waja

What waja does

waja bazar, operated by JADE GROUP, Inc., is a Japanese direct-to-consumer e-commerce platform specializing in overseas and international fashion brands that are either unreleased in Japan or otherwise difficult for Japanese shoppers to access. Founded in 2003 and headquartered in Shibuya, Japan, the platform organizes its catalog into three distinct sourcing channels — "Buyer" (items purchased by Japan-based overseas buyers, including brands not yet released in Japan), "Store" (new goods and sale items sourced directly from official overseas brand stores), and "Outlet" (discounted official outlet items, with seasonal markdowns up to 70-80%). As of the most recent operational data, the sale channel alone carries 110,724 SKUs, with 22,075 SKUs in women's fashion outlet and 2,581 SKUs in women's fashion accessories, spanning Women, Men, Girls, and Boys segments across apparel, shoes, bags, wallets, accessories, underwear, swimwear, and fashion goods.

The underlying technology is a conventional e-commerce stack — a website (waja.co.jp) with SSL-secured transactions, category-based browsing, search, size filtering (Japanese size scale), an alphabetic brand catalog, and a "My Brand" personalization layer for logged-in users. The platform supports Japanese payment rails natively, including credit card, convenience-store payment, PayPay, d払い, Paidy, Amazon Pay, and cash on delivery, alongside a points/coins loyalty system. No API, SDK, or third-party AI/ML integration is offered, and the technology layer is described as standard rather than differentiated.

The business model is a transaction-based retail marketplace: waja bazar sources inventory through its three channels, prices items across a roughly ¥1,000 to ¥200,000+ range, and sells directly to Japanese consumers through its own storefront with domestic-only shipping. Revenue is essentially product sales with implicit take-rate economics against a base of Japanese consumers seeking access to international fashion. The customer base is broadly horizontal and B2C — primarily Japanese women, with secondary segments in men and kids. Marketing is conducted via the website, email newsletter, and a LINE social media presence. The company is privately held under JADE GROUP, Inc., has 1,001-5,000 employees per disclosed firmographics, and its only known external capital event is a June 2009 funding round of approximately $1.16M led by Ant Capital Partners.

Name

waja

Legal name

JADE GROUP,Inc.

Website

https://waja.co.jp

Company type

Private

Founded year

2003

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

waja bazar is a Japan-domestic e-commerce marketplace operated by JADE GROUP, Inc. that aggregates overseas fashion brands unreleased in Japan across three sourcing channels (Buyer, Store, Outlet), selling apparel, shoes, bags and accessories to Japanese consumers through its own storefront with domestic-only shipping.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Shibuya

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Product Sales: Direct e-commerce sales of imported international fashion items to Japanese consumers. Revenue is generated through one-time product transactions with prices ranging from approximately ¥1,000 to ¥200,000+. The platform operates three product sourcing channels (Buyer, Store, Outlet) providing diverse inventory.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

waja bazar is a Japanese online marketplace specializing in overseas fashion brands, aggregating three distinct sourcing channels for Japanese consumers: Buyer products (imported items sourced by overseas-based buyers, including Japan-unreleased brands), Store products (new items and sale products purchased directly from overseas brand official stores), and Outlet products (discounted official outlet items). The platform serves Women, Men, and Kids segments with apparel, shoes, bags, accessories, swimwear, and fashion goods, shipping domestically within Japan only.

Product overview

waja bazar is a domestically largest overseas brand e-commerce platform offering international fashion items across three sourcing channels: Buyer (import items sourced by overseas buyers, including Japan-unavailable brands), Store (new goods and sale items sourced directly from overseas brand official stores), and Outlet (discounted official outlet items). The platform serves Women, Men, and Kids segments, offering apparel, shoes, bags, wallets, accessories, fashion goods, swimwear, and sports/outdoor gear. The product portfolio is organized around category-based browsing with brand filtering, size search, and a ranking system.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• waja bazar Marketplace Platform Japan's largest overseas fashion brand e-commerce marketplace platform that aggregates products through three channels: Buyer (import goods sourced by overseas-based buyers, including Japan-unavailable brands), Store (new items and sale products purchased directly from overseas brand official stores), and Outlet (discounted items from brand outlet stores). Serves Japanese consumers across Women, Men, and Kids segments with apparel, shoes, bags, accessories, and fashion goods.

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves3 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• ZOZOTOWN: Japan's largest domestic fashion e-commerce platform operated by ZOZO, Inc. ZOZOTOWN directly competes with waja for Japanese fashion consumers' wallets across multi-brand apparel and accessories, though it focuses on domestic brands and operates a marketplace model.
• RE:EDIT (Fashion Co., Ltd.): Online fashion retailer selling multiple international and domestic women's brands with periodic sales and brand-discovery features. Competes with waja for the same Japanese female consumer shopping for branded apparel and accessories online.
• Fashion Walker (Belluna): Fashion e-commerce site operated by Belluna, offering a wide catalog of apparel, bags, and accessories for women, men, and children, with strong promotional/sale mechanics. Overlaps with waja's catalog breadth, sale-driven merchandising, and family-segment coverage.
• LOCONDO: Japanese fashion e-commerce platform specializing in shoes and apparel with a B2C and B2B model. Waja's image assets and corporate links are hosted on locondo.jp infrastructure, suggesting a group-level relationship with JADE GROUP, Inc., and directly overlapping fashion e-commerce operations.
• URBAN RESEARCH Online Store: Japanese multi-brand fashion retailer with a strong e-commerce presence across womenswear, menswear, and lifestyle. Comparable to waja in offering curated multi-brand assortments to Japanese consumers, though more focused on URBAN RESEARCH's own brand ecosystem than cross-border aggregation.
• BUYMA: Operated by ENZO Inc., BUYMA is Japan's leading C2C cross-border fashion marketplace, where overseas personal shoppers source items for Japanese consumers. Directly comparable to waja in Buyer-style cross-border sourcing, target customer (Japanese consumers seeking overseas brands), and authenticity/cross-border pain-point resolution.
• magaseek: Japanese multi-brand fashion e-commerce platform operated by Voyage Group. Directly comparable as a domestic online destination for women's and men's apparel with brand catalog navigation, sales events, and brand-store style merchandising.

Broad incumbents

• Amazon Japan (Fashion): Amazon's Japanese marketplace includes a large international fashion offering with cross-border sellers. Overlaps with waja on imported fashion brands, payment convenience, and broad consumer reach, but Amazon operates a much broader marketplace model without specialty cross-border curation.
• Rakuten (Ichiba & Fashion): Japan's largest e-commerce conglomerate operates a general marketplace that includes a large fashion vertical. While not specialty cross-border, Rakuten's scale, loyalty (Rakuten Points), and payment infrastructure overlap with waja's broad consumer base and broad assortment of international fashion.

Emerging players

• Mercari (Fashion): Japan's dominant C2C marketplace, with a meaningful share of new and secondhand fashion listings including overseas brands. Competes for Japanese consumers seeking imported fashion, though as a broad resale/peer-to-peer platform rather than a curated cross-border retail site.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

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 waja