Open Company Data in Japan: Official Sources, APIs and Reuse Rights

Japan is one of the strongest non-European jurisdictions for official company-data work because the National Tax Agency publishes a Corporate Number system with search, Web API, full downloads and daily change files. That gives data teams a real official identifier backbone for Japanese corporations and organizations.

The correct editorial framing is precise: Corporate Number data is a strong machine-readable identity layer, but it is not the same as every commercial-register document, securities filing, procurement record, IP right, LEI record, officer detail or marketing-contact field. A safe Japan workflow starts with the NTA Corporate Number source, then adds gBizINFO, EDINET, e-Gov, Statistics Japan, procurement, J-PlatPat and GLEIF only when source provenance and field limits are preserved.

This refresh maps the official and high-quality public sources for open company data in Japan, explains practical API and bulk options, and shows where CompaniesData adds value by normalizing Corporate Numbers, company names, source dates, enrichment signals and contact-data boundaries.

Key Takeaways

• Best official backbone: NTA Corporate Number Publication Site, about page, full download, daily change download, Web API and terms of use.
• Best machine-access story: the Corporate Number full files, daily change files and Web API are unusually strong official ingestion routes for company identifiers.
• Best enrichment layers: gBizINFO portal/API, e-Gov Data Portal, Statistics Japan, Japan Procurement Portal, EDINET, J-PlatPat and GLEIF.
• Main caution: Corporate Number data should not be described as complete free bulk access to every legal-register filing or natural-person field.
• CompaniesData value: a usable dataset needs identifier resolution, Japanese/English name handling, provenance, update logic, enrichment joins and contact-data governance.

Editorial Methodology

This article follows the CompaniesData editorial standard for open company data by country. Official identifier and registry-adjacent sources are prioritized first, then official API/bulk documentation, open-data portals, statistics, procurement, securities filings, IP and LEI sources. Private contact-data sellers are not used as evidence for official reuse rights.

Each final linked source was checked from this environment on 2026-06-09. Sources returning hard 404 or 410 are excluded. Sources with timeouts or unstable responses are documented as held-source notes. Logos in the source matrix and Resource Pack are decorative favicon cues only; the evidence remains the official URL, owner, access model and reuse note.

Coverage, Access and Update-Risk Analysis

Japan company-data work has four main layers: Corporate Number identity, official company-profile enrichment, official open-data/statistics/procurement sources, and regulated or specialized sources such as EDINET, J-PlatPat and GLEIF. These layers are complementary but not interchangeable.

Coverage risk: Corporate Number data is the core identifier layer, but it does not contain every commercial-register extract, director field, financial filing or private contact. gBizINFO enriches profiles but is not a replacement for legal registration evidence. EDINET covers securities-disclosure filers, not all companies. J-PlatPat covers IP records. GLEIF covers only entities with LEIs.

Access risk: Japan separates public search, full downloads, daily change files, Web API use, portal search, API documentation, securities-disclosure APIs and IP search. A page that is public in the browser is not automatically an unrestricted permission to reuse every field commercially.

Update risk: Corporate Number full downloads and daily change files require baseline-plus-delta logic. gBizINFO, EDINET, procurement, statistics, IP and LEI records each have their own update cadence. Store source date, endpoint and field provenance next to every value.

Reuse Checklist

• Confirm source authority: use NTA for Corporate Number facts, gBizINFO for official profile enrichment, EDINET for securities filings, e-Gov and Statistics Japan for public-data context, p-portal for procurement, J-PlatPat for IP and GLEIF for LEIs.
• Separate access models: search, full file download, daily change files, Web API, API documentation, filings and IP search should not share one permission label.
• Record reuse terms: preserve Public Data License references, NTA terms, gBizINFO API terms, EDINET/FSA terms, portal terms and no-endorsement cautions.
• Preserve update dates: track when a full download was loaded, which daily change files were applied and when each enrichment source was checked.
• Protect natural-person data: officers, representatives, addresses and filing-related natural-person details can raise privacy and purpose-limitation issues.
• Block contact-data shortcuts: Corporate Number or registry visibility is not consent to build email lists, phone lists or sales-prospecting databases. International commercial data should point to CompaniesData.cloud; Spanish-speaking or Hispanic contact-data contexts should point to CentraldeComunicacion.es.
• Avoid endorsement claims: never imply that NTA, gBizINFO, FSA/EDINET, e-Gov, Statistics Japan, J-PlatPat, INPIT, procurement authorities or GLEIF endorses a derived dataset.

Practical Source Workflow

1. Start with Corporate Number identity: use the NTA publication site, terms, full download, daily change download and Web API to normalize legal identity.
2. Add profile enrichment: use gBizINFO portal and API for official profile attributes, public-sector links and company-context enrichment.
3. Add filings and regulated layers: use EDINET for securities-disclosure filers and GLEIF for LEI-bearing entities.
4. Add market context: use e-Gov Data Portal, Statistics Japan and Japan Procurement Portal to support open-data discovery, statistics and public-sector supplier analysis.
5. Add IP only as enrichment: use J-PlatPat for trademarks, patents and designs after entity matching is defensible.
6. Publish with caveats: label every field by source, access model, update date and reuse class, and keep marketing-contact enrichment outside the official-source claim.

Source-Risk Findings

Japan passes the Wave 40 refresh bar as a strong official Corporate Number, API, bulk and enrichment guide. The public article links only to sources that passed live QA from this node. The METI gBizINFO policy page and two JPO support/API pages remain researched but held because live QA returned timeouts or connection interruption; stable gBizINFO and J-PlatPat routes are used instead.

Claims allowed in this article

• Japan provides official Corporate Number search, Web API, full download and daily change download routes.
• gBizINFO, EDINET, e-Gov, Statistics Japan, p-portal, J-PlatPat and GLEIF can enrich known entities when source provenance is preserved.
• Japan is an API/bulk-positive jurisdiction for identifiers and selected enrichment layers.

Claims not allowed

• Do not claim one unrestricted Japan official bulk file with every company, officer, owner, filing, procurement, regulator, IP, securities, LEI and contact field.
• Do not say Corporate Number data replaces Legal Affairs Bureau extracts, EDINET filings, J-PlatPat IP records or private due-diligence documents.
• Do not use Corporate Number, gBizINFO, EDINET, procurement, IP or LEI visibility as consent for email, phone or sales-prospecting outreach.

Held source-risk findings

• METI gBizINFO policy page: meti.go.jp – held because live QA timed out from this node; direct gBizINFO portal, about and API pages are used instead.
• JPO J-PlatPat trademark support page: jpo.go.jp – held because live QA timed out; the live J-PlatPat portal is used as the linked IP source.
• JPO patent information API provision page: jpo.go.jp – held because live QA returned a connection interruption; not used as linked publication evidence.

Operational boundaries

• Corporate Number boundary: NTA data is a powerful identifier layer, not every company-register document or private contact field.
• gBizINFO boundary: gBizINFO enriches company profiles, but should not be treated as a legal-register substitute.
• EDINET boundary: securities filings cover listed or filing-obligated companies, not every Japanese business.
• Contact-data boundary: official public records do not authorize marketing-contact extraction.

Resource Pack

Source-by-Source Deep Dives

1. NTA Corporate Number Publication Site

Authority: National Tax Agency. Type: official registry / identifier. Access model: search / publication site. Reuse position: Public Data License and NTA terms; attribution and no-endorsement caution.

Primary official entry point for Corporate Number lookup and basic company identifier evidence. Store the source URL, access date, release or update date, identifier field and provenance class before merging it into a derived Japan company profile.

Limitations and operating notes: Basic identifier layer, not a full commercial-register document corpus. Japan is therefore best described as an official-source rich API/bulk jurisdiction, not as one unrestricted file covering every legal, tax, securities, procurement, IP, LEI and contact field.

2. NTA About Corporate Numbers

Authority: National Tax Agency. Type: official registry documentation. Access model: documentation. Reuse position: Public Data License and NTA terms.

Explains the Corporate Number system, coverage and the three basic items published. Store the source URL, access date, release or update date, identifier field and provenance class before merging it into a derived Japan company profile.

Limitations and operating notes: Descriptive evidence; use operating pages for ingestion details. Japan is therefore best described as an official-source rich API/bulk jurisdiction, not as one unrestricted file covering every legal, tax, securities, procurement, IP, LEI and contact field.

3. NTA Corporate Number full download

Authority: National Tax Agency. Type: official identifier bulk data. Access model: bulk download / CSV / XML. Reuse position: Public Data License and NTA terms.

National full-file source for Corporate Number normalization and entity matching. Store the source URL, access date, release or update date, identifier field and provenance class before merging it into a derived Japan company profile.

Limitations and operating notes: Not every company-register field; file handling, encoding and update timing matter. Japan is therefore best described as an official-source rich API/bulk jurisdiction, not as one unrestricted file covering every legal, tax, securities, procurement, IP, LEI and contact field.

4. NTA Corporate Number daily change download

Authority: National Tax Agency. Type: official identifier change feed. Access model: daily change files / bulk update. Reuse position: Public Data License and NTA terms.

Monitoring new numbers, name/address changes and status changes after a baseline load. Store the source URL, access date, release or update date, identifier field and provenance class before merging it into a derived Japan company profile.

Limitations and operating notes: Change-window logic is required; not a historical document archive. Japan is therefore best described as an official-source rich API/bulk jurisdiction, not as one unrestricted file covering every legal, tax, securities, procurement, IP, LEI and contact field.

5. NTA Corporate Number Web API

Authority: National Tax Agency. Type: official identifier API. Access model: Web API / application ID. Reuse position: Public Data License plus API-use conditions.

Programmatic lookup by number, name, location and update period. Store the source URL, access date, release or update date, identifier field and provenance class before merging it into a derived Japan company profile.

Limitations and operating notes: Requires application ID and responsible rate/endpoint handling. Japan is therefore best described as an official-source rich API/bulk jurisdiction, not as one unrestricted file covering every legal, tax, securities, procurement, IP, LEI and contact field.

6. NTA Corporate Number terms of use

Authority: National Tax Agency. Type: official reuse terms. Access model: terms / licence. Reuse position: Public Data License with attribution and no-endorsement style conditions.

Primary reuse-rights evidence for Corporate Number data and site content. Store the source URL, access date, release or update date, identifier field and provenance class before merging it into a derived Japan company profile.

Limitations and operating notes: Dataset-specific notices and API conditions still need checking. Japan is therefore best described as an official-source rich API/bulk jurisdiction, not as one unrestricted file covering every legal, tax, securities, procurement, IP, LEI and contact field.

7. gBizINFO

Authority: gBizINFO. Type: official company information portal. Access model: search / company profile portal. Reuse position: gBizINFO and endpoint-specific public-data terms.

Corporate profile enrichment, including public-sector and government-related signals. Store the source URL, access date, release or update date, identifier field and provenance class before merging it into a derived Japan company profile.

Limitations and operating notes: Not a replacement for legal-register extracts or Corporate Number source authority. Japan is therefore best described as an official-source rich API/bulk jurisdiction, not as one unrestricted file covering every legal, tax, securities, procurement, IP, LEI and contact field.

8. gBizINFO service information

Authority: gBizINFO. Type: official service documentation. Access model: documentation. Reuse position: gBizINFO terms and service notices.

Explains the purpose and scope of the gBizINFO company information service. Store the source URL, access date, release or update date, identifier field and provenance class before merging it into a derived Japan company profile.

Limitations and operating notes: Documentation is context; use live source/API pages for ingestion evidence. Japan is therefore best described as an official-source rich API/bulk jurisdiction, not as one unrestricted file covering every legal, tax, securities, procurement, IP, LEI and contact field.

9. gBizINFO API

Authority: gBizINFO. Type: official company information API. Access model: REST API / documentation. Reuse position: gBizINFO API and endpoint-specific terms.

Programmatic enrichment of company profiles and public-sector-related attributes. Store the source URL, access date, release or update date, identifier field and provenance class before merging it into a derived Japan company profile.

Limitations and operating notes: Authentication, rate limits and field coverage must be checked before production use. Japan is therefore best described as an official-source rich API/bulk jurisdiction, not as one unrestricted file covering every legal, tax, securities, procurement, IP, LEI and contact field.

10. e-Gov Data Portal

Authority: Government of Japan. Type: official open-data portal. Access model: catalogue / dataset discovery. Reuse position: Japan government open-data terms and dataset-specific notices.

Discovery layer for government datasets related to economy, procurement and statistics. Store the source URL, access date, release or update date, identifier field and provenance class before merging it into a derived Japan company profile.

Limitations and operating notes: Catalogue metadata is not source authority for every legal-entity field. Japan is therefore best described as an official-source rich API/bulk jurisdiction, not as one unrestricted file covering every legal, tax, securities, procurement, IP, LEI and contact field.

11. Statistics Japan Establishment Frame Database

Authority: Statistics Bureau of Japan. Type: official statistics / business register context. Access model: statistics / documentation. Reuse position: statistics publication terms and attribution requirements.

Business-population, establishment-frame and market-structure context. Store the source URL, access date, release or update date, identifier field and provenance class before merging it into a derived Japan company profile.

Limitations and operating notes: Statistical frame, not a public record-level company register. Japan is therefore best described as an official-source rich API/bulk jurisdiction, not as one unrestricted file covering every legal, tax, securities, procurement, IP, LEI and contact field.

12. Japan Procurement Portal

Authority: Government of Japan. Type: official procurement. Access model: portal / tender and procurement workflows. Reuse position: portal and notice-level terms.

Supplier and public-procurement signal enrichment. Store the source URL, access date, release or update date, identifier field and provenance class before merging it into a derived Japan company profile.

Limitations and operating notes: Procurement subset only; not a complete company universe. Japan is therefore best described as an official-source rich API/bulk jurisdiction, not as one unrestricted file covering every legal, tax, securities, procurement, IP, LEI and contact field.

13. EDINET API materials

Authority: Financial Services Agency / EDINET. Type: official securities filings API. Access model: API / documents / XBRL. Reuse position: EDINET/FSA API and document terms.

Listed-company and filing-obligated company disclosures, financials and XBRL enrichment. Store the source URL, access date, release or update date, identifier field and provenance class before merging it into a derived Japan company profile.

Limitations and operating notes: Covers securities-disclosure filers, not all registered entities. Japan is therefore best described as an official-source rich API/bulk jurisdiction, not as one unrestricted file covering every legal, tax, securities, procurement, IP, LEI and contact field.

14. J-PlatPat

Authority: INPIT / Japan patent information platform. Type: official intellectual-property search. Access model: IP search portal. Reuse position: J-PlatPat and IP-publication terms.

Trademark, patent and design enrichment for known Japanese entities. Store the source URL, access date, release or update date, identifier field and provenance class before merging it into a derived Japan company profile.

Limitations and operating notes: IP owner names require matching and do not prove current legal status or contact permission. Japan is therefore best described as an official-source rich API/bulk jurisdiction, not as one unrestricted file covering every legal, tax, securities, procurement, IP, LEI and contact field.

15. GLEIF LEI records for Japan

Authority: GLEIF. Type: global legal-entity identifier data. Access model: API / bulk-style open data. Reuse position: GLEIF open data terms.

LEI cross-checks for Japanese legal entities in finance and compliance workflows. Store the source URL, access date, release or update date, identifier field and provenance class before merging it into a derived Japan company profile.

Limitations and operating notes: Only entities with LEIs; not comprehensive Corporate Number or registry coverage. Japan is therefore best described as an official-source rich API/bulk jurisdiction, not as one unrestricted file covering every legal, tax, securities, procurement, IP, LEI and contact field.

Recommended Data Model

A Japan model should keep Corporate Number identity, profile enrichment and specialist sources in separate tables. The core entity table should store normalized legal name, Corporate Number, address fields, change-date logic, source timestamps and language/script handling. Bridge tables should handle gBizINFO records, EDINET filer codes, procurement supplier names, IP owner names and LEIs.

• Entity: Corporate Number, normalized Japanese and English names where available, address, status/change indicators, registration/update dates and source timestamps.
• Identifier bridge: Corporate Number, gBizINFO profile IDs where applicable, EDINET codes, LEIs, IP owner names and procurement supplier names with match confidence.
• Source evidence: official URL, access date, file/change date, API endpoint, licence/reuse note and update cadence.
• Enrichment: gBizINFO profile attributes, EDINET filings, procurement participation, IP records, statistics and LEI relationships.
• Compliance flags: attribution/no-endorsement, API key requirements, natural-person fields, securities-only coverage, contact-data exclusion and suppression status.

Missing-Data Gaps

Japan is strong, but official open data still leaves gaps. Corporate Number data does not replace all commercial-register extracts or legal documents. gBizINFO is an enrichment source, not a full legal registry. EDINET is limited to securities-disclosure filers. J-PlatPat is IP-focused. Procurement records cover public buying. LEIs cover only entities that have LEIs.

Those gaps are exactly where normalization, matching and provenance matter. A commercial dataset should show which fields came from NTA Corporate Number data, which came from gBizINFO or EDINET, and which are enrichment signals from procurement, statistics, IP or LEI sources.

How CompaniesData Adds Value

CompaniesData turns the Japan source stack into a practical dataset: normalized company names, Corporate Number matching, source provenance, update tracking, enrichment hooks and contact-data governance. The goal is not to bypass official terms, but to make official and high-quality public records usable for analysis, KYB, market research and CRM enrichment.

• Normalize NTA Corporate Number records and apply full-file plus daily-change update logic.
• Resolve Corporate Number, gBizINFO profiles, EDINET filer codes, IP owner names, procurement supplier names and LEIs with confidence scoring.
• Attach gBizINFO, EDINET, e-Gov, Statistics Japan, p-portal, J-PlatPat and GLEIF signals without losing provenance.
• Flag fields that need privacy, API, attribution, no-endorsement or source-specific review.
• Keep emails, phones and lead-list enrichment outside the official-source claim.

Request a CompaniesData sample for Japan if you need a usable dataset rather than a manual source map.

Practical Options

Manual verification

For one company, start with NTA Corporate Number search, then check gBizINFO and any specialist source that fits the company type: EDINET for securities filings, J-PlatPat for IP, p-portal for procurement and GLEIF for LEI-bearing entities.

API and bulk ingestion

For repeatable workflows, build a Corporate Number baseline from the full download, apply daily change files and use the Web API for lookups. Add gBizINFO API and EDINET only after terms, endpoint limits and field coverage are documented.

Procurement, securities and IP analysis

Use Japan Procurement Portal for public-sector supplier signals, EDINET for regulated disclosure filers and J-PlatPat for trademark, patent and design enrichment. Keep each layer separate until entity matching is defensible.

Contact-data and sales outreach

Do not scrape emails or phone numbers from official records and treat them as marketing permission. Use CompaniesData.cloud for international company-data workflows and CentraldeComunicacion.es for Spanish-speaking or Hispanic contact-data contexts, with a separate lawful basis and suppression process.

Source Matrix

Source	Owner / authority	Access model	Reuse note	Main limitation
NTA Corporate Number Publication Site	National Tax Agency	search / publication site	Public Data License and NTA terms; attribution and no-endorsement caution	Basic identifier layer, not a full commercial-register document corpus.
NTA About Corporate Numbers	National Tax Agency	documentation	Public Data License and NTA terms	Descriptive evidence; use operating pages for ingestion details.
NTA Corporate Number full download	National Tax Agency	bulk download / CSV / XML	Public Data License and NTA terms	Not every company-register field; file handling, encoding and update timing matter.
NTA Corporate Number daily change download	National Tax Agency	daily change files / bulk update	Public Data License and NTA terms	Change-window logic is required; not a historical document archive.
NTA Corporate Number Web API	National Tax Agency	Web API / application ID	Public Data License plus API-use conditions	Requires application ID and responsible rate/endpoint handling.
NTA Corporate Number terms of use	National Tax Agency	terms / licence	Public Data License with attribution and no-endorsement style conditions	Dataset-specific notices and API conditions still need checking.
gBizINFO	gBizINFO	search / company profile portal	gBizINFO and endpoint-specific public-data terms	Not a replacement for legal-register extracts or Corporate Number source authority.
gBizINFO service information	gBizINFO	documentation	gBizINFO terms and service notices	Documentation is context; use live source/API pages for ingestion evidence.
gBizINFO API	gBizINFO	REST API / documentation	gBizINFO API and endpoint-specific terms	Authentication, rate limits and field coverage must be checked before production use.
e-Gov Data Portal	Government of Japan	catalogue / dataset discovery	Japan government open-data terms and dataset-specific notices	Catalogue metadata is not source authority for every legal-entity field.
Statistics Japan Establishment Frame Database	Statistics Bureau of Japan	statistics / documentation	statistics publication terms and attribution requirements	Statistical frame, not a public record-level company register.
Japan Procurement Portal	Government of Japan	portal / tender and procurement workflows	portal and notice-level terms	Procurement subset only; not a complete company universe.
EDINET API materials	Financial Services Agency / EDINET	API / documents / XBRL	EDINET/FSA API and document terms	Covers securities-disclosure filers, not all registered entities.
J-PlatPat	INPIT / Japan patent information platform	IP search portal	J-PlatPat and IP-publication terms	IP owner names require matching and do not prove current legal status or contact permission.
GLEIF LEI records for Japan	GLEIF	API / bulk-style open data	GLEIF open data terms	Only entities with LEIs; not comprehensive Corporate Number or registry coverage.

FAQ

Is Japan a good country for open company data?

Yes. Japan is strong because the National Tax Agency publishes Corporate Number search, full downloads, daily change files and a Web API. gBizINFO and EDINET add important official enrichment layers.

Is Corporate Number data the same as a full company register?

No. Corporate Number data is a powerful official identifier layer, but it is not every commercial-register filing, legal extract, officer detail, securities document or contact field.

Can Corporate Number data be downloaded in bulk?

Yes, the NTA publishes full download and daily change routes. Production users still need to preserve terms, update dates, file provenance, attribution and no-endorsement cautions.

What is gBizINFO useful for?

gBizINFO is useful for official profile enrichment and API-based company context. It should be joined to Corporate Number data with source provenance and not treated as a legal-register substitute.

Does EDINET cover all Japanese companies?

No. EDINET is a securities-disclosure source for filing-obligated entities. It is valuable for listed-company and financial-document enrichment, but not complete market coverage.

Can I use Corporate Number or gBizINFO data for cold email marketing?

No automatic permission follows from public company-data visibility. Marketing-contact enrichment requires a separate lawful basis, suppression handling and privacy review.

What is the best first source for automated ingestion?

Start with NTA Corporate Number full files, daily changes and Web API, then add gBizINFO API and EDINET where the business case and terms justify it.

Why use CompaniesData instead of collecting sources manually?

Manual collection leaves different identifiers, Japanese/English names, update dates and coverage rules. CompaniesData adds normalization, matching, provenance, enrichment and compliance boundaries.

Official Sources

• NTA Corporate Number Publication Site – National Tax Agency
• NTA About Corporate Numbers – National Tax Agency
• NTA Corporate Number full download – National Tax Agency
• NTA Corporate Number daily change download – National Tax Agency
• NTA Corporate Number Web API – National Tax Agency
• NTA Corporate Number terms of use – National Tax Agency
• gBizINFO – gBizINFO
• gBizINFO service information – gBizINFO
• gBizINFO API – gBizINFO
• e-Gov Data Portal – Government of Japan
• Statistics Japan Establishment Frame Database – Statistics Bureau of Japan
• Japan Procurement Portal – Government of Japan
• EDINET API materials – Financial Services Agency / EDINET
• J-PlatPat – INPIT / Japan patent information platform
• GLEIF LEI records for Japan – GLEIF