SEO services in
Japan

We deliver Japan accounts remotely, with calls and reporting in Japan Standard Time. We will not claim a Tokyo office we do not have. The result for Japan clients: the right specialists and more of your JPY budget spent on delivery. If a Japan project needs someone on site, for photography, an event or a pitch in Tokyo, we arrange it and quote it separately.

Market knowledge in Japan comes from working with Japan data and clients, not from an address. We plan Japan work from real local search data, Japanese keyword research and the businesses holding your target positions. We avoid copying strategies from other countries into Japan, because that is where expansion SEO usually fails.

We work to Japan Standard Time, report monthly on a set date and give you one named senior contact. Our remote process means Japan work is fully documented rather than dependent on meetings.

Technical SEO works the same way in Japan. In Japan the queries, phrasing, competitors and regulations differ, and those decide what ranks. Yahoo! Japan still matters is a good example — Yahoo! Japan holds a meaningful share, particularly among older demographics. It is powered by Google’s index but has its own surfaces and portal beha...

Yes, and it is a common engagement. The most common mistake is copying a home-market site into Japan and expecting it to rank. Ranking in Japan takes local keyword research, content adapted to how buyers in Tokyo and Osaka write, hreflang done properly and local authority. We cover all four for Japan, not just the technical setup.

In Japan, local and map pack improvements usually move enquiries first, often within weeks. Competitive organic rankings in Japan usually take four to eight months, depending on category. Your likely timeline in Japan depends on category and starting point, so we model it in the audit.

Yes — we quote and invoice in ¥ for Japan clients. We price Japan work on scope and difficulty, in JPY, with no location premium.

We have dedicated pages for 6 major Japan markets, listed above. These are the Japan cities we work with most; if you are elsewhere in Japan, we can still help.

Retainers typically run ¥200,000–¥800,000 a month plus 10% consumption tax. Japanese buyers move slowly, expect extensive documentation before committing and value long-term relationships over competitive pricing — a rushed sales process reads as unserious.

The most distinctive major market on this list. Yahoo! Japan retains meaningful share alongside Google — and since it runs on Google’s index, optimising well serves both, but the audience skews differently. Rakuten and Amazon.co.jp dominate product search, and domestic competitors invest heavily in content depth.

Rakuten and Amazon.co.jp control product discovery, Tabelog dominates restaurant search to the point of outranking restaurants’ own sites, SUUMO owns property, and LINE is the primary messaging and increasingly commerce channel.

The Act on the Protection of Personal Information (APPI), amended to tighten cross-border transfer rules and breach notification.

Golden Week in late April and early May, Obon in August and the New Year period each halt business activity. Year-end gift-giving seasons of ochugen and oseibo drive substantial retail demand on a calendar Western brands rarely plan for.

Translating rather than localising, and applying Western minimalist design. Japanese users expect denser information architecture, and content that reads as translated destroys credibility instantly in a market where politeness register carries real meaning.