Email Options for Small Businesses in Japan
Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace have long been the de facto digital email services for many small busineses here in Japan. They combine cloud productivity, collaboration, and compliance in neatly packaged ecosystems. And...yet rising privacy concerns, subscription costs, and dependence on foreign cloud providers are starting to change the way mindsets are thinking. Buisneses are starting to consider more sovereign and open alternatives. Applications like Nextcloud and Collabora have successfully replaced file sharing, document collaboration, and scheduling tools, email remains the last hard link tethering companies to major providers. The question is: what are the privacy-respecting, open-source–friendly email services that businesses in Japan can trust without resorting to self-hosting mail servers?