Mariko Ohno — Founder of Lumina Studio

I help overseas small businesses understand how their offer may need to change before presenting it to Japanese customers.

My work sits between market understanding and implementation.

I look at what you sell from the customer’s side, identify where the offer or message may lose clarity or trust, and help carry that direction into Japanese-facing communication.

Why I work across both strategy and the page

Research, copy, design and customer flow are often treated as separate jobs.

But the customer experiences one journey.

The research affects the position.
The position affects the message.
The message affects the page.
The page affects whether the customer is willing to take the next step.

That is why my work can move from assessment and research into messaging, Japanese website localization and customer journey design.

Native Japanese judgment

A grammatically correct Japanese sentence can still be the wrong sentence.

A professional-looking website can still answer the wrong questions.

My role is to look at the offer through the expectations of the intended Japanese customer and identify what needs to become clearer, more credible or easier to act on.

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