Cross the Border

What Cross the Border does

Cross the Border (株式会社クロスザボーダー) is a Tokyo-based, privately-held employment services company founded in 2021 that connects foreign residents in Japan with Japanese employers. It operates as a licensed paid employment placement agency (有料職業紹介事業, license 13-ユ-313502) under Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, generating revenue primarily through placement fees for part-time and full-time job matches. The company also produces a content portal (crosstheborder.net) covering life support topics — housing, banking, insurance, taxes, and cultural guidance — for foreign nationals in Japan.

The company's platform is built around a database of registered foreign residents from 50+ nationalities, age range teens to 40s, with Japan residency durations ranging from new arrivals to 10+ years. Talent is matched to job opportunities using Japanese language proficiency levels (beginner/katakoto, conversational/nichijoukaiwa, business) and background attributes (IT professionals, PR ambassadors, licensed English teachers). Beyond core job placement, the company offers B2B services to Japanese companies including interpreter/translation, language teaching, cross-cultural training, mystery shopping, and PR/marketing support, plus municipal services for inbound tourism and K-12 educational programs.

Operationally, Cross the Border is a 6-person team (including part-time) operating in the Kanto Region, with 45.3 million JPY in registered capital. The company is a subsidiary of holding entity ctb holdings, with sister company Fujidou. GTM is sales-led via direct B2B inquiry and community-led via the consumer-facing information portal. Pricing is not publicly disclosed and appears to be quote-based for enterprise clients, with multi-year contracts available.

Name

Cross the Border

Legal name

株式会社クロスザボーダー (Kabushiki Kaisha Cross The Border)

Website

https://crosstheborder.biz

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Cross the Border is a Tokyo-based licensed employment agency that matches foreign residents in Japan with Japanese employers, offering job placement, life support information, and B2B services including interpreter/translation, language teaching, and cross-cultural training.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Tokyo

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Employment Placement Services: Licensed fee-based employment agency (有料職業紹介事業) providing job matching services between foreign residents in Japan and Japanese companies. Revenue generated through placement fees for both part-time and full-time employment arrangements.
2. Life Support Information Services: Provides lifestyle information to foreign residents including housing, banking, insurance, and tax guidance. May include premium features or advisory services for comprehensive life support.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Cross the Border is a licensed paid employment placement agency (有料職業紹介事業) that matches foreign residents in Japan with Japanese companies for part-time and full-time work based on Japanese language proficiency levels. It also operates an information portal (crosstheborder.net) providing life support content covering housing, banking, insurance, and taxes for foreigners living in Japan. For businesses and public-sector clients, the firm delivers interpreter/translation, language teaching, cross-cultural training, mystery shopping, PR/marketing, inbound tourism consulting, and school-based English/cultural exchange programs.

Product overview

Cross the Borderは、日本在住の外国人向けの総合支援プラットフォームです。主力サービスとして、日本在住外国人向け総合情報サイト「cross the border」（crosstheborder.net）を運営し、アルバイト支援・就職支援・生活情報・お得情報の4つの主要サービスを展開しています。法人向けには、外国人人材の採用支援から、通訳・翻訳・語学講師・異文化理解研修・モニターツアーなどの多角的なサービスを提供。自治体向けにはインバウンド支援、学校向けには英語教育・異文化理解サービスを提供しています。有料職業紹介事業（厚生労働大臣許可番号 13-ユ-313502）を取得した人材派遣・紹介プラットフォームとして機能しています。

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Cross the Border Foreign Resident Support Service (cross the border 外国人の皆様サービス) Comprehensive information and support service for foreign residents in Japan that provides part-time job placement, full-time employment matching based on Japanese language proficiency (beginner, daily conversation, business levels), and life information covering housing, banking, insurance, and taxes. The service includes direct job matching and support for foreigners with conversational Japanese ability for roles in cafes, restaurants, retail, and convenience stores.
• Foreign Talent Recruitment Service for Companies (企業向け外国人人材活用サービス) Hiring and talent utilization service for Japanese companies that recruits and places foreign workers, and provides interpreter/translation services, customer service support for foreign-facing operations, language teachers, cross-cultural training, overseas research, product/service monitoring, PR and information dissemination, and mystery shopping services.
• Inbound Tourism Support Service for Local Governments (自治体向けインバウンド支援サービス) Inbound tourism support service for Japanese local governments that leverages foreign perspectives through monitor tours (in-person and online), on-site briefings, SNS-based information dissemination, surveys, and report creation to support tourism development.
• English Education and Cross-Cultural Understanding Service for Schools (学校向け英語教育・異文化理解サービス) School-facing service that delivers English learning, cross-cultural understanding, and peace education programs, including street-walking activities with international students on school trips, pre/post-overseas language study, after-school language learning, summer English camps, and extracurricular interaction with international students.

Quantifiable outcome

• 50+ nationalities represented in talent pool
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered parent company and group company.

• 株式会社ctb holdingsparent companyOthersParent company overseeing Cross the Border operations as part of a corporate group structure.
• 株式会社Fujidougroup companyOthersGroup company within the ctb holdings corporate structure, with operations visible at fujidougroup.com.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• CareerCross: A bilingual job-matching platform focused on bilingual professionals seeking roles in Japan. Comparable as it addresses the same foreign/bilingual talent-to-Japanese-employer placement market.
• GaijinPot: A long-established media and services platform for foreign residents in Japan, offering job listings, housing, and life information. Directly comparable because it addresses the same foreign-resident-in-Japan audience with job placement and lifestyle support services.
• Robert Walters Japan: An international recruitment firm with a Japan office focused on multilingual and cross-border placements. Comparable as a competing licensed agency serving foreign-talent hiring needs of Japanese companies.
• YOLO JAPAN: A Japan-focused platform that matches foreign residents with jobs, housing, and community experiences. Highly comparable because it pursues the same foreign-worker-in-Japan placement and life-support use case with a community- and content-led model.
• RGF Professional Recruitment Japan: An international recruitment brand under Recruit operating in Japan with multilingual placement capability. Comparable because it matches foreign and bilingual talent with Japanese employers, including interpretation and cross-cultural support services.
• JAC Recruitment: A licensed Japanese recruitment firm specializing in bilingual and international mid-career placements. Comparable as a competing licensed employment agency serving foreign talent and multilingual candidates for Japanese employers.

Emerging players

• TokyoDev: An English-language job platform for foreign engineers and tech professionals in Japan. Comparable as an emerging niche player addressing a specific subset (tech) of the same foreign-worker-in-Japan placement market Cross the Border serves.

Broad incumbents

• PERSOL: One of Japan's largest staffing and workforce solutions groups. Comparable as a broad incumbent in the Japanese staffing market that increasingly competes for foreign-worker placement, though it operates across many other segments as well.
• Dip Corporation: Operator of the Baitoru and Hatarako part-time job platforms in Japan. Comparable as a broad incumbent addressing part-time job matching, an overlap with Cross the Border's part-time placement segment for foreign workers.
• Recruit Holdings: The parent of Japan's dominant job-board and staffing brands (Indeed Japan, RGF, etc.). Comparable as the largest incumbent shaping competitive dynamics in Japanese recruitment, including the multilingual and foreign-worker segment.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries1 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 Cross the Border