Our History
My resolve is to bring smiles and happiness to as many people as possible.
When I began working as a new employee selling condominium units, one of my customers was a young married couple. They liked the property I showed them, and we started the purchase process right away. Unfortunately, they failed to secure a loan to buy the condominium.
Seeing their disappointment, I decided I really wanted to find a great property for this couple. I began collecting property information for them, including information from other companies. In the end, the couple found a property they liked from another real estate company, secured a loan, and bought the property. Needless to say, I was reprimanded by my manager.
However, sometime later, the couple came in to the office with beaming smiles and said, “Mr. Inoue, thank you for putting yourself in our shoes and searching so hard for a place for us. Thanks to your hard work, we were able to find the perfect home! Thank you so much.” Ever since the happiness of that couple, I've wanted to do my best to do the same for others. Back then, even for someone within the real estate industry, it was a struggle to find information on residential properties. I can't imagine how hard it must have been for consumers to look at the limited information available to them to make such huge, once-in-a-lifetime decisions. That experience served as the launching point for my desire to create a system in which all real estate information was open and available. That's what inspired me to form my own company and to build the foundations for NEXT（now LIFULL Co., Ltd.).
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1995
Jul.
Founded NEXT HOME Co.
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1997
Mar.
Established NEXT Co., Ltd. (currently, LIFULL Co., Ltd.) established in Kanagawa-ku, Yokohama
Apr.
Launched Japanese real estate portal, HOME'S (currently, LIFULL HOME'S)
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2001
Jul.
Relocated head office to Shinkawa 1-chome, Chuo-ku, Tokyo
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2002
Jan.
Initiated capital tie-up with Rakuten Inc. (currently, Rakuten Group, Inc.)
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2004
Mar.
Relocated head office to Shinkawa 2-chome, Chuo-ku, Tokyo
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2005
Apr.
Opened Osaka branch in Kita-ku, Osaka
Acquired e-mail advertising firm, e-sumai Co., Ltd.
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2006
Feb.
Acquired certification for Information Security Management System (ISMS, ISO27001) and BS 7799
Relocated head office relocated to Harumi 1-chome, Chuo-ku, Tokyo
Jun.
Opened Fukuoka branch in Chuo-ku, Fukuoka
Oct.
Shares listed on Tokyo Stock Exchange Mothers Section
Launched website for local residential information, Lococom -
2007
Feb.
Founded joint venture with ITOCHU Corporation, Wilnic Co., Ltd.
Mar.
Acquired Information Security Management System (ISO/IEC27001:2005) certification
Apr.
Acquired complete ownership in Renter's Co., which provides a CRM for real estate professionals
Jul.
Established rental guarantor business, NEXT Financial Service Co., Ltd.
Sep.
NEXT Financial Service Co., Ltd. acquired rental guarantor business from Japan Synthesis Guarantee Co., Ltd.
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2008
Jun.
Opened Nagoya branch in Nishi-ku, Nagoya
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2009
Dec.
Opened sales office in Okinawa
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2010
Mar.
Shares listed on First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange
Jul.
Absorbed Wilnic Co., Ltd. (consolidated subsidiary)
Aug.
Sold all shares in NEXT Financial Service Co., Ltd. (consolidated subsidiary) to Home Net Co., Ltd. and withdrew from the rental guarantor business
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2011
Jan.
Relocated head office to Minato-ku, Tokyo
Feb.
Acquired complete ownership in Littel Co. Ltd., a partnership with the University of Tokyo
Launched website for searching for and making appointments with insurance agents, MONEYMO
Mar.
Absorbed Littel Co., Ltd. (consolidated subsidiary)
Sep.
Founded HOME'S PROPERTY MEDIA (THAILAND) CO., LTD in Thailand
Dec.
Invested in Next Property Media Holdings Limited (NPM) to provide real estate information services in the People's Republic of China
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2012
Jan.
Launched Thai real estate portal, HOME'S Thailand
Launched Chinese real estate portal, Huboshi
Apr.
Invested in PT. Rumah Media (currently, PT. Lifull Media Indonesia) in Indonesia
Aug.
Launched Indonesian real estate portal, RumahRumah
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2013
Apr.
Decision made to withdraw from real estate information service business in China
Sep.
Invested in furniture and interior e-commerce sites, FLYMEe Inc. (equity-method affiliate)
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2014
Apr.
Launched e-commerce website for furniture and interior products, HOME'S Style Market
Nov.
Acquired complete ownership in operator of international aggregation sites, Trovit Search S.L. (Trovit)
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2015
May
Acquired majority stake in real estate online marketing firm, Axelion Co., Ltd., and changed name to LIFULL Marketing Partners Co., Ltd.
Jul.
Split services provided through LIFULL HOME'S etc. and established LIFULL senior Co., Ltd., LIFULL MOVE Co., Ltd., LIFULL Fin Tech Co., Ltd. and LIFULL SPACE Co., Ltd. (100% ownership)
Issued new shares through third-party allotment to Rakuten, Inc. (currently, Rakuten Group Inc.)
Nov.
Established back office support company, LIFULL bizas Co., Ltd. (100% ownership)
Dec.
Launched Australian real estate portal, LIFULL Australia Real Estate
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2016
Jun.
Opened branch in Sapporo
Sep.
Acquired inbound (Japan) real estate investment business from Marimo Co., Ltd.
Nov.
Founded joint venture with Kuwasawa Corporation, LIFULL Remodel Co., Ltd.
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2017
Jan.
Acquired operator of a crowdfunding platform, JG Marketing Co., Ltd. (currently, LIFULL Investment Co., Ltd.)
Apr.
Changed company name to LIFULL Co., Ltd.
Unified services under the LIFULL brand
Relocated head office to Kojimachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
Acquired software and application development company, Vietnam Creative Consulting Co., Ltd. (currently, LIFULL Tech Vietnam Co., Ltd.)
Launched German real estate portal, LIFULL Immofinder
May
Opened co-working space, LIFULL HUB, on the second floor of the Kojimachi head office
Acquired full ownership of LIFULL Marketing Partners
Jun.
Founded joint venture for vacation rentals with Rakuten Inc. (currently, Rakuten Group Inc.), Rakuten LIFULL STAY Co., Ltd.
Sep.
LIFULL senior Co., Ltd. launched largest website in Japan for searching for companies to dispose of the possessions of the deceased, Minna No Inhinseiri
Oct.
Absorbed Renter's Co. (consolidated subsidiary)
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2018
May.
Launched LIFULL Regional Revitalization website with information on the policies and activities LIFULL is taking in rural areas of Japan
Closed real estate portals in Australia (LIFULL Australia Real Estate) and Germany (LIFULL Immofinder)
Oct.
Split a portion of advertising services provided by LIFULL FinTech Co., Ltd., founded LHL Co., Ltd. and transferred business to Nippon Life Insurance Company
Nov.
Founded LIFULL Social Funding Co., Ltd. (currently, LIFULL Investment Co., Ltd.) and started the LIFULL Regional Revitalization Fund
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2019
Jan.
Acquired full ownership in international aggregation site operator, Mitula Group Limited (Mitula)
Mar.
Started joint community project, LivingAnywhere Commons
May
Acquired full ownership of operator of Latin American real estate portals, RESEM Corporation (RESEM)
Nov.
Founded LIFULL ArchiTech as a collaboration with the Nagoya Institute of Technology to develop new construction methods
Founded LIFULL CONNECT S.L.U. as a holdings company for Trovit, Mitula and RESEM
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2020
Jul.
Acquired full ownership of operator of the Japanese real estate investment website, Kenbiya Co., Ltd.
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2022
Feb.
Invested in company providing STO services via blockchain, Hash DasH Holdings Co., Ltd.
Mar.
Absorbed LIFULL MOVE CO., Ltd. (consolidated subsidiary) into LIFULL HOME'S
Apr.
Transferred to the Tokyo Stock Exchange Prime Market as a part of the reorganization of the Tokyo Stock Exchange
Sep.
Transferred all shares of consolidated subsidiary, LIFULL Marketing Partners Co., Ltd. (currently, DI Marketing Partners Co., Ltd.) to Digital Identity Co., Ltd.
Oct.
Transferred all shares of equity method affiliate, Rakuten LIFULL STAY Pte. Ltd., to Rakuten Group Inc.