Japanese Company Documents: 登記, 定款, 代表取締役, 株主総会

Core examples: 登記, 定款, 代表取締役, 株主総会, 取締役会, 資本金, 本店所在地, 事業目的, 法人, 決議.

A company exists through documents

A company profile says:

本店所在地 資本金 代表取締役 事業目的

A legal excerpt mentions:

登記 定款 株主総会 決議

These are not ordinary business words. They define legal existence, governance, authority, and corporate identity. A company is not only a brand or office. It is a legal entity whose powers and officers are recorded and governed through documents.

The key principle is:

Company-document Japanese tells you who the company is, who can act for it, and how decisions become official.

This article is language guidance, not corporate legal advice.

法人: legal entity

法人

means legal person/entity. A company, association, or organization can be a 法人 depending on legal status.

Related:

法人番号 corporate number

法人格 legal personality

A brand may be famous, but the legal entity behind it may have a different official name. Company documents focus on the 法人.

登記: registration

登記

means registration in an official legal registry.

Examples:

会社登記 company registration

登記事項証明書 certificate of registered matters

登記簿 registry

Registration records core corporate information: name, address, officers, capital, business purpose, and changes.

Learner action: 登記 language is evidence language. It says what is officially registered, not merely advertised.

定款: articles of incorporation

定款

means articles of incorporation.

It defines fundamental rules of a company, such as:

• company name,
• purpose,
• head office,
• shares,
• governance,
• decision-making procedures.

Example:

定款に定める as provided in the articles of incorporation

定款 is not a casual company policy. It is a foundational corporate document.

代表取締役 and 取締役会

代表取締役

means representative director, a director with authority to represent the company.

取締役会

means board of directors.

Related:

取締役 director

監査役 auditor, in certain corporate structures

代表権 representative authority

A person’s title tells you whether they can legally represent the company or whether they are part of governance.

Learner action: distinguish 社長 as business title from 代表取締役 as legal/corporate role. They often overlap but are not identical.

株主総会: shareholders’ meeting

株主総会

means shareholders’ meeting.

Related terms:

定時株主総会 annual ordinary shareholders’ meeting

臨時株主総会 extraordinary shareholders’ meeting

議決権 voting rights

決議 resolution/decision

Shareholder meetings approve important matters such as directors, financial statements, dividends, mergers, and changes to articles depending on company structure.

資本金 and 本店所在地

資本金

means capital stock/capital.

本店所在地

means registered head-office address.

These appear on company profiles, registration documents, and business pages. 本店所在地 is a registered legal address, not necessarily the store the customer visits.

Learner action: do not assume 本店所在地 means the main retail branch in a casual sense. In corporate documents, it is legal address.

事業目的

事業目的

means business purpose/objectives as registered in corporate documents.

It may list broad categories:

ソフトウェアの開発、販売及び保守 development, sale, and maintenance of software

飲食店の経営 operation of restaurants

The registered purpose can be broad and formal. It does not always describe the company’s current marketing focus.

決議: formal decision

決議

means formal resolution.

Examples:

株主総会の決議 shareholders’ meeting resolution

取締役会決議 board resolution

A 決議 is not just someone deciding casually. It is an institutional decision by an authorized body.

Example bank walkthrough

登記

Official registration.

Learner action: legal record language.

定款

Articles of incorporation.

Learner action: foundational company rules.

代表取締役

Representative director.

Learner action: legal authority role.

株主総会

Shareholders’ meeting.

Learner action: corporate governance event.

取締役会

Board of directors.

Learner action: decision-making body.

資本金

Capital.

Learner action: company-profile financial/legal item.

本店所在地

Registered head office location.

Learner action: legal address.

事業目的

Business purpose.

Learner action: registered scope of business.

法人

Legal entity.

Learner action: organization as legal person.

決議

Formal resolution.

Learner action: official decision by proper body.

Corporate-document parse

When reading company documents:

1. Identify the legal entity.
2. Find company name and legal form.
3. Locate 本店所在地.
4. Read 資本金 and business purpose.
5. Identify officers and authority.
6. Identify decision body: shareholders’ meeting, board, representative director?
7. Find date of registration or decision.
8. Separate legal fact from brand statement.

Legal fact versus business description

Company documents often state legal facts. Marketing pages state business identity. Do not confuse them.

The same company may describe itself differently in each genre.

Authority roles

Titles can overlap but are not identical.

社長 business/social title, president

代表取締役 legal corporate role with representative authority

取締役 director

執行役員 executive officer, depending company structure

A person may be 社長 but the document’s legal question may require 代表取締役. Read titles by document purpose.

Decision body hierarchy

When a corporate action appears, identify who decided it:

株主総会決議 shareholders’ meeting resolution

取締役会決議 board resolution

代表取締役の決定 representative director’s decision

A 決議 is institutional action, not casual agreement.

A strong tool for this article would annotate corporate registration and governance documents.

Suggested functions:

1. Field highlighter: 登記, 定款, 資本金, 本店所在地, 事業目的.
2. Role map: 代表取締役, 取締役, 監査役.
3. Decision-body labels: 株主総会, 取締役会, 決議.
4. Legal form detector: 株式会社, 合同会社, 法人.
5. Plain-language company profile.
6. Authority warning: who can represent the company?

Final rule

Company-document Japanese is legal identity language.

登記 records the company. 定款 defines it. 代表取締役 represents it. 株主総会 and 取締役会 decide for it. 資本金, 本店所在地, and 事業目的 describe its formal structure.

Read company documents as governance maps, not brochures.