ASO — 10 Jun 2024
ASO & Design Guide to Japan: Localization & Seasonality
Gabriel Kuriata
Japan is a beautiful country. Home to many natural and man-made wonders, rooted firmly in its rich history and tradition but full of high-end technology.
For mobile app developers, Japan is a lucrative, much-desired market. Its average revenue generated by a user (ARPU) is ostensibly higher than in the United States. According to Statista, ARPU in the United States is projected to reach $11.79 in 2027, compared to $13.72 in Japan, a value that has not historically been its highest. Japan has a high share of iOS devices (over 67%, according to Statista) and a colossal mobile gaming market worth approximately $14bn in 2023, according to Sensor Tower.
A developed market with a powerful iOS share (64.82% according to Statcounter), a reasonably accessible one with an average TTR of 8.75%, CVR of 58.29%, CPT at $0.70 and CPA at $1.20 (compared to TTR of 9.98%, CVR of 65.85%, CPT at $1.97 and CPA at $3.00 in the USA in 2023, all according to our data for 2023, collected for the latest SplitMetrics’ Apple Search Ads Search Results Benchmarks Report). According to Global Data, Japan also enjoys a high ARPU, ranking 3rd globally in 2021, with the mobile gaming segment responsible for this high position.
Success in Japan requires a powerful ASO-driven growth strategy due to cultural differences and unique customer preferences. Even though in 2024, Japan and the West are culturally closer than ever (especially among younger generations), a different language, alphabet, and cultural norms can inhibit many developers from building a meaningful and noticeable presence there on the App Store or Google Play.
ASO & design are fundamental to building a true connection with a foreign audience. From localization through seasonal promotions and in-app events that captivate and engage users with relevant imagery, ASO specialists and designers have a lot of work before their colleagues launch their first paid user acquisition campaigns.
While fostering adequate cultural sensitivity might be challenging without professional support, we hope this article will point many app and mobile game developers (especially their design teams and ASO specialists) in the right direction and encourage them to explore this market more effectively.
International expansion and scaling require a genuine understanding of the target audience. Many values, goals, and aesthetic preferences are shared across all markets. Minimum Viable Localization (MVL) is grounded in that fact, allowing app developers to reach outside familiar territory on a budget.
Minimum Viable Localization (MVL) for a mobile app involves adapting essential elements such as language, currency, imagery, and cultural references to target specific international markets while minimizing costs and development time. It ensures basic usability and understanding for users in target regions.
MVL should be good enough in terms of ROAS, ROI, and other key benchmarks, such as tap-through rate (TTR), conversion rate (CR), cost per tap (CPT), and cost per acquisition (CPA).
However, this article will show you how to go beyond that. So, how can we localize our app’s product page on the App Store to reflect what Japanese users are looking for?
An image is worth a thousand words. Plenty of research and articles are available on marketing in Japan, but we figured it’s best to show the Japanese mobile app and game market as it is and see how well it reflects theory.
On the one hand, we wanted to see how much effort Western (or global) apps put into localization and seasonality. On the other hand, we wanted to show how native apps fare in this field. To do this, we browsed the App Store itself, relying heavily on our Market Intelligence features:
To better understand the capabilities of CPP Intelligence in SplitMetrics Acquire, we recommend setting up a demo and just trying it out. App Radar also has a free trial that can be used to check out all its market intelligence features!
All analysis contained in this article is based on publicly available information: live product pages, custom product pages and events. First, let’s discuss key insights into the minds of Japanese consumers that will greatly influence design & ASO tips collected in this article.
Uncertainty avoidance is one of the most impactful traits of Japanese culture. According to data from the Cultural Factor Group, a cultural analytics and strategy advisory with a global reach, Japan scores exceptionally high in this dimension, with 92 points out of 100, signifying a tremendous preference for predictability (country scores are sourced from various scientific journals, aggregated and analyzed by the company).
The impact of this trait reverberates throughout several design principles that many apps present in Japan adhere to. Notice the prominence of “No. 1” badges on the first and most crucial screenshot on an app’s product page. This design element is visible across all mobile app and game categories.
Additionally, notice how eager mobile games are to display their time on the market. It’s a parameter especially vital to those with long lifecycles. Celebrating anniversaries showcases a healthy ecosystem with steady updates and a satisfied player base.
Risk aversion is inherently tied to the need to make informed decisions. Those call for more facts, insights, and proof that your app can deliver what it promises.
The source of this trend goes beyond the need for certainty, motivated by high pragmatism and the quest for the best solution (not merely good enough), but is deeply rooted in the aesthetics of the language itself.
The written language itself is space-efficient and compact. While Western design is object-related and placing a single message or feature front and center is the most common practice, East Asian viewers are generally able and willing to process more information holistically. Design Theory, a fun Youtube channel focusing on the principles of creativity and design, has a great YouTube video on this topic, which helps to explain why images on Japanese product pages look the way they do:
A quick comparison of screenshots from American and Japanese app product pages shows that although there is a difference in information density, it’s not as pronounced as with traditional online ads. Many mobile apps and games are global and strive for a relatively consistent look while maintaining a cohesive brand identity and reducing costs.
It seems more likely to encounter such differences in Shopping, Lifestyle, Travel, and Financial apps – wherever more information is needed to process all the special offers, discounts, or benefits available.
While it’s common for Western and Japanese apps to embrace a clean aesthetic that focuses on a single message, apps in Japan aren’t shy about using space more efficiently, delivering key details on promotions, special offers, customer reviews, etc.
App ratings tremendously impact an app’s product page conversion rate, with three-digit differences between 3.0 and 4.0 ranges not uncommon. A long-term, pragmatic approach to review management may be especially important in the Japanese market.
Such an approach is advisable in all markets, but pay extra attention to courtesy in Japan. Tokhimo, an HR & recruitment company, has an excellent article about this subject: Omotenashi: How Japanese Treat Their Customer with Extra Care.
Reviews and ratings aren’t under your direct control but should be within the scope of work (or at least concern) of the ASO team. Allocate time and resources to communicate with your audience and study what they say about your app.
Reply to all reviews (positive, negative, and updated ones), showing that you care and understand that even criticism can be a growth point for your app. According to data released by App Radar, developers who reply to users’ reviews have increased their star rating by 0.7 points. If you’re going from 3.5 to 4.2, this will mean a three-digit CVR uplift. App Radar’s AI-driven review management features will tremendously help you accomplish this task.
Comparison of American app product pages and those targeting Japanese customers reveal examples of different color utilization. In general, color associations are very similar in both markets, but we’d like to highlight two of them:
Our own research with SplitMetrics Acquire and CPP Intelligence confirmed research published by academics from Tokyo, Berkeley, and Wisconsin-Madison:
“Reliable differences were present in preferences for brightness/saturation levels, however. In particular, Japanese observers had a greater relative preference for light colors, rating light colors higher than Americans did and rating dark colors lower than Americans did. Japanese observers also liked desaturated (muted) colors less than American observers for warm colors (chartreuse, yellow, orange, red, and purple) but not for cool colors (green, cyan, and blue). Males in both cultures tended to prefer saturated colors more than females, whereas females in both cultures tended to prefer desaturated colors more than males.”
Familiarity is crucial for engaging users and fostering a sense of connection. Incorporating recognizable Japanese elements like Torii Gates, Sakura flowers, Mount Fuji, traditional temples, and Koi fish can evoke a cultural resonance and appeal to Japanese users. These symbols enhance the visual appeal of screenshots and icons and create a welcoming atmosphere, instilling trust and credibility. By integrating such elements, app developers can create a more immersive and memorable user experience, increasing the likelihood of user engagement and retention.
Fashion & food preferences also play a key role here, which applies to the world of many causal mobile games and apps from categories such as Travel, Food, Lifestyle, and even Photo & Video.
Despite the differences, creeping globalization impacts Japan too. Many apps that originate from the West do well enough by merely changing calls to action on their screenshots, with the power of their brand obviously being a factor (and probably a hefty marketing budget).
This has two effects: many growing apps emulating their minimal localization efforts, and Japanese users becoming more accustomed to Western aesthetics.
Sometimes, it’s difficult to pinpoint why an app has a different set of imagery for its Japanese product page. In other cases, changes are more subtle or technical, showcasing a history of possible A/B testing that considered more factors affecting the conversion rate, like demographics, which can be slightly between two markets and different marketplaces.
There’s only one logical conclusion to these considerations: be ready to explore your options with A/B testing, which will be cheaper than wasting precious work hours of your designers on a page that fails to convert by an order of magnitude.
Each market has unique holidays and festive periods, allowing app developers to connect better with their audiences. Japan offers many such opportunities. Japanese App Store is teeming with in-app events. Mobile games are especially likely to release time-sensitive updates, referring to important festivals or seasons of the year, but frequently celebrating in-game lore, characters, or their ever-evolving stories.
The list below includes selected holidays or festive periods that Western-based app developers may want to explore while launching their apps in Japan or running seasonal campaigns for them.
We’ve included those holidays that can be considered easy & safe to celebrate and most importantly – have a wide appeal. They are heavily ingrained in popular culture without difficult undertones or meanings. Therefore, they don’t require high cultural sensitivity and considerable preparation to employ in an inoffensive and appropriate manner.
