Japan Restaurant

What Japan Restaurant does

Business World Corporation, operating under the trade name JapanRestaurant.net, is a Tokyo-based bilingual (English/Japanese) restaurant discovery and online reservation platform that has been active since the parent company's founding in February 1971 and the platform's launch in May 2005. The platform is positioned as Japan's first English-language restaurant search service and serves three primary segments: inbound foreign tourists (42.7M in 2025, projected to 60M by 2030), foreign residents in Japan (Tokyo alone has over 1M foreign residents), and Japanese restaurants seeking to attract and serve foreign customers. Core technology consists of a bilingual content management system supporting multi-criteria compound search across cuisine genre, geography, price band, dining occasion, and facility/service attributes (private rooms, English menu, English-speaking staff, halal, vegetarian, gluten-free, terrace, delivery, takeout), integrated with TableCheck, Toreta, and Ebisol reservation systems for real-time online booking with cancel-protection options.

The company's revenue mechanics combine three streams: recurring subscription-style restaurant listing fees with enhanced promotional placements; transactional commissions on online bookings routed through TableCheck and other integrated reservation systems; and project-based advertising and content production services for restaurants, including PR video production, multi-language menu translation (English, Chinese, Korean), English website and bilingual brochure creation, and bilingual SNS marketing. Ancillary editorial products include the biannual printed WINING & DINING in TOKYO guide, distributed to foreign embassies and foreign chambers of commerce, and the bilingual J SELECT lifestyle magazine. Distribution relies on the website (japanrestaurant.net), a Google Play app, organic social presence on Facebook, Instagram, X/Twitter, LINE, YouTube, and TikTok, SEO-optimized editorial content, and direct sales outreach to restaurants across Tokyo, Kanto, Kansai, Chubu, Kyushu/Okinawa, and Kanagawa. The company remains privately held under founding-family control (Mari Miyata as President since December 2006), has reported approximately 36 employees, has raised no external capital, and discloses no revenue figures.

Name

Japan Restaurant

Legal name

株式会社ビジネスワールド社

Website

https://japanrestaurant.net

Company type

Private

Founded year

1971

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

JapanRestaurant.net, operated by Tokyo-based Business World Corporation, is Japan's first English restaurant search and online booking platform serving inbound tourists and foreign residents, while offering Japanese restaurants bilingual content, marketing services, and reservation integrations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Restaurant Search & Online Reservation Platform

NAICS

Restaurants and Other Eating Places (72251)

SIC

Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810)

akta.pro primary industry

Restaurant Reservations & Dining Booking Platforms (BPAMAIAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Online Booking & Reservation Platforms (B2B/B2C) (THALAMAA), Dining Reservations & Restaurant Booking (HSACALAF)

Keywords

• Restaurant search platform
• Online reservation system
• Bilingual restaurant guide
• Restaurant marketing services
• Foreign visitor dining

Headquarters

HQ city

Tokyo

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Restaurant Listing Fees: Restaurants pay to be listed on the platform, with enhanced visibility options for advertising and promotional placement.
2. Online Booking Commissions: Platform earns commission through TableCheck integration for online reservations made through JapanRestaurant.net. Cancel protection and pre-payment features support no-show prevention.
3. Advertising and Promotional Services: Additional promotional services including English menu creation, PR video production, social media promotion, and English website/collateral creation for restaurants targeting foreign customers.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

JapanRestaurant.net is a bilingual (English/Japanese) restaurant search and online reservation platform targeting foreign visitors and residents in Japan. It provides multi-criteria search across cuisine genre, area, price range, occasion (business, family, couple, group), and facility amenities (private rooms, non-smoking, terrace seating, kids menu, English menu, halal, vegetarian), with real-time online booking integrated via TableCheck, Toreta, and Ebisol reservation systems and cancel-protection options.

Product overview

JapanRestaurant.net operates as a unified bilingual platform combining restaurant discovery search with online reservation capabilities, supported by supplementary marketing and content production services. The core platform (JapanRestaurant.net) enables foreign visitors and residents to search and book restaurants in Japan through multi-criteria filtering. The ecosystem includes the printed WINING & DINING in TOKYO guide (distributed to embassies), J SELECT Magazine (bilingual lifestyle publication), and various add-on services including PR video production, multi-language menu translation, English website creation, and SNS marketing - all targeting foreign customer acquisition for listed restaurants.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• JapanRestaurant.net Bilingual (English/Japanese) restaurant search and online reservation platform targeting foreign visitors and residents in Japan. Offers multi-criteria search by cuisine type, area, price range, occasion, and facility amenities (private rooms, vegetarian, halal, English menu, terrace, delivery) with real-time online booking via TableCheck, Toreta, and Ebisol integrations.
• WINING & DINING in TOKYO Biannual printed English restaurant guide used by diplomats and expatriates in Japan. Distributed free of charge to embassies and foreign chambers of commerce for over 34 years.
• J SELECT Magazine Bilingual (English/Japanese) lifestyle and dining magazine covering restaurants, travel, and culture, available in digital format for PC and mobile devices.
• PR Video Production Service Video production service for restaurants to create promotional content targeting foreign customers, including model casting, foreign cameraman photography, and distribution via YouTube and social media channels.
• Multi-language Menu Translation Native-checked multilingual menu translation service (English, Chinese, Korean, and other languages) for restaurants to serve foreign customers.
• English Website & Bilingual Brochure Production English website creation service with rich content including videos, photo slideshows, and social media links, plus bilingual promotional brochure production for foreign customer outreach.
• SNS Marketing (English/Japanese) Social media marketing service posting seasonal menus and restaurant information in both English and Japanese via JapanRestaurant.net's Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LINE accounts.
• Restaurant Listing & Advertisement Paid listing service for restaurants to advertise on JapanRestaurant.net platform, with enhanced visibility options for advertising and promotional placement to reach foreign visitors (60 million projected by 2030) and foreign residents in Japan.

Quantifiable outcome

• 80%+ customer satisfaction rate reported for restaurant listings
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• TableCheckcoreTechnology or Integration · 1 December 2009TableCheck restaurant reservation and management system integration enabling real-time online booking capabilities with cancel protection options (credit card guarantee and pre-payment). Available for TableCheck partner restaurants on the platform.
• Foreign Embassies in JapancoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-standing relationships with foreign embassies in Japan. The Wining & Dining in Tokyo book is distributed to embassies and foreign chambers of commerce for 34 years. Escort Tokyo magazine was used as official guide by multiple heads of state and royal families.
• Foreign Chambers of Commerce in JapancoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDistribution of restaurant guidebooks to foreign chambers of commerce in Japan, reaching expatriate business community with purchasing power.
• GoogleminorGTM or Marketing PartnerUses Google Ads for SEO optimization and awareness campaigns.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• OpenTable: Global online restaurant reservation platform by Booking Holdings. Comparable in the restaurant booking technology layer, with similar revenue model (transaction fees) and integration approach, though primarily Western-market focused.
• Tripadvisor: Global travel and restaurant discovery platform with massive user-generated review scale. Competitor for foreign tourist restaurant discovery in Japan, with broader travel category scope but lower depth in Japanese-language or culturally curated content.
• Time Out: Global media and restaurant/lifestyle guide brand with curated editorial and local market presence including Tokyo. Comparable in editorial-led restaurant curation for foreign audiences and lifestyle content monetization.
• Yelp: Global crowd-sourced restaurant review platform. Comparable as a restaurant discovery platform with a reviews-based model, though with limited Japan-specific penetration and no Japanese-language local team.
• Booking.com: Global travel booking platform by Booking Holdings that has expanded into restaurant reservation. Comparable in the broader online booking and reservation marketplace model, with much larger scale and broader category scope.

Regional players

• Hot Pepper Gourmet: Major Japanese restaurant search and booking platform by Recruit. Comparable in restaurant booking model and restaurant relationships, though targeted at Japanese domestic diners rather than foreign visitors.
• OZmall: Japanese restaurant reservation and lifestyle platform primarily targeting women and domestic users. Comparable in the restaurant booking business model, though it's Japan-domestic focused rather than foreign-tourist focused.

Direct peers

• Tabelog: Japan's largest restaurant review and booking platform operated by Kakaku.com. Directly comparable as a restaurant discovery and reservation platform serving Japanese diners, with substantially larger scale and an established review flywheel — the primary domestic competitor for JapanRestaurant.net.
• Gurunavi: Long-established Japanese restaurant search and booking platform with strong restaurant relationships and a multi-language interface targeting foreign visitors. Comparable in restaurant discovery, booking functionality, and foreign-tourist targeting, though at larger scale.

Emerging players

• TableCheck: Japan-based restaurant reservation and POS management platform. Both a direct technology partner of JapanRestaurant.net and a potential competitor expanding into end-customer booking — overlapping in the Japan restaurant booking infrastructure space.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/jp_restaurant
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UClvpwqqciHwGT6BQI5_EAnw?view_as=subscriber
• Facebookfacebook.com/japanresu
• Instagraminstagram.com/winingdiningintokyo
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/japan-restaurant

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 Japan Restaurant