Yahoo! Japan
Japan's most visited portal for search, news, shopping and finance.
Yahoo! Japan at a glance
Yahoo! Japan is a technology website and one of the most visited sites in Japan, currently ranked #1 in the country. It was founded in 1996 by Masayoshi Son, Jerry Yang (original Yahoo! Japan founders) and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Today Yahoo! Japan is owned by LY Corporation (Z Holdings / SoftBank and Naver joint venture). Our estimates put its audience at ≈ 1.3 billion visits per month. The business earns money mainly through display and search advertising, yahoo! shopping and e-commerce commissions, yahoo! premium subscriptions. Its closest rivals include Google Japan, LINE, Rakuten, Goo (NTT Resonant).
Traffic statistics
Traffic history
| Period | Visits | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Q1 | ≈ 1.28 billion / month | +1% |
| Q2 | ≈ 1.30 billion / month | +2% |
| Q3 | ≈ 1.32 billion / month | +1% |
| Q4 | ≈ 1.30 billion / month | -1% |
Traffic sources
- Direct58%
App and bookmark visits
- Organic search20%
- Referral12%
News aggregation partners
- Social5%
- Paid & other5%
Audience & demographics
- Men54%
- Women46%
- Age 18-2410%
- Age 25-3418%
- Age 35-5440%
- Age 55+32%
Yahoo! Japan skews toward older users compared to global portals, with strong penetration among users in their 40s and above who rely on it for news and finance.
Geographic reach
- Japan96%
- United States1.5%
- Other2.5%
SEO profile
- Organic keywords
- ≈ 4 million
- Estimated organic traffic
- ≈ 90 million monthly visits
- Strongest clusters
- News, weather, finance, sports
Top organic keywords
| Keyword | Position | Volume | Traffic share |
|---|---|---|---|
| yahoo | 1 | Very high | — |
| yahoo天気 | 1 | High | — |
| yahooニュース | 1 | High | — |
| yahoo知恵袋 | 1 | High | — |
Backlink profile
- Referring domains
- ≈ 2.5 million
- Link profile
- Heavily linked from Japanese news and blog sites
Top referral sources
- Google Japan45%
- Direct app traffic30%
- Line and SoftBank properties15%
- Other10%
Technology stack
Website technologies
Advertising & analytics technologies
Yahoo! Japan runs a large in-house ad platform integrated with the wider LY Corporation ecosystem including LINE and PayPay data signals.
Mobile app statistics
- Daily active app users
- ≈ 20 million
- Push notification reach
- Tens of millions daily
Company information
- Website
- yahoo.co.jp
- Sector
- Technology
- Owner
- LY Corporation (Z Holdings / SoftBank and Naver joint venture)
- Owner type
- Public company subsidiary
- Founders
- Masayoshi Son, Jerry Yang (original Yahoo! Japan founders)
- Founded
- 1996
- Headquarters
- Tokyo, Japan
- Employees
- ≈ 11,000
- Ownership
- Operated by LY Corporation, formed from the 2023 merger of Z Holdings, Yahoo Japan and LINE; majority owned by SoftBank and Naver
- Valuation
- LY Corporation market cap approximately JPY 3.5 trillion
- Revenue
- ≈ JPY 1.7 trillion annually (LY Corporation group)
- Languages
- Japanese
- Top traffic sources
- Direct, organic search, news app referrals
Ownership, investors & funding history
| Date | Round | Amount | Investors |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Joint venture | Undisclosed | SoftBank, Yahoo! Inc. |
| 2023 | Corporate merger | N/A | Z Holdings, LINE, SoftBank, Naver |
Financials
- Revenue trend
- Stable growth driven by advertising and PayPay ecosystem synergies
- Profitability
- Profitable core portal business
- Cost base
- Content licensing, infrastructure, marketing
Business model & revenue
Yahoo! Japan operates as an all-in-one portal combining search, news aggregation, e-commerce, auctions and finance, monetising through advertising, transaction fees and premium subscriptions.
- Display and search advertising
- Yahoo! Shopping and e-commerce commissions
- Yahoo! Premium subscriptions
- Financial services (Yahoo! Finance, PayPay integration)
- News licensing and media partnerships
Products & services
Aggregated news and user comments, one of Japan's top news sources.
E-commerce marketplace with PayPay Points integration.
Long-running consumer auction and resale marketplace.
Stock quotes, market news and portfolio tools.
Hyperlocal weather forecasts and disaster alerts.
Related deals on Amazon
As an Amazon Associate, Global Site Index earns from qualifying purchases.
Seller ecosystem
- Yahoo! Shopping merchants
- ≈ 200,000+ stores
- Yahoo! Auctions sellers
- Millions of individual sellers
International presence
- Primary market
- Japan (domestic focus)
- Group reach
- LY Corporation also operates LINE across Asia
Employee statistics
Customer statistics
API & developer information
- Yahoo! Developer Network
- APIs for search, maps, weather and shopping
Website rankings
- Japan rank
- #1
- Global rank
- ≈ #35
Main competitors
Website comparisons
| Website | Monthly visits | Rank | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Japan | Higher search share | — | Google leads pure search; Yahoo leads portal engagement |
| Rakuten | Comparable e-commerce scale | — | Overlap in shopping and points ecosystems |
Overview
Yahoo! Japan has been the country's dominant internet portal since 1996, combining search, news, shopping and finance into a single destination. It is now operated by LY Corporation, formed from the 2023 merger with LINE.
Traffic Statistics
The portal attracts roughly 1.3 billion monthly visits and around 65 million monthly unique visitors. Users view about 6.2 pages per session, reflecting the breadth of services on offer.
Traffic Sources
Most traffic comes directly through bookmarks and the mobile app, with organic search and news-aggregation referrals also contributing meaningfully.
Audience & Demographics
The audience skews older than typical portals, with strong representation among users aged 35 and above who rely on Yahoo! Japan for news, weather and financial information.
Geographic Reach
Usage is overwhelmingly concentrated in Japan, with only a small share of traffic coming from overseas Japanese communities.
SEO Profile
Yahoo! Japan ranks for millions of Japanese-language keywords, particularly around news, weather and finance queries, and receives substantial referral traffic from Google Japan.
Technology Stack
The platform runs on PHP and Node.js microservices with Hadoop-based data infrastructure, orchestrated via Kubernetes and delivered through Akamai's CDN.
Social Media Statistics
Yahoo! Japan maintains active accounts on X, Facebook and YouTube, with its X account reaching over three million followers.
Mobile App Statistics
The Yahoo! JAPAN app has been downloaded more than 50 million times and reaches roughly 20 million daily active users.
Company Information
Headquartered in Tokyo, Yahoo! Japan was founded in 1996 as a joint venture between SoftBank and the original Yahoo! Inc., and now operates under LY Corporation.
Ownership & Investors
LY Corporation is majority owned by SoftBank Group and Naver Corporation following the 2023 merger of Z Holdings, Yahoo Japan and LINE.
Financials
LY Corporation generates roughly JPY 1.7 trillion in annual group revenue, with advertising and e-commerce commissions as the largest contributors.
Business Model
Revenue comes from display and search advertising, Yahoo! Shopping commissions, premium subscriptions and financial services tied to the PayPay ecosystem.
Products & Services
Key products include Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Shopping, Yahoo! Auctions, Yahoo! Finance and Yahoo! Weather.
Competitors
Competitors include Google Japan for search, Rakuten and Amazon Japan for e-commerce, and LINE and Goo for portal-style services.
Company History & Milestones
Yahoo! Japan launched in 1996, listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in 1997, and merged with LINE in 2023 to form LY Corporation.
Latest News
LY Corporation continues to report advertising revenue growth while deepening PayPay Points integration across its services.
User Reviews & Ratings
Users value the breadth of localized content, though some consider the homepage layout dated compared to newer apps.
Pros & Cons
Pros include comprehensive services and strong trust among older users. Cons include a cluttered interface and growing reliance on Google's underlying search technology.
Key Statistics
~1.3 billion monthly visits, ~50 million registered user IDs and the #1 portal ranking in Japan.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who owns Yahoo! Japan? LY Corporation. Is it linked to the US Yahoo!? No, it operates independently under a historic licensing deal. What can you do on it? Search, read news, shop, bid on auctions and check finance and weather.
Data Sources
LY Corporation public filings, Similarweb estimates and the Yahoo! Japan press room.
Last Updated
September 2026
Related Websites
LINE, Rakuten, Google Japan, Amazon Japan and Mercari.
Website Rankings
#1 in Japan and approximately #35 worldwide by aggregate traffic estimates.
Revenue & Funding History
Founded as a SoftBank joint venture in 1996, Yahoo! Japan grew organically before merging with LINE in 2023 under LY Corporation.
Employee Statistics
LY Corporation employs roughly 11,000 people across engineering, media and advertising sales.
Customer Statistics
Approximately 50 million users hold a Yahoo! JAPAN ID used across its services.
Backlink Profile
Yahoo! Japan has around 2.5 million referring domains, heavily weighted toward Japanese news outlets and blogs.
Top Organic Keywords
Top queries include "yahoo天気", "yahooニュース" and "yahoo知恵袋".
Top Referral Sources
Google Japan, direct app traffic and cross-promotion from LINE and SoftBank properties.
Website Technologies
PHP, Node.js microservices, Hadoop-based data infrastructure, Kubernetes and Akamai CDN.
Advertising & Analytics Technologies
Yahoo! Ads, Yahoo! Display Ad Network, Yahoo! Tag Manager and the broader LY Ads platform.
API & Developer Information
The Yahoo! Developer Network offers APIs for search, maps, weather and shopping integrations.
International Seller Opportunities
Yahoo! Shopping and Yahoo! Auctions support over 200,000 merchant stores and millions of individual sellers within Japan.
Company history & milestones
- 1996
Yahoo! Japan launches as a joint venture with SoftBank
- 1997
Listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange
- 2013
Launches Yahoo! Shopping free listing model
- 2019
Z Holdings formed as parent company
- 2023
Merges with LINE to create LY Corporation
Latest news
- LY Corporation reports advertising revenue growthLY Corporation IR · 2026
- Yahoo! Japan expands PayPay Points integrationYahoo! Japan Press Room · 2026
Pros & cons
Pros
- Comprehensive portal covering news, shopping, finance and weather
- Deep integration with PayPay points ecosystem
- Strong trust among older Japanese demographics
- Extensive localized content
Cons
- Cluttered homepage compared to minimalist search engines
- Search technology increasingly reliant on Google's engine
- Slower international expansion
- Faces competition from LINE and Rakuten within its own corporate family
Key statistics
Frequently asked questions
Who owns Yahoo! Japan?
It is operated by LY Corporation, majority owned by SoftBank Group and Naver Corporation.
Is Yahoo! Japan the same company as Yahoo! in the US?
No, it operates independently under a licensing arrangement dating back to 1996.
What services does Yahoo! Japan offer?
Search, news, shopping, auctions, finance and weather among many other services.
Popular searches
Data sources & confidence
- LY Corporation public filingsLY Corporation Investor Relations
- Similarweb estimatesSimilarweb
- Yahoo! Japan press roomYahoo! Japan
- Data confidence
- High for ownership and corporate milestones; traffic figures are third-party approximations.
- Last updated
- September 2026
Traffic and revenue figures are rounded estimates compiled from public reports and third-party analytics.
Social media profiles & statistics