Жапон құқығы бойынша акционерлік қоғам

Company with limited liability established under Japanese law

A or kabushiki kaisha, commonly abbreviated K. K. or KK, is a type of company defined under the Companies Act of Japan. The term is often translated as "stock company", "joint stock company" or "stock corporation". The term kabushiki gaisha in Japan refers to any joint stock company regardless of country of origin or incorporation; however, outside Japan the term refers specifically to joint stock companies incorporated in Japan.

In Latin script, kabushiki kaisha, with a , is often used, but the original Japanese pronunciation is kabushiki gaisha, with a , owing to rendaku. A kabushiki gaisha must include "株式会社" in its name (Article 6, paragraph 2 of the Companies Act). In a company name, "株式会社" can be used as a prefix (e. g. , kabushiki gaisha Dentsū, a style called 前株, mae kabu) or as a suffix (e. g. , Toyota Jidōsha kabushiki gaisha, a style called 後株, ato kabu). Many Japanese companies translate the phrase "株式会社" in their name as "Company, Limited"—this is very often abbreviated as "Co., Ltd."—but others use the more Americanized translations "Corporation" or "Incorporated". Texts in England often refer to kabushiki gaisha as "joint stock companies". While that is close to a literal translation of the term, the two are not precisely the same. The Japanese government once endorsed "business corporation" as an official translation but now uses more literal translation "stock company." Japanese often abbreviate "株式会社" in a company name on signage (including the sides of their vehicles) to 株 in parentheses, as, for example, "ABC㈱." The full, formal name would then be "ABC株式会社". 株式会社 is also combined into one Unicode character at code point , while the parenthesized form can also be represented with a single character, as well as parentheses around and its romanization These forms, however, only exist for backward compatibility with older Japanese character encodings and Unicode and should be avoided when possible in new text. Rules regarding kabushiki gaisha were set out in the Commercial Code of Japan, and was originally based on laws regulating German Aktiengesellschaft (which also means share company). However, during the United States led Allied Occupation of Japan following World War II, the occupation authorities introduced revisions to the Commercial Code based on the Illinois Business Corporation Act of 1933, giving kabushiki gaisha many traits of American corporations, and to be more exact, Illinois corporations. Over time, Japanese and U. S. corporate law diverged, and K. K. assumed many characteristics not found in U. S. corporations. For instance, a K. K. could not repurchase its own stock (a restriction lifted by the amendment of the Commercial Code in 2001), issue stock for a price of less than ¥50,000 per share (effective 1982 2003), or operate with paid in capital of less than ¥10 million (effective 1991–2005). On June 29, 2005, the Diet of Japan passed a new Companies Act (会社法), which took effect on May 1, 2006.

In a direct incorporation, each incorporator receives a specified amount of stock as designated in the articles of incorporation. Each incorporator must then promptly pay its share of the starting capital of the company, and if no directors have been designated in the articles of incorporation, meet to determine the initial directors and other officers. The other method is an "incorporation by offering," in which each incorporator becomes the stock underwriter of a specified number of shares (at least one each), and the other shares are offered to other investors. As in a direct incorporation, the incorporators must then hold an organizational meeting to appoint the initial directors and other officers. Any person wishing to receive shares must submit an application to the incorporator, and then make payment for his or her shares by a date specified by the incorporator(s). Capital must be received in a commercial bank account designated by the incorporator(s), and the bank must provide certification that payment has been made. Once the capital has been received and certified, the incorporation may be registered at the Legal Affairs Bureau.

Under present law, a K. K. must have a board of directors (取締役会) consisting of at least three individuals. Directors have a statutory term of office of two years, and auditors have a term of four years. Small companies can exist with only one or two directors, with no statutory term of office, and without a board of directors (取締役会非設置会社). In such companies, decisions are made via shareholder meeting and the decision making power of the directors is relatively limited. As soon as a third director is designated such companies must form a board. At least one director is designated as a Representative Director (Japan) (Representative Director), holds the corporate seal and is empowered to represent the company in transactions. The Representative Director must "report" to the board of directors every three months; the exact meaning of this statutory provision is unclear, but some legal scholars interpret it to mean that the board must meet every three months. In 2015, the requirement that at least one director and one Representative Director must be a resident of Japan was changed. It is not required to have a resident Representative Director although it can be convenient to do so. Directors are mandatories (agents) of the shareholders, and the Representative Director is a mandatory of the board. Any action outside of these mandates is considered a breach of mandatory duty.

Every K. K. with multiple directors must have at least one statutory auditor (監査役). Statutory auditors report to the shareholders, and are empowered to demand financial and operational reports from the directors. K. K. s with capital of over ¥500m, liabilities of over ¥2bn and/or publicly traded securities are required to have three statutory auditors, and must also have an annual audit performed by an outside CPA. Public K. K. s must also file securities law reports with the Ministry of Finance. Under the new Company Law, public and other non close K. K. s may either have a statutory auditor, or a nominating committee (指名委員会), auditing committee (監査委員会) and compensation committee (報酬委員会) structure similar to that of American public corporations. If the company has an auditing committee, it is referred to as a statutory auditor (company with a board of statutory auditors). Close K. K. s may also have a single person serving as director and statutory auditor, regardless of capital or liabilities. A statutory auditor may be any person who is not an employee or director of the company. In practice, the position is often filled by a very senior employee close to retirement, or by an outside attorney or accountant.

Japanese law does not designate any corporate officer positions. Most Japanese owned kabushiki gaisha do not have "officers" per se, but are directly managed by the directors, one of whom generally has the title of president (社長). The Japanese equivalent of a corporate vice president is a department chief (部長). Traditionally, under the lifetime employment system, directors and department chiefs begin their careers as line employees of the company and work their way up the management hierarchy over time. This is not the case in most foreign owned companies in Japan, and some native companies have also abandoned this system in recent years in favor of encouraging more lateral movement in management. Corporate officers often have the legal title of shihainin, which makes them authorized representatives of the corporation at a particular place of business, in addition to a common use title.

Kabushiki gaisha are subject to double taxation of profits and dividends, as are corporations in most countries. In contrast to many other countries, however, Japan also levies double taxes on close corporations (yugen gaisha and gōdō gaisha). This makes taxation a minor issue when deciding how to structure a business in Japan. As all publicly traded companies follow the K. K. structure, smaller businesses often choose to incorporate as a K. K. simply to appear more prestigious. In addition to income taxes, K. K. s must also pay registration taxes to the national government and may be subject to local taxes.

Generally, the power to bring actions against the directors on the corporation's behalf is granted to the statutory auditor. Historically, derivative suits by shareholders were rare in Japan. Shareholders have been permitted to sue on the corporation's behalf since the postwar Americanization of the Commercial Code; however, this power was severely limited by the nature of court costs in Japan. Because the cost to file a civil action is proportional to the amount of damages being claimed, shareholders rarely had the motivation to sue on the company's behalf. In 1993, the Commercial Code was amended to reduce the filing fee for all shareholder derivative suits to ¥8,200 per claim. This led to a rise in the number of derivative suits heard by Japanese courts, from 31 pending cases in 1992 to 286 in 1999, and to a number of very high profile shareholder actions, such as those against Daiwa Bank and Nomura Securities