JOINS

What JOINS does

JOINS is a Japanese human resources and talent introduction company that connects urban professional talent with small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in rural Japan through flexible work arrangements including remote, part-time, side job (兼業・副業), and business-commissioned contracts. Founded in June 2017 by Inoue Yoshitaka (猪尾 愛隆), the company is headquartered in Hakuba, Nagano Prefecture, with an operational office in Shibuya, Tokyo, and operates under the domain joins.co.jp.

The core product is a proprietary dual-sided matching platform supporting job posting browsing, online interview scheduling, electronic contract execution, and web-based resume management. JOINS serves two customer segments: enterprise companies (charged a success-based introduction fee) and partner talent (job seekers, served free of charge). The enterprise pricing model — updated in December 2024 to a percentage-based structure — charges 35% of the first-year theoretical annual income for employment contracts and 25% of monthly fees (up to 18 months) for commissioned contracts. As of December 2023, JOINS had served over 1,000 enterprise clients with 1,400+ cumulative placements.

JOINS acquires enterprise customers primarily through a channel-partner model with 70+ regional financial institutions (regional banks and chambers of commerce), initiated with Hachijuni Bank in June 2019, and supplements this with government co-funded programs (MLIT Dual-Residence Leading Project, selected 2023 and 2025), strategic partnerships (SMOUT in March 2024, JR East in October 2025), and earned media coverage in major Japanese newspapers. In August 2025, JOINS established JOINS AGENT Inc. as a 100% subsidiary holding a paid placement business license, and in December 2025 transferred the talent matching operations to the subsidiary, while JOINS Inc. retained system development responsibilities.

Name

JOINS

Legal name

JOINS株式会社

Website

https://joins.co.jp

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

JOINS is a Japanese talent matching platform connecting urban professionals with rural SMEs through flexible work arrangements (remote, part-time, side jobs). It serves both companies (charged success-based fees) and job seekers (free), operating via a 70+ regional financial institution partner network across Japan.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Talent Placement / Recruitment Services

NAICS

Employment Placement Agencies (561311), Executive Search Services (561312)

SIC

Services-Employment Agencies (7361)

akta.pro primary industry

Job Placement, Matching & Career Navigation Services (EDAAAOAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

Remote & Global/Multilingual Direct Hire (BPACAFAO), Employer-Led Workforce Partnerships & Sector Strategies (EDAAAOAB)

Keywords

• Rural talent placement
• Executive recruitment services
• Professional staffing platform
• Human resources services
• Flexible work matching

Headquarters

HQ city

Tokyo

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Introduction Fee (人材紹介手数料): JOINS AGENT charges enterprise companies a fee for each successful placement. For employment contracts: 35% of the first-year theoretical annual salary (including base salary, allowances, and projected bonuses). For commissioned (業務委託) contracts with monthly renewals: 25% of the monthly fee (up to 18 months). For commissioned contracts with annual renewals: 20% of 12 months' fees at start, then 20% of 6 months' fees at month 13. For director/commission contracts: 35% of the sum of employment and director fees.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

JOINS operates a talent introduction platform that connects urban professional talent with rural small and medium enterprises (SMEs) across Japan, offering flexible work arrangements including remote, part-time (平均月30時間), and contractor engagements. The service is free for partner talent, while enterprise companies pay a percentage-based introduction fee upon successful placement (35% of first-year theoretical annual income for employment contracts). JOINS also offers JOINS MANAGEMENT for executive-level placements.

Product overview

JOINS operates as a talent introduction platform for regional (rural) Japanese companies, connecting urban professionals with employers in rural areas. The core offering is the JOINS service, which provides job matching with flexible work arrangements (remote, part-time, contractor). In June 2023, JOINS launched JOINS MANAGEMENT for management-level talent placement. As of December 2025, the human resources introduction business was transferred to JOINS AGENT株式会社, a wholly-owned subsidiary, with JOINS株式会社 retaining system development and provision.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• JOINS Management: Executive talent matching service for regional enterprises (幹部人材的介绍サービス), launched June 2023

Products and services

• JOINS Core Talent Introduction Service
• JOINS MANAGEMENT (Executive Talent Introduction)

Named customers3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• JR東日本 (JR East)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 2 October 2025JOINS partnered with JR East (East Japan Railway Company) to organize a 'Second Career Exploration Field Tour' to Kesennuma City, Miyagi Prefecture (October 24–25, 2025). The event connected urban professionals with local companies and regional attractions using JR East rail services.
• 宮城県気仙沼市 (Kesennuma City, Miyagi Prefecture)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 22 August 2025JOINS and Kesennuma City, in public-private partnership, were selected for the MLIT 'Dual-Residence Leading Project Implementation' (国土交通省二地域居住先導的プロジェクト実装事業) to promote second careers and dual-residence living in the Kesennuma region.
• 長野県白馬村 (Hakuba Village, Nagano Prefecture)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 August 2025JOINS and Hakuba Village, together with other partners, were selected for the MLIT 'Dual-Residence Leading Project Implementation' (国土交通省二地域居住先導的プロジェクト実装事業). This government-sponsored program promotes dual-residence lifestyles and rural community engagement.
• SMOUTcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 4 March 2024JOINS and SMOUT formed a business partnership to launch 'Regional Corporate Job Matching' (地域企業のお仕事マッチング). This partnership combines JOINS's talent matching platform with SMOUT's regional company network to expand job opportunities and talent flow to rural SMEs.
• SnowPeakminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSnowPeak partnered with Happo-one Development Corporation (八方尾根開発) on a glamping business venture at Hakuba. JOINS connected Happo-one Development with PR/marketing talent through its platform. The collaboration represents a joint brand and operational partnership between SnowPeak and the ski resort operator for the glamping product.
• 地域金融機関 (Regional Financial Institutions)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorOver 70 regional financial institutions (including regional banks and shoko/chambers of commerce) partner with JOINS as referral channels (地域パートナー) to introduce the talent matching service to their SME clients. The first such partnership was with 八十二銀行 (Hachijuni Bank) in June 2019. These partners receive progress updates on talent applications and contracts through JOINS's regional partner portal.
• 八十二銀行 (Hachijuni Bank)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorThe first regional financial institution to partner with JOINS (June 2019). Hachijuni Bank introduced JOINS's part-time professional talent matching service to its SME clients in Nagano Prefecture, marking the beginning of JOINS's channel partner strategy.
• 国土交通省 (Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMLIT selected JOINS and municipal partners for the 'Dual-Residence Leading Project Implementation' (二地域居住先導的プロジェクト実装事業) in both 2023 and 2025, providing government endorsement and funding support for JOINS's dual-residence and talent matching initiatives.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights7 records

Broad incumbents

• LinkedIn (Japan): LinkedIn provides a professional network and recruitment platform with substantial Japan presence; senior candidates JOINS MANAGEMENT targets are commonly sourced via LinkedIn profiles.
• Indeed Japan: Indeed is a global generalist job-search platform with significant Japanese traffic that competes with JOINS for rural-Job posting visibility and employer mind-share.
• Recruit Agent (リクルート・エージェント): Recruit's agency brand is a dominant generalist employment-placement incumbent in Japan that competes for the same enterprise customer wallet and is broadening into flexible-work and regional segments.
• doda (パーソルカリア): doda is one of Japan's largest mid-career recruitment agencies, providing broad overlap with JOINS's enterprise placement offering across salary bands and industries.

Direct peers

• SMOUT: SMOUT is a regional-relocation and talent-matching platform focused on rural Japan; JOINS has a formal 'Regional Corporate Job Matching' partnership with SMOUT (March 2024), making them complement competitors in the same niche.
• Wantedly: Wantedly operates Japan's largest story-driven job-matching platform and has expanded into 兼業/サイドジャブ and engagement features that directly overlap JOINS's urban-professional-to-company matching value proposition.
• BizReach: BizReach runs Japan's leading mid-career and executive recruitment platform, competing directly with JOINS MANAGEMENT for senior placements and increasingly moving into flexible-work categories.
• Anotherwork (複業クラウド): Anotherwork's 複業クラウド is a dedicated 複業/兼業 matching platform in Japan, closely mirroring JOINS's flexible-work placement model and target segment.

Peers

• Green (Green Japan): Green is a Japanese job-matching platform (engineering, sales, marketing) operating a curated dual-side marketplace similar to JOINS's two-portal enterprise/talent model.

Emerging players

• CrowdWorks (クラウドワークス): CrowdWorks runs Japan's largest crowdsourcing marketplace for contract/サイドジャブ work, overlapping with JOINS's 業務委託 contract placements for rural SMEs.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/JOINS201706
• Facebookfacebook.com/joins.co.jp

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors3 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 JOINS