Does a Google Shopping feed for Japan need to be in Japanese?
Yes. Google Shopping Japan matches product titles and descriptions against Japanese search queries. An English-language feed title will not match Japanese-language queries as effectively as a Japanese-language title. Google's feed quality requirements for Japan-targeted Shopping campaigns specify that product titles and descriptions should be in the language of the target market. Submitting an English feed for a Japan-targeted campaign is technically permitted but results in significantly lower impression eligibility for Japanese-language queries, which represent the majority of product searches on Google Japan.
What is Yahoo Japan Shopping and how do I set up a product feed for it?
Yahoo Japan Shopping is Japan's second-largest product search and e-commerce platform, operated by Yahoo Japan Corporation (a SoftBank Group company). PayPay Mall is the premium tier of Yahoo Japan Shopping for brand retailers. To sell on Yahoo Japan Shopping, a brand must register as a merchant through the Yahoo! JAPAN ショッピング出店 (store opening) process, which requires a Japanese business registration or a qualifying overseas entity. Once approved, product feeds are submitted through the Yahoo Japan Merchant management interface using Yahoo Japan's product feed CSV specification, which differs from the Google Shopping feed format in category codes, attribute names, and required fields.
What feed attributes does Google Shopping Japan require that differ from Google US/AU?
Google Shopping Japan requires the price attribute in JPY. Product titles and descriptions must be in Japanese. Apparel products require size attributes using Japanese size standards (S/M/L in Japanese notation or numeric JIS sizes) rather than US or AU sizing. Certain product categories in Japan require the jan (Japanese Article Number, equivalent to EAN/GTIN) attribute rather than UPC. Product condition and availability attributes follow the same format as other markets, but the values should be submitted in Japanese where the feed language is set to Japanese. Category taxonomy should use Google's Japanese product taxonomy, not the English taxonomy.
How do I keep my Google Shopping feed and Rakuten product listings in sync?
Keeping Google Shopping and Rakuten in sync requires a shared product data source that feeds both channels, or an automated export process that pushes updates from one system to the other. The most reliable architecture uses the brand's e-commerce platform (Shopify, WooCommerce, or a custom PIM) as the single source of truth for price and inventory, with separate feed generation pipelines for Google Shopping (in Google's feed format) and Rakuten (in Rakuten's CSV format). Tools such as DataFeedWatch, Feedonomics, or a custom API integration can automate this sync. Manual management of two separate product databases is a structural source of feed errors and policy violations.
What is the best tool to manage product feeds for both Google Shopping Japan and Yahoo Japan Shopping?
The right tool depends on the platform the brand uses as its primary product database. For Shopify-based brands, DataFeedWatch and Feedonomics both support Google Shopping Japan and have configuration options for Yahoo Japan Shopping. For brands with a custom product database, a direct API integration with both Google Merchant Centre and Yahoo Japan Merchant is more reliable than a third-party tool. The key requirement is that both feeds draw from a single product data source with a shared price and inventory state, so that a product update in the source is reflected in both feeds without manual intervention.
