Japankuru – Let’s share our Japanese stories!

As more and more people travel to Japan, Japanese tourism industry has started to thrive in recent years. Besides start-ups, many companies are looking for new ways to follow the industry boom, and Japankuru is one of them.

People working in Japankuru are foreigners living in Japan, searching and seeking information from all over the country, they express their most authentic feeling about Japan to the world through various channels. This time, we’re fortunate to interview Juli, chief producer of Japankuru, Nakamura-san, digital marketing manager of Global Daily, and Yu-Ting, in charge of Mandarin Chinese content production and understand what insights Japankuru has gained in the recent Japanese tourism boom

In-house Startup

Japankuru is the brand from its parent company, Global Daily, specializing in the marketing of Japan tourist.  Global Daily in turn is the subsidiary company of  DAC Group, an advertising agency that is celebrating its 55th anniversary in the coming October. Global Daily started in 2003, when the Japanese government revised its policy to promote tourism. Expanding from one business department to an independent subsidiary company in 2009, the company established its own internet media, Japankuru, in 2011.

The establishment of Japankuru was not planned by the management originally, but was the idea of Juli and her coworkers in Global Daily. Before coming to Japan, Juli worked in the Korean tourism industry. She then decided to advance her studies in Japan in 2002, and had several jobs related to Japan-Korea tourism in Tokyo. After moving to Global Daily, Juli saw the importance of Internet as the key to attract new generations of tourists. Therefore, she decided to start Japankuru with her colleagues within Global Daily. With great efforts, Japankuru has not only become a profitable media, but also expanded from a Korean-only website to the four-languages media of travel information it is today.

▲ Photo of Japankuru’s team during work, seeking information all over Japan①

▲Photo of Japankuru’s team during work, seeking information all over Japan ②

Make good use of DAC Group’s core competencies

Since it is the subsidiary of, an advertising agency with ample knowledge on Japanese market and its clients, Japankuru distinguishes itself from other startups that specialize in inbound tourism, grasping the actual need of Japanese clients at the initial stage and leveraging a platform that could directly connect with foreign users, and therefore raise the international exposure of its clients.

For example, the marketing campaign of Seibu Railway is one of the highly praised project, receiving great reviews from the audience and the client. The filming crew brought out the perspectives of foreigners during their field research expressing an authentic traveling experience. Besides presenting it via internet, Japankuru also made a variety of promotional products including video, poster, flyer, and postcard, all from the filming footages. Not only the clients are satisfied with the innovative use of the materials, but Japankuru’s audience also gain better understanding of the scenic spot along the Seibu Railway line.

▲One of the finished products from the marketing campaign of Seibu Railway

New challenges from aboard

Starting from 2016, Japankuru has begun to adjust its strategies. Nakamura-san mentioned that he wished to strengthen the bond with its readers, above its reach of professional advertising. In another word, besides push marketing, it is also important to develop pull marketing, which is to create contents that could continue to attract both old and new users, and the Taiwanese users, because of their deep understanding and appreciation of Japanese culture, present a great field of market testing. Yu-Ting has therefore started planning projects specialized for the readers from Taiwan and Hong Kong, with the intent to increase Japankuru’s audience. Right now, there are two ongoing projects. The first one is Japanese learning videos from Japanese comedians, along with free study materials made by Japanese language school. The second one is promoting Japanese maid culture by Hitomi, the legendary Japanese maid.

★Learn Japanese from Japanese Yoshimoto’s comedians, JARU JARU
★Discover Japan with Hitomi-san from @home café

Future prospects

Juli hopes to continue expanding Japankuru, establishing a comprehensive Japan tourism media before the Tokyo Olympics in 2020. To achieve the goal, she would need more partners and colleagues. With most of the staff in Japankuru and more than half of the people in Global Daily being foreigners, Juli would like to find more people who can help her and Japankuru to reach that goal. So, if you are interested in joining Japankuru, please contact Yu-Ting for further information!