Sellers living abroad do not have a registered seal in Japan, so they need something else. Two documents that come up often, the signature certificate and the certificate of residence, are issued by Japanese diplomatic missions abroad, but only to applicants who hold Japanese nationality. Non-Japanese sellers cannot apply for either one through that route, and going to the wrong office wastes a trip.

The Short Answer

Yes, you can sell from abroad while living overseas. For a non-Japanese seller, the usual approach is: the judicial scrivener (shiho shoshi) drafts an affidavit in advance, you sign it in front of a local notary where you live and have it notarized, and the original is mailed back to Japan to stand in for the seal certificate. Proof of address can be handled the same way. On the tax side, you need to appoint a tax agent (nozei kanrinin) who resides in Japan; if you are also changing your registered address to an overseas address, you need to deal with the domestic contact person requirement at the same time.

What Replaces the Seal Certificate

According to Japan’s Ministry of Justice, when someone living abroad cannot obtain a seal certificate, they may instead submit a signature certificate issued by a Japanese consulate. Where a consulate is too far away or in similar situations, a signature certificate prepared by a local notary can also be used.

For non-Japanese sellers, that first route does not work. Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs states explicitly that the signature certificates issued at Japanese diplomatic missions are only accepted for applicants who hold Japanese nationality; foreign nationals must go through a local notary instead. The certificate of residence works the same way: it is issued to Japanese nationals abroad. For Taiwan specifically, the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association, which handles this kind of certification given the absence of formal diplomatic relations, requires that an applicant have already filed a “notification of residence” locally before it will issue the certificate.

So in practice, the document that does the work is the affidavit. The process, as laid out by Japan’s Real Estate Transaction Promotion Center, is:

1. The judicial scrivener drafts it. The scrivener handling the registration prepares the affidavit in advance; it can also include the matters covered by the registration mandate.
2. It is mailed to you. The document is sent to your address overseas.
3. You sign it in front of a local notary. You find a notary where you live and have the document notarized, following the instructions of the scrivener handling the case.
4. The original is mailed back to Japan. It is submitted with the registration application in place of the seal certificate.

If you happen to be in Japan at the time, a signature certificate issued by your home country’s embassy or similar mission in Japan can also substitute for the seal certificate. However, it remains unconfirmed which office a given seller’s home country assigns this function to, or whether that office accepts such requests at all.

Proving Your Address

The transfer also requires proof of your address. Foreign nationals living abroad can use either an official certificate of address issued by their country of residence, or an address affidavit notarized by a local notary.

If the address on the property register differs from your current address (for example, you lived in Japan when you bought the property and later moved back to your home country), you also need to document the change of address. Sellers living abroad can write up the history of the address change and have a notary certify it as an affidavit. It can be useful to ask the scrivener how to coordinate the address-change registration with the transfer before the sale.

Separately, starting April 1, 2026, registering an address change becomes mandatory: the change must be registered within two years of taking effect, and any change made before April 1, 2026 must be registered by March 31, 2028; failing to do so can result in a fine of up to JPY 50,000. The mechanism that lets the Legal Affairs Bureau update an address automatically from the resident registry network does not apply to people living abroad, so if you live overseas you need to apply yourself.

What Is the Domestic Contact Person, and When Do You Need One?

Starting April 1, 2024, when someone living abroad registers as a property owner, they must provide the details of a “domestic contact person” in Japan, or declare that they do not have one. This requirement is mainly aimed at buyers, but sellers can be affected too: if you are changing your registered address from a Japanese address to an overseas one, or from one overseas address to another, and you have not yet registered a domestic contact person, you need to provide one (or declare that you have none) as part of that address-change registration.

The domestic contact person can be an individual or a corporate entity, such as a real estate agent or a judicial scrivener.

How to Appoint a Tax Agent

If the sale produces a gain, you need to file a final tax return (kakutei shinkoku) between February 16 and March 15 of the following year. Anyone without a residence or domicile in Japan needs to appoint a tax agent to handle the filing and related tax matters:

• Who can serve: Someone who resides in Japan, such as a relative or a licensed tax accountant (zeirishi).
• How to appoint one: File a notification of appointment with the tax office that has jurisdiction over your place of tax payment. This can be done through e-Tax, or in person or by mail.
• When to do it: Once you have decided on a person, or before you leave Japan.
• What happens if you don’t: If the tax authority asks you to appoint one and you still have not done so, it can designate a tax agent for you.

It is advisable to decide on a tax agent before signing the sale contract, since the 10.21% withheld by the buyer can only be recovered by filing a return. For how the tax itself is calculated, see Zagdim’s guide to how much tax you pay when selling property in Japan.

Which option makes sense depends on whether you have a relative in Japan who can take this on, and whether you also need to handle an address change at the same time.

Questions to Ask Your Judicial Scrivener

The following points were not clearly documented in the sources checked and remain unconfirmed; follow whatever your handling scrivener requires:

• Whether a notarized document from Hong Kong needs an additional Hague apostille, or whether a notarized document from Taiwan needs some other form of authentication.
• Whether foreign-language documents need an accompanying Japanese translation.
• Signing the sale contract and receiving payment can be done in person by mail, or delegated to an agent through a separate power of attorney; this is a different matter from the registration mandate given to the scrivener, and whether that power of attorney needs to be notarized depends on what the scrivener and the agent require.

What Comes Next

Once you have settled how you will sign, the next step is preparing the documents needed for the transfer and the tax filing; see Zagdim’s document checklist before selling property in Japan. For how to repatriate the sale proceeds once you receive them, see Zagdim’s guide to repatriating sale proceeds from Japan. For the full process, see the main guide to selling property in Japan as a foreigner.

FAQ: Selling Property in Japan From Abroad

Can a seller apply for a signature certificate at a Japanese consulate to sell property in Japan?

Not if you are not a Japanese national. Signature certificates issued by Japanese diplomatic missions are only accepted for applicants with Japanese nationality; non-Japanese sellers need to go through a local notary instead. The usual approach is for the judicial scrivener to draft an affidavit in advance, which you then have notarized locally and mail back to Japan.

If the owner lives abroad, who can serve as the tax agent in Japan?

The tax agent must reside in Japan, such as a relative or a licensed tax accountant. After appointment, you file a notification with the tax office that has jurisdiction over your place of tax payment, either through e-Tax or on paper.

Do you always need a domestic contact person to sell property in Japan?

The domestic contact person requirement is mainly triggered when someone living abroad registers as a new property owner. As a seller, you only need to provide one (or declare you have none) if you are changing your registered address to or between overseas addresses and have not already registered a domestic contact person.

Glossary

• Seal certificate (inkan shomei): A document certifying that a registered seal belongs to the person using it.
• Signature certificate (shomei shomei): A certificate issued by a Japanese diplomatic mission to Japanese nationals abroad, used in place of a seal certificate.
• Certificate of residence (zairyu shomei): A certificate of address issued by a Japanese diplomatic mission to Japanese nationals abroad.
• Affidavit (sensei kyojutsusho): A document in which the signer swears to the truth of its contents before a notary, who certifies the signature.
• Judicial scrivener (shiho shoshi): A licensed professional who handles real estate registration procedures.
• Domestic contact person (kokunai renrakusaki to naru mono): A Japan-based point of contact registered when someone living abroad is registered as a property owner.
• Tax agent (nozei kanrinin): A person who handles tax matters on behalf of someone who does not reside in Japan; the agent must reside in Japan.

Sources Note

This article is Zagdim research. The statutory provisions have been checked against the primary legal text (Verified by Zagdim); market practice is noted separately. Data was checked as of October 9, 2026. The rules on alternatives to the signature certificate follow the Ministry of Justice page; eligibility requirements for the signature certificate follow the Ministry of Foreign Affairs page (unreachable on October 9, 2026; a cached copy from September 30 was used instead); the certificate of residence follows the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association page; the address-change obligation and the domestic contact person requirement follow Ministry of Justice pages; the tax agent rules follow National Tax Agency guidance and Article 117 of the Act on General Rules for National Taxes. The affidavit procedure, the address-proof route, and the route of using a signature certificate from a diplomatic mission in Japan are based on Ministry of Justice precedent as compiled by the Real Estate Transaction Promotion Center, together with industry sources, and reflect market practice rather than statute. The following points remain unconfirmed: whether a seller’s home-country mission in Japan issues signature certificates, whether Hague apostille or other authentication is required, whether a Japanese translation is required, and the form required for a power of attorney for the sale contract.

Have a question about this guide? Leave a comment below, or ask Zagdim directly.

References

Ministry of Justice (MOJ) — 外国に居住しているため印鑑証明書を取得することができない場合の取扱い — https://www.moj.go.jp/MINJI/minji05_00346.html
Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) — 在外公館における証明 — https://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/toko/page22_000554.html
Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association — 各種証明 — https://www.koryu.or.jp/consul/proof/
Real Estate Transaction Promotion Center (RETPC) — 外国人売主の印鑑証明書等の代替 — https://www.retpc.jp/archives/16781/
Plaza Homes — Selling property in Japan as a foreigner — https://www.realestate-tokyo.com/news/selling-property-in-japan-as-a-foreigner/
Ministry of Justice (MOJ) — 住所等変更登記の義務化について — https://www.moj.go.jp/MINJI/minji05_00693.html
Ministry of Justice (MOJ) — 検索用情報の申出について — https://www.moj.go.jp/MINJI/minji05_00678.html
Ministry of Justice (MOJ) — 令和6年4月1日以降にする所有権に関する登記の申請について — https://www.moj.go.jp/MINJI/minji05_00589.html
National Tax Agency (NTA) — A1-7 納税管理人の選任届出手続 — https://www.nta.go.jp/taxes/tetsuzuki/shinsei/annai/shinkoku/annai/07.htm
e-Gov — 国税通則法 第117条 — https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/law/337AC0000000066
National Tax Agency (NTA) — No.12014 Real estate income of non-residents — https://www.nta.go.jp/english/taxes/individual/12014.htm
National Tax Agency (NTA) — When You Purchase/Sell Real Estate Located in Japan — https://www.nta.go.jp/about/organization/sapporo/hikyoju_gaikoku/pdf/02.pdf

Important Notice

This article is a general information summary and does not constitute individual legal or tax advice. Data was checked as of October 9, 2026. Registration and notarization requirements may change; follow the current requirements of the Legal Affairs Bureau, the tax office, and the judicial scrivener handling your case.