Beginners

Everything About Japanese Culture for Businessmen

If a foreign company wants to enter the Japanese market, learning the language is not enough. Even if you speak really well, faux pas slow down your business and harm your credibility. Whether you want to create a website, post on social media or meet professionals, there are a few things you should pay attention to. You can also read about the Japanese business etiquette to know the dos and don’ts when participating in professional meetings. Colors Color meanings change depending on countries and sometimes regions, so it is important to know them in order to avoid delivering the wrong message. Black: both positive and negative, it represents elegance, sexuality…

Crowdfunding in Japan

How to Write & Submit a Press Release in Japan

Press releases are not to be overlooked since it is a basic way to make your product known – whether you are doing crowdfunding or want to sell a good or service. Basically, you write all the essential information and send your text to press companies to attract new customers. It must be catchy and make readers want to buy your product, but not only. Here are the best tips for you to succeed! Benefits of Press Releases Why should you write and send a press release? It is a marketing method really effective, the cost is not very high but the impact on your sales is big. It will also…

Beginners

How to Successfully Promote Your Crowdfunding Campaign in Japan

Choosing crowdfunding as a way to raise funds has many benefits, you can achieve a lot without asking a lender to back you. But the fear of failure prevents many entrepreneurs to jump in at the deep end. Is it your case? This is why we gathered the best tips to successfully promote your campaign.  Advertise Your Product Using SNS Social media networks take a bigger and bigger place over the years, in Japan like in the rest of the world. Check out what platforms are popular among Japanese, and let’s get started. The main point when using SNS for a crowdfunding campaign is to generate enthusiasm and confidence in…

Marketing in Japan

How to Use Hashtags on Social Media in Japan

Hashtags are extremely useful to attract new followers, so potential new customers. Nowadays, you cannot find success without creating an account on (the right) social media networks and without knowing how to get new followers. So let’s get right into this! What Is a Hashtag? “Hashtag” is the name of the hash symbol # and is mainly used to classify or categorize posts on social media. Someone who is looking for posts on a specific subject (technology, an event, a person, etc.) will find many by adding this symbol before keywords (#tech, #olympics, #trump, etc.). If he/she doesn’t choose popular keywords, however, he/she won’t find anything very interesting. This is…

Marketing in Japan

Japan – The Most Popular Social Media Networks in 2020

In this digital era, SNS marketing is essential – and even vital for companies. But a social media popular in 2019 will not necessarily be popular in 2020. We saw what the trends were in 2018, here is the situation nowadays. Don’t overlook one of those platforms, your (potential) customers love them! Overview From 2016 to 2019, there is a general growth of monthly active users (MAU), except on Twitter (who did not communicate any official data from 2017 to 2019) and Facebook (loss of 2 million MAU, from 28 to 26 million), according to Gaiax. Facebook Even though Facebook is less popular in Japan, at a world scale, Facebook’s…

Work in Japan

Globalization & the Struggle of Japanese Companies

More foreign companies are setting a branch in Japan, but they struggle to adapt to the local culture. The country is geographically isolated and its people give much importance to traditions and Japanese uniqueness (the nihonjinron logic), so it is not easy to understand and follow the untold rules – especially in a business setting. It is even more difficult for Japanese companies, who don’t always know how to deal with another culture. With globalization, however, enterprises will have to overcome those problems and be more opened to the world. Why Japan Experiences Difficulties Japanese companies struggle more at a global level than other multinationals. They lack global human capital since…

AI

Improved Facial Recognition: Should You Be Scared or Happy?

Facial recognition technology has spread rapidly in Japan as in the rest of the world. You can unlock your smartphone, tablet or computer with your facial features, but it does not stop there. Companies and governments benefit from this new technology too. But will it lead to mass surveillance? Let’s review the situation. How Does Facial Recognition Work? Of course, it’s not specific to Japan. But if you are new to this technology, here is a simple explanation of how it works. Facial recognition was developed to improve safety – but it does not improve privacy, unfortunately. It is also more convenient, so most smartphones are nowadays equipped with a…

Set up a Company in Japan

How to Meet Customers’ Needs When Shipping in Japan

The B2C e-commerce market represents a growing part of the total annual sales in Japan. Its two biggest platforms, Rakuten and Amazon, have a total annual sales estimated respectively at JPY 3.43 trillion (USD 31.7 billion) and JPY 2.75 trillion in 2019 (USD 25.42 billion). They offer amazing services, so consumers in Japan have high expectations concerning shipping or customer support. After we saw what the best methods of payment were in Japan, let’s focus on what you can do to improve your shipping service. What Customers Expect In Japan, customers expect a very fast delivery service. Usually, when they order on Amazon or Rakuten, they receive their parcel the…

Future

Automotive Industry: When Japan Drives Us to the Future

If you have ever done some Great Tokyo walks, you must have seen amazing and very expensive cars in abundance. Because Japan is known for its advances in technology, it is not surprising that cars are becoming more connected and more futuristic. High-performance cars are flourishing since the 2000s, with companies like Toyota, Honda or Nissan, but also Mitsubishi, Mazda, Subaru, Nexus, etc. Those companies surprised us with more design and developed vehicles, and they will not stop there. So what does the automotive industry look like today and what will it look like in the future? The Japanese Automotive Industry The best Japanese automotive companies are known globally, and…

Challenges

Cybersecurity in Japan: Essential But Not Effective – Yet

Japan counts 117.6 million Internet users and more than a hundred thousand of cybercrime cases every year. Attacks are becoming more frequent but also more effective and destructive. Many types of criminal activities exist: hacking, phishing, denial-of-service attack, infection with malware, identity fraud, electronic theft, etc. Even though Japan is known as a technology and innovation leader, it remains late in cybersecurity. Why is it so? Let’s review the situation. Why Cybersecurity is Essential Cyberthreats should not be taken lightly since personal and financial data can be stolen, causing damage to a brand’s reputation at the same time. The number of cases is increasing every year as the world becomes…