Insights & Guides
Practical knowledge on Japan market entry — from company setup and visas to trade logistics and branding.
Does Product Packaging Need a Japanese-Language Label to Sell in Japan? (2026)
Yes, for most retail categories. General merchandise (textiles, plastics, household electrical goods) falls under the Household Goods Quality Labeling Act (家庭用品品質表示法), and food falls under the...
Is Website Accessibility Legally Required for Businesses in Japan? (2026 Guide)
No single law makes private-sector website accessibility a direct legal mandate in Japan, but two related developments change the risk calculus. Since April 1, 2024, the Act for the Elimination of...
Why Does Your Website Need a Separate Japanese Font License From Your Global Type System? (2026)
Because the Latin web font a company already licenses for its global site almost never includes full Han (kanji) character coverage, and even when a CJK (Chinese-Japanese-Korean) variant exists...
How Should a Foreign-Owned Company Design a Business Card (名刺) for Japan? (2026)
Design the card as two single-language faces rather than one bilingual face: Japanese on one side, English (or the counterparty's language) on the other. Match the printed title to a Japanese...
Which Colors Should You Avoid in Japan B2B Branding? (2026)
No color is universally off-limits in Japan B2B branding, but several colors carry a different connotation than they do in a Western brand book and need re-testing before use. Red reads as...
What Should a Japan-Market Brand Guideline Actually Include? (2026)
A complete Japan-market brand guideline documents logo files in SVG, PNG, and EPS across black, white, accent-color, and reverse-out variants; color tokens with print and greyscale fallback...
How Do You Design One Website for Japanese, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese Without Three Layouts?
Build one layout system with shared structural rules (grid, spacing tokens, component library) and per-locale overrides for the things that genuinely differ by script: font pairing, text-expansion...
Why Do Japan B2B Brand Colors Need to Survive Greyscale Printing? (2026)
Japan B2B brand colors need to survive greyscale printing because Japanese reviewers frequently print PDFs, decks, and one-pagers before a meeting rather than reading them on screen, and a palette...
How Do You Design a Pitch Deck or Sales Deck for Japanese B2B Buyers? (2026)
A pitch deck built for a Japan B2B audience needs denser slides, more supporting data per claim, and value-proposition language built for the reader rather than translated from an English...
How Should Foreign Companies Design Web Forms for Japanese Users? (2026)
Foreign companies should place form field labels above each input rather than inline, format numbers with comma thousands separators, use ¥1,000 (symbol first) for prices or 1,000円 (symbol last)...