I want to register .jp domain but where...

domain JP

[pixels]

I'd like to register .jp domain name but the ones I found is like $199 (two years). Absolutely ridiculous price compared to 1p in the UK!

Could someone suggest where I can get reasonably priced company whom I may be able to register with?

Pixels

[bill]

In order to get a second level .jp domain name you must have a postal address in Japan. These English language registrars seem to be taking advantage of this. You are not only paying for the domain, but also for the use of their Japanese address.

The Japan Registry Service [jprs.jp] has lists of accredited registrars [jpshop.jp]. The site is in Japanese, but it's probably the best resource for this information.

[pixels]

Thanks Bill!

I will go and investigate :)

Pixels

[Edwin]

You should also note that Japanese domains ARE very expensive - there's nothing like the competition that exists in the UK market, for example. At best, you're still looking at $70-80 a year, most likely.

[pixels]

Edwin,

You are telling me!
Silly isn't it. After all, it's a domain name!
Having said that everything in Japan is expensive...exception of latest electronic gadgets etc.

Now may be I should start doing one of those domain business with english interface and price it down....hehehe.

Pixels
---
If you want an idea come to me.... I'm full of interesting ideas.
---

[bill]

If I recall correctly the base price JPNIC set up with the registrars was ¥3500 which is about US$29 today. There are registrars that will do a lot better than $70~80 as Edwin mentioned, but you really have to dig ;)

[PeterHo]

Japan are making business in their own way :)..

[EliteWeb]

I have a top level .jp domain name, the site itself isnt finished but i think it will do fine :D Paid 80.00 for it, had to have japan address.

[Edwin]

Slightly tangential question, but hope it's on-topic enough to post to this thread...

Does anyone know a registrar that will do multiple .jp registrations in one operation? A bulk lookup facility would be best of all (i.e. check 10 or 25 or whatever domains at the same time) but at a minimum, a registrar that will let me load many names into a shopping cart then pay for them all at once would be great!

TIA

[bill]

#3 on the list that I mentioned above will do what you're looking for to a certain degree Edwin, but their user interface is far from user friendly.

[Edwin]

Thanks, but they're VERY complicated. The ideal (probably doesn't exist) would be a company like SpeedNames.com but without the insance price-tag (they charge 199 Euro per year for a .jp domain name). In other words, a nice little shopping cart in which one can gradually build up a list of domains. Still, I appreciate the suggestion...

[thewebboy]

speaking of Japan domain names I noticed that they are .co.jp and .jp. One site allows to register .jp but not .co.jp. Any idea whats going on with haveing 2? Is one getting phased out?

[bill]

.co.jp is still around and it operates by the same rules it always has. One company is allowed one, and only one .co.jp address. The draconian rules imposed on these domains led a lot of Japanese individuals to buy .com and other domains because it was extremely hard to get one of these .co.jp domains. You must have a company registered in Japan to get a .co.jp domain.

When Japan opened up the .jp names a lot of people started slowly migrating back. A lot of companies are registering variations of their company names and holding onto these second level .jp domains. Some companies have even shifted their websites to the new domains as they are shorter and easier to remember.

[lukasz]

Because of the draconian rules imposed on .co.jp there are hard to get, however there are seen as trustworthy or even prestiguos. So it is sometimes good to have it.

[flex55]

Guys, I ran into this thread, and I got to tell you I've been trying to get a .jp domain for some time now.
All I've found were the $200/2 years pixels mentioned in the first message.
Bill, thanks for pointing JRS, but again, it's all Japanese, and for English native like myself, it's really impossible to use.
Does anyone know about a .jp registrar, which takes a reasonable price, and has an English user interface?

I'd really appreciate if you know something.

Flex.

[bill]

Does anyone know about a .jp registrar, which takes a reasonable price, and has an English user interface?

Doesn't exist unfortunately. If you can't handle the Japanese then you have to pay a premium. Those are the only ones around that I know of...

[alpine]

Register.com $100/yr, but nice because U.S. based.
Enom.com says they will have "soon", and are always aggressive on price.

Onamae.com: cheaper, but site is in Japanese.
Discount-domain.com is the english version of their site, but .jp says "coming soon". Perhaps they will be reasonable, as they are Japan-based and call themselves "discount-domain".

[bill]

Just for your info Onamae.com & Discount-domain.com are the same company and they've had that same English text up for a few years now. Don't believe the hype ;). A lot of sites have "coming soon', but haven't produced anything. It would be nice if they would, but don't hold your breath...please report back if they do.

[lukasz]

I am unhappy customer of onamae.com or discount-domain.com
First they do not allow you to manage .jp domain in english and it has been that way since september, at least.
Second, more important, their systems are not working properly. When you try to change anything you get constant error or timeout massages.
In january I tried to change nameservers for my domain, I filled the forms properly, got confirmation, and waited, waited waited... after 3 days when nothing happend I tried again and again the same story. So I called to them and they told me that JPRS (Japan Registry Service - japan domain authority) has refused my application! (and they even didnt bothered to tell me!)
So I called to JPRS and they told me that they havent received any application from onamae.com. They were very nice and they took control of the case, fixed everything, and let us know that everything is OK.
So it took more than a week and many phonecalls just to change nameservers.
PS. Just to clarify it was about .co.jp domain.

[Reno_s]

Hi,
You might like to try japanregistry.com, they have an english site which looks like its been made by westerners as opposed to japanese enlish.

Ive bought some .jp's there and while they're a little expensive, they have the best interface of the all the sites I've used.

For some reason, the .jp's on their japanese site are cheaper but I can't read japanese so I took the plunge.

I didn't need to have a japanese address as japanregistry.com have some kind of free agency address (I think we just use their address) which is fine with me.

For all the other jp's like co.jp, ne.jp etc.. you'll need to have a registered entity/corporation in japan.

I originally bought my names at discoun-domain.com but their interface was bad and changing DNS was painful.

Cheers,
Reno

[bill]

Welcome to WebmasterWorld Reno_s. Glad to have you with us.

japan registry was most likely the registry inferred at the beginning of this thread. We like to stay away from specifics here when we can. They've got a great English interface and were probably the first company to offer Japanese domain names via an English interface. The problem with them is their price. They are verrrrry expensive.

[johnafrid]

>>>>For all the other jp's like co.jp, ne.jp etc.. you'll need to have a registered entity/corporation in japan<<<<

bill is correct on this.

Actually, you have to have a registered company with the local govt/city hall to get a .co.jp. You have to fax/send a copy of your company registration to the regitrar. If you dont have a registered company, a Japanese address wouldnt do it. The minimum requirement is a limited company called Yugen kaisha. And to register a Yugen Kaisha, you will need a minimum of 3 million yen in the bank to show (about US $ 25,500). My 2 cents

[bill]

Welcome johnafrid.

Actually they recently changed some of the incorporation rules so it's a lot easier to get a registered company. I'd have to dig around for the specifics. Maybe someone else can provide a link.

[johnafrid]

Bill,
I am gonna register my company in the next 4 weeks here in Tokyo. I will report back to the thread....if I find it and make it back here. I am using another PC now and it will be formated over the weekend. I hope I make it back here and then would bookmark it. In the mean time, if you have a registered company here in Tokyo and if you know the process, or if you know of certain links, please mention them here....

Bill, I have asked a question below. Keeping in your experience, I was wondering if you a few moments free to have a look and see if you can guide me a little bit. Thanks in advance

[webmasterworld.com...]

[lukasz]

Bill
I would appreciate if you can elaborate a bit about easing the incorporation rules.
Having gone through that hell year ago I am very curious.

[bill]

There was a new law passed that set the capital required for establishing a kabushiki-gaisha (joint-stock company) or yugen-gaisha (limited liability) that allowed an exemption period of five years. So, with this new law you could establish one of these companies with a capital of ¥1 (one yen). However, after the five-years were up you would still have to have the appropriate capital to keep the company running. A kabushiki-gaisha required 10 million yen in capital and a yugen-gaisha required 3 million yen. I guess that after the five years were up you could downgrade your company registration to something like a gomei-gaisha (partnership company) which requires no capital if you couldn't meet the requirements.