So you want to set up a website in Japan? And why not. There are millions of people from many western countries living in Japan who may want to use you site, and millions more Japanese. Maybe you are an ex-pat already living in Japan, or possibly you want to expand your services to the Japanese market. But before you get started there are several things for you to consider.

Choose a local web hosting service.
If you are serious about having a website in Japan, choose a web hosting company in Japan. They will understand your needs much better than a foreign owned service. A Japanese based company may cost a little more, but it will be worth it. Avoid super cheap web hosting companies as they may have poor international connections that may slow down your site. Additionally, by choosing a Japanese web hosting company, you can be billed in Japanese Yen. With fluctuations between the Dollar and the Yen on a daily basis, you do not want to be in for a nasty surprise when your credit card statement comes.

Ensure you can have support in English.
Getting your website up and running might take a little time and you will probably need some support from your web host. Ensure your web host can give you support in English, preferably 24 hrs a day, 7 days a week. Also, check to see if this support is included in your hosting plan, or if it will cost you extra.

Buy a Japanese domain name.
A Japanese domain name is needed if you want to build trust with Japanese customers. A .jp or .net.jp domain name registration is easily obtained but you may be asked to provide proof of address in Japan. A .co.jp domain name is much more complicated. You will need to provide a copy of you official company registration in Japan and you can only have one .co.jp domain per company. Also consider that a Japanese domain name will cost you considerably more than a more common domain.

Translate your pages into Japanese.
If your website is going to target Japanese customers, have you website professionally translated. Do not use online translation tools, as the results will be near incomprehensible to your Japanese audience. If your pages are not in Japanese, your website will turn off any potential Japanese viewers.

Make sure you are going to be able to do business with Japanese customers in Japanese.
You should also consider how you are going to communicate with your Japanese customers. A large number of Japanese people have very good English skills, however; many feel not confident with their English skills. If they have to use English to communicate, they will simply move on to another web site or company.

Have your pages designed for the Japanese market.
Take a look at Japanese web pages and you will be surprised how different they can be from English language sites. Templates that you can buy online will, I'm afraid, simply not appeal. Find a web designer in Japan who can design your site for the Japanese market. Apart from understanding your customers better, they will also understand how to make sure your web pages are viewable with Japanese characters.

Buy a SSL certificate.
Japanese people are extremely nervous online buyers. Make sure you have a valid SSL whenever you user any contact forms or ecommerce pages on your site. You should also note, that Japanese users avoid PayPal so you may need to find another method to process payments if you want to be successful.