Japan readiness audit
Every engagement starts with category approval, product regulation, import route, trademark status, fees, and existing listings, with a clear go or no-go for each product before inventory is committed.
Desverto is an Amazon agency that takes your products from your home marketplace to Amazon.co.jp and runs them after launch. We check that each product can be sold in Japan, set up the import route and Seller Central Japan, write Japanese listings with native copywriters, and manage your ads in Japanese. Before any inventory ships, you see what each product will cost to land and what it should earn per unit.
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Best For: Brands already selling on Amazon in the US, UK, or EU that want to launch on Amazon.co.jp, or that launched and stalled. This is an Amazon agency for brands rather than resellers: Seller Central brands doing $20,000 to $500,000+ a month on their home marketplace, with a trademark registered or ready to file in Japan. It is especially useful if you have no Japanese-speaking team and no plan yet for importing, product compliance, or Japanese consumption tax.
We take products that already sell in your home market and get them selling profitably in Japan, then run the account after launch. That comes down to four jobs: confirming each product can legally be sold in Japan, setting up the import route and Seller Central Japan, building Japanese listings and creative through our Amazon listing optimization process, and running Amazon Ads in Japanese with budget tied to margin. You get one team accountable for all four, instead of a translator, a freight forwarder, and an Amazon seller agency that each see one piece.
The value is in the order. Most agencies start with ads because ads are what they sell. In Japan, ads on a product that has not cleared customs or category approval just burn budget. We start with a readiness audit, so before you commit inventory you know which products can launch, what each costs to land in Japan, and roughly what it earns per unit. Amazon’s own Global Selling page says its Japan team cannot support US-based sellers expanding to Japan until after they launch, which is exactly the stage where most brands are left on their own.
Japan rewards doing this properly. METI put the country’s B2C e-commerce market at ¥26.1 trillion in 2024, up 5.1% on the year, with only 9.8% of goods sales happening online. There is plenty of room left. A general Amazon marketplace agency running twenty countries from one template rarely gets the Japanese details right, and in Japan the details decide whether a listing sells.
A US listing translated into Japanese usually converts at a fraction of its home-market rate. Japanese shoppers are careful buyers. They read the whole listing, check specifications in metric units, look for clear return and warranty terms, and often search the brand on Google or Yahoo Japan before buying. A literal translation answers none of those questions, so the shopper moves on.
Japan launches usually stall on some mix of these problems:
Machine or agency translation gets the words right and the selling wrong. Product names, search terms, units, and benefit claims all need rewriting for how Japanese shoppers search and decide.
Amazon’s Japan selling guide states that neither Amazon nor its fulfillment centers can act as Importer of Record for FBA shipments. Without one, inventory never reaches the warehouse.
Electrical products need the PSE mark under METI rules, cosmetics need a Japanese marketing authorization holder under the PMD Act, and imported food needs a notification under the Food Sanitation Act. Amazon’s category approval covers none of this.
Japanese shoppers search for the same product in katakana, kanji, hiragana, and sometimes English. A keyword list exported from Amazon.com misses most of that volume.
Brand Registry needs a trademark that is registered or pending in Japan, and a US registration does not carry over (our trademark search and selection guide explains why). Without it there is no A+ Content, no Brand Store, no Sponsored Brands, and very little protection from hijackers.
Buyer messages, returns, and reviews arrive in Japanese and expect a fast, polite reply in Japanese. Slow or awkward answers show up a few weeks later as lower ratings.
Japan’s Consumer Affairs Agency treats unsupported performance claims as misleading representations. A claim that passes on Amazon.com can be a problem on Amazon.co.jp.
Referral fees, FBA fees, storage, import duty, consumption tax at import, and Importer of Record charges all come out before profit. Many brands only see the full picture after their first payout.
Sea freight plus customs clearance adds weeks to every restock. Turn on ads before the pipeline is planned and the listing goes out of stock just as rank starts to build.
Japan’s retail calendar has its own peaks, including year-end and New Year, Golden Week, and Prime Day. A US promotion calendar puts budget in the wrong months.
A Japan account can grow in yen and lose money in dollars once fees, exchange rates, and import costs are counted. Most monthly reports never show that line.
None of these are hard to fix once you know they are there. They are expensive to discover one at a time, after the inventory has already shipped.
Every product passes three gates before we spend a single yen on advertising. If it fails one, you find out at the audit stage, not after the container lands.
Amazon.co.jp category approval, plus the Japanese law that applies to the product: PSE for electrical goods, the PMD Act for cosmetics and quasi-drugs, food import rules, and household goods labelling. Since December 2025, overseas businesses selling regulated products directly to Japanese consumers also need a responsible person in Japan under the amended product-safety acts. We flag what applies and bring in a licensed specialist wherever certification or legal sign-off is needed. This is the one gate we never guess on.
Importer of Record, customs clearance, JAN codes, Japanese labels, and the FBA inbound plan. Amazon’s Japanese fulfillment centers only receive goods that have already cleared customs, so the import route has to be agreed before the first shipment is booked. We work with licensed IOR and customs partners and build the landed cost per unit with you.
Japanese keyword research, localised listing copy and images, ad structure, and a unit-economics model that runs from the yen selling price down to contribution margin in your home currency. This is where most agencies start. We get here only after the first two gates are cleared.
Skipping a gate does not save time. A product that passes Gate 3 on paper but fails Gate 1 gets pulled from sale, and the ad spend that built its rank goes with it.
A Japan plan built around your products, categories, and margins, with a go or no-go for each product before any money goes into inventory.
Every engagement includes:
We review the full Japan strategy every quarter. Japanese seasonality, exchange rates, and Amazon fee changes move enough that a plan set at launch goes stale within a few months.
As a full-service Amazon agency, we run the Japan account day to day. You approve the strategy and see every listing before it goes live. Each engagement starts with a Japan readiness audit covering compliance, import route, trademark status, fees, and any listings you already have.
Every engagement starts with category approval, product regulation, import route, trademark status, fees, and existing listings, with a clear go or no-go for each product before inventory is committed.
Titles, bullets, descriptions, and backend search terms are written by native Japanese copywriters from Japanese keyword research. We include centimetre sizes, materials, care instructions, warranty terms, and check claims against Japanese advertising rules.
Listing images use Japanese text callouts and category-specific explanations so shoppers can understand the product, its specifications, and its benefits before buying.
A+ Content and a Brand Store are built on our Master Layout System, so a whole product family looks consistent. When Japanese labelling rules mean the box or label has to change, our packaging team handles that as well.
Amazon PPC management covers Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, and Sponsored Display campaigns built on Japanese search terms, with budget tied to contribution margin.
We monitor Brand Registry, account health, inventory cover, and buyer messages, and handle case work with Amazon in Japanese.
Before: a US kitchenware brand lists 12 ASINs on Amazon.co.jp with translated copy, spends ¥600,000 a month on automatic campaigns, and converts at 4%. After: the same catalog relaunches with localised copy, Japanese keyword targeting, and Japanese image callouts. Ad spend stays at ¥600,000, conversion rises to 9%, and TACoS falls from 31% to 16%. Same budget. The difference is whether a Japanese shopper actually understood the product.
Advertising is planned against contribution margin, with sales, fees, and performance considered together rather than treating ad efficiency as the whole business result.
Most agencies quote their own fee and stop there. In Japan the other costs decide whether you make money, so we put the full cost stack on the table before you commit.
On the Amazon side, the Professional selling plan on Amazon.co.jp is listed at ¥4,900 a month before tax, referral fees run from roughly 5% to 15% depending on category, and FBA fulfillment and storage fees depend on size and weight (Amazon revised its Japan FBA fees in April 2026). On the import side, you pay the Importer of Record, freight, customs duty where it applies, and consumption tax at import. Setup can add a Japanese trademark filing, label changes, and testing for regulated products.
Our own fee is scoped after the readiness audit, based on catalog size, how many gates each product still has to clear, and whether you need launch work, ongoing management, or both. You see the full model, including estimated contribution margin per unit, before you sign anything. If the numbers do not work for a product, we will tell you.
Japan is tightening the rules for overseas sellers. The amended product-safety acts that took effect in December 2025 put responsibility on overseas businesses selling directly to Japanese consumers, and regulators can ask marketplaces to remove listings when a seller does not act. Consumption tax is heading the same way. Japan’s 2026 tax reform brings platform-level taxation to some cross-border sales of goods, scheduled from April 2028. Brands that settle their importer, responsible person, and tax position now will not be scrambling at the next deadline.
Discovery is changing too. As Amazon brings AI shopping assistants like Rufus to more marketplaces, the products that get recommended are the ones with complete, structured attributes, specifications, and Q&A. In Japan that means filling every attribute field in Japanese and answering the detailed questions shoppers already ask. It is the same work that makes a listing convert today, which is why we build it into the first draft rather than retrofitting it later.
Ask how it handles the three things that block most launches: product compliance, the Importer of Record, and Japanese localisation. A top Amazon agency for Japan should name the licensed partners it works with, show Japanese listing samples, and report contribution margin alongside ad metrics. If an Amazon services provider in Japan can only talk about PPC, keep looking.
Often, yes. Amazon says businesses outside Japan may not need to form a Japan-based company to sell there, although one can help depending on your structure and sales strategy. What you cannot skip is an Importer of Record for FBA inventory, and you should get a Japanese tax adviser’s view on consumption tax registration.
Amazon’s Japan selling guide states that neither Amazon nor its fulfillment centers can serve as Importer of Record for FBA shipments. You need a Japanese IOR or customs agent to clear the goods before they go to an Amazon warehouse. We coordinate this through licensed partners and include the cost in your landed-cost model.
Common examples are electrical products (PSE mark), cosmetics and quasi-drugs (PMD Act), supplements, food and drinks, medical devices, and household goods with specific labelling rules. Amazon also restricts or requires approval for several categories. We check both during the readiness audit and refer you to a licensed specialist where certification is required.
We localise. Native Japanese copywriters write titles, bullets, and backend terms from Japanese keyword research, convert units and specifications, and adapt claims to Japanese advertising rules. Translation is part of the job, but the listing is rebuilt around how Japanese shoppers search and decide.
For a product with no regulatory hurdles, plan on roughly six to ten weeks from audit to first sales, mostly driven by account verification, IOR setup, and shipping time. Regulated products and new trademark filings take longer. Listing and ad performance usually needs another two to three months to settle.
Amazon’s own costs include the monthly selling plan, category referral fees, and FBA fees. Import costs, setup costs, and the agency fee sit on top. We scope our fee after the readiness audit and show you an estimated contribution margin per unit first, so you know whether Japan makes sense for each product.
Yes. Your Amazon.co.jp seller account, advertising account, Japanese listings, images, and A+ Content all belong to you. We work inside your account with the access you grant, and everything stays with you if we stop working together. Any reputable Amazon agency for sellers should agree to this in writing.
An Amazon Japan launch works best when the listings and creative underneath it are built properly from the start. These are the services clients most often add alongside a Japan engagement:
Attribute audits, conversational copy, and Q&A structure so Amazon’s AI shopping assistant can understand and recommend your product, in Japan and in your home marketplace.
Keyword-led titles, bullets, descriptions, and backend search terms for your home marketplace, so your Japanese listings start from a strong source listing.
Module-based brand content that replaces the plain-text description. Premium A+ adds full-width layouts and video, and we produce Japanese versions alongside the originals.
Every product passes three gates before we spend a single yen on advertising. If it fails one, you find out at the audit stage, not after the container lands.
Amazon.co.jp category approval, plus the Japanese law that applies to the product: PSE for electrical goods, the PMD Act for cosmetics and quasi-drugs, food import rules, and household goods labelling. Since December 2025, overseas businesses selling regulated products directly to Japanese consumers also need a responsible person in Japan under the amended product-safety acts. We flag what applies and bring in a licensed specialist wherever certification or legal sign-off is needed. This is the one gate we never guess on.
Importer of Record, customs clearance, JAN codes, Japanese labels, and the FBA inbound plan. Amazon’s Japanese fulfillment centers only receive goods that have already cleared customs, so the import route has to be agreed before the first shipment is booked. We work with licensed IOR and customs partners and build the landed cost per unit with you.
Japanese keyword research, localised listing copy and images, ad structure, and a unit-economics model that runs from the yen selling price down to contribution margin in your home currency. This is where most agencies start. We get here only after the first two gates are cleared.
Skipping a gate does not save time. A product that passes Gate 3 on paper but fails Gate 1 gets pulled from sale, and the ad spend that built its rank goes with it.
A Japan plan built around your products, categories, and margins, with a go or no-go for each product before any money goes into inventory.
Every engagement includes:
We review the full Japan strategy every quarter. Japanese seasonality, exchange rates, and Amazon fee changes move enough that a plan set at launch goes stale within a few months.
As a full-service Amazon agency, we run the Japan account day to day. You approve the strategy and see every listing before it goes live. Each engagement starts with a Japan readiness audit covering compliance, import route, trademark status, fees, and any listings you already have.
Every engagement starts with category approval, product regulation, import route, trademark status, fees, and existing listings, with a clear go or no-go for each product before inventory is committed.
Titles, bullets, descriptions, and backend search terms are written by native Japanese copywriters from Japanese keyword research. We include centimetre sizes, materials, care instructions, warranty terms, and check claims against Japanese advertising rules.
Listing images use Japanese text callouts and category-specific explanations so shoppers can understand the product, its specifications, and its benefits before buying.
A+ Content and a Brand Store are built on our Master Layout System, so a whole product family looks consistent. When Japanese labelling rules mean the box or label has to change, our packaging team handles that as well.
Amazon PPC management covers Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, and Sponsored Display campaigns built on Japanese search terms, with budget tied to contribution margin.
We monitor Brand Registry, account health, inventory cover, and buyer messages, and handle case work with Amazon in Japanese.
Before: a US kitchenware brand lists 12 ASINs on Amazon.co.jp with translated copy, spends ¥600,000 a month on automatic campaigns, and converts at 4%. After: the same catalog relaunches with localised copy, Japanese keyword targeting, and Japanese image callouts. Ad spend stays at ¥600,000, conversion rises to 9%, and TACoS falls from 31% to 16%. Same budget. The difference is whether a Japanese shopper actually understood the product.
Advertising is planned against contribution margin, with sales, fees, and performance considered together rather than treating ad efficiency as the whole business result.
Most agencies quote their own fee and stop there. In Japan the other costs decide whether you make money, so we put the full cost stack on the table before you commit.
On the Amazon side, the Professional selling plan on Amazon.co.jp is listed at ¥4,900 a month before tax, referral fees run from roughly 5% to 15% depending on category, and FBA fulfillment and storage fees depend on size and weight (Amazon revised its Japan FBA fees in April 2026). On the import side, you pay the Importer of Record, freight, customs duty where it applies, and consumption tax at import. Setup can add a Japanese trademark filing, label changes, and testing for regulated products.
Our own fee is scoped after the readiness audit, based on catalog size, how many gates each product still has to clear, and whether you need launch work, ongoing management, or both. You see the full model, including estimated contribution margin per unit, before you sign anything. If the numbers do not work for a product, we will tell you.
Japan is tightening the rules for overseas sellers. The amended product-safety acts that took effect in December 2025 put responsibility on overseas businesses selling directly to Japanese consumers, and regulators can ask marketplaces to remove listings when a seller does not act. Consumption tax is heading the same way. Japan’s 2026 tax reform brings platform-level taxation to some cross-border sales of goods, scheduled from April 2028. Brands that settle their importer, responsible person, and tax position now will not be scrambling at the next deadline.
Discovery is changing too. As Amazon brings AI shopping assistants like Rufus to more marketplaces, the products that get recommended are the ones with complete, structured attributes, specifications, and Q&A. In Japan that means filling every attribute field in Japanese and answering the detailed questions shoppers already ask. It is the same work that makes a listing convert today, which is why we build it into the first draft rather than retrofitting it later.
Ask how it handles the three things that block most launches: product compliance, the Importer of Record, and Japanese localisation. A top Amazon agency for Japan should name the licensed partners it works with, show Japanese listing samples, and report contribution margin alongside ad metrics. If an Amazon services provider in Japan can only talk about PPC, keep looking.
Often, yes. Amazon says businesses outside Japan may not need to form a Japan-based company to sell there, although one can help depending on your structure and sales strategy. What you cannot skip is an Importer of Record for FBA inventory, and you should get a Japanese tax adviser’s view on consumption tax registration.
Amazon’s Japan selling guide states that neither Amazon nor its fulfillment centers can serve as Importer of Record for FBA shipments. You need a Japanese IOR or customs agent to clear the goods before they go to an Amazon warehouse. We coordinate this through licensed partners and include the cost in your landed-cost model.
Common examples are electrical products (PSE mark), cosmetics and quasi-drugs (PMD Act), supplements, food and drinks, medical devices, and household goods with specific labelling rules. Amazon also restricts or requires approval for several categories. We check both during the readiness audit and refer you to a licensed specialist where certification is required.
We localise. Native Japanese copywriters write titles, bullets, and backend terms from Japanese keyword research, convert units and specifications, and adapt claims to Japanese advertising rules. Translation is part of the job, but the listing is rebuilt around how Japanese shoppers search and decide.
For a product with no regulatory hurdles, plan on roughly six to ten weeks from audit to first sales, mostly driven by account verification, IOR setup, and shipping time. Regulated products and new trademark filings take longer. Listing and ad performance usually needs another two to three months to settle.
Amazon’s own costs include the monthly selling plan, category referral fees, and FBA fees. Import costs, setup costs, and the agency fee sit on top. We scope our fee after the readiness audit and show you an estimated contribution margin per unit first, so you know whether Japan makes sense for each product.
Yes. Your Amazon.co.jp seller account, advertising account, Japanese listings, images, and A+ Content all belong to you. We work inside your account with the access you grant, and everything stays with you if we stop working together. Any reputable Amazon agency for sellers should agree to this in writing.
An Amazon Japan launch works best when the listings and creative underneath it are built properly from the start. These are the services clients most often add alongside a Japan engagement:
Attribute audits, conversational copy, and Q&A structure so Amazon’s AI shopping assistant can understand and recommend your product, in Japan and in your home marketplace.
Keyword-led titles, bullets, descriptions, and backend search terms for your home marketplace, so your Japanese listings start from a strong source listing.
Module-based brand content that replaces the plain-text description. Premium A+ adds full-width layouts and video, and we produce Japanese versions alongside the originals.
