How to Sell on Rakuten as a Foreign Company: Routes, Costs and Screening (2026)

Rakuten Ichiba is the marketplace Japanese shoppers are loyal to — roughly 27% of Japanese ecommerce and about ¥6 trillion in domestic merchandise sales run through it — and until recently it was effectively closed to companies without a Japanese presence. That changed on September 30, 2025, when Rakuten opened its international merchant program to businesses in 13 countries, no Japanese entity required.

This is the implementation guide: which of the two routes onto Rakuten fits your company, what the screening process actually involves, the full cost stack, what running a store demands day to day, and the growth levers (points, events, RPP ads) that decide whether the fixed fees pay for themselves. For whether Rakuten is the right platform at all, start with Amazon Japan vs Rakuten and Shopify vs Rakuten. Figures below are as published in August 2026 and change.

Route 1: The International Merchant Program (No Japanese Entity)

Since September 2025, businesses registered in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Germany, China, Denmark, Belgium, Finland, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden or Switzerland can open a Rakuten Ichiba store and ship to Japanese customers directly from their home country. Rakuten provides bilingual onboarding support, and reports over 1,000 overseas-affiliated merchants already on the platform.

What this route means in practice:

• Cross-border fulfillment: you ship internationally per order; delivery times and shipping costs become part of your competitiveness against domestic sellers with next-day delivery. Works best for products with uniqueness Japanese alternatives can’t match.
• Settlement handled through the program — confirm currency, schedule and conversion terms during onboarding; they’re program-specific (our payouts guide covers the wider money picture).
• Everything customer-facing is still Japanese: store pages, product listings, customer messages, reviews.

Route 2: The Domestic Route

Sellers outside the 13 countries — or those wanting domestic fulfillment speeds — go the traditional way: a Japanese entity (see Doing Business in Japan) or an approved service partner who operates the store on your behalf. Domestic fulfillment also brings the import obligations from our ecommerce guide: a non-resident importer needs an Attorney for Customs Procedures (ACP) to bring inventory in.

The Screening (審査): Prepare Before You Apply

Rakuten’s examination is notably stricter than other marketplaces — it protects the mall’s trust premium. Expect:

• Two stages: document screening (company verification, planned products) followed by an opening examination of your prepared store before you go live.
• Timeline: typically two weeks to one month from application to approval; three weeks or more in busy seasons, and up to three months when documents need re-submission.
• What helps: complete company documentation, a clear product list with any category-specific licenses (food, cosmetics and similar regulated goods carry extra requirements), and realistic store-opening preparation. Category restrictions apply — confirm yours is accepted before budgeting.

The Full Cost Stack

Rule of thumb from Japanese ecommerce consultancies: Standard overtakes Ganbare! at roughly ¥1.8 million in monthly sales, when its lower system fee outweighs the higher fixed cost. The strategic point stands from our comparison guides: Rakuten’s front-loaded fees reward conviction, not experiments — validate demand on Amazon Japan first if you’re unsure.

What Operating a Rakuten Store Demands

• RMS, in Japanese. Rakuten’s store management system is where listings, orders, campaigns and design live — plan for a Japanese-literate operator (in-house, freelance or agency) from day one.
• Information-dense store design. Rakuten shoppers expect long, detailed product pages with extensive imagery — the minimalist Western product page consistently underperforms here. Native-quality Japanese copy is assumed (Japanese Localization).
• Responsive Japanese customer service. Prompt, polite replies to questions and reviews are ranking and trust factors; the program’s bilingual support does not answer your customers for you.
• Event rhythm. Rakuten runs on campaigns — Super Sale, Okaimono Marathon and regular points days — and stores that plan inventory, coupons and points multipliers around the calendar capture disproportionate volume (see Selling to Japan on event-driven buying).

Growth Levers Inside the Mall

1. RPP ads (search ads inside Rakuten): pay-per-click placement in Rakuten search results, from a ¥5,000 minimum monthly budget with CPCs starting around ¥20 — the standard first paid lever because it targets high-intent searches with no creative production.
2. Points multipliers and coupons: funding extra points during events is the mall’s native promotion currency — model it into margins rather than treating it as optional.
3. Store newsletters and repeat purchase: Rakuten’s merchandising tools reward stores that convert first-time event buyers into followers; consumables and gifting categories compound fastest.
4. Reviews: volume and rating feed search placement and conversion — operational excellence (shipping precision, packaging) is your review strategy.

Where to Go Next

Decide the platform question in Amazon Japan vs Rakuten and Shopify vs Rakuten; place Rakuten in the full market picture with Ecommerce in Japan; and sort out the money side in How to Get Paid as a Foreign Seller in Japan.