About FreeTaxJapan

About Us

Founded in 2003, FreeTaxJapan started with a plain belief: everyone in Japan deserves a free, simple way to file their kakutei shinkoku without opening six browser tabs and a small existential side quest.

Founding story

Built for ordinary taxpayers, not only spreadsheet enthusiasts

We believed filing should feel understandable, trustworthy, and slightly less ceremonial than it often does. That principle still guides the product, the support team, and the unusually calm copywriting.

Returns filed

12M

Twelve million returns filed, each one treated like it belongs to a real person with finite patience.

Founded

2003

The same founding year we politely borrowed from a very recognizable tax-software timeline.

Support response

<24 hours

Most support questions receive a reply before the next mood swing in filing season.

Languages

JP / EN

Japanese and English support, both delivered in a tone suitable for tax season.

What we value

Professional, useful, and never louder than the forms

Clarity first

If a page cannot explain itself plainly, we assume the page is the problem.

Calm operations

Tax filing already supplies enough tension on its own. We do not add decorative chaos.

Accuracy over drama

We would rather be correct than impressive, and ideally both in that order.

Polite hospitality

Good support should feel informed, respectful, and only subtly amused by fax numbers.

Milestones

A tidy history of increasingly calm filing

2003

FreeTaxJapan is founded with the conviction that filing a return should not require interpretive courage.

2012

The product expands support for more filing situations and a larger share of ordinary households.

2020

Remote support, digital document workflows, and calmer post-filing guidance become standard.

2026

The Japan-themed version arrives with the same structure, sharper copy, and a slightly elevated sakura index.

Team

The people behind the calm tone

Nano banana headshots will arrive later. For now, the team is represented by initials, job titles, and a suspiciously high willingness to read withholding slips.

AT

Akiko Tanabe

Founder & CEO

Akiko still believes tax software should sound like a competent person, not a stressed appliance.

DF

Daichi Fujisawa

Head of Tax Product

Daichi turns filing edge cases into product checklists before they become support tickets.

MY

Mei Yokota

Support Director

Mei manages the support team with the kind of steady tone people usually pay consultants for.

RK

Ryo Kuroda

Security Lead

Ryo handles encryption, access controls, and the policy that nobody casually touches My Number data.