01
Japanese Company Verification
Find out whether a Japanese company is what it claims to be, before you contract or pay.
from $290
See details →
02 · Onmitsu Japan Desk
Buyer & Distributor Discovery
You want to sell in Japan but do not know who buys in your category — or you have a list and no reply rate. Both problems are solved the same way: the right companies, approached properly, in Japanese, in writing and by telephone.
From $690 Fixed price agreed before we start
Why this exists
A real list of Japanese buyers for your product, contacted in Japanese, with meetings booked.
Japanese distribution often runs through several layers — importer, distributor, primary dealer, secondary dealer, retailer. Which layer you should target depends on your category, and getting it wrong wastes months.
We agree the screening criteria with you first, build a longlist you can argue with, then approach the companies on it in Japanese and manage every reply. You get a written record of who said what, including the companies that declined and why.
That includes picking up the phone. A general enquiry address at a Japanese company is frequently unread, while the main switchboard exists to route callers to departments. We call, ask to be put through, and get a name — which turns the follow-up message from a cold email into an expected one.
Pricing
What it costs
Quoted and invoiced in USD or JPY. No retainer, no minimum term, and no commission on any deal you close. If your request does not fit a tier, we quote it before doing any work.
Longlist
$690
approx. ¥102,000
7 business days
- Screening criteria defined with you
- 30–50 Japanese companies identified
- Segment, size, channel and fit noted for each
- Contact route identified for each
- Delivered as a working spreadsheet
Best value
Outreach
$1,900
approx. ¥281,000
4–6 weeks
- Everything in Longlist
- Your materials rewritten into Japanese by a native speaker, not translated
- 20 companies approached in writing, in Japanese
- Telephone follow-up to the main switchboard, asking to be routed
- Two follow-up rounds per company
- Every reply translated and assessed, including refusals
- Weekly status report
Meetings
$3,500
approx. ¥518,000
6–10 weeks
- Everything in Outreach
- Three online meetings scheduled and confirmed
- Interpreter present for each meeting
- Briefing before, written minutes after
- Follow-up correspondence in Japanese
Questions
About this service
Do you take a commission if we sign with a distributor you found?
No. We are paid for the work, not for the outcome. That is deliberate: it means we have no financial reason to steer you toward one partner over another, and no incentive to push a deal that should not happen.
How long does it realistically take to sign a distributor?
From first approach to a signed agreement, six to twelve months is normal in Japan. Our engagement covers identification through first meetings; the negotiation that follows runs on the counterparty's timeline, not ours.
What if none of the 20 companies are interested?
You still receive every reply, translated, with the reasons given. That is genuinely useful information — it usually means the positioning, price point or target layer needs to change, and we will tell you which one we think it is.
Also available
Other things you can hire us for
03
On-the-Ground Representation
We physically go where you cannot, and report back with evidence.
from $490
See details →04
Japan Desk — Bilingual Assistant
A monthly block of Japanese-speaking hands, staffed by our team, not by one freelancer.
from $490/mo
See details →Start a request
Tell us what you need done in Japan.
You do not need a polished brief. A company name, a product, or a question is enough to get a scope and a price back.
Response time
Within one Japanese business day. Our hours are 09:00–18:00 JST, Monday to Friday — that is UTC+9, with no daylight saving.
Office
708 Altair Akihabara Bldg., 1-8-4 Kanda-Sakumacho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-0025, Japan
Email
Phone
+81 3-6319-2800 — answered in Japanese first. Email is faster if you write in English.
Confidentiality
We will sign your NDA before you send anything sensitive. Just say so in the message and we will send it back the same day.