What JOHO does

JOHO (株式会社JOHO) is a private Japanese company founded in 1996 and headquartered in Matsumoto City, Nagano Prefecture, operating a regional real estate portal ecosystem under the brand name ココスマ (Cocosuma). The company runs a network of 8 regional portal sites covering Nagano Prefecture and claims the #1 member rate among licensed real estate companies in the prefecture, positioning itself as a vertically specialized, locally dominant player in Nagano real estate information distribution.

The company's core technical asset is a proprietary real estate database system designed and developed internally, which powers not only the Cocosuma portal network but also multiple third-party platforms including the 楽園信州空き家バンク vacant house relocation platform (operated jointly with the Nagano Prefecture Real Estate Association and Nagano Prefecture government), the 信州土地と住まいの情報 real estate magazine, and various specialized sub-portals covering new construction, rural relocation, and property sales. Service offerings have expanded to include Matterport 3D space capture (launched July 2021) for property visualization, website planning and production services for SMB clients, and video production via a group company called (株)インフォニー (Inforny).

JOHO's revenue model combines three streams: recurring subscription revenue from real estate companies listing on the Cocosuma portal network, licensing and implementation fees for the proprietary database system, and professional services fees for website planning and production. With 1-10 employees, ¥10 million in registered capital, and no external funding, JOHO operates as a small, founder-led (representative director Matsumoto Yoshitaka) regional business with marketing conducted primarily through an extensive blog dating to 2015, participation in industry events, and community engagement initiatives such as the ココブラ信州 walking tours.

Name

JOHO

Legal name

株式会社JOHO

Website

https://joho.expert

Company type

Private

Founded year

1996

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

JOHO operates the ココスマ (Cocosuma) regional real estate portal network of 8 sites across Nagano Prefecture, Japan, serving local licensed real estate companies and property seekers with subscription listings and a proprietary database system that also powers government vacant house initiatives.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Real Estate Portal Technology

NAICS

Offices of Real Estate Agents and Brokers (5312), Web Search Portals, Libraries, Archives, and Other Information Services (5192)

SIC

Real Estate Agents & Managers (For Others) (6531)

akta.pro primary industry

POI, Local Listings & Business Directory Platforms (BPAMANAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Seller Representation & Listing Services (BPAJAAAK), Rural Residential & Acreage Homesites Brokerage (BPAJADAE)

Keywords

• Real estate portal
• Property listing platform
• Real estate database
• Vacant house management
• Website production services

Headquarters

HQ city

Matsumoto

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Real Estate Portal Subscription (ココスマ): Real estate companies (宅建事業者) subscribe to publish property listings on the Kokosuma portal network covering Nagano Prefecture. The portal has 8 regional sites and claims the #1 member rate among Nagano real estate companies.
2. Database System Licensing & Implementation Services: The proprietary real estate database system is offered to enterprises that want to leverage JOHO's system infrastructure. This includes both system licensing and implementation support services.
3. Website Planning and Production: Website planning, design, and production services for real estate companies and other clients, including homepage services for small-scale real estate companies and business improvement solutions.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

JOHO operates the Cocosuma (ココスマ) real estate portal network, covering Nagano Prefecture through 8 regional sites, and connects licensed real estate companies (宅建事業者) with property seekers. The company has developed and operates a proprietary real estate-specialized database system that powers the portal network as well as external platforms including the government-backed Rakuen Shinshu Vacant House Bank and a real estate magazine. JOHO also provides website planning and production services and Matterport 3D photography services to real estate clients.

Product overview

JOHO operates a multi-platform real estate portal ecosystem centered on ココスマ (Cocosuma), a Nagano Prefecture-focused real estate portal network of 8 regional sites. The portfolio includes specialized sub-portals for property sales (ココスマ不動産売却), new home construction (ココスマ自主品牌注文 пун住宅), rural relocation (信州 田舎暮らし), and a photo sharing site (ビューポイントあづみの). All portals are powered by JOHO's proprietary 不動产データベースシステム, which also supports external clients including 楽園信州空き家バンク and 信州土地と住まいの情報 magazine. The company additionally offers 3D space capture services via Matterport for property visualization.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• ココスマ: 長野県専門の不動産ポータルサイト。地域別8サイトを展開し、县内宅建事業者加盟率ナンバー1を主張。
• ココスマ松本
• 信州 田舎暮らし
• ビューポイントあづみの
• 楽園信州空き家バンク
• ココブラ信州
• JOHO不动产データベースシステム

Products and services

• Cocosuma Real Estate Portal Network (ココスマ) Nagano Prefecture-focused real estate portal network comprising 8 regional sites that enables licensed real estate companies to publish property listings (especially for sale properties) and reach property seekers. The portal claims the #1 member rate among Nagano real estate companies (宅建事業者).
• JOHO Real Estate Database System (JOHO不動産データベースシステム) Proprietary real estate-specialized database system designed and developed internally by JOHO. Features simple information registration and one-source multi-use (ワンソースマルチユース) architecture. Powers the Cocosuma portal network as well as the government-operated Rakuen Shinshu Vacant House Bank and the Shinshu Land and Housing Information real estate magazine. Available for licensing and implementation to other enterprises.
• Cocosuma Vacant Property Sales (ココスマ不動産売却) Real estate bulk price comparison service for vacant houses and inherited properties in the Chuo-Shinshu region of Nagano Prefecture. Allows users to obtain bulk assessments from up to 3 local real estate companies.
• Cocosuma Custom-Built Home Portal (ココスマ自主品牌注文 純住宅) Nagano Prefecture-specialized new construction home portal that links land information with buildable properties, enabling review of construction plans. Targeted at consumers seeking custom-built homes in the region.
• Shinshu Rural Living Portal (信州 田舎暮らし) Real estate portal targeting individuals interested in relocating to Nagano Prefecture. Enables search of ideal relocation properties by purpose, area, and location. Focused on rural lifestyle migration support.
• Rakuen Shinshu Vacant House Bank (楽園信州空き家バンク) Vacant house bank platform for Nagano Prefecture, operated by Nagano Prefecture Real Estate Association and Nagano Prefecture government. Powered by JOHO's proprietary real estate database system to facilitate vacant property relocation and regional revitalization.
• Viewpoint Azumino (ビューポイントあづみの) Photo sharing site for Azumino area scenic views and landscapes. Community-driven content platform that reached 1,000 photo posts within 20 months of opening. Location information is cross-linked to other JOHO sites for secondary usage.
• Matterport 3D Photography Service (Matterport 3D空間撮影サービス) 3D space creation service using Matterport technology for real estate property viewing. Creates high-quality 3D walkthrough spaces with dollhouse views, floor plans, and 4K resolution imagery. Includes photography agency services for properties in Nagano Prefecture, available for property listings and showroom virtual tours.
• Website Planning and Production Service Website planning, design, and production services for real estate companies and other clients. Includes homepage services tailored for small-scale real estate companies and business improvement solutions.

Quantifiable outcome

• 20-month milestone: 1,000 photo posts on ビューポイントあづみの platform

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Nagano Prefecture Real Estate Association (公社)長野県宅建協会coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMajor strategic partnership where JOHO provides the proprietary database system powering the 楽園信州空き家バンク, a vacant house relocation platform for Nagano Prefecture. The association and prefecture co-operate this platform with JOHO's technical infrastructure.
• Nagano Prefecture (長野県)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGovernment partnership for regional vacant house management through the 楽園信州空き家バンク platform, which leverages JOHO's real estate database system.
• (株)インフォニー (Inforny)minorOthersA group company established by JOHO for video production services. Inforny provides video production to solve client challenges and support branding efforts.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• SUUMO (Recruit): Japan's largest national residential and commercial real estate portal operated by Recruit. Compares to JOHO as a broader-scale real estate listing platform with overlapping property-search functionality, though at vastly larger scale and national scope.
• athome: Long-established Japanese real estate portal with strong local-agent network (athome加盟店). Closely comparable to JOHO's portal business model of connecting licensed real estate companies to end users, but operating nationally rather than in a single prefecture.
• LIFULL HOME'S: Major Japanese real estate portal operated by LIFULL, covering sales, rentals, and new construction nationwide. Overlaps with JOHO's Cocosuma portal as a property-listing destination but at national scale with significantly larger traffic and marketing spend.

Direct peers

• 楽待 (Rakumachi): Leading Japanese portal for investment-property and rental-income real estate, with rural and akiya inventory across Japan. Comparable to JOHO's portal concept and overlapping in rural/vacant-house listings, with broader geographic reach.
• いえらぶ (ierabu): Real estate marketing platform providing portal listings, CRM tools, and website production services to Japanese real estate companies. Highly comparable to JOHO in serving licensed agents with portal subscriptions and web production, though ierabu operates at larger national scale.
• 健美家 (Kenbiya): Japanese real estate investment portal with strong focus on investment properties and tax-oriented listings. Compares to JOHO as a listing platform for real estate companies and end users, particularly in the investment/income-property segment.
• いえいえ (イエイエ): Japanese real estate search portal aggregating listings from real estate companies. Comparable to JOHO's Cocosuma as a property-search destination for consumers, with a similar regional-aggregator model.

Emerging players

• GA technologies: Tokyo-listed proptech firm offering real estate brokerage, IT services for real estate companies, and digital transaction platforms (RENOSY, ITANDI). Comparable to JOHO in providing technology infrastructure to real estate agents, but at much larger scale and with broader product suite.
• イタンジ (itandi): Proptech firm providing rental-property CRM, automated messaging, and listing-distribution services to Japanese real estate companies. Comparable to JOHO in providing digital infrastructure for real estate agents, with focus on the rental segment.

Others

• 株式会社不動産情報社: Publisher of the 信州土地と住まいの情報 real estate magazine in Nagano Prefecture, which uses JOHO's database system. Listed as an ecosystem partner rather than a competitor, illustrating JOHO's data-as-infrastructure business model with adjacent publishing players.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC6hSJN2xCyucVo8FD9VKAKA

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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 JOHO