Tokyo student-guide inbound tour business, education meets tourism

Asking price	¥2.5M to ¥5M (250万円〜500万円)
Annual revenue	¥1 to ¥5M (1円〜500万円)
Operating profit	¥0 to ¥5M (0円〜500万円)
Price vs profit	Profit is shown as a band starting at ¥0, so the price is at least 0.5 times profit and could be any multiple. Ask for the real number before you get excited.
Location	Tokyo (23 wards), Kanto region
Industry	Travel and tourism / inbound guide services, education-related
Employees	50 or fewer (approximately 47 student guides, no fixed storefront staff)
Transfer type	asset (譲渡対象事業 / 譲渡資産：ノウハウ,ウェブサイト・アプリ,SNS/ECアカウント)

What is for sale

This is a Tokyo-based inbound tourism business where university students act as guides in English, Chinese and other languages for small-group walking and cultural experience tours aimed at foreign visitors. The business has built its own training system, including scripts, video materials and manuals, so guides can be onboarded and deliver consistent quality without the founder's direct involvement. The owner is selling to focus on new projects and believes the business needs a buyer with more resources and an existing customer base to scale further.

This is a business (asset) transfer, so the buyer acquires the know-how, website and social accounts rather than the company itself, and will need to set up contracts, accounts and any licences in their own name.

What is included

Know-how (training scripts, video materials, manuals)
Website and app
Social media / EC accounts (confirmed transferable by platform operators)
Network of around 47 student guides
Established booking and operations process
OTA and SNS customer acquisition channels

Strengths (as the seller states them)

Network of 47 student guides, many with study-abroad experience at top-ranked universities
Nearly all guides hold Eiken Pre-1 level English or higher, some also speak Chinese or Korean
Low advertising cost model relying mainly on OTA and SNS for customer acquisition
Standardised training system (scripts, videos, manuals) allows service continuity even if the founder leaves

Wrinkles a careful buyer would ask about

Revenue and profit are shown only as wide bands (¥1 to ¥5M revenue, ¥0 to ¥5M profit), so exact financials are not disclosed
Business currently focuses on individual Western tourists, with corporate or large-group sales still undeveloped
Supply of guides is not currently keeping up with demand, so capacity needs addressing after takeover
As an asset transfer, buyer must independently confirm which accounts, contracts and any required registrations can legally transfer
Net assets and detailed accounts are hidden until buyer registers with the platform

Paying for it

If you stay overseas. No Japanese bank will lend to a new company whose director lives abroad. The realistic stack is your own cash plus asking the owner to take part of the price over 2 to 3 years. That one question is in every Deal Pack.

If you move to Japan. On a visa that lets you run a business, Japan Finance Corporation lends up to ¥72M at about 1 to 2 percent for exactly this. Once you have a Japanese company, the government pays two-thirds of due diligence and registered-broker costs, up to about ¥8M (round 16 closes 6 Nov 2026). You start a bank relationship from zero.

What this listing says. Nothing stated about debts, guarantees or payment terms.

Full rundown, with the catches: japandealflow.com/money

Summary of a public listing as at 2026-10-27. Seller-reported figures, not verified. Listings sell fast, the original may already be gone. Nothing here is financial or visa advice. Free weekly email: Japan Deal Flow.