USEN Media

What USEN Media does

USEN Media (株式会社 USEN Media) is a Tokyo-based digital agency that operates a restaurant-focused marketing and customer-acquisition ecosystem for the Japanese food service industry. Founded in 2017 with 101–250 employees, the company built and operated the Hitosara restaurant discovery and reservation platform, the SAVOR JAPAN multilingual gourmet guide for inbound international tourists, and ancillary services including FunMaker (a website CMS for SMBs), Insta+ (an AI-driven Instagram marketing service), USEN MEO (local search optimization), Hitosara Wedding, Hitosara Hawaii, and Oishii Photo/Video production. The technical stack is centered on web and mobile applications for Hitosara and SAVOR JAPAN, with AI features layered on top — notably Hitosara AI Chat (β) using OpenAI's API for conversational restaurant search and Insta+ for automated Instagram account matching — plus machine translation for multilingual inbound-tourist content.

Revenue is generated through a combination of recurring monthly subscriptions from restaurants (Hitosara and SAVOR JAPAN listings, Insta+, FunMaker, Hitosara Wedding) and professional services for content production (photography, videography, translation), with multi-month auto-renewing contracts and modest setup fees. The go-to-market is a hybrid B2B model: self-serve online registration and subscription management for small restaurants, supplemented by direct sales representatives for higher-value enterprise restaurant clients. The customer base is described as 'thousands of restaurants' across Japan, with a deliberate expansion into inbound tourism via SAVOR JAPAN and outbound Japanese travel via Hitosara Hawaii.

Effective September 1, 2024, the legal entity was absorbed via an absorption-type merger into its publicly listed parent USEN Corporation (株式会社 USEN) as part of USEN & U-NEXT GROUP restructuring by service axis. The restaurant media business continues operationally under USEN Corporation, with the usen.media domain and the Hitosara and SAVOR JAPAN brands maintained. The merger rationale disclosed by the group is to clarify roles within the group and enable more agile, faster-paced business development.

Name

USEN Media

Legal name

株式会社 USEN

Website

https://usen.media

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Acquired

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

USEN Media is a Japanese restaurant-marketing agency operating the Hitosara reservation platform and SAVOR JAPAN multilingual inbound-tourist guide, providing subscriptions and content production to thousands of Japanese food service businesses. The entity was absorbed into USEN Corporation on September 1, 2024.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Restaurant Digital Marketing Platform

NAICS

Media Buying Agencies (541830), Media Representatives (541840)

SIC

Services-Advertising Agencies (7311), Services-Mailing, Reproduction, Commercial Art & Photography (7330)

akta.pro primary industry

Paid Social Media Buying (MPAAABAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Paid Social Media Buying (BPAFABAD), Digital Content & Media Subscriptions (CRAFAIAA)

Keywords

• Restaurant marketing platform
• Restaurant reservation platform
• Inbound tourism marketing
• Digital marketing services
• Restaurant content production

Headquarters

HQ city

Tokyo

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Restaurant Subscription Services: Monthly subscription fees from restaurants for listing on platforms including ヒトサラ and SAVOR JAPAN. Restaurants pay recurring fees for content creation, listing management, and marketing services.
2. Content Production Services: Fees for professional content creation including photography, videography, and text content for restaurant listings. Includes translation services for international-facing platforms.
3. Marketing Service Subscriptions: Monthly fees for digital marketing services such as Instagram AI matching (インスタ+), Google advertising management, and other promotional tools.
4. Website Creation Services (FunMaker): Monthly subscription fees for website creation and CMS services targeting restaurants and small businesses.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

USEN Media operates a restaurant-focused digital marketing ecosystem, anchored by the Hitosara restaurant discovery and reservation platform and the SAVOR JAPAN multilingual gourmet site targeting inbound international visitors. The company sells subscription-based marketing services to Japanese restaurants and food-service businesses, including professional content production (photography and videography), AI-driven Instagram marketing (Insta+), website creation (FunMaker), Google Indoor View photography, and a wedding venue listing service. Revenue is generated primarily through recurring monthly subscriptions and professional service fees from restaurant operators.

Product overview

USEN Media operates a multi-platform restaurant and hospitality marketing ecosystem. The core products are ヒトサラ (a restaurant information and instant reservation platform) and SAVOR JAPAN (a multilingual gourmet site for inbound tourists). Additional services include FunMaker (website CMS), インスタ+ (AI-driven Instagram marketing), Google Indoor View photography, and SAVOR JAPAN Buzz (short video creation for social media). Loyalty is managed through ヒトサラPOINT. The portfolio was merged into 株式会社 USEN effective September 1, 2024.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• ヒトサラ (HitoSara): Restaurant discovery platform and reservation service offering chef and restaurant information, online reservations (including instant booking), and a loyalty points program (ヒトサラPOINT). Accessible via web and smartphone app.
• SAVOR JAPAN
• ヒトサラウェディング (HitoSara Wedding)
• ヒトサラハワイ (HitoSara Hawaii)
• FunMaker
• インスタ+ (Insta+)
• USEN MEO
• おいしいフォト (Oishii Photo)
• おいしい動画 (Oishii Video)

Products and services

• Hitosara (ヒトサラ) Restaurant-focused gourmet platform that provides restaurant information browsing, chef profiles, user-generated photo posts, and online reservation services for diners in Japan. Operated via web and mobile app.
• SAVOR JAPAN Inbound tourist-focused gourmet website introducing Japanese restaurants to international visitors through multilingual content, including machine-translated listings and restaurant discovery features.
• FunMaker (ファンメイカー) Monthly subscription website-building CMS service that enables businesses to create and publish websites, including logo design, domain registration, server hosting, and page-building tools. Targets restaurants and small businesses in Japan.
• Insta+ (インスタ+) AI-driven Instagram marketing service that matches general Instagram users with restaurant business accounts via automated liking, following, and targeting actions to support promotional activities. Formerly called InstaMatch.
• SAVOR JAPAN Buzz Short-video production and SNS posting service in which USEN produces promotional restaurant videos and publishes them across company-managed social media accounts on Instagram, TikTok, RED, and Facebook.
• Google Indoor View (Googleインドアビュー) Indoor photography service in which USEN Media photographs restaurant interiors and publishes them to Google Maps as part of Google's Indoor View program, allowing virtual store tours.
• Hitosara Wedding (ヒトサラウェディング) Wedding venue information and listing service within the Hitosara platform, promoting restaurants and event spaces that offer wedding ceremonies and banquets.
• Oishii Photo (おいしいフォト) Restaurant food photography service providing professional imagery for promotional use by restaurants listed on the company's platforms.
• Oishii Video (おいしい動画) Restaurant video production and filming service providing promotional video content for restaurants listed on the company's platforms.
• Hitosara Hawaii (ヒトサラハワイ) Specialized service within the Hitosara platform covering restaurants in Hawaii, enabling web-based reservations for Japanese travelers.

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

AI capability5 records

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered supporting and core.

• OpenAIsupportingTechnology or IntegrationProvides AI technology for ヒトサラAIチャット(β) chatbot feature. OpenAI's API is used for conversational AI restaurant search functionality. User input data is explicitly stated not to be used for OpenAI's machine learning.
• Google (Maps/Business Photos)coreTechnology or IntegrationProvides Googleインドアビュー (Indoor View) service for restaurants, allowing virtual store tours through Google Maps. USEN Media acts as a photography service provider participating in Google's business photo program.
• Instagram (Meta)coreTechnology or IntegrationPlatform for インスタ+ (Insta+) service which uses Instagram's API to match general users with business accounts for promotional purposes. Service leverages Instagram's platform infrastructure.
• 食べログ (Tabelog)supportingChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorRestaurant marketing service partnerships with Tabelog, one of Japan's largest restaurant review platforms. USEN Media offers integration services for restaurants listed on Tabelog.
• SNS Platforms (Instagram, TikTok, RED, Facebook)coreTechnology or IntegrationSAVOR JAPAN Buzz service utilizes company-owned social media accounts on Instagram, TikTok, RED, and Facebook for posting restaurant promotional short videos created for restaurant clients.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Others

• Airレジ (AirRegi): Recruit-operated SMB restaurant POS and operations platform in Japan. Adjacent ecosystem player serving the same Japanese restaurant SMB customer base with operations rather than marketing tools, comparable in customer overlap.

Direct peers

• Gurunavi (ぐるなび): Long-standing Japanese restaurant search/reservation portal with paid restaurant directory subscriptions and reservation services. Directly comparable to Hitosara on listings, reservations, and marketing services for Japanese SMB restaurants.
• Retty: UGC-driven restaurant recommendation platform in Japan with growing B2B restaurant tools and reservation integration. Closely comparable to Hitosara's combination of user-generated restaurant content and restaurant-side marketing services.
• Tabelog (食べログ): Japan's largest restaurant discovery and review platform, operated by Kakaku.com. Direct competitor to USEN Media's Hitosara on the same SMB-restaurant subscription listings, restaurant discovery, and consumer booking flow in Japan.
• Toreta: Tokyo-based restaurant customer-experience and reservation platform acquired by Trifacta/Otelier group. Comparable to Hitosara's reservation stack and restaurant-side customer data/CRM functionality for SMB restaurants in Japan.
• OpenTable: Global restaurant reservation and marketing platform. Direct functional comparable to Hitosara's instant reservation and restaurant subscription services, scaled globally rather than Japan-domestic.
• Hot Pepper Gourmet (Hotpepper): Recruit-operated restaurant discovery/reservation platform and one of the largest restaurant ad-networks in Japan. Direct competitor on subscription listing, reservation, and restaurant marketing services targeting the same SMB vertical.

Broad incumbents

• Tripadvisor: Global travel and restaurant review platform with restaurant owner tools and advertising. Overlaps with SAVOR JAPAN on multilingual restaurant content for inbound tourists and broader restaurant listings comparable to Hitosara.
• Yelp: Established restaurant discovery and advertising platform in the US with restaurant-side subscription ad products. Broad incumbent offering overlapping restaurant listing/advertising functionality versus USEN Media's Hitosara, but operating primarily outside Japan.

Emerging players

• STORES: Japanese SMB website builder and broader digital-tools platform (stores.jp). Comparable to USEN Media's FunMaker subscription CMS service targeting the same Japanese restaurant/SMB customer base.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/USENMedia

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

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about USEN Media