Bengoshi, Gyoseishoshi, Shiho-shoshi, and Zeirishi: Who Does What

Japan splits licensed legal and tax work among four professions, and hiring the wrong one wastes money. A 弁護士 (bengoshi, "attorney at law") litigates; a 行政書士 (gyōseishoshi, "administrative scrivener") prepares and files government paperwork; a 司法書士 (shihō-shoshi, "judicial scrivener") handles registrations; a 税理士 (zeirishi, "licensed tax accountant") handles tax.¹²³

Confirm current details with official sources

Procedures, fees, and requirements can change. Confirm current details with the Japan Federation of Bar Associations, the Immigration Services Agency, and Japan Legal Support Center pages linked below. This article is general information, not legal, tax, or immigration advice; for your specific case, consult a licensed bengoshi for disputes, a gyoseishoshi for filings, or a zeirishi for tax matters.

Overview

Each profession holds a statutory monopoly over its slice. A gyoseishoshi who prepares your visa renewal cannot argue your court case, and a zeirishi who files your taxes cannot file your immigration papers.¹⁴

The practical move is to match the task to the license first and compare fees second. The routing table near the end maps common situations to the right profession.¹²³

Bengoshi: the comprehensive legal professional

The bengoshi is the only one of the four with unrestricted litigation rights. Bengoshi appear in every court, negotiate settlements, handle divorces, defend criminal cases, and advise on business law and intellectual property.³

Bengoshi also cross into the other professions' territory. A bengoshi notified to the regional immigration bureau may prepare and file residence applications on a client's behalf, which matters for complex or previously refused immigration cases.⁵

Use a bengoshi when the other side has one

If an employer, landlord, or spouse has retained counsel, bring your own. Negotiation against a represented party without representation of your own rarely ends well.³

Gyoseishoshi: filings and immigration paperwork

The gyoseishoshi prepares documents submitted to government offices and files them: immigration applications, visa renewals, changes of status, naturalization preparation, and business-licensing filings.¹⁴

A gyoseishoshi may also act as your proxy before agencies, including hearings tied to filings. The hard boundary is the Bengoshi Act: matters falling under Article 72, meaning legal matters in dispute such as litigation and dispute representation, are off limits.¹⁴

In short, a gyoseishoshi moves paper through bureaucracy efficiently and cannot step into court. Appeals against agency dispositions go further still: only gyoseishoshi who completed the special training course, the 特定行政書士 (tokutei gyōseishoshi, "specified administrative scrivener"), may handle them.¹

Shiho-shoshi: registration and limited court work

The shiho-shoshi owns the registry counter. Real-estate registration on purchase, corporate and commercial registration, and estate-related filings are the core of the practice.²

Court work is available but capped. A shiho-shoshi certified by the Minister of Justice, the 認定司法書士 (nintei shihō-shoshi, "certified judicial scrivener"), may represent parties in summary-court civil matters where the claim value does not exceed 1,400,000 yen.²

Above that ceiling the work returns to bengoshi. A 3,000,000-yen contract dispute or any district-court case needs a bengoshi even if a shiho-shoshi handled the related paperwork.²

Profession	Core work	Cannot do	Source
Bengoshi	Litigation, negotiation, divorce, criminal defense, immigration cases	Nothing reserved (full scope)	3
Gyoseishoshi	Government filings, immigration paperwork, licensing	Litigate or represent disputes	14
Shiho-shoshi	Real-estate and corporate registration, filings	Represent claims above 1.4M yen; uncertified shiho-shoshi cannot litigate at all	2
Zeirishi	Tax filing, disputes, planning	Handle non-tax litigation or immigration filings	Practitioner scope (limitation: NTA page confirmation pending)

Zeirishi: tax filing, disputes, and planning

The zeirishi covers the tax slice: income, corporate, and consumption-tax returns, disputes with the tax office, planning, and the bookkeeping behind it all. Individuals with business income and companies of any size are the standard clients.³

A zeirishi stays inside tax. Non-tax civil disputes and immigration filings belong to the other three professions, so a zeirishi engagement never substitutes for counsel in a dispute. Practitioner sources describe this scope consistently, though the National Tax Agency system page was not re-fetched for this article (limitation: confirm on a maintenance pass).³

Which professional fits your situation

Immigration filings go to a gyoseishoshi, or to an immigration-practice bengoshi when the case is complex or was previously refused. Real-estate purchases use a shiho-shoshi for registration plus a bengoshi for contract review.¹²⁵

Divorces with disputed issues and all criminal matters go to a bengoshi. Tax questions of any weight go to a zeirishi. Money claims under 1,400,000 yen in summary court may use a certified shiho-shoshi or a bengoshi.²³

Good to know

Check the license before you pay anyone

Each profession is searchable through its association roster: bar associations for bengoshi, prefectural gyoseishoshi and shiho-shoshi associations, and the zeirishi association. An unlicensed preparer taking fees for reserved work risks criminal penalties, and their filings risk rejection.¹⁴

A gyoseishoshi cannot represent you in court

This is the most common mismatch foreign residents report. Document preparation and dispute representation are different licenses, and the gyoseishoshi statute excludes disputed legal matters expressly.¹⁴

Only a certified shiho-shoshi handles small court claims, and only under 1.4M yen

Ordinary shiho-shoshi prepare documents; courtroom agency needs the Minister of Justice certification plus a claim within the ceiling. Confirm both facts before retaining one for a dispute.²

See also

• The Four Divorce Paths
• Engineer/Humanities/International Services Visa
• The Property Purchase Process
• Hiring a Cross-Border Tax Advisor
• Hoterasu: The Legal-Aid Center

References

Footnotes

1. 総務省. 「行政書士制度：3 行政書士の業務」 (scope; Article 72 exclusion; tokutei appeals; unlicensed-work penalties). https://www.soumu.go.jp/main_sosiki/jichi_gyousei/gyouseishoshi/ ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰

2. 法務省. 「司法書士の簡裁訴訟代理等関係業務の認定」 (1.4M-yen ceiling; certified-shiho-shoshi agency; procedure list). https://www.moj.go.jp/MINJI/minji116.html ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹

3. 日本弁護士連合会. 「弁護士費用（報酬）のご説明」 (fee-type definitions; per-firm fee setting). https://www.nichibenren.or.jp/legal_advice/cost/legal_aid.html ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸

4. e-Gov法令検索. 「行政書士法（昭和二十六年法律第四号）」第一条の三 (document preparation; agency proxy; disputed-matter exclusion). https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/law/326AC1000000004 ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

5. 出入国在留管理庁. 「在留資格変更許可申請」 (notified bengoshi/gyoseishoshi filing proxy; 6,000-yen stamp; 1–2 month processing). https://www.moj.go.jp/isa/applications/procedures/16-2.html ↩ ↩²