How to Announce a New Japan Country Manager: A Press Release Guide for Foreign B2B Companies
Are you hiring your first country manager in Japan, or did one just start?
If so, I recommend announcing it with a Japanese press release, through PR TIMES, within the first few weeks. We have written and distributed these releases for foreign tech companies entering Japan, and I still think it is one of the most useful things you can do in the first month.
In this post, I will explain why it matters in Japan, share results from two of our releases (company names removed), and show how we write them. If you are earlier in the process, our Japan market entry guide covers the steps before hiring.
Why announce a new country manager in Japan?
These are the five reasons I give HQ teams:
- Press releases are still a normal way to share business news in Japan
- Japanese buyers want to know who is responsible for Japan
- You can only announce a new appointment once
- It gives the new country manager something to show in the first weeks
- It gives you Japanese search results for your company name
I will explain each one.
Press releases in Japan
I know some HQ marketing teams see press releases as a bit old-fashioned. In Japan, companies still use them for all kinds of business news, including personnel changes.
PR TIMES is the largest press release service in Japan. At the end of May 2026, 129,233 companies were using it, including 65.8% of listed companies in Japan (PR TIMES, July 2026). Releases are also reprinted on its partner media sites (about 270), and these include the websites of national newspapers and business magazines.
Japanese readers still trust newspapers much more than general internet information (64.6 vs 46.9 out of 100 in the 2026 survey by the Japan Press Research Institute). So I do care which sites carry the release.
A named person responsible for Japan
Japanese enterprise buyers are careful with foreign vendors. One of the first things they check is who is responsible for Japan.
If there is a Japanese release with the country manager's name, photo, Japanese title and career history, they can check this before the first meeting. From my experience, a local leader with a Japanese name and face is one of the strongest trust signals for traditional Japanese enterprises.
Japanese media also look at the career history closely, so we always ask HQ for the details (past companies, roles, years in Japan).
Timing
This is what I usually tell HQ teams. You can only announce a new country manager once, so it is worth doing the release properly.
A new appointment is news in the first few weeks. If you wait until everything is ready (Japanese website, pricing, partner program), the appointment is already months old when it goes out.
The country manager's first weeks
Many country managers in Japan start alone, or with one or two people. The release gives them something to share with their network, partners and first prospects.
It is also good motivation for the country manager, in my experience. Their name is on Japanese news sites in their first month, together with a comment from the HQ CEO.
My impression is that it also helps with the next hires, since Japanese candidates search the company name before they apply.
Japanese search results
When a Japanese prospect hears your company name for the first time, they search for it. If your company is new to Japan, there is a good chance the results are all in English.
With the release out, they find Japanese news pages about your company, with the name of a person in Japan they can contact.
Results from two appointment releases
Here are two releases we did recently. Both were written in Japanese and distributed through PR TIMES. I removed the company names, and the numbers are from the PR TIMES dashboard.
| US cloud software company | Japan entity of a German vehicle repair group | |
|---|---|---|
| Role announced | Country Manager, Japan | Representative Director and President |
| Distributed | November 2025 | August 2026 |
| Media sites that reprinted it | 21 | 27 |
| Page views on PR TIMES | 382 (first 4 days) | 383 (first 3 days) |
| Examples of sites | Toyo Keizai Online, PRESIDENT Online, Jiji.com, NIKKEI COMPASS | Mainichi Shimbun Digital, Jiji.com, NewsPicks, Response.jp |
US cloud software company
The company had just hired its first country manager in Japan, an executive with a long career at global software companies in Japan. The release had three comments, from the country manager, the CEO and the head of Asia Pacific.
It appeared on 21 media sites, including Toyo Keizai Online, PRESIDENT Online, Gendai Business, Jiji.com, NIKKEI COMPASS, Asahi Shimbun Digital & [and] and TBS NEWS DIG. PR TIMES estimated the advertising value at about JPY 666,000.
Japan entity of a German vehicle repair group
This company changed its Japan structure. A new president took over, and the previous head moved to lead operations. We wrote the release to explain the new split of roles, so it did not read as a simple replacement.
It appeared on 27 media sites in the first three days, including Mainichi Shimbun Digital, Jiji.com, Toyo Keizai Online, NewsPicks, the automotive news site Response.jp, and regional newspapers such as Jomo Shimbun and Fukushima Minpo.
After that, we reused the release text for a news page and for a new message page from the president on the company's Japanese website.
What these numbers mean
I will be honest about these numbers. Most of these media sites are PR TIMES partner sites that reprint the release text, not articles written by journalists.
A few hundred page views is also normal for this kind of release. (Three other releases for the vehicle repair company, on a partnership, a new site and an award, got 339 to 609 page views in their first four to eight days.)
An appointment release will not bring you leads by itself. What it gives you is credibility, and Japanese pages that come up when people search your company name. Leads come from what you do after it, such as product and customer releases, events, content syndication with Japanese publishers and search ads. Our guide to B2B lead generation in Japan covers each of these channels.
How to write a Japan country manager press release
This is how we do it. It usually takes three to four weeks from the first input to distribution.
1. Confirm the title, the name and the date
First, decide the Japanese title. Country Manager (カントリーマネージャー) is just a job title, but Representative Director (代表取締役) is a legal role registered for a Japanese KK, and the release has to match the company registry. The registration change can take a few weeks, so please check where it stands before writing.
Also confirm the name in kanji and its reading, the effective date, and whether you want to mention the predecessor.
2. Collect the information from HQ
We send HQ a one-page input sheet and ask them to return it at least 10 business days before the target date. This is what we ask for:
- Name in English and kanji, Japanese title, effective date
- Why this appointment, and why now
- The country manager's scope in Japan (for example sales, partners, customer success)
- A comment from the country manager on their priorities (2 to 3 sentences)
- A comment from the CEO or regional head on why Japan matters (1 to 2 sentences)
- Three to five priorities for Japan
- Career history: past companies, roles, years in Japan, education
- A headshot and the company logo
- Company boilerplate, and a press contact (ideally the country manager)
3. Write it in Japanese from the start
We do not translate the English release. A translated release usually sounds unnatural in Japanese, and it tends to talk more about HQ than about Japan. We write the Japanese version first, then give HQ an English version to review.
This is the structure we use:
- Headline: 「[Company]、日本カントリーマネージャーに[Name]氏が就任」 ([Company] appoints [Name] as Japan Country Manager)
- A subtitle on what the company will do in Japan
- First paragraph: who, which role, from when, and what they will lead
- Background: why Japan and why now, with some Japan market context
- Comments: the country manager first, then the HQ executive
- Priorities in Japan (three to five bullets)
- Company and product overview
- Career history
- About the company and press contact
For the comments, I usually put the country manager first and the global executive second, since the country manager is the person Japanese customers will actually deal with.
4. Put the key facts in the headline and first paragraph
When we checked the PR TIMES heatmap for the vehicle repair company's release, about half of readers had stopped scrolling before the comments section.
So the name, the title, the start date and what the country manager will do in Japan should all be in the headline and the first paragraph. Please don't keep the main message for the CEO comment.
5. Add a headshot
PR TIMES shows the main image in its listings and on partner sites, and in our experience, releases with a clear photo get more views. For this release, the best image is a professional headshot of the country manager, since that is the face prospects will see before the first meeting.
6. Approve, distribute and contact media
HQ approves the final Japanese text in writing before anything goes out. We submit it to PR TIMES on the agreed date (a weekday morning, Japan time) and send it by email to a short list of 10 to 15 editors at B2B and industry media.
Within a week, we report the page views, the media sites that carried it, and any articles written about it.
7. Reuse the release
After distribution, we reuse the text in other places:
- A news page on your Japanese website
- A message page from the country manager (we did this for the vehicle repair company)
- Posts by the country manager on LinkedIn and on Eight, the Japanese business card and networking app
- The company introduction slides in the Japan sales deck
- Japanese job posts and recruiting pages
Common mistakes
- Translating the global English release instead of writing a Japanese one
- Sending only the global wire release. This works for global media and investors, but for Japanese buyers and partners, I recommend a Japanese release on PR TIMES too
- No photo, or only the company logo
- Waiting too long, until the appointment is no longer news
- An unclear Japanese title, or one that does not match the company registry
- Writing about HQ (global revenue, US customers) instead of the plan for Japan
Frequently asked questions
Should we announce our new Japan country manager with a press release?
Yes, in most cases. Personnel announcements are normal business news in Japan, and a Japanese release on PR TIMES puts the country manager's name, photo and plan on Japanese news sites. It helps with trust, and with what people find when they search your company name.
When is the best time to announce a new country manager in Japan?
In the first few weeks after the start date, once the Japanese title (and the registration, if needed) is confirmed. Plan for about three to four weeks from the first input to distribution.
Do we need a Japanese press release if we already have an English one?
Yes. The English release is fine for global media, but Japanese buyers, partners and editors will read the Japanese one. Please write it in Japanese from the start, and make it about the plan for Japan.
What is PR TIMES?
PR TIMES is the largest press release distribution service in Japan. At the end of May 2026, 129,233 companies were using it, including 65.8% of listed companies in Japan, and releases are reprinted on about 270 partner media sites. A single release costs JPY 30,000 plus tax on the pay-as-you-go plan (PR TIMES pricing, October 2026).
Will a country manager press release generate leads?
Not directly. Our two releases got a few hundred page views each and appeared on 21 and 27 media sites. What you get is credibility and Japanese search results for your company name. Leads come from what you do after it, such as product releases, events, content syndication and search ads.
Should the country manager's comment come before the CEO's?
I usually put the country manager's comment first and the HQ executive's second, since the country manager is the person Japanese customers will deal with.
How we can help
We write and distribute Japanese press releases for foreign B2B tech companies, including country manager announcements, and we also plan the marketing that comes after. You can see more of our work in our case studies.
If you are hiring a country manager in Japan, or one has just started, please send me the start date and their LinkedIn profile. I will tell you what we would put in the release and when we would send it.
