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Rainmakers Inc.

We are building a global service marketplace to bring the “blessed rain” to the world by matching supply and demand."

A tech company taking on the world from Tokyo, creating a global marketplace for toll calls.

Rainmakers Corp is a 3rd year IT venture company with a mission to match supply and demand to unite potential providers and consumers thus bringing the “blessed rain”. The founder and CEO, Takeshi Okano, is a licensed lawyer, simultaneously running a nationwide law office group that attracts customers via web marketing solutions. The startup company was founded in 2016 and is currently involved in web media businesses, prioritizing in creating informative legal sites. Since 2018, they have started building a C2C platform to act as a global marketplace for toll calls and they are seeking a marketer to accelerate its launch and expansion of services.

“As a lawyer, I provided legal counsel in various forms and I realized that there was a demand for an intermediary fee collection service for information provided via telephone. A service that can be easily used on a smartphone where the service fee is automatically added to, and collected as, a call charge. Such a service would be very convenient.” (Okano)

CEO Takeshi Okano used to freelance for various companies until he passed the bar exam as a high school graduate at the age of 28. Besides a unique career, what sequence of events led him to the creation of this service?

After graduating high school, Okano started a new life in America. He lived in New York and Connecticut with other Japanese expats. That was back in 1995. We asked him why he decided against going to college and why he chose to go to New York.

"At the time I had no desire to job-hunt and was more interested in learning the structure of society in the real world than pursuing a higher education. I chose New York because my favorite genre was thriving there and I also had friends. I also remember being influenced by a book that wrote: “Everything about the 20th century is all packed into the island of Manhattan. If we wanted to save the 20th century for the future all we have to do is put Manhattan in a time capsule and burry it somewhere.”(Okano)

He spent his time in America living off the allowance from his parents and his savings from Japan. This was also around the time when he was first exposed to the internet that was still uncommon back in Japan.

“Windows 95 had just been released and getting to experience the internet for the first time really sparked my interest.” (Okano)

After living the American dream for two and a half years, he moved back to Tokyo. He still had no interest in becoming a full-time worker so he did a number of part-time jobs including a bartender, construction worker, staffing coordinator etc. During this time a particular experience lead to his decision to take the bar exam.

“There is an island called Koh Phangan in Thailand that is famous for its rave festivals (an all-night large-scale music event). When I went there in 2002, I started looking for ways to earn money as much as the next guy without going through the pain of job-hunting. That’s when I found out about the bar exam. The most difficult exam in Japan could be taken without any academic qualification, even as a high school graduate. I thought This is it!, and it proved to be a turning point.” (Okano)                    

After he decided to take the exam, he turned his life around and focused solely on studying. While working part-time as a receptionist at a private study room facility, he studied for 5 consecutive years until he finally passed the exam on his 4th try.

Okano is always going against the norm, even after passing the bar exam. After becoming a qualified lawyer upon completing an 18-month mandatory residency period, it is common for a new lawyer to start working at a senior law firm office to gain experience for several years before branching off on their own. However, Okano opened up his own law office right after residency.

“After visiting a number of law offices during my residency, I felt that basic tasks wouldn’t be a problem, even for a beginner lawyer. The real problem was obtaining customers. So a good friend that I knew from my days in America helped me with web production and search engine optimization. And by focusing the web marketing field to just criminal offences, I was able to start my own office.”(Okano)

This strategy worked wonders. The law office founded by Mr. Okano has become large enough to hold offices in 10 locations throughout Japan, a remarkable achievement in itself. The knowledge in web marketing obtained from this process led to the creation of Rainmaker Co., Ltd.

You might wonder what a lawyer has to do with an IT company. However, it turns out that Okano's interest has been geared towards IT from the beginning, and as a businessman, he had a number of ideas.

“Having worked as a lawyer for 10 years I came to realize that the ever-changing tech industry is much more interesting to me than the lawyering business managed by strict regulations. Free flexible market for me is like water to a fish. It is a very rewarding to look for ideas and inspiration from this changing world and creating new value through business.” (Okano)


Jumping into new territory as a technology company!  Turn a ‘Toll call marketplace’ into a global standard.

Lately, the number of law firms who have their own website in efforts to promote web marketing are increasing. But you rarely come across a firm that does everything from marketing, design, coding, to creating contents on their own like they do.

Okano plans to take Rainmakers Corp. Ltd. into a new territory as a technology company. He intends to build a platform where consumers can make calls freely by operating a marketplace for global toll calls.

"I’d like to design a global service with English and Chinese as the primary language and provide Japanese as one of the options among other languages. And instead of a divided software, a platform that grows in the same speed as the user networks. This is the kind of business that I’ve been thinking about for a long time." (Okano)

Communicating directly on the phone can provide the sensitive nuances that cannot be detected through written texts. For example, you have a manual. It’s translated but there’s a phrase that you don’t quite understand. What if you had easy access to a user with the knowledge and resources to satisfy your. And the users can use their spare time and knowledge to provide assistance for a fee. This company’s wants to create a platform to connect people like this.   

“We’ve had 10 years of experience to perfect our work of extracting the scattered and latent needs in the world from the web media. And using our company’s web markets to pick out the scattered needs for toll calls is something only we can do.”, says Okano.

The “Society” that Okano talks about is not limited to Japan. From the beginning, he has been planning on expanding into multiple languages creating a platform accessible to people all around the world.

“The demand for toll calls in one region are not that many but they are definitely there. I know because as a lawyer I provided legal consult online and I was looking for a service like this. Just imagine the scale if you combine all the small demands in the world. Even a local demand that is so small it may only be considered a niche, if you monopolize the share and expand it into the world you have a business. I always tell my staff that it’s okay to start small as long as we are percisely capturing the world’s share.” (Okano)

For example, Skype is an internet phone service developed in Estonia. But the users don’t pay attention or care for where it was developed.

“Japanese people often design services that are only useful domestically. But that can't be the case. If you’re not thinking globally from the beginning stages of your idea your service will never go global. I only feel confidence right now. But that doesn’t mean I’m underestimating the business. So far in life I’ve only ever relied on my confidence to achieve my goals. I truly believe that everything will work out in the end like it always has.”  Okano declares.

The marketers are expected to become one of the core members of the platform development.

When the clock turns 6pm close your laptops and leave the office! Never work overtime or on the weekends.

Their employees separate their private and work life while maintaining a friendly atmosphere in the office. The company follows through with their pledge to end work every day at 6pm, no overtime, and weekends off. Elaborate methods to increase productivity and a flexible workload ensure that they never have to work overtime.

The concentration exhibited by the employees and their consciousness to do efficient work also play a big factor. After work they have plenty of time to spend with their families, hobbies, or studies to recharge. The location of the office is also very popular among the employees as it is located right outside the Tokyo Metro Nagatacho exit. Multiple train routes are available making commute convenient for everyone. Surrounded by popular cities like Shibuya and Omotesando it’s a perfect location to enjoy your private life.

When I asked the employees they all answered unanimously with positive responses.

“Without overtime everyday is fulfilling.”

“The team is united and we all get along.”

“We feel like management really cares about us.”

And just from this short interaction with the employees I could sense the high level of satisfaction they had with their work. It makes sense that the turnover rate is so low. People that are forced to work to death by their massive workload must be envious of this kind of environment.

The peaceful atmosphere in the office stems from the consideration of management as well as its umbrella organization. In cases where a startup company begins to develop their own services, it is very common to receive finance from venture capitals. And it is typical for platform building to take time and money. But because this company has management from a successful umbrella organization, they can afford to work on developing in a stable environment. This kind of environment is perfect for a marketer.

They are about to have their turning point as a technology company. Now is the time to become part of the core members. Don’t miss this huge opportunity to change history.