THE East Times

What THE East Times does

THE East Times (株式会社イーストタイムズ, THE EAST TIMES, INC.) is a Tokyo-headquartered Japanese consulting firm founded in 2015 in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, that applies a proprietary organizational-transformation methodology called the FIM (Flag Ignition Model) to enterprise clients. The firm originated as an independent news organization covering earthquake disaster and regional stories and gained national visibility through repeated Yahoo Japan top-article placements. Building on that journalism experience, the founders formalized FIM—a four-step framework (value extraction and storytelling, strategy building, dissemination and ignition, behavioral change and social movement) grounded in Anderson's nationalism theory (1983), Bernays's white-propaganda theory (1928), and US military Mission Command doctrine (2013)—as the firm's core intellectual property and service backbone.

The firm's productized service portfolio comprises four lines: Cognitive Strategy Consulting (認知戦略コンサルティング), which aligns strategic communication with business strategy to drive behavioral change; Strategic HR (戦略HR), which uses FIM to deliver high-engagement recruitment and organizational transformation; Media/Community (メディア・コミュニティ), an empathy-driven media model where participants become communicators; and News Media (報道メディア), the original regional and disaster-reporting operation retained from the firm's founding. FIM Lab. operates as a dedicated research and thought-leadership sub-brand advancing the methodology. The firm's GTM motion is sales-led and direct, targeting enterprise organizations undergoing transformation, with content marketing, earned media, and a downloadable-materials library as the primary top- and mid-funnel channels. Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed.

Name

THE East Times

Legal name

THE EAST TIMES, INC.

Website

https://times.the-east.jp

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

THE East Times is a Tokyo-based Japanese consulting firm that applies its proprietary FIM (Flag Ignition Model) methodology—rooted in journalism, nationalism theory, and white-propaganda principles—to deliver organizational transformation, strategic HR, and cognitive-strategy consulting to enterprise clients across Japan.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Management Consulting Services

NAICS

Public Relations Agencies (54182), Marketing Consulting Services (541613), Human Resources Consulting Services (541612)

SIC

Services-Advertising (7310), Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYBPAFADAF

Media Relations & Press Office Services

Business & Public Services/Marketing, Advertising & PR Services/Public Relations & Communications

SECONDARYBPAFADAD

Internal & Employee Communications

Business & Public Services/Marketing, Advertising & PR Services/Public Relations & Communications

Keywords

• Organizational transformation consulting
• Strategic HR services
• Cognitive strategy consulting
• Behavioral change consulting
• Communication strategy services

Headquarters

HQ city

Mita

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Strategic HR Services: Organizational transformation and talent acquisition services using the FIM methodology to achieve high employee engagement.
2. Cognitive Strategy Consulting: Strategic communication services aligned with business strategy to create desired awareness and drive behavioral change.
3. Media and Community Services: Empathy-based media and community services where participants themselves become communicators.
4. News Media Services: Original news media operations covering regional and local stories.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

THE East Times is a Japan-based strategic information dissemination and organizational transformation consulting firm that delivers services through its proprietary FIM (Flag Ignition Model) methodology. It combines journalism techniques, nationalism theory, and strategic propaganda principles to drive behavioral change, employee engagement, talent acquisition, and strategic communications for enterprise clients.

Product overview

THE East Times is a consulting firm that offers professional services through its proprietary FIM (Flag Ignition Model) methodology — an organizational change and social change theory combining journalism, nationalism theory, and political propaganda. The FIM framework guides clients through four sequential steps: value extraction and storytelling, strategy development, dissemination and ignition, and behavioral change/social movements. The company's service portfolio comprises five distinct business areas: Cognitive Strategy Consulting (認知戦略コンサルティング), Strategic HR (戦略HR), Media/Community (メディア・コミュニティ), and News Media (報道メディア), all unified under the FIM approach. The FIM Lab. serves as the research and development unit advancing the methodology.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• FIM Lab. Research and development division for the Flag Ignition Model (FIM) methodology

Products and services

• 戦略HR事業 (Strategic HR) Consulting service that uses the proprietary FIM methodology to achieve high-engagement talent recruitment and organizational transformation for enterprise clients in Japan.
• 認知戦略コンサルティング (Cognitive Strategy Consulting) Consulting service that creates strategic information dissemination tied to business strategy to generate desired cognition and drive behavioral change among target audiences.
• メディア・コミュニティ事業 (Media and Community) Empathy-type media and community platform service where participants themselves become the promoters and disseminators of value-driven content.
• 報道メディア事業 (News Media) Independent news media operation focused on regional reporting and covering everyday people's lives, originally established in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture in 2015.
• FIM (Flag Ignition Model) Methodology A proprietary organizational change and social change theory developed by THE East Times, based on journalism methodology, nationalism theory, and political propaganda theory. It enables companies and organizations to communicate their values effectively, generating strong 共鳴 (resonance) among employees who then autonomously think and act.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Link and Motivation Inc. Tokyo-listed HR and organizational engagement consulting firm that advises Japanese enterprises on motivation, engagement, and organizational transformation — the closest scaled analogue to THE East Times' Strategic HR and organizational change practice.
• People Focus Inc. Japanese HR and organizational consulting firm supporting enterprise clients on engagement, talent, and culture transformation — directly comparable in service offering and target buyer to THE East Times' FIM-driven transformation work.
• BayCurrent Inc. Japan-led strategy and management consulting firm serving enterprise clients on organizational and strategic transformation — comparable in consulting model, client type, and focus on behavior/strategy change, but at materially larger scale.

Broad incumbents

• Hakuhodo Inc. Japan's largest integrated marketing and communications agency, offering PR, corporate communications, and content — overlaps with THE East Times' cognitive strategy and media/community services at much larger scale and broader scope.
• Dentsu Inc. Global Japanese-headquartered advertising and communications group — overlaps in strategic communications, brand messaging, and corporate communications, but as part of a much wider portfolio including media and creative services.
• FleishmanHillard: Global public relations and strategic communications agency — comparable in the strategic communications and corporate reputation work that anchors THE East Times' Cognitive Strategy Consulting line, but serving multinationals worldwide.
• Korn Ferry: Global organizational consulting firm focused on talent, leadership, and organizational effectiveness — comparable to the Mission Command and Strategic HR elements of FIM, but as part of a much broader HR consulting portfolio.

Regional players

• en Japan Inc. Japan-focused HR services and media company combining job media with HR consulting — comparable as a Japan-only HR and content hybrid, though anchored in talent acquisition rather than organizational transformation theory.
• Kyodo News: Japan's flagship news wire, comparable to THE East Times' News Media and original journalism arm in news gathering and regional reporting — though at vastly larger scale and with a different monetization model.

Emerging players

• PR Times Inc. Japanese press-release distribution and PR SaaS platform — comparable in the press/media-relations arm of THE East Times' business, though operating a tech platform model rather than a bespoke strategic communications offering.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/theeasttimes

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments1 record

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

Frequently asked questions about THE East Times