Who am I and why build this?
I’m François, a software engineer originally from Paris who has been living in Tokyo since 2005. JapanFinance.tools exists because too many useful conversations about tax in Japan still start from avoidable confusion.
I spend a lot of time reading and answering questions in /r/japanfinance. The same patterns show up repeatedly: inheritance concerns, gift transfers, tax residency uncertainty, and a general lack of straightforward explanations in English.
This site is meant to be a practical starting point. Not a substitute for professional advice, but a way to get oriented faster, understand the moving parts, and ask sharper follow-up questions.
Why keep building this
The goal is simple: make Japanese finance easier to approach in plain English.
If a topic keeps confusing smart people for the same reasons, that is usually a sign the explanation or tooling can be improved.
I want this project to stay practical and focused on the areas where a bit of clarity can save people time, stress, and bad assumptions before they talk to a professional.
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