Retainer pricing

Pay for hours, get back weeks.

We are retainer-first because relationships in Japan compound. The longer we work with your suppliers, the smoother every future call gets.

All prices in JPY, before consumption tax. No setup fees. 30-day rolling agreements.

  • Starter

    For solopreneurs and very small operations

    ¥20,000–¥30,000 / month

    5–8 hours

    • Priority phone reception based on your business hours
    • Up to ~10 outbound calls per month included
    • Email triage and Japanese-to-English summaries
    • Single point of contact, monthly review
    • Hours roll over once (within the next month)
    Start with Starter
  • Most popular — small foreign teams in Japan

    Standard

    ¥40,000–¥60,000 / month

    10–15 hours

    • Everything in Starter, plus:
    • Dedicated Japanese phone number (optional)
    • Vendor and government-office coordination
    • Translation of contracts and key correspondence
    • Quarterly process review and SOP refinement
    Choose Standard

  • Add-ons

    One-off calls, projects, urgent translations

    From ¥5,000 / hour

    On-demand

    • Place a single difficult call (apology, negotiation, government)
    • Spot translation of a contract or letter
    • One-off relocation or setup project
    • Event or venue research and booking
    • Event-day on-call standby
    Request a quote

The math

Why this is cheaper than your alternatives

Three options most foreign teams weigh for the Japan side of their business. Each one looks reasonable on paper — here is the real trade-off, and where we fit instead.

  • The alternative

    Full-time Japanese assistant in Japan

    ¥350,000+ / month

    Plus benefits, recruiting, payroll, and the time cost of managing them. A six-figure annual line item — for hours you can rent.

    Elite Japan VA

    Our Standard retainer covers most of that workload at roughly ⅛ the cost — no recruiting, no benefits, no manager.

  • The alternative

    Generic offshore VA

    Cheap, but cannot place a keigo call

    They cannot legally hold a fluent Japanese phone call on your behalf, read a notice from the tax office, or call a ward office to resolve an issue.

    Elite Japan VA

    Senior Japan-based bilingual operators using correct sonkeigo and kenjougo on every call — every time.

  • The alternative

    AI tools alone

    Fast — until judgment is needed

    No human to escalate to, no read on cultural nuance, no memory of what your supplier said last quarter, no idea which excuse a vendor will actually accept.

    Elite Japan VA

    A real person who picks up, remembers your suppliers, and knows which apology actually lands.

Talk to us before you choose a plan.

We almost always recommend the smallest plan that solves the problem. A 20-minute consult usually saves you a month of paid hours.

Request a free consultation Services