Japanese Supplier Due Diligence Checklist
Updated · Written by HAM International Trade Team
Verify four separate propositions: the company legally exists; the contact and account belong to it; it is authorised to offer the goods; and it can perform this order. Match official records, domains, quotations, payee details, product evidence, and capacity. Escalate inconsistencies before payment.
Due diligence is a set of claims, not one background check
A corporate registry result proves a limited fact: a legal entity with that name and number is recorded. It does not prove that the person emailing you works for it, that the entity controls the bank account, that it may sell the product, or that the quoted stock exists. Keep legal identity, contact authority, supply authority, operating capability, and payment risk as separate questions.
Begin with the exact contracting party shown on the quotation. Capture its Japanese and English names, corporate number where available, registered and operating addresses, official domain, main telephone route, signatory, invoice issuer, and proposed payee. Transliteration and brand names can vary, so record how each name connects rather than forcing a superficial text match.
Supplier evidence matrix
A green result in one row cannot compensate for an unresolved red result elsewhere.
| — | Question | Useful evidence | Warning signal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Legal identity | Official corporate record, legal name, number and address | Quotation or payee cannot be reconciled to the entity | |
| Contact authority | Owned domain, main-office callback and named role | Free-mail urgency or refusal to verify through an independent route | |
| Supply authority | Manufacturer confirmation, channel evidence or candid reseller role | Undefined claims such as official source with no accountable issuer | |
| Capability | Item-specific stock, process, inspection and delivery evidence | Generic catalogue or factory images unrelated to the order | |
| Payment risk | Payee matches the approved party and change is independently confirmed | Late account change, unrelated beneficiary or pressure to bypass review |
Verify through channels the candidate does not control alone
Use the National Tax Agency corporate-number service to check recorded identity, then compare it with the company’s official website and documents. Obtain the main contact route independently rather than only from the email signature. If a material inconsistency appears, call or contact the published route and ask for the named person or responsible department. Document who performed the check and when.
A polished website, long history, trade-show listing, directory profile, or Japanese address can support context but is not conclusive. Domains can be imitated and genuine companies can be impersonated. Inspect spelling, reply-to address, newly introduced recipients, document metadata, telephone numbers, and beneficiary instructions as one chain. Do not send identity documents or sensitive drawings merely to test whether the other party is genuine.
Test capability against this order
Ask the supplier to respond to facts that would be hard to answer from a copied listing: complete order code and suffix, condition, quantity, current photographs where appropriate, serial or lot treatment, source role, inspection, included documents, packing, lead-time basis, and handling of a nonconformity. For made-to-print work, ask which processes are in-house or subcontracted and how material, special processes, inspection and revisions will be controlled.
Capability is time-specific. A company may be competent yet unable to meet the requested quantity or destination now. Separate proven capability, supplier statement, buyer inference, and unknown. Samples, video calls, references, audits, independent inspection, or staged orders may close different gaps; choose them according to consequence rather than applying every control mechanically.
A bounded approval path before payment
The output is a documented decision, not a universal safe-supplier label.
- 01
Reconcile identity
Match the quoted party, official record, domain, address, signatory and invoice issuer.
OUTPUTCounterparty record
- 02
Confirm authority
Verify the contact and the candidate’s manufacturer, distributor, reseller or trading role.
OUTPUTAuthority evidence
- 03
Test performance
Request order-specific product, process, inspection, packing and delivery evidence.
OUTPUTCapability assessment
- 04
Control payment
Approve beneficiary, currency, timing and any account change through an independent route.
OUTPUTPayment release decision
- 05
Limit exposure
Use inspection, milestones, a sample or a bounded first order where residual uncertainty warrants it.
OUTPUTRisk treatment
First-transaction review record
Mark missing evidence as Unknown and assign the next action.
- Contracting legal entity and corporate record are reconciled
- Contact person and official communication route are independently confirmed
- Supplier role and authority to offer the item are stated with evidence
- Order-specific stock or manufacturing capability is assessed
- Technical acceptance and required documents are owned by competent reviewers
- Invoice issuer, beneficiary, currency and payment timing are consistent
- Any bank-detail change has a separate verification procedure
- Residual risks, exposure limit, approver and stop conditions are recorded
Know what the review cannot prove
No checklist guarantees future performance or eliminates fraud, insolvency, export restrictions, quality failure, or commercial dispute. Screening should be proportionate to order value, product consequence, payment exposure, country rules, and the evidence available. Legal, sanctions, credit, tax, cybersecurity and conformity questions may require separate qualified reviewers.
HAM can investigate a proposed Japanese counterparty, organise identity and transaction evidence, and surface inconsistencies for the buyer’s decision. The buyer and its appointed specialists remain responsible for supplier approval, contract terms, payment release, technical acceptance, and compliance in the destination market.
Frequently asked questions
- Does a corporate number prove that a supplier is trustworthy?
- No. It helps verify legal identity. It does not prove email authority, bank ownership, supply rights, stock, capability, solvency, or performance.
- Should a first order always be prepaid?
- There is no universal rule. Agree payment terms from the transaction risk, evidence, leverage, financing, contract and available protections; do not infer a Japanese norm.
- What if the bank account changes after the quotation?
- Pause payment and verify the change using an independently sourced official channel and your internal approval procedure. Do not rely on the change email itself.