Entering the Japanese Market for the First Time: What Digital Strategy Lets You Start Without a Local Branch?

Your 'first step' into the Japanese market isn’t necessarily to establish a branch office | A low-risk strategy that starts with digital marketing

When overseas companies consider expanding into Japan, many first think about setting up a local branch office or appointing a distributor. However, establishing an office requires both time and expense, and hiring and managing local talent is not straightforward. Especially during an initial testing phase—when you are unsure whether your products or services will truly be accepted—what you need is a way to take action without creating a branch. One of the best answers is remote entry powered by digital marketing.

Low-risk, low-cost testing for entering the Japanese market that starts with digital

Even without a physical base in Japan, digital channels let you run promotion and sales activities across borders. In recent years, many overseas direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands and SaaS companies have started by leveraging online channels and postponed any physical rollout until later. 

Advantages of digital marketing: ways to test effectiveness before entry

• Quickly gauge market reaction while keeping costs down   
• Reach target audiences directly regardless of region   
• Test acceptance before establishing a branch office   
• Decide flexibly to withdraw or scale up based on results   

A three-step strategy for winning in the Japanese market | Low-cost entry through digital

If you are approaching Japan without a local branch, we recommend structuring your strategy in the following three steps.

STEP 1: Localising a Japan-facing landing page (LP) and product site | Laying the groundwork for market entry

Your first requirement is a website that earns the trust of Japanese users. This is more than a simple translation: it calls for natural, idiomatic Japanese and design and layout conventions that Japanese users are familiar with.

Points:

• Use “cultural translation” rather than literal translation (e.g., “Buy Now” → “View the brochure for free”)
• A mobile-first UI
• Clearly showcase your track record, case studies and customer testimonials
• Provide detailed, transparent information such as pricing and feature comparison tables

Link: [Overseas→Japan ④] “What is ‘J-UX’?” Five website design and content tendencies favoured by Japanese users

STEP 2: Running multilingual ads (Google/Yahoo/LINE, etc.) | Digital marketing initiatives

Once your website is in place, the next step is customer acquisition through advertising. In Japan, alongside Google Ads, Yahoo! Ads and LINE Ads are extremely important. Depending on the age group, many people use Yahoo!, while Instagram ads and X (formerly Twitter) ads are effective for younger audiences.

Recommended ad tactics:

• Google Search Ads (particularly effective for B2B)
• Yahoo! listing/search ads (effective for mid- to older age groups)
• LINE Official Account + LINE Ads (a first step for B2C)
• Social ads (Instagram / X / YouTube)

STEP 3: Automating enquiries, brochure requests and e-commerce (EC) sales | Efficient customer handling in Japan

Once responses start coming in from prospective customers, it becomes crucial to automate your enquiry and sales processes. For example, you can handle enquiries with a chatbot, and build a Japanese-language brochure request form using a form builder. For e-commerce, simply creating Japanese-language pages on platforms such as Shopify or BASE enables you to start selling without a local branch.

Example tools:

• Chatbots (ChatPlus / Intercom + translation)
• Form creation (Google Forms + translation integration)
• Leverage Shopify’s Japanese-enabled templates

What successful overseas companies without a local branch have in common | Success factors for digital entry

Companies that succeed without a branch have a common trait: a user-centred digital customer journey.

You will often see characteristics such as:

• Web copy and ad creative reviewed by native Japanese speakers
• Site architecture grounded in local user behaviour
• Use of step emails and LINE to build relationships gradually
• Content that conveys the “sense of reassurance” valued by Japanese users (e.g., reviews, proof of results, responsive FAQs)

Link: [Overseas→Japan ③] Which words resonate with Japanese users? A complete guide to “cultural translation” for taglines and product descriptions – Final

Summary | The optimal way to enter the Japanese market is to start with digital

The Japanese market is indeed distinctive, with barriers spanning culture, language and consumer behaviour. However, advances in technology and the availability of information have made those barriers far lower than they used to be. If you lack staff on the ground and are unsure where to begin—perhaps close to giving up—do get in touch first. For both B2B and B2C, our experienced team will support and advise you.