Rebuilding JapanDen into
a Scalable Booking Platform
Travel Platform
MVP Launch
Ruby on Rails
API Integration
Booking System
UX Improvement
Adyen Integration
ClientJapanDen
ServiceRuby on Rails, JS, Design
DeliverablesFull Hotel Booking Platform
About JapanDen
JapanDen.com is an independent travel platform, designed to assist travelers in discovering and booking authentic accommodations across Japan.
Country
UK / Japan
Industry
TravelTech
Timeline
Sep 2023 - Ongoing
JapanDen is designed to be more than just a hotel search engine. It's evolving into a content-rich gateway for travelers heading to Japan offering not just rooms, but real insights, cultural context, and connected experiences.
The challenge
The platform was set to launch together with the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, but due to the global situation got derailed. We had to bring it up to spec for launch in 2025, in a world that had changed, both in technology and expectations. This included a new search engine, rework of legacy code and updated property database, payment SDK and live re-sync with partner API.
What we found:
- Incomplete booking flow with a complex API connection
- Inventory management without live synchronization
- Outdated payment gateway to bring to the latest working version, including security, reliability and user demands
- Backend panel that was needing content management.
- Missing hotel and room images
- Old versions of Ruby, Rails, JS libraries, and out-of-date dependencies
Partnership
Goal
From day one, we aligned with the clients' team and stakeholders. JapanDen needed to be more than a site that could process bookings. It had to be stable, flexible, and scalable - ready to support new products, partner integrations, multi channel content, and a marketing strategy that matched the ambition behind it.
Our shared goal was to
Launch a stable MVP before peak travel season
Lay the foundation for a multi-product travel platform
Improve usability and performance across devices
Give full control of the CMS to the content team
Build confidence - for users, staff, and future partners
The Result:
Before & After
Before We Got Involved
- Booking logic was not matching with latest integration and documentation
- The partner API lacked important functionality
- Lack of automated processes, both for the user and admin staff
- Outdated Ruby gems, Rails and JS libraries in need of an upgrade, multiple flows in need of general refactor
- Content updates required developer support
- Search results were unreliable and caused frequent timeouts
After Our Work
3,000+
Hotelsupdated with images, descriptions, and room data
Dynamic searchSearch now uses dynamic ranking and filters out error-prone results
tok|yo onser
Admin panelrebuilt with content visibility toggles and full editing access
Live bookings inventory, revenue and currency management
New Payment gateway drop-in integration supporting multiple product flows
Cross sale implemented as a separate flow, first step to a multi-product platform
Stable site and flexible foundation for future services making bookings possible
Clear Outcome
JapanDen has become a live and moving product. It's a functional,
extensible platform with the tools
to grow.
Whatwe delivered
From top to bottom, we transformed the full stack. Our team covered everything needed to get JapanDen moving and into the market.
What we delivered
Engineering
Backend (Rails)
Frontend (Rails with Stimulus JS and Hotwire)
API Integration
Dev Ops
Product strategy
Booking flow redesign
Multi-product logic
Rollout planning
Design Support
Full website redesign
Admin panel UI
Product UX fixes
Destination page planning
Q&A Testing
Automatic test coverage
Regression fixes
Real-world test booking
Data validation
Content Infrastructure
full CMS
Hotel image importer
Hotel description tools
Collaboration
Weekly Syncs
Roadmap planning
Daily team meetings
Clear Outcome
Ready to turn around your product
like we did with JapanDen?
like we did with JapanDen?
Let's build something that works-and lasts
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