Set up a Company in Japan

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…

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…

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…

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…

Challenges

Reading the Air: the Best Skill When Working in Japan

If you are a foreigner working in Japan, you may have heard the phrase ‘kuuki ga yomenai’ 空気が読めない (a person who ‘cannot read the air’). It is said that women read the air better than men in Japan, but everyone is supposed to understand what is implicitly said, especially in a business setting. As you may know, the Japanese communication style is very indirect, what is said is not always what is meant. In the same way, what is not said has a meaning, you must ‘understand the atmosphere’: a silence, a look – if it is a glance or a gaze, the message conveyed is different, etc. Reading the…

Marketing in Japan

The Best Methods of Payment for Your Japanese E-Commerce Site

Japan is a cash-is-king society, with under 20 percent of contactless transactions (credit cards, rail passes, smartphone apps, etc.). Even when purchasing on e-commerce sites, cash payments remain frequent. While in the West, you don’t always have the choice but to pay by card, many Japanese websites offer several options. If you want to enter the Japanese market, you must understand that and meet customers’ expectations. Companies who don’t make this effort have a higher rate of shopping cart abandonment and lose many customers every day.  Online Shopping in Japan Statistics In Japan, the largest online market is fashion, but others such as the travel, electronic devices, food and beauty markets…

Marketing in Japan

YouTube Marketing in Japan: Tips & Tricks

Do you think your audience is not on YouTube? Let me tell you that you are wrong. More than 2 billion users watch or upload videos, which represents almost 1/3 of the Internet. 95% of the world’s population can create an account since it is accessible in 80 different languages and 100 countries. But what about Japan specifically?  YouTube in Japan: Data YouTube was launched in Japan in 2007. A decade later, it had a penetration rate of over 90% among Japanese aged 13 to 29 years old (2019, Statista). However, the rate was 41% for people in their 60s – which is almost half of them, when we think…

Marketing in Japan

Marketing to Seniors in Japan: a Golden Opportunity

Japan is experiencing a super-aging society, in every area. In 2017, 35.2 million inhabitants were 65 or older. In 2020, it is supposed to grow to 36.2 million (according to Statista). It represents a huge opportunity for marketers, should they find the right way to reach out to the elderly. Nowadays, advertising campaigns which target seniors are quite offensive and aim at solving problems related to age only, like safer bathtubs or adult diapers. But people don’t stop living and having fun after 60 years old, they do more than just staying at home and playing go. Situation in Japan Japan has a huge amount of data concerning the elderly,…