Ringi (稟議) is the foundational Japanese corporate decision-making structure. A staff member drafts a ringisho (稟議書) and circulates it through relevant departments and senior approvers to secure approval.
Characteristics
- **Consensus-oriented**: everyone in the approval chain must be convinced - **Slow**: simple matters take days to weeks - **Documented culture**: written record enables audit - **Distributed responsibility**: decisions aren't single-person
Ringisho structure
- Title, date, proposer - Background, purpose, expected benefits - Details (quotes, schedule, conditions) - Alternatives compared - Attachments (quotes, draft contracts) - Approval chain (owner → section chief → dept head → division head → CEO)
Electronic approval tools
- **kintone**: build ringi workflows no-code - **Jobcan Workflow** - **SmartFlow, rakumo** - **Bizflow, ServiceNow** (enterprise)
Tips for foreign vendors selling in Japan
- Provide ringi-support materials (ROI calculators, security FAQs, case studies) - Supply both qualitative reasoning and quantitative data so your contact can win internally - Selling only to decision-makers while ignoring ringi fails 80%+ of the time
Frame Japanese B2B sales as "co-building the ringi with the customer" and close rates climb.