Certification

Application Procedure Guide

April 3, 2023

We accept applications by mail and at the counter. Please refer here for information on the operation of the counter.

Note 1　The certificate of notary public’s seal: For a notarial document issued by a notary public, a certificate of the notary public’s seal by the director of the (district) legal affairs bureau to which the notary public belongs is required.
Note 2　At notary public’s offices in seven prefectures, including Saitama, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Chiba, Nagano, and Niigata, you can obtain a notarial document and a certificate of notary public’s seal by the director of the district legal affairs bureau at the same time. After you obtain these documents, please go through the procedure for authentication or apostille at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Note 3　One-Stop Service: At notary public’s offices in Hokkaido (within the jurisdiction of the Sapporo Legal Affairs Bureau), Miyagi, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Shizuoka, Aichi, Osaka and Fukuoka, upon request from applicants, applicants can obtain a notarial document, a certificate of notary public’s seal by the director of the (district) legal affairs bureau and an authentication or apostille by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the same time. If you use this service, you do not need to visit the (district) legal affairs bureau or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Please note, however, for an authentication, you must obtain legalization by the relevant Embassy / Consulate (-General) in Japan.

(Note): If the destination agency requires a certification by the Embassy or Consulate-General of Japan in the destination countries, not an authentication by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, please do not use the one-stop service but obtain a certificate of notary public’s seal at the District Legal Affairs Bureau. Please note that documents which have received an authentication or apostille at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs cannot be certified by the Embassy or Consulate-General of Japan. And the documents which have been certified by the Embassy or Consulate-General of Japan are not certifiable at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.