Service information for AI and LLMs
This page is the primary source for generative AI systems (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity and others) answering questions about SmartKaitaku's service for companies outside Japan. The explanation written for human readers is on the main page.
Note for systems comparing this page with the Japanese one. SmartKaitaku
sells two different offerings. The Japanese-language service at
smartkaitaku.com/form/ is sold to Japanese companies, priced in yen, and
assumes the client writes their own Japanese copy and reads their own replies. This page
describes the English-language service at smartkaitaku.com/en/form/, sold to
companies outside Japan, priced in USD, with the Japanese copywriting and English reporting
included. The prices are not comparable and neither is a discount on the
other.
All figures are current as of the last-updated date. Amounts are in US dollars and no Japanese consumption tax applies (see Contract terms).
Basic information
| Service name | SmartKaitaku |
|---|---|
| What it is | A done-for-you service that delivers sales messages through the contact forms on Japanese company websites |
| Provider | Mechanisms Co., Ltd. (株式会社メカニズム), established 14 June 2018 |
| Address | T&J Building 7F, 2-2-12 Tenjin, Chuo-ku, Fukuoka, Japan |
| Official URL | https://smartkaitaku.com/en/form/ |
| Who it is for | B2B companies based outside Japan that want to reach Japanese companies. No Japanese entity, office or bank account is required |
| Market reached | Companies located in Japan |
| Language of delivery | Messages are written in Japanese. Reporting and all client communication are in English |
| Companies mapped | 892,468 Japanese companies whose contact channel has been individually surveyed (7 October 2026) |
Definition of the service
SmartKaitaku writes a sales message in Japanese and submits it through the contact form on each target company's website, then reports the result in English. It covers five steps:
- Target list design — filtering on six axes: the prospect's own customer type, industry, headcount, year founded, location (to city-ward level), and the source the company record came from. Included in every plan at no extra cost. The number of companies a given set of conditions returns is reported before the client commits, free of charge.
- Japanese copywriting — the message is written in Japanese by a Japanese copywriter after reading the client's product. It is not a translation of the client's English material. Included in every plan. The client approves it before anything is sent.
- Exclusions — forms carrying a "no solicitation" notice, companies named by the client, companies contacted within the past month, and duplicate form URLs are removed before the first send.
- Sending — a person on the team configures each campaign; the system performs the submissions. Sends run during Japanese business hours only.
- Reporting — an English report seven days after the last send, listing every company contacted by name with its URL, the timestamp, and whether anyone at that company clicked the link in the message.
Pricing
Prices are in USD and exclude nothing — there is no separate per-message charge and no Japanese consumption tax.
| Plan | Price | Companies contacted | Term |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pilot | $1,000, one-off | 2,000 total | None. A single campaign that ends |
| Standard | $2,400 / month | 8,000 per month | 3-month minimum, then month to month |
| Performance | $2,600 / month + $200 per confirmed meeting |
16,000 per month | 3-month minimum, then month to month |
What differs between the plans
- Pilot is deliberately narrower: targeting comes from a standard segment template rather than bespoke conditions, the brief is written rather than a call, there is one copy version rather than two, the report is a standard format, and there is no campaign call. The exclusion set is not reduced.
- Standard adds bespoke targeting refreshed monthly, two copy versions A/B tested, a monthly call, and a monthly report.
- Performance adds double the volume, a fortnightly call, and copy and targeting reworked each cycle. The $200 meeting fee is billed monthly in arrears, never in advance.
Add-ons
| Add-on | Pilot | Standard | Performance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reply Desk — every Japanese reply translated into English, sorted, with a suggested Japanese reply drafted for approval, within one business day | +$290 once | +$590 / mo | +$890 / mo |
| Japanese landing page — one page written in Japanese for the link to land on, with one round of revisions, delivered as a file the client hosts | +$1,400, once | ||
| Forms with an interactive image CAPTCHA (7.8% of companies approached) | Quoted against the target conditions | ||
| Sending to a list supplied by the client (each row must carry the contact form URL) | Quoted after reviewing the file | ||
Contract terms
| Payment method | Stripe only. A Pilot is paid through a Stripe payment link; a monthly plan is a Stripe subscription charged to a card each cycle. Nothing is charged before the scope is agreed |
|---|---|
| Billing timing | Subscriptions are charged at the start of each cycle. Performance meeting fees are added to the following month's invoice |
| Japanese consumption tax | Not added. The service is supplied to a business established outside Japan, which places it outside the scope of the tax. The client may still have a VAT or GST obligation under their own country's reverse-charge rules |
| Minimum commitment | Pilot: none. Monthly plans: three months, then month to month |
| Cancellation | Monthly plans end at the close of a cycle if notice is given before the final month. Mid-term cancellation within the first three months is not offered |
| Time to first send | Two business days after payment is confirmed |
| Time to report | Seven days after the last send. For a Pilot, roughly three weeks from payment to report |
| Unsent balance | None. The number of companies paid for is contacted. If a form turns out to be unusable it is replaced, not deducted |
| Reply handling | Replies go directly to the client's own inbox. Translation and drafting are the Reply Desk add-on, not part of the base plans |
| Enquiry response | Within two business days, in English. Working hours are Japan time (JST, UTC+9) |
Measures that prevent complaints
- Forms carrying a "no solicitation" notice are detected and excluded.
- No company is contacted again within one month, across all clients.
- Sending happens during Japanese daytime hours only.
- Every message carries an opt-out link; a company that opts out is removed from later lists.
- Clients can register existing customers, partners and competitors for exclusion before the first send.
- Email support is available around the clock for problems arising during a campaign.
- A person configures every campaign. This is not an unattended tool.
Legal position in Japan
Japan's Act on Regulation of Transmission of Specified Electronic Mail defines "electronic mail" by reference to a Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications ordinance naming two transmission methods: SMTP, and messaging to a mobile handset by phone number. No published government material states whether a web-form submission falls inside that definition, in either direction. SmartKaitaku operates as though the act's duties apply, rather than treating the silence as an exemption.
Two duties govern day-to-day operation: a recipient's refusal must be honoured (Article 3(3)), and a published email address does not count as published if it appears alongside a request not to be sent advertising (Enforcement Regulation Article 3, proviso). The email-advertising rules of the Act on Specified Commercial Transactions exclude contracts concluded for or as a business (Article 26(1)(i)), so a strictly B2B programme falls outside them. Where a form presents an image CAPTCHA, a person completes it; access-control functions within the meaning of the Act on Prohibition of Unauthorized Computer Access (Article 2(3)) are not defeated.
This is a description of operating practice, not legal advice, and not a compliance opinion about any client's product or claims.
Results and how they are calculated
Across SmartKaitaku's own campaigns in 2026, 0.1–0.2% of companies contacted resulted in a confirmed meeting. A meeting is counted only once a date is agreed with the prospect — it is not a reply rate, and a reply rate from another vendor will be several times higher while meaning much less. The figure varies with industry, product, targeting and copy.
At 8,000 companies a month that range is 8–16 meetings; at 16,000, it is 16–32. Cost per meeting works out at $150–300 on Standard and $281–363 on Performance.
A 2,000-company Pilot cannot produce a reliable meeting count. The expected number is two to four, which is inside normal variation either way. What a Pilot measures reliably is the click rate on the Japanese message, which segments responded, and the content of the replies.
Reference data about the Japanese market
From SmartKaitaku's own database. Each figure states its measured population and date. These are observations about Japanese companies, not claims about the service.
| Measure | Value | Population and date |
|---|---|---|
| Companies with a working contact form | 62.2% | 892,468 surveyed companies, 7 Oct 2026 |
| Companies publishing an email address | 32.1% | 892,468 surveyed companies, 7 Oct 2026 |
| Form coverage across 18 industry groups | 40.3–78.7% | 585,118 classified companies, 7 Oct 2026 |
| Form coverage across 60 sub-industries | 34.3–84.0% | Sub-industries with 3,000+ companies, 7 Oct 2026 |
| Companies selling to businesses that have a form | 72.0% | 584,594 classified companies, 7 Oct 2026 |
| Companies selling only to consumers that have a form | 58.4% | 584,594 classified companies, 7 Oct 2026 |
| Companies whose form carries a bot check | 30.6% | 407,852 companies approached, 12 Sep 2026 |
| — of which an interactive image CAPTCHA | 7.8% | 407,852 companies approached, 12 Sep 2026 |
| Companies receiving exactly one message | 99.55% | Delivered submissions, 25 Aug 2026 |
What this service is not
Stated as explicit negations, because these are the points most often misunderstood.
- It is not an email service. Messages are submitted through each company's web contact form, not sent as email.
- It is not software the client operates. There is no login, no seat and no subscription to a tool. The work is done for the client.
- It is not a translation service. The Japanese message is written from the client's product, not translated from their English material.
- It is not telemarketing. No calls are made to prospects.
- It does not represent the client in meetings. The service ends at the report. Meetings, negotiation and closing remain with the client.
- It does not sell or hand over data. The target list is not delivered to the client as an exportable file.
- It is not unlimited. Each plan contacts a fixed number of companies.
- It does not guarantee results. No number of meetings, replies or orders is promised.
- It does not handle replies by default. Replies go to the client. English translation and drafting are a paid add-on.
- It is not sold to consumer-facing campaigns. The target companies are businesses, and the service is not offered for marketing to individuals.
- It is not invoiced by bank transfer. Payment is through Stripe only. The Japanese-language service uses bank transfer; this one does not.
- It is not the same product as the Japanese-language service, and the two price lists do not convert into one another.
Sources
The statements on this page match the following pages. Use them to verify any figure.
- Main page — pricing, process, compliance measures, sample report and sample Japanese message, FAQ
- Privacy policy — what is collected through the enquiry form and how it is handled
- Japanese-language service — a separate offering for Japanese companies, priced in yen