What actually happens on the day of completion? — Who is checking what

On the day of completion (決済), everyone involved gathers in one room, the judicial scrivener (司法書士) looks through every document, and only once they have decided "this can be registered" does the money start to move. The order is never reversed. Receipt of the funds is confirmed, the registration is applied for the same day, and that is the end of it.

People often ask, "what am I supposed to do on the day?" All you do is sign, affix your seal, and hand over the keys and the documents. Most of the time is the judicial scrivener's checking time, and this article is about what goes on in that time. The flow of a sale as a whole is set out in Feature: selling your property before you leave Japan.

Last updated: [Month] [Day], 2026

Who is in the room on the day of completion?

The seller, the buyer, the real estate companies acting for each side, and the judicial scrivener. Where the buyer is borrowing, a member of staff from the bank joins as well, and the meeting is generally said to be held at that bank. The seller and the buyer have their identities checked; the seller signs, seals and hands over, and the buyer pays. The real estate companies check the documents and the apportionment figures and pass on the keys; the judicial scrivener confirms the person, their intention and the property, and applies for the registration.

The judicial scrivener in the room is the judicial scrivener personally. Article 47 of the Code of Conduct for Judicial Scriveners (司法書士行為規範) — a rule of the Japan Federation of Judicial Scriveners' Associations (日本司法書士会連合会) — provides that "a judicial scrivener must not have an assistant (補助者) carry out attendance at a real estate transaction" (in force 1 April 2023).

What happens first?

The judicial scrivener's identity check. It comes before any talk of money. Article 44 of the Code of Conduct for Judicial Scriveners provides as follows.

Where a judicial scrivener has accepted instructions for real property registration work, the judicial scrivener must accurately grasp the substantive rights relationship through confirming that the client and the client's agent and others are the persons they purport to be, confirming their intention, and confirming the property concerned.

Paragraph 2 of the same Article goes further and requires a record of the confirmation to be made and kept. This next point needs to be stated precisely. There is no provision in the Judicial Scriveners Act (司法書士法), or in the Regulation for its enforcement, that imposes a "duty of identity verification". The basis is this rule of the federation (together with the professional duty in Article 2 of the Judicial Scriveners Act), and the Act on Prevention of Transfer of Criminal Proceeds (犯罪による収益の移転防止に関する法律). Article 2, paragraph 2, item 46 of that Act makes judicial scriveners, and item 42 makes licensed real estate companies (宅地建物取引業者), specified business operators, and the verification at the time of transaction under Article 4, paragraph 1 covers the identifying matters for the person, the purpose of the transaction, the person's occupation (or, for a company, the content of its business), and the beneficial owner.

The judicial scrivener and the real estate company each carry out their own check, separately. That is why you get asked the same thing twice.

What is the judicial scrivener looking at when deciding that "this can be registered"?

Whether three things match: the documents, the person sitting in front of them, and the register.

The Real Property Registration Act (不動産登記法), Article 60 provides that an application to register a right "must be made jointly by the person entitled to register and the person under a duty to register". If either side's documents are incomplete, nothing moves.

What is checked	Where it commonly trips up
Identity documents, certificate of registered seal, power of attorney	Expired; how long ago it was issued; something missing from what is written; the seal affixed does not match
Registration identification information (登記識別情報), i.e. the title deed	It cannot be found. Under the Regulations for Real Property Registration (不動産登記規則), Article 72, paragraph 1, item 1, the judicial scrivener has to prepare identity verification information (本人確認情報) recording "the date and time of, the place of, and the circumstances surrounding the interview", so an interview is required
The address and name on the register against the current ones, and the description of the property	They do not match. A separate registration of the change of address is needed / the register and the contract do not agree

If your address is out of date, see What happens if the address on the register is still your old one?; for powers of attorney, see What a power of attorney should say.

At what point does the money move?

After the judicial scrivener has said "this can be registered". The Civil Code (民法), Article 533 provides that one party to a bilateral contract "may refuse to perform that party's own obligation until the other party tenders the performance of that other party's obligation" (the defence of simultaneous performance). The seller's obligations to hand over and to register the transfer of ownership face the buyer's obligation to pay the price, so the two are performed at the same time in the same room.

Order	What happens
1	The judicial scrivener carries out the identity check and the document check
2	The judicial scrivener decides that "the registration can be applied for as things stand"
3	The buyer transfers the price (where there is a loan, it is drawn down)
4	Receipt of the funds is confirmed
5	The various costs and the apportionment figures are settled, and the keys and related documents are handed over
6	The judicial scrivener files the application for registration with the Legal Affairs Bureau

Steps 2 and 3 are never swapped round. As for how long it takes, it is generally said to be somewhere between one and two hours, but that is a rule of thumb with no basis either in legislation or in any government publication.

Why is the application for registration filed "the same day"?

Because the ranking of a registration is decided by which application comes first. Three provisions link up. The Real Property Registration Act, Article 4 provides that "the ranking of rights registered in respect of the same real property … follows the order of registration". That order is fixed, under Article 19 of the same Act, by the receipt number assigned when the application is received (where the order of two or more applications is not clear, they are deemed simultaneous), and the Regulations for Real Property Registration, Article 58 provide that "a registrar shall … make registrations in the order of the receipt numbers". That is why getting a receipt number even one day earlier is worth something.

What follows is a matter of operating practice, not legislation.

	Hours
Legal Affairs Bureau business hours	Weekdays, 8:30 a.m. to 5:15 p.m.
Legal Affairs Bureau counter service hours	Weekdays, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (from 4 January 2024)
Hours of availability of the online application system	Weekdays, 8:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. / non-business days, 8:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Hours during which registration applications are received online	Weekdays, 8:30 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. Anything transmitted after that, or on a non-business day, is received on the next business day

"Hours of availability" and "hours of receipt" are two different things. The system may still connect at 11 at night, but anything transmitted after 5:15 p.m. is received on the next business day. Completions are scheduled for the morning because people work backwards from that. That said, the Legal Affairs Bureau adds a note about its counters: "outside counter service hours, it is not the case that applications and the like are refused at the counter altogether".

How much is settled on the day?

The amounts depend on the property and on the contract, but the items are fixed.

Item to be apportioned	Direction
Fixed asset tax and city planning tax; management fee and repair reserve fund	The portion from the delivery date onwards, from the buyer to the seller
Rent and security deposit (where the property is let)	As provided in the contract (the provision this rests on is unverified)

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Apportioning fixed asset tax by the day is not something fixed by law. This is how the Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Taxation puts it.

Where ownership is transferred under a contract of sale or the like, there is a commercial practice of apportioning fixed asset tax on a daily basis or in some similar way, but this is not something provided for under the Local Tax Act (地方税法). … It is done purely by agreement between the parties.

Whether the count starts on 1 January or on 1 April is likewise a matter for the contract. Please check this before you sign, not on the day.

Can I take part in the completion while staying overseas?

It depends on your circumstances. To begin with, for an ordinary completion where the title deed is available, we have not found any provision of law requiring the seller to meet the judicial scrivener face to face. That said, Article 44 of the Code of Conduct requires the person and their intention to be confirmed, and how that confirmation is carried out is for the judicial scrivener to judge.

Where the title deed is missing, however, the position is different. The Regulations for Real Property Registration, Article 72, paragraph 1, item 1 require "the date and time of, the place of, and the circumstances surrounding the interview" to be recorded, so an interview is required. What has to accompany a power of attorney is set out below. Where a certificate of registered seal is not used, authentication by a notary, or by a person treated as equivalent to a notary, is the exception (Order for Real Property Registration (不動産登記令), Article 18, paragraphs 1 to 3 / Regulations for Real Property Registration, Article 49, paragraph 1, item 1 and paragraph 2, item 2).

Situation	What accompanies the power of attorney
You have a resident registration in Japan and have registered a seal	Name and seal, plus a certificate of registered seal (issued within the previous three months)
You hold Japanese nationality and live overseas	A signature certificate from a Japanese embassy or consulate abroad (the Ministry of Foreign Affairs describes it as "a substitute for a Japanese seal registration certificate"). Because you sign in the presence of the consul, you have to go to the embassy or consulate in person; it cannot be applied for by an agent, and it cannot be applied for by post. The equivalent of JPY 1,700 per copy (a certificate of residence abroad (在留証明) is JPY 1,200)
You hold a foreign nationality and live overseas	You cannot apply for a signature certificate, so the document will have to be taken to a notary where you are

This next point is unverified. Our research for this article did not find any legislation or administrative notice stating expressly that a consul at a Japanese embassy or consulate abroad falls within "a person treated as equivalent to a notary" in the Regulations for Real Property Registration, Article 49. That is how it is treated in practice, but we cannot state it as settled. Please confirm in advance with the Legal Affairs Bureau with jurisdiction and with your judicial scrivener.

The explanation of important matters may, under the Building Lots and Buildings Transaction Business Act (宅地建物取引業法), Article 35, paragraphs 8 and 9 and Article 37, paragraphs 4 and 5, be provided by electromagnetic means with consent (in force 18 May 2022). IT-based explanation of important matters has been in full operation since 30 March 2021. For the wider picture, see A guide to selling Japanese real estate for overseas owners.

What can go wrong and stop the completion happening on the day?

Most of it comes down to documents not matching.

What stops it	When you could have spotted it
The address or name on the register differs from the current one	The moment you look at the certificate of registered matters
The title deed cannot be found	While the documents are being gathered. An interview has to be scheduled
The certificate of registered seal is out of date, or the wording or the seal on the power of attorney does not match	While the documents are being assembled. It may be too late to fix on the day
The documents to cancel the mortgage do not arrive / the loan is not drawn down / receipt of the funds cannot be confirmed	In the advance arrangements, and on the day

Most mishaps take this shape: something that should have been found in advance was overlooked, and the day arrives anyway.

Sources for this article

Law or source	Article, paragraph, item	Date in force / last amended
Code of Conduct for Judicial Scriveners (司法書士行為規範) — a rule of the Japan Federation of Judicial Scriveners' Associations	Article 44 / Article 47	In force 1 April 2023
Judicial Scriveners Act (司法書士法)	Article 2 (professional duty). Note: neither this Act nor the Regulation for its enforcement contains an express provision imposing a "duty of identity verification"	In force 21 May 2026 (last amended by Act No. 63 of Reiwa 5)
Act on Prevention of Transfer of Criminal Proceeds (犯罪による収益の移転防止に関する法律)	Article 2, paragraph 2, items 46 and 42 / Article 4, paragraph 1	In force 23 July 2026 (last amended by Act No. 64 of Reiwa 8)
Real Property Registration Act (不動産登記法)	Article 4 / Article 19 / Article 60	In force 24 June 2026 (last amended by Act No. 46 of Reiwa 8)
Regulations for Real Property Registration (不動産登記規則)	Article 49, paragraph 1, item 1 and paragraph 2, item 2 / Article 58 / Article 72, paragraph 1, item 1	In force 21 May 2026 (last amended by Ordinance of the Ministry of Justice No. 38 of Reiwa 8)
Order for Real Property Registration (不動産登記令)	Article 18, paragraphs 1, 2 and 3	In force 21 May 2026 (last amended by Cabinet Order No. 38 of Reiwa 8)
Civil Code (民法)	Article 533 (defence of simultaneous performance)	In force 24 June 2026 (last amended by Act No. 45 of Reiwa 8)
Building Lots and Buildings Transaction Business Act (宅地建物取引業法)	Article 35, paragraphs 8 and 9 / Article 37, paragraphs 4 and 5	In force 18 May 2022. IT-based explanation of important matters for sales has been in full operation since 30 March 2021
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, "Certification at Japanese embassies and consulates abroad"	Signature certificate; certificate of residence abroad	Updated 9 July 2026
Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Taxation, "Fixed asset tax and city planning tax"	Apportionment is not provided for by the Local Tax Act; it rests on agreement between the parties	—
Legal Affairs Bureau / Online Application System for Registration and Deposit (登記・供託オンライン申請システム)	Business hours, hours of availability, hours of receipt	Operating practice

The items marked "unverified" follow the provisions as they stood on 11 August 2026, and the dates in force and the last amendment dates have not been confirmed against a primary source. This article is general information. It is not a determination of what is or is not possible in any individual case. Registration is the work of a judicial scrivener. Where one is needed, we will introduce you to a judicial scrivener (you contract with that judicial scrivener directly). We do not receive any referral fee.

Related links

• Feature: selling your property before you leave Japan
• Selling after you leave Japan: what to do now
• A guide to selling Japanese real estate for overseas owners
• What a power of attorney should say
• What happens if the address on the register is still your old one?
• Can a foreign resident register a seal in Japan on the same day?

This article is written by Joji Uramatsu, President of Yotsuba Real Estate Co., Ltd., a licensed Real Estate Transaction Specialist and administrative scrivener (行政書士). He spent 34 years as a journalist at the Mainichi Shimbun and was posted to China, Taiwan and Thailand as its China Bureau Chief. Kohinata, Bunkyo-ku — five minutes' walk from Myogadani Station.