A distributor has offered to represent your product in Japan. Before discussing a launch date, turn the proposal into a set of claims you can check: which company will sign, which buyers it can reach, who will sell, and how orders and problems will be handled.
This checklist is for evaluating a specific candidate. Use the broader guide to finding sales partners and distributors in Japan when you are still defining the search. The review below should produce a decision record, with evidence and unresolved conditions beside each answer.
Confirm the entity behind the trading name
Ask for the legal company name in Japanese, registered address, corporate number, website, and the entity that would sign the agreement and receive payment. A group name or English brand can differ from the contracting company. Record both rather than forcing them into one field.
The National Tax Agency's Corporate Number Publication Site publishes names, head-office addresses, and corporate numbers; English entries depend on organizations registering their English indications. If an English search fails, request the Japanese name and check the Japanese site.
An identity match is a starting point. It does not establish solvency, sales performance, ownership of every claimed customer relationship, or authority to sign. Ask who is authorized to approve terms and whether another group company will handle imports or invoicing. Investigate unexplained differences between the proposed company, invoice issuer, and bank-account beneficiary before transferring funds or stock.
Test access to your exact customer group
Replace “strong national network” with a concrete question: how would the candidate reach the first three types of buyer in your brief? Ask which department buys, how products are evaluated, what typically blocks adoption, and which person on the candidate's team understands that process.
Request an account plan that identifies customer segments, applications, regions, and routes to contact. Confidential account names need not be disclosed at the first meeting. An anonymized example can still explain a relevant sales cycle, the candidate's role, and the work needed to win an evaluation.
Separate introductions from continuing access. A former employee's contact is different from an active supply relationship. If references become appropriate, obtain permission and ask about a specific responsibility: technical support, reporting, stock replenishment, or complaint handling. Keep the reference date and scope in the review; one positive conversation should not validate unrelated claims.
Identify the people and capacity available
Ask who will manage the product, who can demonstrate it, who answers technical questions, and who covers absence. Include time allocation and competing responsibilities. A capable organization can still be unsuitable if every relevant person is already committed to another brand.
Review existing product lines for overlap and conflict. An adjacent range may create a useful sales conversation, while a directly competing product may reduce attention. Ask the candidate to explain where your offer fits and which existing activities would support it. Avoid accepting “we will hire someone after exclusivity” as evidence of current capacity.
For a hypothetical equipment supplier, a useful test might be a short demonstration using your training material. Ask the candidate's proposed salesperson to explain the application, limitations, and next evaluation step. This is a suggested assessment exercise, not a customer case or proof that every product requires a demonstration.
Reconcile the commercial proposal with actual work
Request a proposed buying price or compensation structure alongside the activities it covers. Specify inventory, warehousing, freight coordination, promotions, samples, installation, returns, repairs, and bad-debt exposure. A margin percentage without this responsibility list cannot support a meaningful comparison.
Build a simple cash timeline: when you produce, when the candidate pays, when the end customer pays, and what happens to unsold stock. Test smaller initial orders and a slower sales scenario. Treat figures supplied verbally as assumptions until the relevant person confirms them.
Ask for financial information proportionate to the exposure. Published accounts, an appropriate credit report, payment references, or limited initial credit may help; availability varies. Do not estimate revenue from a website's appearance or employee count. Record unavailable information as unknown, then decide whether payment and stock limits can contain the exposure. The practical guide to selling products in Japan explains the wider price and delivery workstream.
Check information handling and operating discipline
Before sharing customer lists or detailed technical files, agree the purpose, recipients, access controls, and permitted onward sharing. Start with the minimum information needed for the next decision. Ask whether subcontractors, service centers, or other group entities will receive it.
Request a sample activity report with confidential details removed. It should distinguish a researched account, an actual conversation, a qualified opportunity, a quotation, and an order. Ask how your team can obtain records if the relationship ends. A total meeting count is inadequate when nobody can explain the next actions.
Discuss how product claims and Japanese materials are approved. Identify who can change a specification, publish a translation, promise delivery, or offer a warranty remedy. Set a route for urgent issues. This operating discipline matters before there is enough revenue to make a dedicated local team economical.
Define conditions that pause the review
Pause when a material claim remains inconsistent, the candidate resists identifying the contracting entity, or requested payments cannot be reconciled with documented work. A missing answer is not proof of misconduct. It is a reason to withhold the particular commitment that depends on that answer.
Other warning signs include pressure for broad exclusivity before an account plan exists, promises of orders without a buyer evaluation, refusal to identify the delivery team, and an insistence that you provide unsupported product claims. Write the specific issue and the evidence that would resolve it. Avoid vague labels such as “untrustworthy” in a shared review.
Territory, resale pricing, and restrictions on other channels also deserve specialist attention. The Japan Fair Trade Commission's distribution and business-practice guidelines address these subjects, including sole distributorships. Use the guidance to prepare questions for a qualified adviser; do not treat this checklist as approval of proposed contract terms.
Finish with an evidence-based trial decision
Use three outcomes: proceed to a bounded trial, request specified evidence, or decline. A trial decision should name the product, customer segment, activities, responsibilities, spending or stock exposure, reporting format, and review date. Set limits that reflect the unresolved risks.
In a hypothetical review, a candidate might demonstrate relevant technical skill but provide no evidence of retail access. A technical pilot in one industrial segment could be reasonable; nationwide retail rights would remain unsupported. The decision should follow the capability verified, rather than the candidate's most ambitious proposal.
Keep the review owner, source links, confirmation dates, and outstanding questions together. Revisit time-sensitive evidence before signing or increasing exposure. If you want help preparing a candidate review, explore sales-partner and distributor-search support, then share the candidate and the decision you need to make. Agree the review scope, information requirements, responsibilities, and fees before work begins.
