Offshore Development

Netsujo Inc. is an offshore development company coordinating a Vietnam-based development team from Kyoto. A Japanese-speaking PM owns quality management and communication end to end. Indicative monthly rates are JPY 400,000–700,000 for a junior engineer and JPY 600,000–1,000,000 for mid-level.

We work with several Vietnam-based partner companies to deliver offshore development, going beyond simple staffing to build a team structure suited to your business stage and needs — supporting planning through operation and maintenance.

Benefits and trade-offs

• Benefits: labor cost roughly 20–40% below Japan; a larger pool of strong young engineers than Japan; scales better through a weak yen; skill sets expand quickly.
• Trade-offs: outcomes hinge on how precisely requirements are communicated; time-zone and holiday differences; higher staff turnover than in Japan; culture and business-custom gaps can cause misunderstanding.
• We address the trade-offs with a Japanese PM plus a Japanese-speaking bridge engineer structure.

Frequently asked questions

What causes most offshore-development problems?

Most trouble comes from mismatched understanding of specifications and insufficient communication. We assign a Japanese-speaking bridge engineer and use clear specifications with regular reviews to prevent that gap and keep delivery stable.

Is quality comparable to domestic development?

Quality depends heavily on the team structure. Clear test plans, code review, and quality standards bring it to a domestic standard.

How do you bridge the language gap?

A dual structure of a Japanese-speaking bridge engineer and a Japanese PM structurally closes the language gap. The Japanese PM turns requirements into a specification informed by technical background, which the bridge engineer translates and explains to the local engineers. We default to asynchronous, text-based communication (Slack, Notion, GitHub Issues) to reduce misunderstanding, plus weekly demos to confirm deliverables together.

What does offshore development cost?

Indicative monthly rates are JPY 400,000–700,000 for a junior engineer, JPY 600,000–1,000,000 for mid-level, and JPY 1,000,000–1,500,000 for senior/PM (roughly 60–70% of Japanese domestic rates). Project totals run JPY 5,000,000–15,000,000 for a small web system, JPY 10,000,000–30,000,000 for a blockchain dApp, and JPY 30,000,000+ for a full enterprise system. We can also quote by scope and deliverable rather than by person-month.

We’re based outside Kyoto — can we still work with you?

Yes, nationwide. Offshore development is primarily online, so location isn’t a barrier. We’re based in Kyoto but have worked with companies in Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, and Fukuoka, with in-person meetings available as needed. We can also accompany you on a site visit to the team in Vietnam (Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City).