Yolo Japan

What Yolo Japan does

YOLO JAPAN is a multilingual platform serving foreign residents living and working in Japan, operating as a job portal at its core (3-minute free registration, 3,040+ active listings across all 47 prefectures) while extending into adjacent life-services including rental housing (YOLO HOME, 97,251+ properties, 11 languages), SIM cards (YOLO MOBILE via joint venture with JP MOBILE on Docomo's network), driver's license support (YOLO DRIVE), multilingual medical questionnaires (YOLO MEDICAL, 17 languages, 5-minute completion), surveys/gig work (YOLO SURVEY), experience-based marketing (YOLO DISCOVER, launched May 2025), personal loans, and secondhand home appliances. The platform supports 6+ interface languages (English, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Portuguese) and serves users from 239 countries.

The business model is primarily product-led growth with freemium distribution to job seekers: free registration on the consumer side monetizes through employer-paid job postings on a separate B2B portal (yolo-work), recurring subscription revenue from YOLO MOBILE SIM plans (710-3,639 yen per month across 1-50 GB tiers), and platform fees on rental and survey transactions. Additional revenue diversifies through partnership-driven services (e.g., ZIPLUS for driving schools, Seven Bank for ATM-based rewards payout). Owned infrastructure includes the physical YOLO BASE community facility in Shin-Imamiya, Osaka, hosting restaurants, event spaces, and daily exchange gatherings.

Founded in 2015 and headquartered in Osaka, YOLO JAPAN has raised approximately $5.15M across four disclosed funding rounds from 2017 to 2020 (investors include Mitsubishi UFJ Capital, Mizuho Capital, GURUNAVI, Regional Revitalization Solution, Nankai Electric Railway, Taisei, Tokyu Fudosan, Meiko Network Japan, and JR West Innovations). The company is privately held with no disclosed parent and operates as YOLO JAPAN CORPORATION. Leadership includes founder Taisuke Kaji as Representative Director and multiple board-level executives including President Shin Akaogi and CTO Shota Toguchi.

Name

Yolo Japan

Legal name

YOLO JAPAN CORPORATION

Website

https://yolo-japan.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

YOLO JAPAN is a multilingual job portal and life-services platform for foreign residents in Japan, offering free job-seeker registration across 6+ languages, employer-paid job postings, and adjacent services including rental housing, SIM cards, medical forms, and driver's licenses. It serves 400,000+ users from 239 countries across all 47 Japanese prefectures.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Osaka

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Employer Job Posting Fees (yolo-work): Companies pay to post job listings on the YOLO JAPAN platform to reach the foreign resident job-seeking audience.
2. YOLO MOBILE SIM Card Service: Monthly subscription for SIM card plans targeting foreigners in Japan. Plans range from 710 yen/month (1GB call plan) to 3,639 yen/month (50GB call plan), plus a 3,000 yen contract processing fee. Operated as a joint venture with JP MOBILE.
3. Online Survey/Monitoring Participation: Users earn rewards for participating in surveys, product testing, and one-time gigs, with payments disbursed via Seven Bank ATM. YOLO Japan earns from survey/brand partners.
4. YOLO HOME Rental Property Platform: Real estate listing platform for foreigners in Japan, listing 97,251+ properties. Used by both individuals and legal entities (property management companies).

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels11 records

Core offering

YOLO Japan operates a multilingual online platform connecting non-Japanese residents in Japan with employment, housing, telecommunications, transportation, healthcare, and community services. The core job marketplace aggregates employer job postings across all 47 Japanese prefectures and reaches job seekers in 6+ languages for free registration, while lifestyle sub-services (rental housing listings, SIM cards, driving schools, multilingual medical questionnaires, experience reviews, and paid surveys) extend the ecosystem into adjacent life needs.

Product overview

YOLO JAPAN operates as a comprehensive service platform for non-Japanese residents in Japan, consisting of a core job portal (YOLO JAPAN) complemented by multiple integrated lifestyle services. The main platform offers job listings, resume building, and employer scouting features, while subsidiary services address related life needs: YOLO HOME for rental properties, YOLO MOBILE for SIM cards, YOLO DRIVE for driver's licenses, YOLO MEDICAL for multilingual medical questionnaires, and YOLO DISCOVER for free cultural experiences. Additional features include survey/monitoring work (YOLO SURVEY), personal loans, and used appliance services. The ecosystem is supported by physical community space YOLO BASE in Osaka.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• YOLO JAPAN Job Marketplace Core multilingual online job marketplace for non-Japanese residents in Japan offering part-time, full-time, and gig job listings plus resume building, job matching, and employer scout features across all 47 prefectures.
• YOLO HOME Rental Property Platform Rental property listing platform for foreigners in Japan with 97,251+ properties, multilingual support in 11 languages, and multilingual lease contract translation services.
• YOLO MOBILE SIM Card Service SIM card service for foreigners in Japan using NTT Docomo network with voice and data plans ranging from 710 yen/month (1GB) to 3,639 yen/month (50GB) and multilingual application and customer support.
• YOLO DRIVE Driving Camp Portal Driver's license acquisition service for foreigners in Japan, aggregating certified driving schools with multilingual support and driving camp programs with written exam support in English, Chinese, and Vietnamese.
• YOLO MEDICAL Multilingual Medical Questionnaire Multilingual medical questionnaire creation service available in 17 languages that helps non-Japanese communicate symptoms to Japanese hospitals through automatic translation, completed in as little as 5 minutes.
• YOLO DISCOVER Experience Platform Free experience-based service where non-Japanese residents in Japan apply for complimentary dining, beauty, and cultural experiences at participating venues in exchange for honest social media reviews.
• YOLO SURVEY Online Survey Platform Monitor and online survey platform allowing users to earn money through one-time surveys, product testing, and market research participation, with payments disbursed via Seven Bank ATM.
• yolo-work Employer Portal Dedicated employer-facing portal at yolo-japan.co.jp/yolo-work where Japanese companies register, post job listings, manage applications, and access the talent database to scout foreign worker candidates.
• YOLO BASE Community Facility Physical community facility in Shin-Imamiya, Osaka featuring restaurants, event spaces, and art installations where foreign residents can interact, get assistance, and participate in daily events and exchange gatherings.

Quantifiable outcome

• 3-minute free registration process for job seekers
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration7 records

AI capability2 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• JP MOBILE (JP Smart SIM)coreTechnology or IntegrationYOLO MOBILE is operated as a joint venture/service with JP MOBILE. JP MOBILE handles billing, payment processing, and SIM card delivery for the YOLO MOBILE SIM card service. The service uses Docomo's mobile network infrastructure and JP Smart SIM's billing system including Smart Pit payment at convenience stores.
• ZIPLUS Co., Ltd.coreTechnology or IntegrationZIPLUS Co., Ltd. operates the I-Drive Japanese Driver's License Center, which is partnered with YOLO DRIVE to provide multilingual driving school aggregation and driving camp enrollment services for foreign residents in Japan.
• Certified Driving Schools NationwidecoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorYOLO DRIVE partners with certified driving schools across Japan that offer multilingual support. Written tests can be taken in English, Chinese, and Vietnamese. Foreign language textbooks are available for purchase. Schools cover transportation expenses.
• Seven Bank (Seven-Eleven ATMs)supportingTechnology or IntegrationSurvey and gig work rewards are disbursed via Seven Bank ATMs and Seven-Eleven convenience stores across Japan using the Seven Payment service. Users receive payments 24/7/365 with no fees.
• Property Management Companies (YOLO HOME)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorYOLO HOME lists properties from property management companies and landlords who want to reach foreign tenants. The platform is used by both individuals (as renters) and legal entities (as property owners/managers). Property listings include 97,251+ properties across Japan.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Mobal: Mobal provides SIM cards, mobile services and foreign-resident support content in Japan. It overlaps with YOLO MOBILE and YOLO BASE's lifestyle-services role, focusing on the foreign-resident telecom niche.
• Japan Dev: Japan Dev is a niche job board and community for software engineers seeking developer roles in Japan. It overlaps with the higher-skilled end of YOLO JAPAN's job listings and shares the same foreign-resident audience.

Direct peers

• Jobs in Japan: Jobs in Japan is an English-language job board focused on placements of foreign nationals into Japanese companies, with overlap in target candidates and employer base similar to YOLO JAPAN.
• Daijob: Daijob is a Japan-focused bilingual job platform specializing in professional and senior-level roles for non-Japanese candidates. It competes with YOLO for the higher-skilled segment of the foreign-worker employer market in Japan.
• WeXpats Jobs: WeXpats (operated by GPlusMedia) runs multilingual job listings, housing guides, and lifestyle content for foreign residents in Japan. It is a direct competitor to YOLO JAPAN across the job-and-housing funnel for the same expatriate audience.
• Sakura House: Sakura House is a major provider of foreigner-friendly rental housing in Japan with multilingual listings and no-guarantor options. It is a direct competitor to YOLO HOME in the foreign-resident housing vertical.
• GaijinPot: GaijinPot is one of the longest-running English-language job boards for foreign residents in Japan, offering job listings, housing, and lifestyle content. It directly overlaps with YOLO Japan's core job portal and YOLO HOME rental listings, targeting the same bilingual foreign-worker audience.

Broad incumbents

• LinkedIn Japan: LinkedIn is the dominant global professional network with a significant Japanese employer and foreign-professional user base. It competes for the white-collar / mid-career foreign talent segment that YOLO JAPAN also serves, but as a broad incumbent rather than Japan-only specialist.
• Indeed Japan: Indeed is the world's largest job aggregator and operates a localized Japanese site that competes with YOLO JAPAN for both job-seekers and employer job-posting spend. As a broad incumbent, it serves all categories rather than specializing in foreign residents.

Regional players

• Internations: Internations is a global expat community network with an active Japan chapter offering guides, events and relocation information. While primarily a community rather than job board, it overlaps with YOLO BASE's community-and-events positioning for foreign residents.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/yolojapan2016
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCuhX64viJ-gLZ8TEFv4M39Q
• Facebookfacebook.com/yolojapan
• Instagraminstagram.com/yolojapan.official
• TikToktiktok.com/@yolojapan_lifehack
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/yolo-japan

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Subsidiaries7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds4 records

Investors10 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Yolo Japan