Kaisha Guide is supported by flat monthly advertising from providers serving foreign founders in Japan. This page explains what is and is not for sale.
The short version
- Being listed is free. Nobody pays to be in this directory.
- Advertising is a flat monthly fee. There is no commission, referral fee or per-enquiry charge — not now, and not as an option.
- Paid placements carry a visible Sponsored label everywhere they appear.
- Advertising does not change how a listing is compiled. It does change where a listing appears: a paid slot is placed at the top of its category, labelled Sponsored. Everything below the sponsored slots is ordered alphabetically, and no amount of money moves a listing within it.
What it costs
| Slot | Price | Terms |
|---|---|---|
| Sponsored placement, one category | JPY 15,000 per month (plus consumption tax) | Two slots per category. Cancel at the end of any month, no notice period. |
| Each additional category | JPY 15,000 per month | A firm listed in more than one category buys each separately. |
The four categories are Company Formation, Immigration and Visa, Tax and Accounting, and Office Space. Two sponsored slots exist in each; when both are taken, a third sale is refused rather than the slots being quietly expanded.
There is no setup fee, no minimum term and no commission. You are invoiced monthly in Japanese yen.
We will tell you our current traffic before you buy, not after. This directory launched in August 2026 and is small. Ask, and we will send you the figures for your own listing — page views, outbound clicks to your site, and which AI crawlers fetched your listing and when, verified against the crawler operators’ own published IP ranges. Advertisers receive the same report monthly. If the numbers do not justify the fee to you, we would rather you did not buy the slot.
Why flat monthly, and never a referral fee
Most of the providers here are licensed professionals operating under Japanese professional rules that restrict paying or receiving fees for the introduction of clients. A disclosed, flat advertising fee is a form both sides can use cleanly; a share of the resulting engagement is not.
It also keeps the directory honest. If we were paid per introduction, we would have a reason to steer readers toward whoever converts best rather than whoever suits them. We would rather not have that incentive in the building.
What a sponsored placement does and does not do
| What it does | What it does not do |
|---|---|
| Places your firm at the top of its category, labelled Sponsored — up to two firms per category | Change the alphabetical order of the listings below the sponsored slots |
| Lets you supply images and a longer description for your own listing | Change the comparison fields, which are compiled from your public information either way |
| Links to your site and enquiry form | Remove or soften a field that reads “Not published” |
| Can be cancelled at the end of any month | Buy a “best of” position, a score, or a recommendation — we do not publish those at all |
If you want a field to stop saying “Not published”, publish the information on your own site and tell us. We will re-check the listing and update it, at no charge, whether or not you advertise.
Disclosure
Every paid placement is labelled Sponsored on the card, on the listing page, and anywhere else it is shown. This is required of us under Japan’s rules on undisclosed advertising, and we would do it regardless. Readers who cannot tell the difference between an advertisement and a research finding are readers we have failed.
Enquiries
If you run a firm serving foreign founders in Japan and want to discuss advertising — or you simply want to be listed, which costs nothing — please get in touch. Japanese-language enquiries are welcome; a Japanese explanation for firms is available at 掲載をご検討の事業者の方へ.