Japan operates a single standing vendor registration called the 全省庁統一資格 (zenshōchō tōitsu shikaku, 'Unified Qualification for Participation in Tenders'). A supplier applies once and receives a qualification valid across all central-government ministries and agencies (roughly 32 principal entities including both houses of the Diet, the courts, the Cabinet Office, and all ministries), rather than qualifying agency-by-agency. The qualification is granted per business category — manufacturing of goods (物品の製造), sales of goods (物品の販売), provision of services (役務の提供), and purchase of goods (物品の買受け) — and each category is graded A, B, C or D based on a points score. Applications are made online through the Chotatsu Portal (GEPS), and foreign companies are eligible on non-discriminatory terms as Japan is a party to the WTO Government Procurement Agreement.
Chotatsu Portal (調達ポータル) / GEPS — Unified Qualification Examination Application (統一資格審査申請)
Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications / all central-government ministries and agencies (operated jointly; qualification screened under unified standards)
Foreign companies eligibleNo local entity required to bid
No Japanese subsidiary, branch, or resident local agent is stated as required to obtain the unified qualification. Foreign enterprises apply directly: in place of the domestic Certificate of Registered Matters (登記事項証明書) they submit a document issued by the competent authority of their home country, with a Japanese translation; financial statements must be presented in Japanese yen using the FX rate at the application date, with Japanese translation. The application itself must be prepared in Japanese. A power of attorney (委任状) is required only if a proxy/agent files on the applicant's behalf. NOTE: local-agent requirement is per expert/corroborating sources, not a single explicit government sentence; a human should confirm against the official FY2025-2027 public notice.
Determine which category(ies) you will register for (manufacturing / sales / services / purchase of goods) and note the current qualification cycle is FY2025-2027 (令和07・08・09年度). Applications are accepted on a rolling 'anytime' basis (随時受付) from 1 February 2025 to 10 March 2028; a qualification granted after review is valid through 31 March 2028. Foreign suppliers are eligible under the WTO GPA on non-discriminatory terms.
Assemble the supporting documents. Domestic firms provide a Certificate of Registered Matters (登記事項証明書, full-history version), tax payment certificate(s) (since January 2025: for corporations the Type-2 + Type 3-3 certificate, or a substitute declaration form + Type 3-3), and the most recent financial statements. Foreign enterprises instead submit an equivalent document from their home-country competent/authorized authority plus a Japanese translation, and financial statements converted to Japanese yen at the application-date FX rate with Japanese translation. A power of attorney is needed if filing via an agent; an external-character notification (外字届) is needed if names contain non-standard characters.
File the Unified Qualification Examination Application (統一資格審査申請) through the Chotatsu Portal. Three pathways exist: login with an electronic certificate (auto-fills some fields), login with ID/password, or apply without login. New applicants must select 'apply without login' (ログインせずに申請) and then 'new application' (新規申請). Upload the scanned supporting documents. (Postal/in-person submission also exists, and the Ministry of Defense uses an internet-only route.)
The application is screened under unified standards and a grade is assigned per category. For manufacturing of goods, factors scored are average annual production/sales, equity capital, current ratio, years in business, and equipment value; for sales and services the same factors apply excluding equipment value. Grades map to total points: A = 90 points or more; B = 80 to under 90; C = 55 to under 80; D = under 55. Grade determines the estimated-price ranges of tenders a supplier may bid on (A = highest-value contracts). Purchase-of-goods uses a three-grade A/B/C scale.
On approval, the applicant can download the Qualification Examination Result Notice (資格審査結果通知書) electronically from the portal. The unified qualification is then valid across all covered central-government entities without re-applying to each. Foreign suppliers can monitor WTO-GPA-covered opportunities in English via the JETRO Government Procurement Database.
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Create free accountNo government application fee is documented for the unified qualification itself; costs are limited to obtaining/translating supporting documents (home-country registry document, tax/financial documents, Japanese translations). Not verified from an official fee schedule — confirm.
~14 days
WTO Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA), in force in Japan since 1 January 1996 and revised version effective April 2014 (per JETRO https://www.jetro.go.jp/en/database/procurement/procurement.html); domestic implementation via each ministry's 競争参加者の資格に関する公示（令和07・08・09年度） (Public Notice on Qualification of Competition Participants FY2025-2027) under the Accounts Act / Cabinet Order on Budgets, Settlement and Accounting, administered through the unified qualification system.
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This guide is grounded in official sources, last verified 2026-07-20.