If you’ve ever traveled abroad, you may have had the experience of walking into a local store, finding a product that caught your eye, but ultimately leaving without purchasing it due to the “language barrier.” Keisuke Furuta, the founder of the startup Payke Inc., saw this as a “missed opportunity” and developed an app to promote a borderless shopping experience. Let’s explore his inspiration for launching the business and his vision for the future.
A Shopping Support App
That Maximizes Product Appeal
According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, inbound tourism spending in 2024 exceeded 8 trillion yen, setting a new record. The purchasing power of foreign tourists is expected to become an increasingly important “source of revenue” for Japan. While the government is actively working to boost spending by visitors, the “language barrier” still poses a significant challenge in purchasing decisions. The app that breaks down this barrier and effectively conveys the appeal of products is Payke, a shopping support app designed for international travelers in Japan.
With this app, users can simply scan the barcode of a product to display detailed product information in their preferred language. Some might wonder, “Wouldn’t other translation apps with camera functions do the job?” However, Payke is entirely different. In addition to basic product details, it also provides access to information stored in the company’s database, including product features, unique selling points that don’t fit on packaging, and customer reviews—further encouraging purchase decisions.
Payke’s database includes approximately 680,000 registered products as of January 2025, making it one of the largest in Japan. It covers a wide range of items, including snacks, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, daily necessities, and health foods from across the country. Currently, the app supports seven languages, with plans to expand to Spanish, Tagalog for the Philippines, and Indonesian in the future.
Beyond product descriptions, the app offers various features to enhance the shopping experience, such as popular product rankings and store coupons. Additionally, it provides services like eSIM sales, transportation arrangements, and shopping proxy services, evolving beyond a mere “shopping support tool” into a comprehensive “inbound tourism platform.”
With this app, foreign shoppers can gather product information beyond language barriers, reducing the burden on store staff while enabling manufacturers to effectively showcase product features that were previously difficult to convey.
However, the value of the Payke app extends far beyond this. It also functions as a database that combines and visualizes valuable data for industries related to inbound tourism, including foreign consumer demographics such as nationality, gender, and age, as well as insights into when, where, and which products they are engaging with. Leveraging this data, the company provides trend insights and offers consulting services to various industries, including the tourism sector and export businesses.
On a side note, although not officially announced to users, Payke also plays a role in disaster response. During earthquakes and other emergencies, the app utilizes pop-ups and direct messages to provide multilingual evacuation information.
“Our internal management system allows us to see the real-time locations of users on a map. Naturally, we become concerned for their safety. We can’t just do nothing—so we do what we can. It doesn’t generate revenue, but we simply want users to feel safe and enjoy their travels in Japan,” says Furuta.
Founded During College:
Agility and Creativity as Key Strengths
Payke was founded in 2014 as a startup launched by CEO Keisuke Furuta and his classmates while he was still a student at the University of the Ryukyus. Furuta has been featured in prominent economic publications and even received the Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications Award at the Entrepreneur Expo. Having previously seen images of him in a suit, embodying the image of a “young entrepreneur,” it took a moment to recognize the casually dressed, smiling young man who greeted me.
Furuta’s journey was anything but ordinary. After dropping out of high school, he traveled across Japan before deciding to leave Tokyo and move to Okinawa, where he enrolled at the University of the Ryukyus. Remarkably, shortly after starting university, he established a trading business and even collaborated with local trading companies. His reason for starting a company was equally unconventional.
“When I moved here, Okinawa’s minimum hourly wage was still 653 yen. That really shocked me. I figured, ‘It’d be more profitable to start my own business than to work a part-time job,’ and that was my starting point.”
The following year, as a sophomore, he founded Payke Inc. The inspiration to leverage barcodes came directly from his experience in the trading industry.
“When countries that don’t share a common language trade goods, how do they manage products and ensure accuracy? The answer is barcodes. The global trade system operates on barcodes, which essentially makes them a ‘universal standard’ and a ‘common global language.’ They’ve traditionally been used only in B2B and industry settings, but I thought, ‘What if we made them accessible for everyday consumers? That would be incredibly useful.'”
His idea also coincided with the rapid adoption of smartphones, supported by the development of social and technological infrastructure. But why did he choose to focus on shopping support?
“I love products. Even when two items seem similar, there are always subtle differences, right? I understand that some people don’t pay much attention to these things, but every product has a creator behind it. Their passion and dedication are embedded in everything they make.”
His experience in the trading industry further reinforced this belief.
“I traveled across Okinawa, visiting various manufacturers. Many company representatives would tell me, ‘This was the biggest challenge in making our product. It had never been done before, but with this technology, we finally made it possible. That’s how this product came to be.’
There are so many stories like that, hidden within these companies. I kept thinking, ‘They should be promoting this more!’ It frustrated me that these incredible details weren’t reaching consumers.”
Speaking with his greatest enthusiasm during the interview, Furuta expressed his vision of revitalizing manufacturers and tourist destinations by delivering compelling content—including user reviews—that makes people want to buy.
Harnessing Ideas and Agility
to Drive Business Growth
One question I was particularly eager to ask was how Payke managed to approach both businesses and consumers—two groups that needed to reach a critical mass for the app to succeed—before and after its launch.
“We started by focusing on Okinawa. I went to every souvenir shop in Naha Airport, examined each product’s packaging, took photos, and investigated which company produced it and how many variations existed.”
The results revealed that there were a few hundred key manufacturers. From there, Furuta visited each company one by one, pitching his idea to them. At the time, the service itself didn’t even exist—only a concept on paper. Still, he recalls, “The response wasn’t bad at all.”
As for reaching foreign tourists, he took a hands-on approach. “We had no budget for advertising, so we printed thousands of flyers and stood in Taiwanese airports at the departure gates for flights to Okinawa, handing them out. We even told ourselves, ‘We’re not leaving until we’ve given out 3,000 flyers!’”
In a stroke of luck, one of the people who received a flyer turned out to be a local news anchor, leading to Payke being featured on Taiwanese TV news.
At one point, the team even created a promotional video explaining the service concept and roamed Naha Airport, showing it to foreign visitors on an iPad while asking, “Would you like to use this?” The feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Armed with these survey results, they went back to companies, saying, “Look at this demand—work with us!”
“I got kicked out by airport security multiple times (laughs),” Furuta recalls. When I commented, “It must have been tough, but it sounds fun,” he smiled and said, “Yeah, I think this was probably the most exciting phase for a startup.”
At the time, they had no money—living in near poverty, sometimes struggling even to afford food. But through it all, Furuta says, “We had dreams, and that was enough to keep us going.”
A Startup That Never Stops:
The Pressures and Struggles of Leadership
Now in its mid-stage as a startup, Payke continues to grow. “In terms of inbound-focused app downloads, Payke is currently ranked first or second. Because of that, we’re receiving many collaboration and partnership offers,” says Furuta. As the company attracts significant attention across various industries, it seems like everything is going smoothly.
However, when asked, “Have you ever felt like things were too difficult or that it was all over?” Furuta responded without hesitation, “I feel that way all the time (laughs).”
“It’s often said that startups begin with nothing—no people, no resources, no money. That was exactly our situation. We’ve had to push forward despite a lack of talent and funding, which has been a constant struggle. There’s always a gap between our ideal vision and reality, and that’s something we wrestle with every day.”
The challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic were immense. Since the app primarily serves inbound tourists, when international travel came to a halt, revenue disappeared, corporate contracts were canceled, and it felt as though “everything had been reduced to nothing.”
“But honestly, even someone like Masayoshi Son or Elon Musk would probably say, ‘There’s no way to fix this,’ so I just accepted it for what it was (laughs).”
Despite the difficulties, Furuta and his team navigated painful “post-defeat” measures, such as reducing staff and terminating office leases. They endured by monetizing their accumulated data, expanding consulting services, and taking on commissioned development projects—doing whatever they could to survive with the remaining members.
With the pandemic behind them, tourism has rebounded sharply, and the number of Payke users is now increasing by over 100,000 per month. But when asked, “So, is everything running smoothly now?” Furuta gave a wry smile and shook his head.
“There’s an endless list of things to do, and every day, I’m struggling to keep up. As our user base grows by the hundreds of thousands each month, the amount of capital required to sustain our services also increases. We need to build a cash flow strong enough to support that growth. So while I’m thrilled to see more users, I also feel the weight of responsibility.”
For a startup CEO, there is no time to rest.
The Ultimate Goal: A Global Reach
A Major Step Forward in Business Expansion
Currently, Payke’s services are limited to Japan, but in January 2025, the company announced a business partnership with a global matching firm in South Korea. With this collaboration, Payke is accelerating its expansion into East and Southeast Asia, focusing on South Korea and China. The ultimate goal? A worldwide presence.
When asked, “How many years until you achieve that?” Furuta smirked and replied, “Four years.”
“I want to eliminate the frustration of ‘shopping not being enjoyable’ just because someone can’t read the language. Of course, Japan has great products, but so does the rest of the world—fascinating items, high-quality goods, and things that perfectly match an individual’s needs. But products can’t introduce themselves. I believe that’s where a massive opportunity lies.”
A passionate entrepreneur with a deep love for products and craftsmanship, Furuta is now driven by his vision to build a truly global e-commerce ecosystem.
As Payke continues its journey from Okinawa to nationwide expansion—and soon, a global reach—I asked Furuta about the advantages of launching a startup in Okinawa.
“To attract top talent, a company needs brand recognition. But in Tokyo, where there are countless startups, building a name for yourself is extremely challenging. In Okinawa, however, it’s relatively easier to stand out, so people are more likely to think, ‘Maybe I should work for that company.'”
Currently, most of Payke’s team members are from Okinawa. Furuta added, “We’ve gathered the best of Okinawa. There aren’t many companies here developing original products while also serving millions of users. We’re always looking for passionate team members!”
With its continued expansion, Payke is set for even greater achievements. The company’s mission remains clear: to deliver great products—and the craftsmanship and dedication behind them—to consumers worldwide.
Interview and Japanese Text by Narabayashi Minako
