BUD INTERNATIONAL, K.K.

What BUD INTERNATIONAL, K.K. does

BUD International, K.K. (株式会社バドインターナショナル) is a Tokyo-based private communication design company founded in 1992, operating an integrated creative-services platform. The company serves primarily Japanese enterprises — with the travel and tourism vertical as its foundational specialty — and provides four service lines: (1) Creative (graphic design, photography/video production, illustration/character creation including the Characrie brand); (2) Systems Development (CMS, e-commerce, and enterprise systems integrating WordPress, Movable Type, and scratch builds); (3) Promotion (social media and web-advertising operations across Google, Yahoo!, Facebook/Instagram, X, and TikTok); and (4) Other businesses including the Misell digital business card service, GLEAM GRAIN jewelry retail, and beluxtrip private tours.

The company runs an in-house production model rather than a software-platform model: illustrators, photographers, cameramen, editors, and nationally-licensed drone pilots are direct employees, and the firm holds a stock of 60,000+ travel/tourism photographs and videos built up over ~30 years. Pricing is predominantly project-based unit pricing (e.g., video plans ¥30,000-¥500,000+, character creation plans ¥30,000-¥200,000) with one subscription SaaS product (Characrie at ¥9,800/month). Ad operations use a flat ¥40,000 management fee for budgets under ¥300,000 and 20% commission above ¥310,000.

Distribution is via eight domestic branches (Sapporo, Sendai, Tokyo x2, Nagoya, Osaka, Hiroshima x2, Fukuoka), a Suzhou China office, and a network of Vietnam-based IT/DTP outsourcing partners. Customer base spans travel (Hankyu Travel), railway (JR East, JR Tokai, Tobu Top Tours), insurance (Manulife Life), logistics (Daiichi Kogyo), retail, and government (Kumamoto Police). Group entities include Creed Co., BUD Create Co., BUD Prest Co., and Suzhou Bashi Digital Design. The group reports ~500 employees and ¥13.1 billion in annual revenue as of the September 2025 fiscal period.

Name

BUD INTERNATIONAL, K.K.

Legal name

株式会社バドンダード

Website

https://bud-international.co.jp

Company type

Private

Founded year

1992

Operating status

Operating

Short description

BUD International, K.K. is a Tokyo-based private integrated creative-services agency (founded 1992) offering graphic design, video/animation production, illustration/character creation, systems development, and digital advertising operations, primarily serving Japanese enterprises with a specialty in travel and tourism.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Tokyo

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices12 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. クリエイティブ制作事業: グラフィックデザイン・WEBデザイン・映像制作・イラスト制作などのクリエイティブ制作サービス。大手旅行広告代理店の制作パートナーとして、旅行業界向けの広告・紙面制作、DTPシステムによる印刷企画などを主な収益源とする。
2. 映像コンテンツ事業: 動画・映像制作サービス。SuperLight Plan（3万円〜）やLight Plan（10万円〜）、Middle Plan（30万円〜）、High Plan（50万円〜）など予算に応じた料金体系で、提供。動画制作の企画から撮影・編集までワンストップ対応。
3. キャラクター制作（キャラクタープライズ）: キャラクター制作サービス。Aプラン（30,000円〜）、Bプラン（50,000円〜）、Cプラン（80,000円〜）、Dプラン（200,000円〜）のTier別料金体系。オプションでgifアニメ（1アニメーション 10,000円〜）、VRM化（70,000円〜）なども提供。SaaSプラットフォーム（キャラクタープライズ月額9,800円）としても提供。
4. システムソリューション開発事業: CMS/ECサイト/基幹システムの構築・カスタマイズサービス。既存のプラットフォームを活用したCMSのカスタマイズからフルスクラッチ開発まで対応。
5. SNS運用・WEB広告運用: SNSのアカウント運用の代行サービスやWEB広告（Google・Yahoo!・Facebook/Instagram・X・TikTokなど）の運用代行サービス。広告費は実費＋運用手数料の形態で請求。
6. 販売代理事業: Misell（デジタル名刺サービス）、GLEAM GRAIN（ジュエリー販売）、beluxtrip（プライベートツアー販売）、テンツキ旅行（旅行比較サイト）の販売代理・支援。

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

BUD International is a creative communications company that produces advertising, video/animation, photography, illustration/character and system development deliverables in-house for corporate clients, primarily in the travel and tourism sector. It complements production with SNS and web advertising operations, event booth design, and limited retail products (digital business cards, jewelry, tours). Production is delivered through project-based fees, tiered packages and a character-creation SaaS subscription.

Product overview

BUD International is a creative agency offering integrated creative services across four main areas: (1) Creative Services — graphic design, photography/video production, illustration/character creation; (2) Systems Development — CMS, e-commerce, and enterprise systems; (3) Promotion — social media and advertising operations; (4) Other businesses including digital business cards (Misell), jewelry sales (GLEAM GRAIN), and private tour services (beluxtrip). The company operates as a project-based service provider rather than a software platform, producing creative deliverables and managing digital marketing campaigns on behalf of clients. Video production is organized into distinct services including general video production, the キャラクタース (Characrie) character creation brand, photography, graphic design, systems development, media operations, and advertising operations, all supported by its own studio and staff photographers and illustrators.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Characrie: Character creation service offered by BUD International, allowing users to create original characters.

Products and services

• Video/Animation Production (動画・映像制作) Comprehensive video production service covering planning, filming, editing and delivery across real video, animation, drone footage and 3DCG. Tiered plans from 30,000 yen (SuperLight, editing-only) up to 500,000+ yen (High Plan), with standard delivery within 2 weeks to 1 month after filming.
• Characrie — Character Creation Service (キャラクリエ) Original character (mascot/IP) creation service by in-house illustrators based on client themes and purposes. Tiered plans from 30,000 yen (single pose monochrome) to 200,000 yen (full worldview with up to 5 characters), with options for GIF animation, VRM conversion and a separate monthly SaaS platform (9,800 yen/month) that supports character creation, management and deployment.
• Illustration Production (イラスト制作) Illustration production across wind/landscape, maps, people, web, paper media, hand-drawn style, icon style, 3D and GIF-animation categories, used for corporate, product/service, regional and educational characters as well as portrait and novelty illustrations.
• Photography and Video Shooting (撮影・映像制作) Photography and video production covering promotional videos, recruitment videos, event recording, still photography, drone aerial photography, in-house studio shoots and model/influencer casting for corporate advertising clients.
• Graphic Design (グラフィックデザイン) Graphic design services covering promotional tools (flyers, DM, leaflets, catalogs, posters, booth decoration) and web design and site construction (service sites, corporate sites, landing pages, site operation and maintenance).
• System Development (システム開発) Systems development covering CMS and EC site construction (WordPress or Movable Type customization, scratch development) and core systems (product/customer management, sales management, inventory management, production management) for Japanese enterprises.
• Media Operations (メディア運用) Managed social media and content operations including Facebook, Instagram and X account management, video media operations on YouTube and TikTok, and operated content media/owned media and portal site management for corporate clients.
• Advertising Operations (広告運用) Managed web and social advertising operations for clients on Google, Yahoo!, Facebook/Instagram, X Ads, TikTok Ads, and retargeting/DSP networks (GDN, YDN, Criteo), with no minimum ad spend or contract period and a hybrid ad-spend-plus-fee billing structure.
• Misell — NFC Digital Business Card (ミセル) Digital business card service with management functions for enterprises, providing NFC-based contact sharing and centralized member management for SMB and corporate customers.
• beluxtrip — Private Tour Service Private luxury tour service offering personalized, custom-orchestrated travel experiences for individual travelers, licensed as a Type 3 Travel Business under Tokyo Governor registration.
• GLEAM GRAIN — Jewelry Brand Direct sales of jewelry products under the GLEAM GRAIN brand via its own e-commerce storefront, operated as one of BUD International's other businesses.

Quantifiable outcome

• 年商131億円（2025年9月期）
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers11 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• 株式会社 クリードcoreOthers東京都港区海岸に本社を置くグループ会社。的事业内容：セールスポromeーション、DTP、ウェブ。株式会社バドインターナショナルと同一場所（北京・竹芝）で運営。
• 株式会社 バド・クリエイトcoreOthers福岡県福岡市中央区薬院に本社を置くグループ会社。的事业内容：DTP、ウェブ。地域に特化したクリエイティブサービスを提供。
• 株式会社 バド・プレストminorOthers熊本県熊本市中央区桜町に本社を置くグループ会社。的事业内容：DTP。地域市場に対応した制作サービスを提供。

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Digital Garage: Japanese internet/fintech group with adjacent digital marketing, platform, and marketing technology businesses. Adjacent rather than directly competing — comparable in being a multi-vertical Japanese digital holding group with marketing as a core P&L.

Direct peers

• transcosmos: Japanese digital transformation and BPO services company with significant digital marketing, e-commerce support, and offshore (China/Vietnam) operations. Overlap with BUD's systems development, digital marketing, and offshore DTP partner model in Vietnam/China.
• D.A. Consortium: Japanese digital advertising company specializing in digital ad operations, data-driven marketing, and creative production. Direct overlap with BUD's SNS/WEB advertising operations, content production, and digital creative service portfolio.
• Allied Architects: Japanese creative/digital agency providing creative production, digital marketing, and system development. Comparable mid-tier Japanese creative agency with integrated service portfolio analogous to BUD's graphic/video/illustration/system/Promotion stack.
• ADK Holdings (Asatsu-DK): Japanese integrated advertising agency offering creative, media, and digital services across Japan and Asia. Similar mid-tier full-service creative scope to BUD International, including digital marketing, content production, and large enterprise clients.
• Digital Holdings: Japanese digital advertising holding company with creative agencies and performance marketing subsidiaries. Offers integrated creative, performance marketing, and consulting — comparable client mix and service breadth to BUD International.
• CyberAgent: Major Japanese internet company with a substantial digital advertising and creative content division, including video advertising, influencer marketing (Abema/Toplogi), and AI-driven ad tech. Overlaps with BUD's video production, SNS ad operations, and character/influencer casting work.
• Septeni Holdings: Japanese digital advertising and marketing company listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Operates digital ad operations, creative production, and SNS/web ad managed services — directly overlapping with BUD International's SNS/WEB ad operations, managed services, and creative production core.

Broad incumbents

• Hakuhodo DY Holdings: One of Japan's largest advertising agencies with full creative, media, digital, and content production capabilities. Operates broadly across industries at substantially larger scale than BUD, with deep travel/tourism expertise in its Hakuhodo and Yomiko subsidiaries.
• Dentsu Group: Largest Japanese advertising conglomerate and global network parent, offering creative, media, digital, and CRM services. Incumbent peer operating broadly across the same enterprise client set (rail, travel, finance, government) that BUD serves, but at vastly larger scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@nigiringer
• Facebookfacebook.com/BUD.International.co
• Instagraminstagram.com/characrie_official/?hl=en

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries4 records

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 BUD INTERNATIONAL, K.K.