Case studies/Technology

SaaS leader — Japanese market

Full localization of a B2B SaaS platform (120,000 words) for the Japanese market. Result: +32% organic traffic in 6 months and zero post-launch UI errors.

By Asiatis • Japan translation experts since 2000

The challenge

A European B2B SaaS vendor wanted to enter the Japanese market. The platform comprised 120,000 words across the user interface, technical documentation, transactional emails and the help centre. The client required localization that respected Japanese UI conventions and professional keigo (the formal level of politeness required in a Japanese B2B context).

Three major constraints: (1) UI strings had to respect the character limits of the existing interface, (2) domain terminology had to align with Japanese industrial standards (JIS), and (3) date, currency and numbering formats had to be adapted to local conventions (¥, Japanese era, 〒 postal format).

The Asiatis solution

Asiatis mobilized a dedicated team of 4 native Japanese translators, all JLPT N1 certified and specialized in software localization. A DTP expert oversaw typographic integration (Noto Sans JP fonts, handling of Japanese non-breaking spaces). The workflow was centralized in memoQ with a 2,400-term glossary validated jointly with the client.

Professional keigo

Systematic adaptation to the formal register (謙譲語 kenjōgo for user actions, 尊敬語 sonkeigo for system responses). Essential in Japanese B2B.

Contextual UI

Testing across the 3 writing systems (hiragana, katakana, kanji) for every button and label. Adjusting truncations and tooltips.

Results

+32% organic traffic on the Japanese site in 6 months, thanks to localized SEO (Yahoo! Japan and Google Japan keywords).
Delivery in 4 weeks for 120,000 words, including functional QA and UI testing.
Zero post-launch UI errors: no localization-related support tickets in the first 90 days.

Services involved:technical translation andmarketing translation. Language:Japanese.