One detail worth mentioning, and a few other bloggers have touched on this as well is that Japan, from a business perspective, can still be very xenophobic. Kin

One detail worth mentioning, and a few other bloggers have touched on this as well is that Japan, from a business perspective, can still be very xenophobic. Kind of a cultural and racial version of the "not built here" problem. If it's a problem for foreigner workers, it is likely a compounded problem once you throw in the high-risk nature of start-ups and the extremely risk-adverse cultural preferences.