kabushiki

Kabushiki refers to stock or shares in Japanese. Kabushiki Kaisha, written 株式会社 in kanji, is the legal form of a corporation in Japan that is capitalized and owned through shares. It is the most common corporate structure for both Japanese businesses and many foreign companies operating in Japan. The English abbreviation K.K. is often used in corporate names and registrations.

A Kabushiki Kaisha is formed by filing Articles of Incorporation (定款, teikan) with the Legal Affairs Bureau and registering the company. Ownership is divided into shares, which may be transferred according to the Articles of Incorporation and applicable securities regulations. Management is typically exercised by a board of directors and represented by one or more representative directors who bind the company in business transactions. A KK can be private or public; a public KK may issue shares to the general market and be listed on a stock exchange, subject to additional disclosure and regulatory requirements. Since reforms in the mid-2000s, it is possible to form a one-person Kabushiki Kaisha, with simplified governance compared with larger companies.

Etymology and usage: The term kabushiki derives from stock, while kaisha means company; the combined form is a common legal name element in Japan, with hundreds of thousands of entities using 株式会社 in their names. The concept aligns with other joint-stock company forms worldwide, though it operates under Japan's Companies Act and corporate governance practices.