01
Japan Market Strategy
Understand your audience, sharpen your positioning, and decide how to approach the Japanese market.
Market and audience insight · Message localization · Partner mapping
YOUR PARTNER IN JAPAN
Build a trustedpresence in Japan.
We help international companies understand the Japanese market, clarify their value, and connect with the people who matter.
Brand strategy. Thought leadership. Content.
Based in Kumamoto, JapanEstablished in 2015From strategy to execution
WHAT WE DO
From local insight
to lasting trust.
Whether you are entering Japan or strengthening an existing presence, we help you decide what to say, who to reach, and how to move forward.
02
Brand Strategy & Thought Leadership
Find the ideas that make your business distinctive, and turn your expertise into a clear, credible point of view.
Brand purpose · Positioning · Executive communications
03
Content & Communications
Translate your strategy into useful content that helps people understand your business and builds trust over time.
Articles and interviews · Case studies · Websites and newsletters
Our focus is marketing and communications. We define the scope of each engagement together.
SELECTED WORK
Strategy, put into practice.
A closer look at how we help organizations clarify their direction and communicate with purpose.
Connecting a global event with its audience in Japan.
Strategy workshops, a website refresh, and email marketing helped SXSW Japan build a clearer path from interest to participation.
600 → ~800
Participants from Japan, 2024 to 2025
Figures reported in our client case study.
Finding a shared purpose in ceramic fragments.
We helped CACL clarify its purpose and focus its business around giving ceramic fragments new value as art and materials.
One clear direction.
A defined purpose and a more focused business
Brand purpose, a central idea, and communication strategy.
WHY KUMABASE
Grounded in Japan.
Open to the world.
Insight grounded in Japan
We start with how your customers think, what matters to them, and where your business can make a meaningful difference.
An editorial way of thinking
We ask questions, find the substance, and turn complex ideas into language people can understand and use.
An international perspective
Our work in Japan is informed by conversations with business communities across Asia, including through ASBF.
Good relationships start with listening.
Across markets. Across cultures.
ABOUT US
Substance before noise.
We believe good marketing creates value for the business and the people it serves.
Founded in Kumamoto in 2015, Kumabase brings together brand strategy, thought leadership, and content. We help organizations find what makes them valuable and express it through clear words and practical action.
Shinji Tanaka
Founder & CEO
A former newspaper reporter with a master’s degree in consumer behavior, Shinji works at the intersection of branding, business, and communication. His perspective is shaped by research, writing, and conversations in Japan and overseas.
CONTRIBUTIONS TO JAPANESE MEDIA
HOW WE WORK
A clear way forward.
You do not need a fully formed brief.
Start with where you are today.
Start with a conversation.
Tell us about your business, your plans for Japan, and the challenges you are facing.
Agree on the right approach.
Together, we define priorities, scope, deliverables, and a practical way of working.
Put the strategy to work.
We support execution, review what you learn, and refine the approach as your business develops.
LET’S TALK
Your next chapter
in Japan starts here.
Tell us what you are working on and what you would like to achieve. We will help you identify a useful next step.
Projects and ongoing support.
Partnerships and speaking engagements.
Kumamoto, Japan Working internationally
Discuss your project
A few words about your business are a good place to start.