Asia • ISO JP
Verify Japan companies via API
Know Your Customer Limited verifies Japan companies live from the Civil Legal Affairs Association, returning company data, controlling parties, and registry documents, with AML screening and ongoing monitoring. Free sandbox available.
What the API returns for Japan
When you create a KYB case for a Japan company, Know Your Customer Limited retrieves data live from the Civil Legal Affairs Association. A single integration returns the company record, the controlling parties and individuals, the shareholders and beneficial owners, and the registry documents, with AML screening on the entity and its associated individuals built into the same case.
Japan data and document availability
What the API makes available for Japan companies:
| Category | Available |
|---|---|
| Company data | Entity Name, Entity Type, Registration Number, Entity Status, Address, Registration Date, Activity Type, Authorized Shares, Capital |
| Controlling entities & individuals | Name, Role, Appointed On |
| Shareholders & beneficial owners | Not available |
| Documents | Retrieved by default: Registry Extract Available on demand: None beyond the default set |
AML, sanctions, and PEP screening on the entity and its associated individuals, and ongoing live monitoring with change alerts, are available for Japan as part of the same case.
How to verify a Japan company via API
The following example shows the complete flow: authenticate, search the Japan registry, create a KYB case, and retrieve company data and the ownership org-chart. All calls go to the sandbox base URL for testing.
The sandbox at https://api.knowyourcustomer.dev is free. Request access to get your client credentials.
# 1. Authenticate (OAuth2 client credentials)
curl -X POST https://api.knowyourcustomer.dev/connect/token \
-d "grant_type=client_credentials" \
-d "client_id=YOUR_CLIENT_ID" \
-d "client_secret=YOUR_CLIENT_SECRET" \
-d "scope=PublicApi"
# 2. Search the Japan registry
curl -X POST https://api.knowyourcustomer.dev/v2/Companies/search \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"name":"MUFG Bank Ltd","codeiso31662":"JP"}'
# 3. Create a KYB case
curl -X POST https://api.knowyourcustomer.dev/v2/Companies \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"rawname":"MUFG Bank Ltd","codeiso31662":"JP"}'
# 4. Retrieve company data and status
curl https://api.knowyourcustomer.dev/v2/Companies/CASE_ID \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN"
# 5. Get the beneficial ownership org-chart
curl https://api.knowyourcustomer.dev/v2/Companies/CASE_ID/org-chart \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN"
Replace YOUR_CLIENT_ID and YOUR_CLIENT_SECRET with your sandbox credentials, and CASE_ID with the caseCommonId returned in step 3.
Frequently asked questions about the Japan KYB API
What company data can I verify in Japan?
For a Japan company, the API returns the company record read live from the Civil Legal Affairs Association: the entity name, type, status, registration number, address, and registration date, along with the controlling parties, and the available registry documents. See the table above for the full Japan availability.
Does the API return beneficial ownership (UBO) data for Japan companies?
For Japan, the Civil Legal Affairs Association does not publish shareholder or beneficial-owner data, so the API returns the company record and the controlling parties and officers rather than a shareholder or beneficial-owner list. Where you need ownership for an entity in a jurisdiction that does publish it, the recursive org-chart (GET /v2/Companies/{caseCommonId}/org-chart) resolves it. See the UBO API.
Can I retrieve official registry documents for Japan companies?
Yes. The default document set for Japan includes Registry Extract, retrieved by default. List and download them with the documents endpoint (GET /v2/Companies/{caseCommonId}/documents).
Is there a free sandbox for testing Japan company verification?
Yes. The Know Your Customer sandbox at https://api.knowyourcustomer.dev is a free, high-fidelity test environment. Request free sandbox access to start testing.
The Know Your Customer Limited API covers 147 jurisdictions worldwide, including Japan. One integration, one set of credentials, one response schema across all markets. Browse all covered jurisdictions.
Related coverage: Australia • China • Hong Kong • India • Indonesia • Malaysia.
Ready to verify Japan companies?
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