Foreigners open a sole proprietorship?

I am Canadian, and am interested to move to Tokyo and start a sole proprietorship. My business is a form of hands on bodywork called Structural Integration, and it is practiced in Japan by Japanese people.

I was looking for someone to hire me in Tokyo, and somebody said they thought I could just open my own business and set up shop, once I had gone through the legalities of course.

Does anyone know if this is true? Do you know where I would find documentation on this?

I'm not looking for information on whether my business would be viable and successful or not, that is a whole other question. At this stage I'm just trying to find out if it is even possible from a legal / visa perspective.

I believe this is the status you need if you want to own/run business on your own:

http://www.japan-guide.com/forum/quereadisplay.html?0+57437