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How To Evaluate Japanese Distributors, Importers & Agents

Many Japanese distributors, importers, and agents in Japan do not have English-language websites. When trying to determine if a Japanese distributor or other sales partner in Japan is the right fit for your company, it’s easy to ignore companies that don’t have much English on their websites. This is a big mistake. In our experience, there is no relationship between having an English-language site and being an effective distributor. The best distributors are focused on their customers, who are Japanese, …

Do Japanese Distributors, Importers & Agents Speak English?

Do you need a translator or an interpreter to communicate with potential Japanese distributors? Clients often ask whether they’ll have trouble communicating with potential Japanese distributors, importers, and agents, and wonder if they’ll need an interpreter or translator to do business in Japan. In our experience, the use of these language professionals isn’t necessary because distributors that are already importing and distributing foreign products almost always have employees who can speak English. For smaller companies, this is usually the president …

How To Find Distributors, Importers & Agents In Japan

Why is it so hard to find distributors, importers, and agents in Japan using search engines like Google? If you have spent any time at all searching the Internet for potential Japanese distributors, you already know that using Google to find these companies doesn’t work very well. This is because Japanese distributors often do not have English language websites and do not do a good job of marketing themselves outside of Japan. Their primary focus is on their Japanese customers, …

How to Avoid “Zombie” Japanese Distributors

In the previous article, we looked at how foreign products are distributed in the Japanese market. In this article, I’m going to talk about another common mistake that foreign companies often make in Japan. This is the mistake of going with the first distributor that shows interest in their product. Let me share with you part of an email I received from a company in Europe: XYZ has been been our rep in Japan for three years but so far …

How Japanese Distributors Of Foreign Products Operate

A common mistake many foreign companies new to Japan make is trying to sell to the large Japanese wholesalers and retailer chains in their industry. Unfortunately these companies are rarely interested in dealing directly with non-Japanese suppliers unless they have an office in Japan. So what the best way to sell your products in Japan? Simple. You go through Japanese distributors specializing in imported products. There are thousands of these distributors and they are typically nimble, highly entrepreneurial companies who …