Researching business leaders: checking backgrounds and statements

"Is the representative of my supplier really who they claim to be?" "Can I trust what a consultant who calls themselves a 'former Amazon employee' says?" For sellers who want to verify the companies and executives they deal with, this article lays out how to research a company and its representative through public records, how to read a background or a statement together with its source and date, and how to put the results to use in your dealings with Amazon. This is not an article that profiles a specific person's title or career; it is a guide to how to research one.

Why you'd research this: situations where sellers need to verify information about a company's leadership

Deciding up front what the research is for narrows down which materials to look at, and makes you less likely to be swayed by an impression from social media buzz or a promotional article.

Situation	What you want to determine	Materials to check first
Before starting business with a new supplier	Whether the company actually exists and whether the invoice's name, address, and registration number match	The Corporate Number Publication Site, the Qualified Invoice Issuer Publication Site
When you receive an intellectual property notice or a letter of authorization	Whether the rights owner or signer is who they claim to be	J-PlatPat, the company registry, the rights owner's official website
When you're approached by an agency or a school	Whether the representative actually exists, whether there has been any administrative action, and the basis for claims such as "Amazon certified"	The company registry, disclosures under Japan's Specified Commercial Transactions Act, the Consumer Affairs Agency's public records, the disclaimer on the SPN page
When you hear that "an Amazon executive said this"	Whether the date, venue, and role behind the statement match today's rules	Seller Central Help, Amazon's official announcements

This article is based on official government websites and Seller Central Help as of September 2026. Fees, required documents, terms, and on-screen labels can change, so please also check the latest guidance.

A starting assumption: a title, a company registry entry, and Amazon's listed information are three separate things

Even for the same company, the person named as "the representative" can differ depending on where you look. If you compare these sources without knowing what each field actually represents, you can end up treating two pieces of information that are both correct as if they "contradict" each other.

Where the name appears	What it represents	What to keep in mind when reading it
News coverage, interviews, seminar introductions	A title such as "president" or "CEO"	A title is not a matter of registration; it reflects the date the material was published
The registry of a kabushiki kaisha (stock company)	The names of the directors, and the name and address of the representative director	This records the person's legal position
The registry of a godo kaisha (LLC)	The name or company name and address of the managing member; if the managing member is itself a company, the name and address of the individual acting as its executing officer	The "representative" field can show a company name, with the individual listed separately as the executing officer
Amazon's "Seller Information" page	The seller's business name (for a company, the name on record in the registry) and the name of the business owner or operator	The business owner or operator is responsible for the selling operation and need not hold the legal authority to represent the company

A mismatch doesn't automatically mean something is suspicious

For the following reasons, even correct information from two sources can fail to match.

• The registry hasn't caught up yet: Under the Companies Act, any change to a registered matter must be filed within two weeks. Right after a change of representative, there can be a period where the registry still shows the previous representative.
• Officer terms: A director's term is generally two years, but it can differ by corporate structure or by the articles of incorporation — for example, a non-public kabushiki kaisha can extend it to up to ten years under its articles, while it is one year at companies with an audit and supervisory committee (except for directors who are committee members) and at companies with nominating and other committees. The officers listed several years ago may no longer be the same people.
• Address non-disclosure: For a kabushiki kaisha that has adopted the "measure to withhold the representative director's address," which took effect on October 1, 2024, the representative director's address shown on a certificate of registered information is truncated to the municipality level. The absence of a street address alone is not, by itself, a reason to doubt a company's legitimacy.
• Company structure: For a godo kaisha, the person introduced in the press as "president" may not match what's shown in the registry.

How to verify a company and its representative through public records

Starting with free records and moving on to paid registry information only once you actually need to confirm the representative keeps the time and cost down.

STEP 1. Check the name and address on the Corporate Number Publication Site

The National Tax Agency's Corporate Number Publication Site (法人番号公表サイト) publishes three basic pieces of information — name, address, and a 13-digit corporate number — and does not include the representative's name. Selecting the option to include the history of changes since publication lets you trace former company names and addresses too, which is useful for matching against an older invoice.

STEP 2. Cross-check the registration number on the Qualified Invoice Issuer Publication Site

Cross-check the registration number on an invoice using the National Tax Agency's Qualified Invoice Issuer Publication Site (適格請求書発行事業者公表サイト). A registration number is the letter "T" followed by 13 digits; for a taxable company that has a corporate number, it's "T" plus that corporate number. For a company, the site publishes the name, the date of registration, and the head office address, so you can compare them against the name and address on the invoice. For a sole proprietor, the trade name and business address are published only if the individual has chosen to disclose them. Because tax-exempt businesses and others may not be registered at all, the absence of an entry alone doesn't disprove a company's existence — but if a registration number written on an invoice can't be found, you should ask the other party about it.

STEP 3. Read changes of representative and officers through the company registry

The representative's name is confirmed through the company registry. Anyone can request a certificate of registered information by paying the fee, and there are four types.

Type	What it contains	Best suited for confirming
Certificate of Current Matters	Currently effective matters, including officers' dates of appointment	The current representative and officers
Certificate of Historical Matters	Everything in the Certificate of Current Matters, plus matters struck from the record on or after January 1 of the year that falls three years before the date of the request (such as officers who have since left)	Officer changes or a company name change over the past several years
Certificate of Closed Matters	Matters from a closed registry record	Records further in the past
Certificate of Representative Matters	Current matters concerning the representative's authority to represent the company	Confirming only the representative

For preliminary research before doing business with a company, you can view the record through the Civil Affairs Research Foundation's Registered Information Provision Service (登記情報提供サービス) (330 yen for the full contents of a commercial or corporate registry; it carries no certification statement or official seal, and casual one-time use requires no advance registration). If you need it as an official certificate to submit somewhere, request a certificate of registered information online (520 yen per copy by mail, 490 yen per copy at a counter).

STEP 4. Check disclosures under the Specified Commercial Transactions Act and administrative-action records

Advertisements for mail-order sales must include, for a company, "the name of the representative or the person responsible for the mail-order business" among their required disclosures (this can be omitted under certain conditions). For a school's or an agency's website, compare this disclosure against the company registry.

The Consumer Affairs Agency's "Specified Commercial Transactions Act Guide" (特定商取引法ガイド) lists, by fiscal year, the names of businesses subject to administrative action under the Act and details of those actions (generally kept published for five years starting the fiscal year after the action). Because a business-suspension order can also come with a personal order barring an individual officer from the business, it's worth reading the details of the action, not just the company name. Ways to spot a resale-school's sales pitch are also covered in checkpoints for spotting a resale school's sales pitch.

Verifying a background: how much weight it carries depends on who wrote it

A background carries different weight depending on whether it was written by the company under a legal requirement or written freely by the person themself.

For a listed company, start with the background in its disclosure documents

The Financial Services Agency's EDINET lets you view an annual securities report, which includes officers' backgrounds, and an extraordinary report, which includes a newly appointed representative director's main career history at the time of a change in representative. Because the Timely Disclosure Network (TDnet) only lets you search recent disclosures, look for older ones on the company's own investor-relations page.

For an unlisted company, supplement with records of the person's activities

For an unlisted company, there are limited ways to publicly verify an executive's personal background. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry's gBizINFO lets you look up, by corporate number or company name, a summary of government-held data such as certifications, awards, subsidies, and procurement records. That said, it's a compilation of only part of the government's information, so an entry not appearing there doesn't mean the company has no track record. If a company claims to own a brand, you can search J-PlatPat (a free patent and trademark search service) for trademarks registered under that company's name by using the "applicant / rights holder / registrant" search.

Source of the background information	Who wrote it	How to treat it
An annual securities report or extraordinary report	The company (required by law)	Note the filing date along with the content
News coverage or a profile article	A third party	Note the publication date and outlet, and prioritize the original source
Social media, an instructor bio, a self-description such as "former Amazon employee"	The person themself or the event organizer	Treat it as an unverified claim, and judge it by whether the procedures that person recommends match Help content and Amazon's terms

Verifying a statement: when, where, and in what capacity it was made

As a short quotation from a statement circulates, the conditions and context behind it can get lost. Check the following four points, and trace the statement back to the original record — a full interview transcript, a speech transcript, or an official announcement — rather than relying on a third party's summary.

1. Date: Was this said before a change in terms or a change in Amazon's structure?
2. Venue: Was it an interview, a speech, an official announcement, or a social media post?
3. Role: Who said it, and in what position at that time?
4. Context: Were any conditions or exceptions mentioned before or after it?

Cross-check statements about Amazon against official records and their dates

Cross-check the information Amazon itself has published, along with the relevant dates.

What you want to confirm	Where to check it
When the terms changed	The Help page "Changes to program policies" (records organized by year)
The rules sellers must follow	The Business Solutions Agreement, the Seller Code of Conduct, and each policy's Help page
The company's official statements	About Amazon Japan, and dated press releases
Leadership's thinking	The shareholder letter published on the official site (in recent years, under the CEO's name)

For example, "Changes to program policies" records that, as of July 27, 2026, the character limit for product titles changed from 200 characters to 75 characters (with some exceptions by store and product type). Advice from before that date may no longer match the current rules. The approach to distinguishing a change in top leadership from its actual effect on sellers is also covered in looking back at Amazon's 2021 CEO transition.

Verifying an "Amazon certified" claim or contact that says it's from Amazon

The page for Amazon's Service Provider Network (SPN) states explicitly that Amazon does not endorse any service provider or its services. A claim that "being listed on SPN means Amazon certified" doesn't square with that statement. Amazon also never asks for information such as passwords or credit card numbers by email. For any message you're unsure about, don't use the link in the email — go directly to Seller Central instead to check. A legitimate email comes from an address ending in "@amazon.com," "@amazon.co.jp," or similar, and you can report a suspected phishing email by following the instructions in Help.

Putting supplier and rights-owner verification to use in your dealings with Amazon

Verifying the parties you deal with lays the groundwork for handling an authenticity review or an intellectual property notice.

An invoice's supplier must be a "verifiable" company to begin with

Amazon's Help pages require that an invoice used to respond to a policy-violation claim show, among other things, an issue date within 365 days before you received the notice, a quantity covering both the units sold for the ASIN in question and your on-hand inventory, product codes, and the supplier's contact information. The supplier is required to have "an established web presence" that can be verified through a government source, such as a business tax registration number, or another reliable third-party source. An invoice you issued yourself, one that has been altered, or one in an editable format such as Excel or Word will not be accepted. For more detail, see how to respond to an authenticity review.

Translating due-diligence criteria into steps you can take in Japan

The Help page "Use due diligence to select trustworthy suppliers" lists business registration and years in business, the relationship with the brand, and reputation as points to evaluate, and gives U.S.-based examples of ways to check registration, such as a secretary of state's website or the Better Business Bureau. For a Japanese supplier, these can be translated as follows (this mapping is our own organization of the criteria, not something specified by Amazon).

Point from Help	Example of how to check it in Japan
Business registration and years in business	The company registry (date of incorporation, when officers were appointed) and the Corporate Number Publication Site (history of name and address changes). Because an invoice registration date only ever falls after the qualified invoice system began, don't use it as a proxy for years in business
Relationship with the brand	What's stated in the letter of authorization, and the rights holder's name on J-PlatPat
Direct confirmation with the brand	Contact the brand yourself through the inquiry channel listed on its official website
Reputation and complaints	Administrative actions published by the Consumer Affairs Agency, and a search on the company name and representative's name

For a letter of authorization or an intellectual property notice, cross-check the rights owner

A letter of authorization (LOA) needs five elements: the grantor, the grantee, what's being granted, its geographic scope, and its term. A paper LOA should carry the rights-owning company's letterhead and the signature of an authorized signer; an email version should come from a valid domain belonging to the rights-owning company. It's worth checking the signer's role against the company registry or the company's own published information.

When you receive an intellectual property notice, cross-check the rights owner's name against J-PlatPat's rights-holder listing and check whether the right is registered and what goods it covers. Amazon's Help pages note that reporting infringement of a registered trademark or a patent requires the right to be registered in that country, that violating an exclusive-distribution agreement is not treated as intellectual property infringement, and that in Japan, notices regarding parallel-imported goods are not accepted for processing. This describes how such notices are handled — it does not mean a parallel-imported product is always free of any issue. Check the reason given in the notice, and if you're unsure whether a product is genuine or have any other doubt, consult a lawyer or a patent attorney. Use the results of this cross-check when organizing your sourcing documentation, as explained in responding to a claim of trademark infringement or counterfeiting.

Keep a record of what you verified in a research memo

Record what you verified, along with the date and source, so you're prepared to explain it to Amazon or hand it off if the person in charge changes. Here's a sample entry (a hypothetical example, not an actual case).

Date checked: September [X], 2026 / Checked by: Sourcing staff
Subject: XX Company, Ltd. (prospective supplier)
Corporate Number Publication Site: Name and address match the invoice. A history of address changes exists (the former address matches a past invoice)
Qualified Invoice Issuer Publication Site: Registration number and name match
Company registry (viewed via the Registered Information Provision Service): Representative director is XX. There was a change the previous year
List of actions on the Specified Commercial Transactions Act Guide: No matching company name found
Records kept: Search-result screens from each site (PDF), registry data viewed
Decision: Proceed with the relationship. Requested that invoices be issued in a non-editable format

Also review your own company's leadership information when a representative or the person in charge changes

The Business Solutions Agreement requires that the information you provide always be accurate, complete, and current, and the Seller Code of Conduct likewise requires that you "keep your account information current at all times." When your representative changes or your company relocates, review the following items.

If you're asked for additional documents during identity verification, see preparing additional documents for identity verification.

What not to do

• Publicize what you found on social media or in a review: Japan's Penal Code generally treats openly stating a fact that damages someone's reputation as a punishable act regardless of whether the fact is true, and the Unfair Competition Prevention Act treats spreading a false statement that damages a competitor's credibility as an act of unfair competition. Depending on how you share it, this could run afoul of either law (check with a professional about how it applies to your specific case). If you suspect you're being harassed, use the proper channels described in responding through documentation and reporting rather than posting publicly.
• Use the intellectual property notice system as retaliation: Repeatedly reporting a seller who is not actually infringing, for example, is not recognized as a legitimate use of the notice system and counts as abuse of it.
• Alter an invoice or a letter of authorization: An altered invoice will not be accepted. If you're missing a document, ask your supplier to properly reissue it based on the actual transaction — never ask for one with a date or quantity that doesn't match reality. Check the current Help guidance for what an invoice needs to include before you submit it, and make sure the required information stays legible. Because guidance on how to handle certain items, such as pricing, can change, it's safer not to redact or delete anything on your own judgment. How to respond if you're accused of altering an invoice is covered in responding to a claim of invoice forgery or alteration.
• Overstate your relationship with Amazon: Misrepresenting or exaggerating your relationship with Amazon is prohibited under Amazon's agreements.
• Follow advice to "just restart under a different account": The Seller Code of Conduct does not allow holding multiple Seller Central accounts without a legitimate reason, and creating a new account to get around a suspension is likewise not allowed. Check the latest Help content for the conditions under which multiple accounts are exceptionally permitted. Don't follow this kind of advice, no matter who gives it.

Frequently asked questions

Q. The representative's name differs between the company website and the registry. Should we stop doing business with them?

A. It's too early to decide based on that alone. Possible explanations include the registry not yet reflecting a recent change, the website being slow to update, or, for a godo kaisha, an executing officer being listed rather than the representative. Compare the dates behind both sources, and ask the other party about anything that still concerns you, keeping a record of their answer.

Q. How should I verify a sole-proprietor supplier?

A. Since a sole proprietor has no corporate number, combine a cross-check on the Qualified Invoice Issuer Publication Site with a look at their Specified Commercial Transactions Act disclosure and a check of their address and contact information. Some tax-exempt businesses don't appear on the publication site either, so don't judge based solely on not finding an entry. That said, Amazon requires the supplier on an invoice used for a claim to have "an established web presence" verifiable through a public source or similar means, and an invoice from a supplier that doesn't meet this may not be accepted. Since a supplier that's hard to verify can also make things harder to explain during an authenticity review, factor that into your decision about whether to do business with them.

Q. I can't find the rights owner who sent the notice on J-PlatPat.

A. Try searching under different spellings, since the registration may be under an English name, an abbreviation, or an affiliated company's name. A notice based on copyright — for example, over a product photo or written text — can't be confirmed on J-PlatPat, because copyright has no registration system. If you still can't confirm it, organize what you found and respond through the proper process, and consult a lawyer or a patent attorney if you're unsure. Ways to sort out notices by type of right are also covered in organizing intellectual property warnings.

Q. My supplier's representative has changed. Is there anything I need to do?

A. Confirm the change through the company registry and update your research memo, and check whether the invoice's name, address, and registration number have also changed. If the supplier is also the brand's rights owner and a previous representative signed the letter of authorization, review the LOA's term and the signer named on it, confirm in writing with the rights owner whether it can still be treated as valid, and keep their response in your research memo.

Q. My supplier is an overseas manufacturer or brand owner. Can I still use Japan's company registry and the Corporate Number Publication Site?

A. As a rule, overseas companies can't be looked up in Japan's company registry or on the Corporate Number Publication Site. However, a foreign company registered in Japan, or a foreign corporation that has been assigned a corporate number, may be searchable there. An overseas business registered as a qualified invoice issuer can also be checked on the Qualified Invoice Issuer Publication Site. For other overseas parties, your alternatives include checking whether that country has a public search service equivalent to a commercial registry, checking whether the address and contact information listed on their website actually exist, and contacting the brand yourself through the inquiry channel listed on its official website. Because systems differ by country, we can't offer a definitive method here. The harder a party is to verify, the more important it is to carefully cross-check the information on their invoices and letters of authorization, and to keep a record of how you verified it in your research memo.

Summary

When researching a company's leadership, the basic approach is to read the source and the date behind the information, rather than going by your impression of the person.

• A "title," a "position in the company registry," and "Amazon's business owner or operator" are three separate things. Check the date and what each field actually represents before treating a mismatch as a problem
• Verify that a company exists using the Corporate Number Publication Site and the Qualified Invoice Issuer Publication Site, and verify changes of representative and officers through the company registry
• Weigh a background differently depending on who wrote it, and cross-check a statement against official information by pinning down when, where, and in what capacity it was made
• Keep a record of what you verified in a research memo, and also review your own company registry and Seller Information for consistency

Use what you find to inform your business decisions and your explanations to Amazon — not as material to attack the other party with. If you're unsure how to proceed, organize your documentation and consult a professional.

*This article provides a general explanation. The appropriate response in individual cases depends on the circumstances.

Further reading

Responding to an Amazon authenticity review: checking evidence and appealing without an invoice Read article → Amazon trademark and counterfeit allegations: organizing sourcing evidence and rights information Read article → When Amazon flags a forged or altered invoice: verifying facts and using genuine documents Read article →