CEREMO

What CEREMO does

CEREMO (株式会社セレモ) is a privately held Japanese ceremony assistant staffing company headquartered in Kumagaya, Saitama Prefecture. Founded in 1992 in Tokyo Itabashi-ku and incorporated in 1993, the company supplies professional female ceremony assistants to funeral homes, specializing in wake and funeral guidance, MC/hosting, reception, and comprehensive on-site ceremony support. Its operating thesis is the "女性の心配り" (female care/attentiveness) positioning, established when the firm pioneered female-staffed ceremony assistance in Japan.

The company operates exclusively in northern Saitama Prefecture across four geographic areas — Chichibu, Osato, Hiki, and Hibikino — serving roughly 18+ JA Group funeral halls (JA葬祭 and related venues such as JAちちぶアグリホール, JA埼玉中央セレモニーホール, and アグリホール児玉) and handles approximately 1,500 funeral ceremonies per year. The core product set comprises four service lines: Ceremony Assistant, MC/Host, Reception, and Comprehensive Work, supplemented by pre-arrangement funeral planning and funeral-seminar lecturer dispatch (via wholly-owned subsidiary Purenido Co., Ltd.) and a fresh flower sales agency launched in March 2021. Service is delivered on-site at venues, with staff commuting directly in personal vehicles.

CEREMO employs 20 staff as of May 2025 and is founder/family-controlled, with Masahiro Nakazato as Representative Director since July 2024 and former Chairman Masako Nakazato having retired in April 2025. Registered capital is ¥3.6 million and there is no external institutional investment. Revenue is generated through per-engagement and salaried service fees from funeral companies, primarily the JA cooperative system; no revenue, ARR, or financial KPIs are publicly disclosed.

Name

CEREMO

Legal name

株式会社セレモ (CEREMO Co., Ltd.)

Website

https://ceremo-assistants.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1992

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

CEREMO (株式会社セレモ) is a privately held Japanese ceremony assistant staffing firm that supplies trained female staff — for guidance, hosting, and reception — to JA funeral halls across northern Saitama Prefecture, handling roughly 1,500 ceremonies annually.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Funeral Ceremony Staffing Services

NAICS

Funeral Homes and Funeral Services (81221), Death Care Services (8122)

akta.pro primary industry

Places of Worship & Religious Facilities Operations (Cemeteries, Retreat Centers, Pilgrimage Sites) (BPAGAJAL)

Keywords

• Funeral ceremony assistance
• Ceremony staffing services
• Funeral MC hosting
• Wake reception services
• Pre-need funeral planning

Headquarters

HQ city

Kumagaya

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Funeral Ceremony Assistance Services: CEREMO provides ceremony assistant services for funerals and memorial services, supporting bereaved families and funeral companies. Services include ceremony assistance, MC/hosting, reception, and comprehensive support roles. Revenue is generated through service fees for ceremony assistance provided at JA funeral halls and memorial venues across Saitama Prefecture.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

CEREMO provides trained ceremony assistant staffing for funeral and memorial services at JA葬祭 agricultural cooperative funeral halls and other venues across northern Saitama Prefecture, Japan. Its core offerings include on-site ceremony assistants, MC/host services, reception desk staffing, and comprehensive roles that combine ceremony support with administrative and HR duties. The company also offers pre-need funeral planning, funeral seminar instructor dispatch, and fresh flower sales agency as ancillary services.

Product overview

CEREMO (株式会社セレモ) operates as a funeral ceremony assistance company offering a unified service platform centered on Ceremony Assistant services. The core portfolio consists of four main service offerings: Ceremony Assistant (セレモニーアシスタント), MC/Host Services (司会MC), Reception Services (受付代行), and Comprehensive Services (総合職). These services support funeral ceremonies at JA agricultural cooperative funeral halls and other venues across Saitama Prefecture. Additional offerings include pre-need funeral arrangements, funeral seminar speaker dispatch, and fresh flower sales. The company primarily serves the Saitama northern region with operations divided into four areas: Chichibu, Osato, Hiki, and Hibikino.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Ceremony Assistant (セレモニーアシスタント) Provides trained staff who support funeral ceremonies by guiding mourners, managing reception, serving tea at crematoriums, and offering directional assistance during wakes and funeral services for funeral companies and bereaved families.
• MC / Host Services (司会MC) Provides contracted master of ceremonies (MCs) for funeral companies to conduct wakes and funeral services, including pre-ceremony coordination meetings with priests and funeral coordinators to ensure smooth proceedings.
• Reception Services (受付代行) Staffs funeral reception desks to confirm registration forms, address attendee requests, and assist with the delivery of thank-you notes from the bereaved family on behalf of funeral companies.
• Comprehensive Services (総合職) Provides full-time staff who combine on-site ceremony assistance with front-office operations for funeral companies, including administrative work, recruitment, training material preparation, and human resources management.
• Pre-Arrangement & Funeral Seminars (生前予約・葬儀セミナー) Helps clients arrange funeral plans in advance and dispatches lecturers for funeral seminars to educate communities about funeral procedures, delivered through wholly-owned subsidiary Purenido Co., Ltd.
• Fresh Flower Sales Agency (生花販売取次) Agency service selling and distributing fresh flowers for funeral ceremonies, added in March 2021 as an extension of CEREMO's funeral services offering.

Quantifiable outcome

• Handles approximately 1,500 funeral ceremonies annually

Named customers2 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves11 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Koeisha (\u516c\u76ca\u793e): Major Japanese funeral services company headquartered in Kansai, operating funeral halls and ceremony services. Comparable as a broad incumbent that performs in-house what CEREMO does as a specialty staffing supplier, making it both a potential channel partner and competitor.
• San Holdings (\u71c3\u30db\u30fc\u30eb\u30c7\u30a3\u30f3\u30b0\u30b9): One of Japan's largest funeral services holding companies, operating funeral halls and related services nationwide. Comparable as a broad incumbent in the Japanese funeral services ecosystem where CEREMO provides specialty ceremony staffing, though San is vertically integrated and substantially larger.
• Ceremony Co., Ltd. (\u682a\u5f0f\u4f1a\u793e\u30bb\u30ec\u30e2\u30cb\u30fc): Osaka-headquartered funeral services company with nationwide operations including funeral halls, ceremony staffing, and pre-need services. Directly comparable as a competitor operating in the funeral ceremony staffing category, though larger and more geographically diversified than CEREMO.
• Tear Co., Ltd. (\u30c6\u30a3\u30a2): Tokyo Stock Exchange-listed funeral services company operating in the Chubu region with vertically integrated funeral halls. Comparable as an established player in the same death-care category, providing a benchmark for what scaled funeral-services operations look like in Japan.
• Alpha Club (\u30a2\u30eb\u30d5\u30a1\u30af\u30e9\u30d6): Funeral services company headquartered in Tochigi Prefecture, operating funeral halls across Northern Kanto. Comparable regional incumbent operating in a geography adjacent to CEREMO's Northern Saitama footprint, serving similar cooperative and rural clientele.

Regional players

• IAL (\u30a2\u30a4\u30a8\u30eb): Funeral services provider focused on Hokkaido, operating funeral halls and ceremony support services. Comparable as a regional funeral services player, useful for understanding the geographic concentration dynamics that apply to specialty ceremony-staffing suppliers in Japan.

Emerging players

• Famille (\u5bb6\u65cf\u846c\u306e\u30d5\u30a1\u30df\u30fc\u30e6): Family-style funeral services franchise in Japan offering more intimate, smaller-scale funeral packages. Comparable as an emerging-format player in Japanese death care, though focused on direct consumer funeral delivery rather than specialty ceremony staffing.

Others

• JA Funeral Services (JA\u846c\u796d): The agricultural cooperative funeral hall network that is CEREMO's primary client and revenue channel across Saitama. Comparable as the dominant funeral hall operator in CEREMO's geography, and the platform through which CEREMO delivers all of its services.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

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 CEREMO