Guides · Japan
How to open and run a place in Japan.
The field, not the theory. What we learn building and running restaurants, bars, cafés and shops in Japan: licences, leases, food cost, hiring, daily operations.
Guides / 01
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Themes
Case study
Blue Bottle in Japan: the rise of a myth, and what it cost
28 cafés, five-hour queues on day one, a loss-making sale eleven years later. What that trajectory really says about the Japanese market.
Practical guide
Your head office is abroad: the five ways to open in Japan
Subsidiary, branch, representative office, master franchise, joint venture. What each form changes for the lease, the licences and the money.
Practical guide
How to open a coffee shop in Japan: the complete 2026 guide
From takeaway kiosk to roastery café: the formats, the real costs, the licences, the equipment and the traps specific to the Japanese market.
Analysis
Customer experience is not a spectacle
42.7 million visitors and a shift toward experiences, with a misreading in the middle. What brings a customer back, and what does not.
Practical guide
Opening a Restaurant in Tokyo in 2026: The Real Budget, Line by Line
Space, renovation, equipment, licences, hiring, working capital. The real orders of magnitude behind a Tokyo opening, costed line by line.
Analysis
Why 30% of Tokyo Restaurants Close Within a Year, and How to Avoid It
Bankruptcies in Japanese food service are at record highs. Behind the figure, five causes that turn up in almost every file we audit.
Analysis
Your Dining Room Is Full, Your Account Is Empty: Three Invisible Leaks
Average net margin in Japanese food service has fallen to 5.2%. Three losses nobody sees, because nobody measures them.
Practical guide
Business Manager Visa 2026: All the New Rules, Plain and Simple
Capital multiplied by six, a mandatory employee, JLPT N2 required. What the October 2025 reform changes for any business project in Japan.
Practical guide
Hiring and Keeping Staff in 2026: What Finally Works
1.29 million unfilled positions, wages up 10.7%, and the posts still empty. Five approaches that work, and one that no longer does.
Practical guide
Opening a restaurant in Japan: the complete 2026 guide
Licences, lease, key money, visa, hiring, suppliers. The real path to opening a Food & Beverage venue in Tokyo, and the mistakes that cost dearly.
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