Rakuten is Japan's largest marketplace — brands focusing only on Amazon Japan are missing the platform where most Japanese buyers actually shop

Rakuten Ichiba is Japan's largest domestic online marketplace by GMV share in most non-electronics categories. Unlike Amazon, which is a single retail environment, Rakuten operates more like a mall: individual sellers set up shops with their own branding, shop pages, and customer communication style. Rakuten does not hold inventory or compete with its sellers. The Rakuten Points loyalty system is central to the shopping experience — buyers accumulate and redeem points across a vast Rakuten ecosystem that includes financial services, travel, and mobile. Amazon Japan is stronger in electronics, books, and household goods where standardised product information matters more than brand storytelling. Rakuten is stronger in fashion, food, daily consumables, and categories where Japanese consumer brand loyalty and detailed product information drive purchase decisions.

Rakuten Ichiba requires sellers to have a Japanese business entity or a representative office capable of providing Japanese-language customer support. Non-Japanese brands typically approach this in one of three ways: establishing a Japanese legal entity, working with a Rakuten-approved local partner who acts as the legal seller of record, or using a Rakuten-authorised agency that holds the seller account on behalf of the brand. The application process requires business registration documentation, product compliance information for regulated categories, and agreement to Rakuten's commission and point rate structure. Rakuten's commission rates vary by category and are negotiated as part of the onboarding process.

Rakuten Points (formerly Rakuten Super Points) is Rakuten's loyalty programme. Buyers earn points on every purchase — the base rate is set by Rakuten, but individual shops can add supplementary point rates on top of the base. A shop offering 2% supplementary points will appear more attractive in Rakuten search results and price comparison views than an identical shop offering 0% supplementary points, because buyers see the effective point-inclusive price as lower. Rakuten's search algorithm also factors shop point rate into ranking. The tradeoff is margin: higher supplementary point rates cost the seller proportionally. The optimal rate requires category competitor analysis rather than a fixed formula.

Amazon Japan product descriptions follow a similar convention to other Amazon marketplaces: a title of up to 200 characters, five bullet points of up to 500 characters each, and a product description of up to 2,000 characters. Rakuten product pages have no strict upper length limit on descriptions, and competitive listings in most categories run to 3,000 to 8,000 Japanese characters or more for the main description field. Rakuten shop pages also include a long-form brand story section and multiple image blocks interspersed with text. Japanese buyers on Rakuten expect this depth as a signal of seller credibility. Short descriptions on Rakuten are treated with suspicion rather than appreciated for brevity.

Yahoo Shopping Japan operates as part of the Yahoo Japan / PayPay ecosystem and is Japan's third major e-commerce marketplace. Sellers apply through Yahoo Japan's seller portal (currently under the PayPay Mall branding for premium sellers). Unlike Rakuten, Yahoo Shopping has no monthly fee for standard sellers, charging commission and an advertising system fee instead. The platform is integrated with PayPay, Japan's dominant QR code payment app, which runs regular promotional campaigns offering point bonuses and cashback to PayPay users who shop on Yahoo Shopping. Brands listed on Yahoo Shopping benefit from exposure to these promotions without additional setup. Listing format is less elaborate than Rakuten — closer in structure to Amazon Japan — which makes catalogue migration relatively straightforward for brands already maintaining Amazon Japan listings.