Buy Dogecoin in Japan: the Shiba meme coin on registered exchanges

The Shiba on the coin is Japanese

If you live in Japan, you may already know the face of Dogecoin. It is a Shiba Inu, one of Japan's native dog breeds. In December 2013, two software developers, Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer, launched Dogecoin as a gentle joke about the crypto craze of the time. The name came from the "Doge" meme: a photo of a Shiba with broken-English captions floating around it. The dog in that photo is widely identified as Kabosu, who lived in Chiba Prefecture.

What began as a joke turned into a community project. Dogecoin grew on tipping culture and online fundraising rather than on technology or business use, and it has stayed in the top tier of cryptocurrencies by market value for years. Japanese exchanges noticed. DOGE is now listed by 11 of the 14 retail-focused firms we track on the FSA register, which makes it easier to buy in Japan than many coins with far bigger developer communities.

What kind of coin is Dogecoin?

Dogecoin is a proof-of-workMiners compete to validate blocks with computing power. Bitcoin and Dogecoin use it; staking coins like Cardano and Solana do not. coin with its own blockchain. That matters for Japan in one practical way: there is no staking. Cardano, Solana and Ethereum can earn staking rewards at several registered exchanges. Dogecoin cannot, so holding it on an exchange earns nothing unless you use a separate lending product.

The second feature is that Dogecoin has no supply cap. New coins are issued with every block, and public sources describe roughly 5 billion new DOGE a year (the exact figure varies by source and date). Bitcoin's story is scarcity. Dogecoin's is community and attention, which is why its price tends to follow social-media waves.

Do not confuse it with Shiba Inu (SHIB), a different token that runs on Ethereum. For how DOGE sits next to the other large coins, see the coin guide hub.

Which exchanges in Japan list Dogecoin?

According to the FSA register, 11 firms list DOGE. The table shows how each lets you buy it. CEX.IO sits in the first row for reference only: it is an international platform that lists DOGE, but it is not registered with the FSA, does not support yen, and Japan is on its list of unsupported countries.

Compare the whole field on the registered exchanges page. If you are choosing for the first time, the account-opening steps in our Bitcoin guide are the same for DOGE.

Order book or dealer desk for DOGE?

An order-book exchangeUsers trade with each other through a list of buy and sell orders. Fees are low, but you set price and quantity yourself. (取引所, torihikijo) matches you with other users. Fees are low and a limit order lets you name your price. On bitbank, non-BTC pairs carry a -0.02% maker and 0.12% taker fee, so a patient limit order can even earn a small rebate. GMO Coin charges -0.03% maker and 0.09% taker on pairs outside BTC, ETH and XRP. Both DOGE/JPY markets appear in the exchanges' public symbol lists.

A dealer deskThe exchange itself is your counterparty and quotes a price. It is simple, but the gap between buy and sell prices is the cost. (販売所, hanbaijo) is the app screen where you type a yen amount and tap buy. There is no commission line, but the spreadThe gap between the buy price and the sell price. On a dealer desk it works as the fee and can widen in volatile markets. is built into the price. Coincheck publishes a 0.1-5.0% range for its desk, with some coins wider, and that is before a volatile day makes it worse. bitFlyer and SBI VC Trade do not publish their spreads.

Minimums are low. SBI VC Trade and Mercoin say you can start from ¥1, GMO Coin and Rakuten Wallet from ¥100, and Coincheck's desk from about ¥500 (per each firm's own pages; Rakuten's figure is from an archived page). Fees across the market are laid out on our fee comparison page.

How to buy DOGE as a resident, step by step

1. Pick the exchange type

   Order book for lower cost, dealer desk for simplicity. All of the firms in the table are FSA-registered except CEX.IO.

2. Open an account with your ID

   A residence card (在留カード) or My Number Card works at most exchanges, with an IC-chip read being the fastest route. You also need a smartphone and an email address.

3. Deposit yen from a bank account in your own name

   Third-party accounts are rejected. Instant deposit is free at GMO Coin and SBI VC Trade; Coincheck's convenience-store deposit costs ¥770 and up.

4. Buy DOGE

   Tap buy on the dealer desk or place a market or limit order on the order book. Start small.

5. Keep records

   Download your annual trade report. You will need it for tax.

Moving DOGE out: the Travel Rule

Since June 2023 Japan has applied the Travel RuleA rule requiring sender and receiver details to travel with a crypto transfer between providers. In force in Japan since 1 June 2023. to crypto transfers. When you send DOGE from a Japanese exchange to another exchange or to your own wallet, the exchange asks for details about the destination, and some destinations are simply not allowed. Check this before you buy, not after.

If you were planning to move coins to an offshore exchange, check that exchange's rules first. The FSA has issued warnings to unregistered overseas operators; Bybit has ended service for Japan residents and Bitget has announced its exit from Japan. Our pages on offshore exchanges and wallets go into this in detail.

Leaving Japan with DOGE on a domestic exchange? Read moving to or leaving Japan and how to cash out to yen before you close your bank account, because you need that account to withdraw yen.

How is Dogecoin taxed in Japan?

Buying DOGE with yen and holding it is not a taxable event. Selling at a gain, swapping DOGE for another crypto and paying for something with DOGE all are, per the National Tax Agency crypto FAQ. The gain is miscellaneous income (雑所得, zatsu-shotoku), added to your salary or other income and taxed at progressive rates of 5-45% plus 10% resident tax, up to 55% in total.

Meme coins invite frequent trading, so record-keeping matters. A salaried employee with one employer whose other income is ¥200,000 or less a year does not have to file a national income tax return, but resident tax still needs a declaration. A 20% separate tax rate is legislated for some crypto, but it cannot start before 2028 on our estimate. Details: crypto tax in Japan and the tax reform page. If you are on a visa that may expire or a tax treaty is involved, ask a tax accountant.

Buying a little at a time

Meme coins are very sensitive to timing. Instead of one large purchase, some residents prefer a recurring purchase of a fixed yen amount, which smooths out the entry price. According to the official pages, SBI VC Trade offers recurring purchases on 28 coins and GMO Coin from ¥500; whether DOGE is included differs by exchange, so check the list before you set one up.

Tax works the same way with recurring buys: when you sell, the gain is calculated from your average acquisition cost. Keep the annual trade report from the exchange, or use a tax-calculation tool, so you are not rebuilding the numbers by hand in March. If you are new to Japan, remember that the tax year is the calendar year and returns are filed in the following February and March.

Meme-coin risks and scams

Dogecoin is volatile and has no revenue or assets behind it. Its supply is uncapped, so scarcity does not help you. Only put in money you can afford to lose.

Be wary of social-media "investment groups" that promise a Dogecoin pump and of fake exchange sites. Never send money to a firm that is not on the FSA register. See crypto scams in Japan.

Buying Dogecoin in Japan: common questions

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