Terms of Use

This page sets out the terms and conditions on which you may use "Nikkei BizRuptors" (the "Service"), developed and operated by Nikkei Business Lab Asia Ltd. ("NBLA", "we", "us", or "our"), through our website located at nikkeibizruptors.com (the "Website"), and any content, data, or materials available through the Service ("Content"). By registering for, accessing, or using the Service, you express your unconditional agreement to be bound by these Terms of Use. If you do not agree, you must immediately cease using the Service.

References to "User" (or "you") refer to any registered or authorized user of the Service.

The volume and scope of Content you are permitted to view, as well as the digital platforms on which you can access it, depend strictly on your registered User Type. We offer the following categories of Users:

The rights to access, purchase, and utilize functions on the Nikkei BizRuptors platform differ substantially by User Type, as outlined below:

*Verified Educators are granted direct, complimentary access to all Case Studies and Teaching Notes on the platform for instructional evaluation purposes without the need for a standard commercial purchase.

Educator Verification Process: To unlock full Educator functions, individuals must undergo a verification process by establishing their active academic affiliation with a recognized university. Acceptable verification credentials include:

- A direct link to an official institutional faculty directory webpage;

- An official verification letter issued by a university dean or faculty adviser;

- A formal letter of hire/appointment from the university;

- A clear photograph of a valid, school-issued Faculty ID card; or

- An alternative valid methodology pre-approved by NBLA.

NBLA will review and verify the submitted academic credentials, with confirmation generally provided within three (3) business days. Upon successful verification, Educator access will be activated. To maintain platform integrity, Educators are required to update and re-verify their academic credentials on an annual basis.

Upon registration, you must provide us with accurate, complete, and current personal data, including a valid email address and billing information. All data collected during registration or through subsequent interactions will be managed securely and processed strictly in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

You guarantee that all information provided to us is true and accurate, and that any registered payment method is legally valid and authorized for use. It is your sole responsibility to promptly maintain and update your account details (including email address, corporate affiliation, and billing records) via the Your Account page. NBLA is entitled to rely entirely on the information currently recorded in your account profiles.

The registered email address must correspond to a specific named individual; generic, shared, or departmental email text aliases (e.g., info@, contact@, department@) are strictly prohibited. Each unique User ID and password combination is strictly personal and intended solely for use by that specific individual. Sharing account credentials, transferring access, or permitting multiple individuals to utilize a single User ID to access the Service or Content is fundamentally prohibited. You remain fully liable for any platform activities executed using your User ID and are responsible for implementing reasonable security measures to prevent unauthorized use.

The Service provides three primary transactional models for acquiring Case Studies: Single Purchase, Multiple Case Purchase, or Coursepack Purchase. A "Coursepack" represents a thematic bundle of distinct case studies curated under a specific subject line. Both Educator and Practitioner users are permitted to compile custom Coursepacks using the platform's available catalog.

Taxes: Unless explicitly stated otherwise on the transactional webpage, all listed fees on the Website are inclusive of applicable sales taxes, VAT, or digital service taxes. A comprehensive legal breakdown of all applicable taxes will be displayed on the final invoice provided upon payment confirmation.

Additional Costs: Users are solely responsible for paying any operational processing fees, bank wire transfer fees, or financial commissions incurred during payment execution. Furthermore, you remain liable for any internet connection, cellular data, or telecommunication tariffs resulting from your access to the Website.

NBLA reserves the absolute discretion to offer portions of the Website or Content free of charge, and may modify, suspend, or terminate such complimentary access at any time without liability. We reserve the right to reject any purchase offer or registration request at our sole discretion, for any reason or no reason.

Platform transactions may be processed via credit card or authorized bank wire transfer. NBLA outsources all credit card payment handling, tokenization, and processing to Stripe Singapore, Inc. ("Stripe") through our authorized regional group entity, Nikkei Group Asia Pte Ltd., located in Singapore.

To facilitate secure transactional processing, you must input valid credit card data directly into the Stripe-powered secure portal. Stripe will securely manage, process, and retain tokenized billing details in strict compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS) and its own privacy guidelines. Neither NBLA nor Nikkei Group Asia Pte Ltd. collects, stores, or has visibility of raw credit card numbers or security codes. If bank authorization is denied or later rescinded, NBLA may immediately suspend access to the purchased Content. Under fraudulent or highly suspicious circumstances, we reserve the right to report transactional data to issuing banks, law enforcement bodies, or relevant regulatory institutions.

Due to the immediate, digital downloadable nature of the Content, all successfully executed transactions and content purchases are final. Once a transaction is confirmed and access is provisioned, no refunds, credits, or exchanges will be provided under any circumstances.

All Content, including text articles, case studies, teaching notes, data models, frameworks, graphics, and video, remains the exclusive property of NBLA or its specialized licensors, who retain all global copyrights, trademarks, database rights, and associated intellectual property rights.

Your platform registration grants you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to view and utilize the Content strictly within the explicit boundaries outlined in these Terms of Use and our accompanying Copyright Policy. You do not acquire any ownership stakes or proprietary rights. You are strictly prohibited from copying, reproducing, altering, distributing, licensing, selling, or creating derivative works of any platform material unless expressly authorized in writing by NBLA.

By utilizing the Service, you express your absolute commitment that you will not:

a) Publish, upload, or transmit any material to the Service that infringes upon the intellectual property, privacy, or proprietary rights of NBLA or any third party;

b) Transmit, post, or link to any defamatory, libelous, abusive, discriminatory, or malicious content that harms the integrity, dignity, or reputation of any individual or corporate entity;

c) Engage in fraudulent operations, identity theft, or any activities deemed illegal under applicable criminal and civil codes;

d) Deploy, publish, or transmit any offensive, obscene, threatening, or unlawful materials onto platform message systems or commenting channels;

e) Interfere with, disable, disrupt, or compromise the operational stability of the Service (including executing Denial of Service attacks, introducing malicious code, or overloading server infrastructure);

f) Attempt to circumvent platform barriers, digital rights management mechanisms, or access parameters designated for specific User Types;

g) Harvest, collect, or store personal identifier data belonging to other platform users without their express, verifiable consent;

h) Use any automated means, including web scrapers, spiders, robots, or data-mining utilities, to systematically harvest Content. Utilizing platform Content to train, test, or validate machine learning models, large language models (LLMs), or generative artificial intelligence systems is strictly prohibited without a separate commercial licensing contract;

i) Act in any manner that impairs the standard business operations, financial interests, or brand reputation of NBLA, Nikkei Inc., or their global subsidiaries;

j) Execute any other actions deemed inappropriate, harmful, or non-compliant by NBLA at its absolute corporate discretion.

NBLA reserves the right to systematically monitor and audit Content consumption patterns (including download frequency and bandwidth utilization) across all accounts to ensure compliance with these digital parameters.

NBLA reserves the right, at its absolute and sole discretion, to immediately suspend, restrict, or terminate your platform registration and account access without prior notice or liability if we determine that:

- You have breached any provision of these Terms of Use or the Copyright Policy;

- You lack the legal capacity to enter into a binding contractual agreement;

- You have outstanding financial debts or failed invoice obligations due to NBLA or the Nikkei Group; or

- You are engaged in, or are accessing the platform to gather competitive intelligence for, a business entity providing case study services similar to or competitive with this Service.

Any account termination shall occur without prejudice to any accrued financial liabilities, legal remedies, or contractual indemnities owed to NBLA at the time of termination. Upon account closure, all outstanding fees due to NBLA shall become immediately payable.

NBLA retains total operational autonomy to expand, reduce, update, or discontinue any aspect, feature, or catalog selection of the Service at any time. Any substantial, structural reduction in the scope of paid features will only take effect after providing reasonable advance notification to active subscribers and will apply starting from the subsequent billing cycle.

The Service may feature promotional advertisements or curated links pointing to external third-party web domains. Such external resource providers remain solely responsible for ensuring compliance with international statutes. NBLA does not endorse, verify, or assume any liability for the accuracy, lawfulness, or availability of external third-party websites, products, or promotional campaigns.

NBLA provides the Service and all Content strictly on an "AS IS" and "AS AVAILABLE" basis, without any warranties of any kind, whether express, statutory, or implied. While we strive to maintain a secure and functional digital environment, we do not guarantee uninterrupted platform uptime, error-free text content, or absolute transactional perfection.

The Case Studies and associated materials are published solely for general instructional, educational, and professional development purposes. No Content constitutes formal financial, legal, investment, or corporate advice. Users must obtain independent professional advice before executing complex commercial or investment transactions based on platform materials.

To the maximum extent permitted under applicable law, NBLA, its parent companies, global affiliates, and their respective directors or employees shall not be liable for:

- Any indirect, consequential, incidental, special, or punitive damages;

- Loss of corporate profits, business interruption, commercial data corruption, or damage to corporate goodwill; or

- Any loss resulting from user activities outside the strict parameters defined in these Terms of Use.

In all circumstances, the maximum aggregate financial liability of NBLA arising out of any legal claim relating to your use of the Service shall be strictly capped at the total financial amount paid by you to NBLA for the specific platform purchase or content transaction to which the legal claim directly relates.

Editorial Freedom: NBLA retains complete independent editorial control over the format, language, substance, and lifespan of all platform Content.

Severability: If any specific clause within these Terms of Use is determined to be invalid or unenforceable by a court of competent jurisdiction, that specific provision shall be limited or severed to the minimum extent necessary, and the remaining legal clauses shall continue in full force and effect.

Non-Assignment: You are strictly prohibited from assigning, sub-licensing, or transferring your platform rights or account access to any third party. NBLA may freely transfer its corporate rights and obligations under these Terms of Use to any corporate affiliate or successor entity.

Anti-Social Forces Exclusion: You solemnly warrant that you are not, and will not be associated with, an organized crime syndicate, corporate extortion ring, or any form of anti-social forces group ("Boryokudan" or equivalent). Any breach of this warranty shall trigger immediate account termination without refund.

Governing Law and Jurisdiction: These Terms of Use shall be governed by, interpreted, and construed exclusively in accordance with the laws of Japan. Any legal disputes, lawsuits, or conflicts arising from or relating to the Service shall be subject to the exclusive first-instance jurisdiction of the Tokyo District Court.

NBLA reserves the right to modify these Terms of Use at any time. We will publish updated versions alongside their specific effective dates on the Website prior to implementation. Your continued utilization of the platform following the publication of revised Terms of Use constitutes your definitive acceptance of the updated conditions.

Established: June 01, 2022

Revised (V2.0): June 05, 2026