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Does Japan really want foreign entrepreneurs? It's always been very conservative and while they may be polite to foreigners, that's very different from allowing

Does Japan really want foreign entrepreneurs? It's always been very conservative and while they may be polite to foreigners, that's very different from allowing non-Japanese to expand a business there. I think it's ingrained in the culture, and some of these bridges Tokyo is building might be too little to catch up to SK or Germany.

masklinn 7y ago
> Does Japan really want foreign entrepreneurs? It's always been very conservative My understanding is they're also very financially conservative, I think it was pinboard who was talking about his experience as an independent entrepreneur?
- mariuolo 7y ago
  I also remember this guy's perspective: https://www.kalzumeus.com/2014/11/07/doing-business-in-japan https://www.kalzumeus.com/2014/11/07/doing-business-in-japan
  - alteria 7y ago
    Fantastic read, thanks for sharing!
  - masklinn 7y ago
    Ah yes, that's who I was thinking about, I confused patio11 and pinboard (sorry to both).
- techstrategist 7y ago
  Patrick (Patio11) wrote (still writes occasionally) extensively about his experience running his business from Japan.
  - masklinn 7y ago
    Indeed, that's who I was thinking about rather than pinboard, sorry 'bout that.
- godzillabrennus 7y ago
  Isn’t SoftBank a Japanese group?
  - adventured 7y ago
    Masayoshi Son (founder & CEO of SoftBank) has been infamous in Japan since the 1990s for rattling the very conservative Japanese business environment. He has been considered a maverick, an outlier there since the beginning. Both in his thinking and his actions; his willingness - almost eagerness - to pursue higher risk endeavors that few business people in Japan would similarly consider.
- JauntTrooper 7y ago
  It’s interesting how much times have changed. If you read Phil Knights autobiography about starting Nike, he couldn’t get funding in the US and actually raised a lot of capital from Japanese financiers in the 70s.
  - erikig 7y ago
    Raising capital from Japanese financiers to run a business in the US is different from launching and running a business in the US
Causality1 7y ago
I think it's a valid choice for a country to decide that the economic boon from foreign entrepreneurs isn't worth it if those people can't speak your language. I'd certainly be irritated if someone opened a business in my town and couldn't speak English, and the US is a lot less homogeneous than Japan.
- debatem1 7y ago
  So, I don't understand this perspective at all. Help me get it. It seems to me that speaking a language is a skill. I know from my own experience trying to learn a second language that it isn't an easy skill for many people to acquire. Why should I be more irritated that someone doesn't speak English than that they, say, can't make a cabinet or can't write Java, or any other mildly demanding skill? I get the argument that someone who doesn't speak your language doesn't participate fully in your culture either, but I guess I'm still not sure why I should be upset about that. Seems like something for them to be worried about. Sorry if I'm making an argument here, but I hear this quite a bit and it doesn't make sense to me.
  - GVIrish 7y ago
    Yes I have a hard time understanding that perspective as well. If someone opens a business in my city and doesn't speak enough English (or Spanish) to complete a business transaction, I just wouldn't do business with them, and it'd be their loss not mine. The only way it would irritate me is if an essential business like the grocery store was completely staffed with people who don't speak a language I understand. In that case I don't have much an option to not to business with them. I think a lot of people in countries like the US get worked up when people speak a language they don't understand because they feel excluded. And somehow it's vaguely threatening to have people talking and you are specifically cut out of the conversation.
  - clay_the_ripper 7y ago
    Making cabinets and speaking the language of a culture that is necessary to succeed are not the same thing at all. Yes they are both skills but the similarity ends there. Do you think a Japanese person who doesn’t speak English could build a successful company in the US without the help of someone who speaks English? It would be impossible.
rootsudo 7y ago
Yes, they do. They've opened up the gates. Funding minimum is 5 million JPY. The issue is language barrier and price. You can go to China, Vietnam, Philippines and Indonesia to get much cheaper labor. But not the infrastructure or trust and safety.
- jariel 7y ago
  "The issue is language barrier and price." I think this is kind of a 'new world' view. Japan is not Canada/America/New Zealand, or even UK which is easy to adapt into for historical reasons. The issue is 'culture' - of which 'language' is only the most apparent barrier. Japan has 1) a very complicated culture and 2) it's ethnocentric. These two things are related, because with such a complicated culture, it can take a very long time to adapt, and probably a lot of effort. Newcomers who don't make a concerted effort over a very long time won't ever make it to that level. One might argue that to be truly integrated, one might have to be 'born and raised' there. To boot, because there are so few who don't fit this mould, this has the additional effect of reinforcing in the minds of Japanese (or any such culture), that even individuals who have conquered the cultural artifacts but who 'look different' aren't really 'Japanese'. Aside from ethnocentric concerns over 'what makes a Japanese person Japanese' which is surely controversial ... it makes it very difficult for newcomers to participate. These things are neither 'government mandates' nor can they simply be bound into issues such as 'language and food' (although language is a big one) - it's a pervasive and intrinsic nature of the nation. It's such a 'big thing' that I'd say whatever they do to attract foreign talent probably has to address this Elephant in the room.
- vosper 7y ago
  I think GP might mean "Japan" as in "the people of Japan" rather than the Japanese government. The government putting some things in place on their side doesn't necessarily mean that foreign entrepreneurs will actually be welcomed in everyday life, finding customers, suppliers, etc...
  - rootsudo 7y ago
    Because no one wants to deal with someone who can't speak Japanese on Japan. As I stayed above, it's a barrier of entry.

masklinn 7y ago

> Does Japan really want foreign entrepreneurs? It's always been very conservative My understanding is they're also very financially conservative, I think it was pinboard who was talking about his experience as an independent entrepreneur?

mariuolo 7y ago
I also remember this guy's perspective: https://www.kalzumeus.com/2014/11/07/doing-business-in-japan https://www.kalzumeus.com/2014/11/07/doing-business-in-japan
- alteria 7y ago
  Fantastic read, thanks for sharing!
- masklinn 7y ago
  Ah yes, that's who I was thinking about, I confused patio11 and pinboard (sorry to both).
techstrategist 7y ago
Patrick (Patio11) wrote (still writes occasionally) extensively about his experience running his business from Japan.
- masklinn 7y ago
  Indeed, that's who I was thinking about rather than pinboard, sorry 'bout that.
godzillabrennus 7y ago
Isn’t SoftBank a Japanese group?
- adventured 7y ago
  Masayoshi Son (founder & CEO of SoftBank) has been infamous in Japan since the 1990s for rattling the very conservative Japanese business environment. He has been considered a maverick, an outlier there since the beginning. Both in his thinking and his actions; his willingness - almost eagerness - to pursue higher risk endeavors that few business people in Japan would similarly consider.
JauntTrooper 7y ago
It’s interesting how much times have changed. If you read Phil Knights autobiography about starting Nike, he couldn’t get funding in the US and actually raised a lot of capital from Japanese financiers in the 70s.
- erikig 7y ago
  Raising capital from Japanese financiers to run a business in the US is different from launching and running a business in the US

Causality1 7y ago

I think it's a valid choice for a country to decide that the economic boon from foreign entrepreneurs isn't worth it if those people can't speak your language. I'd certainly be irritated if someone opened a business in my town and couldn't speak English, and the US is a lot less homogeneous than Japan.

debatem1 7y ago
So, I don't understand this perspective at all. Help me get it. It seems to me that speaking a language is a skill. I know from my own experience trying to learn a second language that it isn't an easy skill for many people to acquire. Why should I be more irritated that someone doesn't speak English than that they, say, can't make a cabinet or can't write Java, or any other mildly demanding skill? I get the argument that someone who doesn't speak your language doesn't participate fully in your culture either, but I guess I'm still not sure why I should be upset about that. Seems like something for them to be worried about. Sorry if I'm making an argument here, but I hear this quite a bit and it doesn't make sense to me.
- GVIrish 7y ago
  Yes I have a hard time understanding that perspective as well. If someone opens a business in my city and doesn't speak enough English (or Spanish) to complete a business transaction, I just wouldn't do business with them, and it'd be their loss not mine. The only way it would irritate me is if an essential business like the grocery store was completely staffed with people who don't speak a language I understand. In that case I don't have much an option to not to business with them. I think a lot of people in countries like the US get worked up when people speak a language they don't understand because they feel excluded. And somehow it's vaguely threatening to have people talking and you are specifically cut out of the conversation.
- clay_the_ripper 7y ago
  Making cabinets and speaking the language of a culture that is necessary to succeed are not the same thing at all. Yes they are both skills but the similarity ends there. Do you think a Japanese person who doesn’t speak English could build a successful company in the US without the help of someone who speaks English? It would be impossible.

rootsudo 7y ago

Yes, they do. They've opened up the gates. Funding minimum is 5 million JPY. The issue is language barrier and price. You can go to China, Vietnam, Philippines and Indonesia to get much cheaper labor. But not the infrastructure or trust and safety.

jariel 7y ago
"The issue is language barrier and price." I think this is kind of a 'new world' view. Japan is not Canada/America/New Zealand, or even UK which is easy to adapt into for historical reasons. The issue is 'culture' - of which 'language' is only the most apparent barrier. Japan has 1) a very complicated culture and 2) it's ethnocentric. These two things are related, because with such a complicated culture, it can take a very long time to adapt, and probably a lot of effort. Newcomers who don't make a concerted effort over a very long time won't ever make it to that level. One might argue that to be truly integrated, one might have to be 'born and raised' there. To boot, because there are so few who don't fit this mould, this has the additional effect of reinforcing in the minds of Japanese (or any such culture), that even individuals who have conquered the cultural artifacts but who 'look different' aren't really 'Japanese'. Aside from ethnocentric concerns over 'what makes a Japanese person Japanese' which is surely controversial ... it makes it very difficult for newcomers to participate. These things are neither 'government mandates' nor can they simply be bound into issues such as 'language and food' (although language is a big one) - it's a pervasive and intrinsic nature of the nation. It's such a 'big thing' that I'd say whatever they do to attract foreign talent probably has to address this Elephant in the room.
vosper 7y ago
I think GP might mean "Japan" as in "the people of Japan" rather than the Japanese government. The government putting some things in place on their side doesn't necessarily mean that foreign entrepreneurs will actually be welcomed in everyday life, finding customers, suppliers, etc...
- rootsudo 7y ago
  Because no one wants to deal with someone who can't speak Japanese on Japan. As I stayed above, it's a barrier of entry.