How to Acquire App and Game Users in Japan:
TikTok, TikTok Ad Network (formerly Pangle),
Measurement Tools and CPI Benchmarks
Japan's mobile game in-app purchase revenue exceeds $10 billion, second in Asia. Yet running the same setup and the same creatives you use at home often fails to bring CPI down in Japan. In this article, ZVA, which has produced vertical video and run ad campaigns in Japan and overseas, lays out the practical work of acquiring app and game users in Japan. We cover CPI benchmarks by genre, measurement caveats specific to Japan's high iPhone share, when to use TikTok versus TikTok Ad Network (formerly Pangle), how to progress your bidding, integrating with measurement tools, and how to think about the creative that separates results.
Key takeaways
- Japan's mobile game spending tops $10 billion, second in Asia. It is a market that earns on spend per user rather than download volume
- CPI benchmarks: games ¥300–2,000, matching ¥1,000–3,000, entertainment ¥400–1,000, reward (points) apps ¥200–400 (examples based on ZVA's campaign results)
- iPhone accounts for about half of new shipments and about 70% of people in their 20s. iOS measurement affects TikTok, Meta and Google differently, so base decisions on how each platform works
- Progress bidding from installs → in-app events (AEO) → purchase value (VBO); in the end, the quality and volume of Japan-specific creative make the difference
Japan is a must-have market for app and game user acquisition
Source: Sensor Tower, "State of Japan Gaming 2026" (September 2026)
According to Sensor Tower's "State of Japan Gaming 2026," Japan's mobile game in-app purchase revenue exceeded $10 billion (approx. ¥1.56 trillion) in the 12 months through July 2026, second in Asia after China's iOS market. Although it fell 5.1% year over year, it is more than twice the size of South Korea and about four times that of Taiwan. Downloads, meanwhile, were about 585 million (down 5.4% year over year), making Japan a market where a small number of installs generates large revenue.
Beyond games, app installs in the first half of 2026 rose 4% year over year. Game retention also improved: day 1 from 24% to 26%, day 7 from 9% to 11%, and day 30 from 3% to 4% (Sensor Tower × Adjust, "Mobile App Trends 2026: Japan Edition").
Japan is a market that "earns on spend per user rather than install volume." You need to design acquisition around purchases and retention, not CPI alone.
CPI benchmarks in Japan (by genre)
Based on ZVA's campaign results in Japan, here are CPI benchmarks by genre.
Source: Benchmarks based on ZVA's campaign results (as of 2026). These are examples only and vary widely by title, objective, platform and timing. Depending on creative and campaign conditions, you may acquire users below these benchmarks.
| Genre | CPI benchmark | What drives the difference |
|---|---|---|
| Games | ¥300–2,000 | Varies widely by title and objective. Lower for hyper-casual, higher for monetized RPGs |
| Matching / dating | ¥1,000–3,000 | Easily affected by target gender and age, and by messaging that faces strict ad review |
| Entertainment (chat, short drama, etc.) | ¥400–1,000 | How you present the story or characters greatly changes viewer retention in the opening seconds |
| Reward (points) apps | ¥200–400 | Pairs well with "get a deal" messaging, making it relatively easy to acquire users at a low CPI |
Read CPI together with your objective: For monetized games, a high CPI can still pay back if you acquire many paying users. Conversely, even a low CPI loses money if purchases and retention don't follow. Judge it alongside the bidding approach (AEO, VBO) described below.
A Japan-specific premise: many iPhone users, and iOS measurement impact differs by platform
Sources: NTT DOCOMO Mobile Society Research Institute (January 2026 survey, ages 15–79), MM Research Institute (FY2025 shipments), StatCounter Global Stats (September 2026). All figures are iPhone (iOS) share.
Japan's iPhone share looks different depending on what you measure. By devices owned, iPhone is at 44.6%, slightly below Android, but about half (51.6%) of newly shipped devices are iPhones, and iOS accounts for 60% of web browsing. The age gap is also large: about 70% of people in their 20s use an iPhone. The younger your target audience, the more iPhone measurement determines your results.
iPhone ad measurement follows the rules of Apple's App Tracking Transparency (ATT) and its privacy-preserving attribution frameworks (SKAdNetwork and its successor, AdAttributionKit). However, how that impact shows up differs by platform.
| Platform | What you see in near real time | What arrives delayed or aggregated |
|---|---|---|
| TikTok | With "iOS real-time conversion reporting," results are visible in near real time at the campaign, ad group and ad level, enabling bidding on target cost or ROAS (requires data-sharing settings on the measurement tool side) | Dedicated campaigns using SKAdNetwork have up to a 72-hour delay in reporting results. TikTok recommends waiting 72 hours before evaluating |
| Meta | Aggregated Event Measurement (AEM) is "near real time," with missing data statistically modeled | SKAdNetwork results have a delay of at least 24 hours. Dedicated iOS 14+ campaigns are now optional |
| No near-real-time figures in the Google Ads interface; more immediate data (ICM) is available only in the measurement tool's dashboard | Results in the interface are mostly modeled, with up to a 5-day delay. Reviewing SKAdNetwork reports every 30 days is recommended. AdAttributionKit is not yet supported |
Sources: Official help pages of TikTok, Meta and Google (checked October 2026). Specifications are subject to change.
Under Apple's framework, results are returned in three windows after first launch (days 0–2, 3–7 and 8–35), with a delay of 24–48 hours for the first postback and 24–144 hours for the second and third (Apple official documentation). Globally, 50% of users grant tracking permission (AppsFlyer, April 2025).
For iPhone results, what is "visible right away" and what "arrives late and coarse" differs by platform. Understanding each platform's measurement mechanism and reading it alongside your measurement tool's figures is essential.
When to use TikTok vs. TikTok Ad Network (formerly Pangle)
When acquiring app users in Japan, TikTok ads are at the center. You split your spend between ads in the TikTok feed (For You) and TikTok Ad Network (formerly TikTok Pangle), which serves ads in TikTok's partner apps.
| Item | TikTok (feed) | TikTok Ad Network (formerly Pangle) |
|---|---|---|
| Placements | The TikTok app's For You feed and more | Game, utility and other apps partnered with TikTok. About 400,000 apps worldwide, with daily reach of over 1 billion people (TikTok official, September 2026) |
| Main ad formats | Vertical video ads (In-Feed) | Interstitial, rewarded (reward for watching a video), native, banner, app open, icon |
| Best suited for | Communicating your message and making people want the app. Where you find winning creatives | Reaching game-loving users broadly to scale install volume |
With the app version of TikTok's automated campaign "Smart+," iOS ads are automatically delivered to TikTok and Lemon8, and Android ads to TikTok, Lemon8 and TikTok Ad Network (where available). In Smart+, bidding that maximizes value (purchase value) is available only on Android (TikTok official help, August 2026).
Bidding approach: installs → in-app events → purchase value
TikTok's official help describes AEO as bidding that "optimizes for users likely to take high-value in-app actions," and VBO as bidding that "maximizes users' long-term value (LTV)." To use VBO, you need to send in-app purchase or ad revenue value data to TikTok. Because Japan is a market with high spend per user, moving to AEO and VBO early once data has accumulated is the shortcut to improving ROAS (return on ad spend).
ZVA production and campaign services
Japan-specific creative and campaign management for apps and games, all in one place
We handle everything from producing vertical video for Japan to running TikTok, Meta and Google ads. Performance-based plans are also available.
See pricing and process →Integrating measurement tools (AppsFlyer, Adjust) with TikTok
Running app ads in Japan assumes your measurement tool (MMP) is integrated with TikTok. Here are the main settings, summarized from the official help pages.
| Tool | Integration type | Key points |
|---|---|---|
| AppsFlyer | TikTok for Business Advanced SRN integration (partner ID: tiktokglobal_int) | Measures both clicks and views. TikTok recommends a 7-day click-through install attribution window |
| Adjust | TikTok For Business SAN (self-attributing network) integration | Requires your TikTok app ID and Adjust SDK v4.0.0 or later |
Other measurement tools are supported too: In addition to AppsFlyer and Adjust, ZVA also supports integrations with major measurement tools such as Airbridge, Branch, Kochava, Singular and Tenjin.
Pre-integration check: Align the names and send timing of the in-app events you want to measure (purchases, sign-ups, tutorial completion, etc.) in both your measurement tool and TikTok. If they don't match, AEO and VBO optimization won't work correctly.
What separates results is creative built for Japan
Bidding and measurement settings don't differ much from one company to the next. What ultimately separates results is the quality and volume of creative made for Japanese viewers.
| ZVA case | Before → After | Main actions |
|---|---|---|
| Overseas mobile game company | CPI $12 → $3.8 Purchase ROAS 12x the translated version | Switched from translated ads to new Japan-specific production with Japanese talent (3 videos → 12 videos) |
| Utility app | CPI ¥1,500 → ¥245 Monthly installs up more than 6x | In-depth analysis of messaging angles and rapid creative PDCA cycles |
For how to build creative for Japan, see our practical guide to localizing vertical video ads for Japan.
Summary
Japan is a high-value-per-user market: downloads are flat, yet in-app purchase revenue ranks second in Asia. CPI benchmarks range from the ¥200s up to ¥3,000 depending on genre, and with Japan's high iPhone share, adapting to Apple's measurement rules is essential. The basic flow is to use TikTok and TikTok Ad Network for their respective roles, integrate correctly with your measurement tool, and then progress your bidding from installs to in-app events to purchase value.
And in the end, what separates results is creative built for Japan. As a global team that has produced and run vertical video in Japan and overseas (the US, China, South Korea and Turkey), ZVA handles everything end to end, from Japanese scripts, shooting and editing to ad campaign management.
References and sources
- Sensor Tower, "State of Japan Gaming 2026" (September 2026)
- Sensor Tower × Adjust, "Mobile App Trends 2026: Japan Edition" (July 2026) (Japanese)
- NTT DOCOMO Mobile Society Research Institute: Smartphone OS share (March 19, 2026) (Japanese)
- MM Research Institute: FY2025 domestic mobile phone shipments (May 14, 2026) (Japanese)
- StatCounter Global Stats: Mobile Operating System Market Share Japan
- Apple Developer: Receiving postbacks in multiple conversion windows (SKAdNetwork)
- Apple Developer: AdAttributionKit
- AppsFlyer press release (April 24, 2025): ATT opt-in rates
- TikTok Business Help Center: TikTok Ad Network (formerly TikTok Pangle) (Japanese)
- TikTok Business Help Center: Ad formats available on TikTok Ad Network
- TikTok Business Help Center: About Smart+ app campaigns
- TikTok Business Help Center: App Event Optimization
- TikTok Business Help Center: Value-based Optimization (app)
- TikTok Business Help Center: Performance reporting for iOS 14+ dedicated campaigns
- TikTok Business Help Center: About iOS real-time conversion reporting
- Meta Business Help Center: Aggregated Event Measurement (AEM) reporting
- Meta Business Help Center: SKAdNetwork reporting
- Meta Business Help Center: iOS 14+ campaigns
- Google Ads Help: Measurement for iOS app campaigns (Japanese)
- Google Ads Help: Best practices for iOS app campaigns (Japanese)
- AppsFlyer Help: TikTok for Business Advanced SRN integration setup
- Adjust Help: TikTok For Business (SAN) setup
Figures are as of each source's publication date (checked October 2026). CPI benchmarks and case studies are based on ZVA's campaign results and vary by title, objective and timing. Platform specifications are subject to change, so please check the latest official help pages.