Sales Email Policy

This Sales Email Policy (the "Policy") sets forth the conditions under which the Institute for Social Vision Design (the "Institute") receives sales-, marketing-, or solicitation-related communications (collectively, "Sales Communications") sent (i) through the contact form on isvd.or.jp (the "Contact Form"), or (ii) directly to any email address published on the Institute's website, business cards, or official documents ("Published Email Addresses").

Published: 2026-05-18 ／ Effective from: 2026-05-25 (after a 7-day notice period).

To preserve the Institute's capacity for research and practice on social issues, the Institute restricts unsolicited Sales Communications. This Policy serves both (1) as an explicit set of conditions presented to senders, and (2) as the legal basis for claims for receipt fees and tort damages reflecting the operational burden imposed on the Institute by unsolicited Sales Communications.

Section 1 (Sales Communication)

A communication that solicits the Institute or its officers and staff to purchase, license, commission, hire, or partner with any product, service, personnel, or content offered by the sender or the sender's organization. As a rule, a communication exhibiting two or more of the following objective signals is treated as a Sales Communication (subject to the safe harbor in Section 2 and the objection procedure in Article 5 Section 2):

1. Description of the name, price, features, performance, or case studies of a product, service, personnel, or content offering;
2. Typical sales vocabulary such as "proposal," "introduction," "free demo," "whitepaper," "appointment," "meeting," or "materials to send";
3. Industry-specific terms such as SEO/MEO services, advertising agency services, web production, recruiting support, personnel referrals, business outsourcing, sales agency services, or inside sales;
4. Self-referential expressions such as "our services," "our products," or "our solutions";
5. Generic or templated language lacking specific reference to the Institute's activities;
6. First-time contact from a sender with no transactional or consultative record with the Institute within the past 12 months.

Section 2 (Safe Harbor)

The following communications are not classified as Sales Communications based solely on signals under Section 1:

1. Collaboration proposals that directly connect to the Institute's domains of activity (social-issue research, public-asset revitalization, NPO operations, statistical analysis, education-sector partnerships, PPP/PFI, etc.) and make specific reference to such domains;
2. Press, education-sector, and public-interest corporation communications for interview or official purposes;
3. Communications from counterparties with a record of transactions, consultations, or correspondence with the Institute within the past 12 months;
4. Cases where signals under Section 1 appear not as templated sales boilerplate but with individuated context addressed to the Institute as a specific recipient.

Section 3 (Category Misuse)

A Sales Communication submitted through the Contact Form under a subject category other than "Sales / Business Proposals" while the body, subject line, or attachments contain content qualifying as a Sales Communication under Section 1.

Section 4 (Out-of-Form Submission)

A Sales Communication sent directly to a Published Email Address without using the Contact Form.

Section 5 (Excepted Communication)

A communication described in Article 5 Section 1. The fee provisions of this Policy do not apply.

This Policy constructs claims under distinct legal bases for each submission channel. Each channel's construction is self-contained and does not depend on another.

Section 1 (Via the Contact Form — Contract Formation)

1. Sales Communications to the Institute are received only when the sender selects the "Sales / Business Proposals" subject category on the Contact Form and explicitly checks the consent box for the fee terms in Article 4.
2. Where a sender so consents and submits, an unnamed receipt contract conditioned on payment of the applicable fees (constructed under Article 522 et seq. of the Japanese Civil Code by analogy) is deemed formed between the Institute and the sender.

Section 2 (Category Misuse — Contract Formation and Representation Breach)

1. A sender who consents (via the mandatory "no sales content" checkbox) and then transmits a Sales Communication in contradiction of that consent shall be liable for the fees under Article 4.
2. The basis for the obligation in Section 1 is that the consent display constitutes the sender's affirmation of intent to send in awareness of this Policy, and satisfies the incorporation requirement for standard-form contracts under Article 548-2(1) of the Japanese Civil Code.
3. Subject category selection is the sender's responsible representation act, and removal of this Policy's applicability on the ground of mistake is recognized only when the mistake constitutes an element of the legal act (Article 95(1)) and the sender is not at gross fault (Article 95(3)).

Section 3 (Out-of-Form Submission — Tort Liability)

1. Published Email Addresses are disclosed for the purpose of receiving operationally necessary communications (press interviews, recruitment applications, communications from existing counterparties, official communications, partnership consultations). They are not intended to receive Sales Communications as defined in Article 2. The Institute's website and this Policy serve as continuous, explicit notification of these usage restrictions.
2. Senders bear a duty of care, prior to sending to a Published Email Address, to confirm the contents of this Policy as published on the Institute's website. This duty arises under the legislative intent of Article 3 of the Act on Regulation of Transmission of Specified Electronic Mail (Anti-Spam Act, opt-in regulation) and the principle of good faith under Article 1(2) of the Civil Code, as a duty of care between business entities under prevailing social norms.
3. Where a sender breaches this duty of care and sends a Sales Communication, requiring the Institute to expend labor on review, recording, and response, such conduct constitutes unlawful interference with the Institute's operations. The Institute acquires a claim for damages under Article 709 of the Civil Code (tort), comprising the actual costs and opportunity costs of reviewing, recording, and serving a Policy Citation Notice for such communication.
4. The damages amount is fixed under Article 4 as a reasonable estimate of the actual costs and opportunity costs incurred per unsolicited Sales Communication. The basis of estimation is set out in the Annex: Damage Calculation Basis to this Policy.
5. The Institute may send a response email to first-time senders citing this Policy and notifying that this Policy applies to subsequent communications (a "Policy Citation Notice"). Where a sender resubmits a Sales Communication within 14 days of receiving the Policy Citation Notice without indicating cessation, the resubmission is treated by analogy to the contract construction of Article 3 Section 1.
6. Where the Policy Citation Notice cannot reasonably be served (spoofed sender, undeliverable recipient address, etc.), the staged construction in Section 5 does not apply, and the Institute retains only its tort damages claim under Sections 2-4 and implements domain-level blocking independently.

Receipt fees, penalties, and tort damages under this Policy are uniformly set at JPY 10,000 (excl. tax, fixed amount) per message, as follows:

These amounts represent the reasonable estimated actual cost and opportunity cost per unsolicited Sales Communication, as set forth in the Annex: Damage Calculation Basis. No punitive component is included; the amounts are within the scope of actual-cost recovery.

Section 1 (Exceptions)

The fee provisions of this Policy do not apply to:

1. Press and media inquiries (interview and lecture requests);
2. Applications and referrals for positions or contracted work the Institute is actively recruiting for;
3. Business communications from individuals or entities with an existing relationship with the Institute;
4. Communications for official purposes from national, prefectural, or municipal authorities, independent administrative agencies, or public-interest corporations;
5. Communications relating to events, programs, or projects organized, co-organized, or supported by the Institute;
6. Communications from senders who have obtained prior written (including email) authorization from the Institute to send Sales Communications;
7. Communications falling under Article 2 Section 2 (Safe Harbor).

Section 2 (Objection Procedure)

A sender against whom a claim is asserted under this Policy may file an objection in writing (email accepted) within 14 days of receiving the invoice. Upon receipt:

1. The claim is deemed withdrawn upon receipt of the objection, and the Institute maintains only its blocking measures. This withdrawal is a procedural measure for early dispute resolution and does not affirm the merits of the objection.
2. The Institute reviews the grounds of the objection (applicability of exceptions, denial of Sales Communication classification, Safe Harbor applicability, reasonableness of the amount, or other) and notifies the result in writing (email accepted) within 30 days of receiving the objection.
3. If the Institute does not accept the objection upon review, the Institute may issue a new invoice and reassert the claim. The payment deadline for the new invoice is 14 days from its receipt.
4. If the sender remains dissatisfied with the Institute's determination, final resolution is sought through filing with the competent court under Article 12.
5. If the Institute finds the objection reasonable, the claim remains withdrawn and any associated blocking measures are lifted.

1. The Institute issues a PDF invoice to the sender's email address as a statement of demand. The invoice states the amount under Article 4, the legal basis under Article 3 (contract construction / representation breach / tort damages), and guidance on the objection procedure under Article 5 Section 2.
2. The sender shall remit the stated amounts within 14 days of receiving the invoice. Where an objection is filed under Article 5 Section 2, the obligation is suspended until the procedure thereunder is concluded.
3. Where neither payment nor an objection is received by the deadline, the Institute may identify the sender's address via public records and serve a formal demand letter via certified mail.
4. The Institute may permanently block the sender's email address and domain. Blocking is implemented independently of the claim, whenever the Institute deems it necessary for its operations.

A sender wishing to discuss a Sales Communication with the Institute may use the Institute's separately offered "Sales Consultation" service (JPY 10,000 excl. tax, JPY 11,000 incl. tax, per 30-minute session). Sale terms including application, payment, and cancellation are governed by the Institute's Specified Commercial Transactions Act Disclosure. The service provides paid evaluation and feedback; it does not guarantee deal formation or contracting.

The intent of this provision is to deter unsolicited submissions while offering a formal paid channel for senders whose proposals are sufficiently valuable to justify the Institute's evaluative attention. Where a sender elects this service, the fees under Article 4 do not apply.

Partnership and collaboration proposals satisfying all of the following are not subject to the fee provisions and are received under the Contact Form's "Collaboration / Sponsorship Inquiries" category. These conditions also serve as the determination guideline for the Safe Harbor under Article 2 Section 2.

1. Specific reference to the activities of the Institute or Correlate Design G.K.;
2. Composed for the Institute as an individual addressee, not a templated mass distribution;
3. Includes the proposer's track record (e.g., past collaboration cases);
4. Articulates a reciprocal exchange of roles and value, not a unilateral sales pitch.

Sales Communications disguised as "partnership" proposals that do not satisfy these conditions are subject to the Category Misuse penalty under Article 4, finalized only after the Article 5 Section 2 objection procedure.

Section 1 (General)

The handling of personal information received in connection with Sales Communications is governed by the Institute's Privacy Policy.

Section 2 (Third-Party Transfer for Operational Notification)

For operational notification, the Institute may forward to a third-party communication tool (e.g., Discord) only the following: (a) the first 8 hexadecimal characters of the SHA-256 hash of the sender's domain (an irreversible pseudonymous identifier), (b) the subject line, and (c) the block reason. The sender's email address, name, and message content are not included.

Section 3 (Minimum Necessary Principle)

This transfer is conducted within the minimum necessary scope for operational notification and is not intended for recipient profiling or third-party provision. This transfer is described in this Article as notification of purpose under Article 27(1)(i) of the Act on the Protection of Personal Information (APPI).

1. The fee provisions of this Policy do not exclude the application of the Act on Regulation of Transmission of Specified Electronic Mail, the Consumer Contract Act, the Act on the Protection of Personal Information, or other applicable laws.
2. If any provision is held invalid by final judgment, the remaining provisions remain in full force.
3. This Policy does not limit the Institute's rights to claims based on tort, breach of contract, or other general-law remedies under the Civil Code, Commercial Code, or applicable statutes.

1. The Institute may amend this Policy from time to time.
2. Minor amendments (typo corrections, additions to exceptions, changes to remittance accounts, or other changes that do not disadvantage senders) take effect upon publication on the Institute's website.
3. Material amendments (price changes, scope expansion, addition of new penalty categories, or changes to the objection procedure unfavorable to senders) take effect 14 days after the Institute (a) publishes a change notice banner on the website top page, and (b) sends a change notification email to its email-list members.
4. The determination of "material" is made by the Institute under the criteria of Article 548-4(1) of the Civil Code (general benefit and reasonable necessity of the change).

This Policy is governed by the laws of Japan. Any dispute arising in connection with this Policy is subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the court of first instance having jurisdiction over the Institute's principal office. This Policy applies to Sales Communications received by the Institute in Japan, regardless of the sender's residence. All amounts in this Policy are denominated in Japanese Yen (JPY).

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The fixed amount of JPY 10,000 (excl. tax, per message) under Article 3 Section 3 and Article 4 is the reasonable estimated actual cost and opportunity cost per unsolicited Sales Communication, calculated as follows:

The hourly rate of JPY 3,000 reflects the lower bound of mid-tier managerial cost in small-to-medium enterprises in Japan, calculated as approximately JPY 4,000,000 annual compensation ÷ 2,000 statutory working hours × overhead multiplier of 1.5 (including social insurance and other indirect costs). This estimation is preserved internally with time-stamped work logs (who, when, how long) to serve as evidentiary support in litigation.

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Contact regarding this Policy: Contact Form (Subject: Other)

Related documents: Terms of Use ／ Privacy Policy ／ Specified Commercial Transactions Act Disclosure