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Kenchi Suzuki.pdf

本地来源:seo-llm/raw/seo知识库/TXT整理/seo方法论/ppt/2025 Shenzhen SEO Conference Speaker Slides/Kenchi-Suzuki.pdf.txt

Inside Japan’s Search Landscape:
Traffic Trends, User Habits, and SEO Best Practices

Kenichi Suzuki
Search Advocate, Faber Company Inc.
Google Product Expert, Japanese Search Central Help Community
linkedin.com/in/kenichisuzuki/

September 21, 2025

Is the Japanese SEO market
competitive?

SEO Practices,
Nearly Universal
High-Quality, Helpful Content
Search-Engine-Friendly Site
Great User Experience

SEO Fundamentals Still Apply

E-E-A-T
is also critical.

Authoritativeness

Trust
Expertise

Experience

Google Updates Delayed in Japan
Update

US/English

Japan/Japanese

Core update

Roll out globally

Spam update

Roll out globally

(Product) Reviews update

March, 2022

?

Helpful Content update

August, 2022

September, 2022

AI Overview

May, 2024

August, 2024

AI Mode

May, 2025

September, 2025

Web Guide *Experimental

July, 2025

N/A

Many search features are
unavailable in Japan

Search Engine
Traffic Share
in Japan

Mobile
~ 85%
~ 12%

Yahoo! Japan has been powered by
Google's search engine since 2010.

Google SEO

≒

Yahoo SEO

Yahoo Japan incorporates its own
unique content into its search results.
News

Map

Weather

Shopping

Auction

etc.

Y! Map

Y! Flea Market

Y! AI Assistant

Desktop

~ 16%

Who uses Bing?
● Business professionals, including those who
make decisions about company purchases.
● Teachers and students in educational settings.
● People who are less tech-savvy.

They use the Edge browser on Windows, where
Bing is the default search engine.

Smartphone
Traffic Share
in Japan

iPhone Dominates
Japan’s Smartphone Traffic.

Worldwide
~ 72%

~ 27%

China
~ 77%
~ 22%

Japan
~ 62%
~ 36%

The iPhone is particularly
dominant among Gen Z women.
Gender

Age Group

Percentage

Teens

81%

20s

80%

Teens

65%

20s

80%

Women

Men
https://mmdlabo.jp/investigation/detail_2374.html

For Gen Z in Japan,
"mobile-first" basically
means "iOS-first."
Ensure that your website
displays and functions
properly on iOS devices.

Mobile vs. Desktop

Worldwide
~ 60%
~ 40%

China
~ 66%
~ 34%

Japan

Near
even

"Dual-Track" approach
Japanese users follow a "dual-track" approach
more consistently. They simply choose the
best device for the task.
They'll use phones for quick, on-the-go
activities. But for complex tasks, they switch
to a desktop.

Don't ignore
desktop UX!

The Language
Challenge

こんにちは
你好

Hello

Japanese has three scripts.
ひらがな

カタカナ

漢字

Hiragana

Katakana

Kanji

Romaji

English

Dumplings
ギョウザ
(Katakana)

ぎょうざ

餃子

(Hiragana)

(Kanji)

Coffee
珈琲
(Kanji)

コーヒー

Coffee

(Katakana)

(English)

Entity
(Topic)

● コーヒー
● 珈琲
● coffee
● こひー
● ko-hi● cofee

Japanese English
PET bottle

Chack

Salary man

(ペットボトル)

(チャック)

(サラリーマン)

Plastic bottle

Zipper

Office worker

Subject-Object-Verb structure

I eat sushi.

S V

O

私は寿司を食べます。
V
S
O
我吃寿司。
SV O

Particles

I eat sushi.

S V

O

私は寿司を食べます。
V
S
O
は

が

を

に

の

wa

ga

o

ni

no

and more…

Japanese is fundamentally different
from most other languages.
Don’t rely solely on machine
translations. Always have your
translations checked by fluent
Japanese speakers.

Awkward Japanese
doesn't just sound
wrong—it instantly
makes your site
feel untrustworthy.

Technical Translation Reviewer

The same
search query
can have a
different
meaning or goal.

Local

Comparison

Include content
that Japanese
visitors will likely
find interesting or
useful.

Search results for
“refurbished products”

#2

Beyond Translation:
Understanding Culture
CHALLENGE
● U.S. university wanted to increase enrollment
from Japan
● Assumed using only English would be enough
● Overlooked key decision-maker: Japanese
parents
ACTION
● Translated admission materials into Japanese
(PDF first, then full website)
RESULTS
● 10x downloads, +300% applications

Key Insight
● The target audience isn’t
always the direct customer
● Without cultural insight,
opportunities are lost
● Localization drives
engagement
● Cultural nuances are key to
success

E-commerce
in Japan

Top E-commerce Marketplaces in Japan
Marketplace

Monthly Visitors 2024 GMV

Key Characteristics

US$73.2 billion

Global efficiency, fast shipping,
Prime ecosystem, streamlined UX

Rakuten Ichiba 494.8 million

US$28.9 billion

Integrated points ecosystem, vast
merchant network, financial
services

Yahoo!
Shopping

118.2 million

US$14.8 billion

PayPay integration, SoftBank user
base, instant rewards

ZOZOTOWN

>28 million

US$2.8 billion

Fashion-focused, large brand
selection, handles fulfillment

Amazon Japan 692.96 million

https://wpic.co/blog/top-5-japanese-ecommerce-trafficplaces/

eCommerce Payment Method in Japan
Credit cards

76.7%

E-money

38.5%

Konbini*
payments

34.7%

Bank transfers

23%

*“Konbini” is a Japanese abbreviation of the English word “convenience store.”
https://stripe.com/en-jp/resources/more/ecommerce-payments-101

Japanese Social Media (SNS) landscape
●

LINE is the dominant social
media platform in Japan.
Nearly 80% of Japan's entire
population uses it.

●

X is also extremely popular,
with 67 million users, and
remains as a primary
platform for public relations.
https://www.hottolink.co.jp/column/20250106_114872/

URL
Structures

My Recommended Domain Names

.com
.jp
.co.jp

Easy to register,
Very common even in Japan
Need a permanent postal address in
Japan.
Must be legally registered as a
corporation in Japan.
https://jprs.co.jp/en/regist.html

Consider Japanese URL

https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/url-structure

Encoded in UTF-8

The URL turns into an ugly
URL when encoded. 😱

Is SEO dead?

YoY

1,100%

0.5%

of Total

SEO is NOT dead.
● Traffic from LLMs is tiny;
it’s not a threat.
● AI Overviews haven't had a
major negative impact on
most sites.
● We don’t know yet how AI
Mode will affect search
traffic.

High-context communication
You might struggle with

Difficulty interpreting unspoken intentions
Inefficient decision-making
Lack of feedback and misunderstandings

A Guide to Effective Communication in
Japanese Business
bit.ly/SZSEO25-JP

Trustworthy SEO Agencies
AJPR LLC

Zo Digital Japan

https://www.ajpr.com/

https://www.zodigital.jp/

Motoko Hunt
linkedin.com/in/japaneseseo/

Jeff Crawford

linkedin.com/in/jeffcrawford/

Key Takeaways
● SEO fundamentals are universal, but the
Japanese market has unique twists.
● Let data be your roadmap.
● Direct translation will fail. You must localize
everything.
● Never assume search intent is the same.
● Adapt your strategy to Japan's unique digital
habits.

THANK YOU!
bit.ly/SZSEO25-JP
Kenichi Suzuki
Search Advocate, Faber Company Inc.
Google Product Expert, Search Central Help Community
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kenichisuzuki/



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