JOURNAL
THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE IN JAPAN

Volume 58 • Number 7 • ¥1,000

THE VOICE OF GLOBAL BUSINESS IN JAPANMPowering Ideas
Eriko Suzuki, Miwa Seki, Kathy Matsui, and Yumiko Murakami
lead Japan’s first ESG-focused venture capital fund
ENTREPRENEURSHIPEDUCATION

ECONOMY

Advice on turning your big idea into a
successful business as an expat

US-raised entrepreneur Priya Sultan opens
paths to social innovation

Jesper Koll on how government canbest encourage economic growthStart It Up!

Social Impact

Startup Nation Japan

STARTUPSHEALTHCARE

CHUBU

Dealing with red tape and finding yourway to success in Japan

ACCJ drives innovation by bringing together
startups and big pharma

Reflecting on the region’s supportive
business environment

Smoother Paths

HxD 2021

Nagoya Means Business

The ACCJ
Is Working for You
During these challenging times, it’s more important

ACCJ members benefit from a virtual ecosystemthan ever to make sure you and your employeesthat helps member companies stay informed andstay connected, informed, and engaged, especiallyconnected, at a fraction of the cost of travel andwhen other professional development activities areconference fees. This invaluable resource includes

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the following beneﬁts:
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If you would like to explore membership opportunities, including extending
these beneﬁts to an unlimited number of employees, contact join@accj.or.jp
for more details or call your ACCJ membership representative.

PRESIDENT

Jenifer Rogers

5

Asurion Japan Holdings G.K.
CHAIR

PUBLISHER

Nurturing Ideas andCreative Minds

7

We take a look at the entrepreneurial
spirit in our business community

Eriko AsaiEXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Adapt, Innovate,
Discover, Connect

New Wai Gaya platform supercharges
ACCJ networking

GE Japan
TREASURER

Ryann Thomas

9

PwC Tax JapanIN MEMORIAM

Remembering Robert“Skipp” Orr (1953–2021)

10

Former ACCJ leader and US Ambassador
passes away at the age of 68

VICE PRESIDENTS

Yoko Furuyama (Kansai) P&G Japan G.K.

EVENT

MPower Partners:
Venture Capitalists

Eriko Suzuki, Miwa Seki, Kathy Matsui, andYumiko Murakami lead new ESG VC fundDeborah Hayden Finsbury Glover Hering
Amy Jackson Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturersof America (PhRMA)
Robert W. Roche (Chubu) Oak Lawn Marketing, Inc.
Eric W. Sedlak K&L Gates Gaikokuho Joint Enterprise
Yoshitaka Sugihara Netflix G.K.
Dave West Cisco Systems G.K.
GOVERNORS

Andrew J. Conrad Aflac
James C. Feliciano AbbVie
Harry A. Hill Better-U, Inc.
Mark Hosang (Chubu) Randstad K.K.
Douglas L. Hymas Fusion Systems Group
Tad Johnson Pratt & Whitney Aftermarket Japan KK
Saori Kanno REVLON K.K.
Mari Matthews The Bank of New York Mellon
Nancy L. Ngou EY Strategy & Consulting Co., Ltd.
Victor Osumi Delta Air Lines, Inc.
Frank Packard Synnovate Capital Partners
William J. Swinton Temple University, Japan Campus
Simone Thomsen (Kansai) Eli Lilly Japan K.K.

32

Start It Up!

Megumi Tsukamoto Caterpillar Japan LLC
SPECIAL ADVISOR

Advice on turning your big idea into a
successful business as an expat

Christopher J. LaFleur
McLarty Associates
PRESIDENTS EMERITI

Debbie Howard (2004–05)
Charles D. Lake II (2006–07)

16

Allan D. Smith (2008)
Thomas W. Whitson (2009–10)

EVENT

Entrepreneurship inJapan and Beyond

18

Oak Lawn Marketing co-founder
Robert Roche shares his personal journey

Michael J. Alfant (2011–12)

CHUBU

NagoyaMeans Business

Reflecting on the region’s supportive
business climate

CHAIRMAN EMERITUS

Kumi Sato
Cosmo Public Relations Corporation

20

ACCJ EXECUTIVE STAFF

Laura Younger

HEALTHCARE

Impact ofEngagement

22

Continuing our efforts to communicate
the value of investing in health

Executive Director

HEALTHCARE

HxD
2021

ACCJ drives innovation by bringing
together startups and big pharma

THE ACCJ JOURNAL

Christopher Bryan Jones
Publisher and Editor-in-Chief

24

To advertise or subscribe: comms@accj.or.jp

ESG

Do theRight Thing

26

Medline’s Tomo Hasegawa on theimportance of ethics to business success

The American Chamber of Commerce in JapanECONOMY

Make Japan aStartup Nation

How can government best encourage
economic growth?

Masonic 39 MT Bldg. 10F, 2-4-5 Azabudai
Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan 106-0041
Tel: 03-3433-5381 n Fax: 03-3433-8454 n www.accj.or.jp
The ACCJ is an independent membership organization not affiliated with any
government or other chamber of commerce. The ACCJ is a member of the Asia–
Pacific Council of American Chambers and values its relationships with Japanese,
American, and other nations’ business organizations.
Disclaimer: The ACCJ will not accept liability for any damages caused by thecontents of The ACCJ Journal, including, but not limited to, any omissions, errors,
facts, or false statements. Opinions or advice expressed in the The ACCJ Journal
are not necessarily those of the ACCJ.

28

EDUCATION

SocialImpactUS-raised entrepreneur Priya Sultan
opens paths to social innovation in Japan

40

STARTUPS

Smoother
Paths

Dealing with red tape and finding
your way to success in Japan

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PUBLISHER

By C Bryan Jones

Nurturing Ideas andCreative Minds

5

We take a look at the entrepreneurial spirit in our business communityEver since third grade, when my stepfather took
me to a store where we bought a rubber stamp
emblazoned with Jones Inc., the entrepreneurial spirit has been part of me. I used that little
stamp for a company that wasn’t a company to markfocused on environmental, social, and corporate governance. MPower Partners and its mission to “revolutionize Japanʼs venture ecosystem via greater globalization,
diversity, and innovation” was launched in June by
Kathy Matsui, former Goldman Sachs vice-chair;

the papers on which I captured my ideas for video
game concepts. I had a couple of “employees” whocontributed their own ideas, which we also stamped.
In those days of Atari 2600 cartridges and visuallyenthralling 8-bit adventures, the idea of creating myown games was exciting. While Jones Inc. never cameto be, a few other companies did as I grew up andfound my footing in the world of media, design, andpublishing. And I can trace those endeavors back tothat support from my stepfather, who himself owned
a small business.

Yumiko Murakami, who previously led the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s
Tokyo Centre; and Miwa Seki, who was head of asset
management company Clay Finlay’s Japan office.
I had the pleasure of attending an ACCJ event inJuly at which the three general partners were joinedby MPower Managing Director Eriko Suzuki, who wepreviously profiled here in The ACCJ Journal back inJune 2019, when she was a general partner at VC firm
Fresco Capital. I believe that what they are settingout to do is much needed in Japan’s effort to become
more competitive on the world stage, and I’ve written
an extended recap of the event starting on page 10.

This issue … is all about taking
an idea and turning it into abusiness, finding funding, [and]navigating the red tape.
This spirit is also the reason I enjoy working
with so many talented and inspiring businesspeople
through the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan(ACCJ) in my role as publisher of The ACCJ Journal.
Our community is filled with stories of ideas brought
to life and the determination to succeed as an expat
in an environment filled with challenges that sometimes differ from those in our home countries.
This issue of The ACCJ Journal is all about taking
an idea and turning it into a business, finding funding,navigating the red tape, and making the community
better for everyone.
In two feature stories, we gather the experiences,insights, and advice of nearly two dozen ACCJ members,from companies large and small, to help you chart a
course through the obstacles that may stand in yourway. With the country’s digital evolution and pushfor more foreign direct investment and business, thisis a wonderful time to be an entrepreneur in Japan.

MPowering Ideas
I couldn’t resist this playful title for our cover, inspiredby the story of Japan’s first venture capital (VC) fund

C Bryan Jones
Publisher andeditor-in-chief
cjones@accj.or.jp

Necessity Is …
Another bit of inspiration I got from chamber events
over the past month comes from our Kansai chapter,
where Oak Lawn Marketing, Inc. co-founder Robert
Roche shared how the company and its Shop Japanbrand came to be. What I love about the story is theway in which many of us can relate. Settling into a
new life in Nagoya and needing to find a way to makemoney, Roche took bold steps that paid off. Turn topage 16 to find out just what he did.
Speaking of necessity, new ideas are very muchneeded if Japan is going to maintain the level of health­care that so many of us appreciate as the aging society
and demographic shifts put increasingly morepressure on the National Health Insurance system.
The ACCJ is once again working to bring these ideas
to the surface and make them a reality through the
Healthcare x Digital (HxD) competition, now in its
second year. We have an overview of HxD 2021 beginning on page 22. And just before that, on page 20,
ACCJ Healthcare Committee Co-chair John Carlson
outlines a new approach to the chamber’s biennial
health policy white paper that will make the committee’s advocacy nimbler, allowing it to keep up with theever-quickening pace of change in healthcare needs.
I hope you find inspiration in this issue of The
ACCJ Journal. As always, if you have a story to share,
I’d love to hear from you at cjones@accj.or.jp. n

Listen to this story:
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THE ACCJ JOURNAL • VOL. 58 • NO. 7

NEW FROM THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE IN JAPAN

MAKE YOUROWN MEETINGS
Visit waigaya.app to start a new conversation andconnect with members who share your interests.

ACCJ Wai Gaya (ワイガヤ) is a new platform for open, informal
discussion among ACCJ members.
Looking for advice, connections to your peer group, or want to dive
deeper into a particular subject? Wai Gaya is your opportunity toconnect with like-minded fellow members who share your interests
and want to have an open discussion around ideas and challenges.
Set your own agenda or join a conversation today at:
waigaya.app.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

By Laura Younger

Adapt, Innovate,
Discover, Connect

7

New Wai Gaya platform supercharges ACCJ networkingOne of the greatest strengths of our international
business community is the varied experiences
and skills of our members. I’m proud of theway in which the American Chamber of Commerce inJapan (ACCJ) has transitioned to a virtual environmentthat allows us to serve the needs of the membership
through a robust schedule of events and meetings. But,
during the pandemic, tapping into our network for aless formal exchange of ideas and expertise (the way wewould during coffee breaks in more normal times) has
been a challenge.
This month, we’re launching a pilot project to help
members discover and connect with other members.
We’re calling it Wai Gaya, a term coined by Honda
Motor Company, Ltd. for their practice of convening
impromptu meetings among colleagues. At thesegatherings, everyone is encouraged to share theirideas—regardless of role or seniority. Wai wai gaya
gaya is also a Japanese expression used to describe
a lively environment, such as an izakaya, filled withconversation—the words being onomatopoeias
meaning chatter—and that’s exactly what we aim tocreate among members.

Supercharged Networking
Maybe you’d like to find members who have experience negotiating rents with commercial landlords.
Perhaps you want to bounce around ideas on a specificbusiness challenge with members who are facing asimilar issue. You may want to get some sound advice
on how best to leverage your experiences in Japan totake the next step in your career as an expat. Or maybe
you’re looking for new business
partners and simply want to expand
your network.
Using the Wai Gaya platform—
developed in-house by the ACCJ—
any member can suggest a topic
for conversation. The topics will bepromoted in our Insider email andcan be reviewed on the Wai Gayawebsite. If you see a conversation inwhich you would like to participate,just click “I’m interested.” Once
three members express interest,
we’ll open the ACCJ’s Webex

videoconferencing platform to schedule a meeting
among up to 10 interested members. We’re keeping
the number of participants low to ensure that all
parties have a chance to interact.

Nimble Ideas
Inspired by the world of startups and minimum
viable products, we’ve built Wai Gaya in-house using
a “no-code” platform. This new capability allows us
to test ideas without investing a lot of time or resources

Laura Younger
ACCJ
executive director

What Wai Gaya does isprovide a venue for those
topics and conversations
which lend themselves betterto conversation rather thanpresentation.
in their creation. If the membership sees value in
Wai Gaya and engages with it, we’ll enhance theplatform’s functionality. If it doesn’t take off, we’ll
shift our efforts to other new ideas based on input
and ideas from the membership.

Beyond Events
Planning and presenting formal events remains
the responsibility of ACCJ committees. What Wai
Gaya does is provide a venue for those topics andconversations which lend themselvesbetter to conversation rather thanpresentation.
We all look forward to the day
when we can return to in-person
meetings, as well as the introductions
and chats that happen over coffee
during the in-between moments ofour events. Our hope is that Wai Gaya
will fill this need—at least in part—and that the Wai Gaya model mightprovide value to the membershipeven after we emerge from ourcurrent virtual mode. n

Listen to this story:
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THE ACCJ JOURNAL • VOL. 58 • NO. 7

Still out there making surepeople have enough food.

Thank you.
SECOND HARVEST JAPANwww.2hj.org

IN MEMORIAM

By C Bryan Jones

Robert “Skipp” Orr(1953–2021)

T

he American Chamber of Commerce in Japan (ACCJ) has
lost a longtime member and leader, Robert “Skipp” Orr,
who passed away on August 12 due to heart failure at his
home in Kamakura. He was 68.
Orr played a key role in US–Japan relations over many decades
and helped lead the ACCJ during the 1990s as a governor (1995–96)
and vice president (1997–99). He guided Boeing Japan K.K. aspresident from 2002 to 2007 and served as chairman of the boardof the Panasonic Foundation from 2007 to 2010.
In September 2010, he was named US Ambassador to the
Asian Development Bank (ADB) and held the post until December
31, 2015. He continued to serve as a member of the ADB Institute
Advisory Council following his ambassadorship.
Orr’s contributions to US–Japan relations were recognizedby the Japanese government in 2018 with the Order of the RisingSun, Gold Rays with Rosette.

Memories
During his time as an ACCJ leader, Orr often wrote columns for
The ACCJ Journal. We asked some members who worked alongside Orr at the chamber for their memories.
ACCJ Chairman Emeritus Kumi Sato said that “Skipp was
the kind of person who, the longer you knew him, the more you
found out about his depth of knowledge and expertise, and hislife. He knew what he was talking about.
“He devoted his life to improving US relations with Asian countries,” she continued. “It seemed like he loved his job, and had astrong sense of duty to let everyone understand the challenges andsensitivities of these relationships. He cared. I’m so saddened that
he went too early and fast, and wish that we could have had morechats, to find out what he thinks of the world today.”President Emeritus Tom Whitson remembers Orr as “a longtime friend and ACCJ colleague who enjoyed life and could laughat himself. He didn’t mind being teased as ‘Mr. Ambassador’for his position with the Asian Bank in Manila. As an ACCJ vicepresident, Skipp’s knowledge of US–Japan trade policy and policy­
makers was very valuable to the chamber. He had a fascinating
career in politics, academia, industry, and with international organizations. I appreciated his willingness to share what he knew
with people less well-connected than he was, like me.”Orr (second right) with US President Bill Clinton at an ACCJ Town Hallmeeting on November 20, 1998.

Glen Fukushima fondly remembers working together with Orr.
“Skipp and I were friends from the 1980s, and we had a lot of fun in
the 1990s when I was ACCJ president and he was one of the vice presidents,” he recalled. “We worked especially closely with Ambassador
Walter Mondale (1993–96) and Ambassador Tom Foley (1997–2001)
on US–Japan trade issues, since Skipp was working for Motorola andI was working for AT&T. He later worked for Boeing and I worked for
Airbus, but we always maintained our friendship. We had a Zoom
call in April and exchanged emails in early August, only a week
before he passed away. I will really miss his great friendship.”Former ACCJ Executive Director Samuel Kidder said: “I first
got to know Skipp Orr when working on telecom market accessdecades ago—Skipp at Motorola, me at the US Embassy in Tokyo.
Through his years at Boeing, and then as Ambassador at the AsianDevelopment Bank, our paths often crossed or converged. It wasa privilege to be on the same team with him so often. His open
friendship and broad intellectual curiosity made him a special
colleague. So many of us will miss and long remember Skipp.”
And Don Kanak, who served as ACCJ president in 2002 andchairman in 2003, told The ACCJ Journal that he was shocked andsaddened to learn of Orr’s passing. “I met Skipp in Japan many years
ago, in Tokyo, when he was representing Motorola and then heading
Boeing, and I was with AIG,” he said. “We collaborated on a numberof ACCJ initiatives related to high-profile US–Japan trade issues.
“Skipp was an excellent strategist on trade and political economy and a joy to work with. He had an exceptional understandingof the value of long-term relationships in Japan, the United States,
and Europe. Not everyone knew Skipp’s background included a
deep knowledge of Europe and native German language skills, inaddition to Japanese,” Kanak continued.
“More recently, I was able to connect with Skipp while he servedwith distinction as the US Ambassador to the Asian Development
Bank, playing a big role building multilateral support for infrastructure in Southeast Asia and for sustainability. He was an extraordinary person and a good friend. We will all miss him greatly.” n

THE ACCJ JOURNAL • VOL. 58 • NO. 7

9

EVENT

10

By C Bryan Jones

MPOWERPARTNERSJAPAN’S FIRST ESG VENTURE CAPITAL FUND

J

apan has incredible potential to support innovative startups

in Business, Alternative Investment, Sustainability, and Kansai

and for strong economic growth. Yet it continues to fall shortcompared with the United States and many other countries.
Why is this? What can be done to turn the tide, energize business,and bring greater diversity and opportunity to the country?
These questions and more were addressed on July 19, whenthe American Chamber of Commerce in Japan welcomed Kathy
Matsui, Yumiko Murakami, and Miwa Seki, the co-foundersof MPower Partners, Japan’s first global venture capital (VC)
fund focused on environmental, social, and governance (ESG)
criteria. Managing Director Eriko Suzuki joined the three
general partners for the virtual event co-hosted by the WomenDiversity and Inclusion Committees.
Launched in June, MPower is on a mission to empower startups that are providing tech-enabled solutions to societal challenges
and to drive sustainable growth through ESG integration.
During the enlightening panel discussion, moderated by
Association of Women in Finance President Yuki Hasegawa, thegeneral partners and managing director covered a wide rangeof topics, including the challenges facing women founders, theimportance of diversity on boards, why Japan is falling short ofits potential, and why MPower has chosen to focus on startups
rather than larger established companies.

THE ACCJ JOURNAL • VOL. 58 • NO. 7

Idiosyncrasies
The session began with Hasegawa asking how Japan differs fromother countries when it comes to economic potential and ESG.
Murakami explained that, during her eight years with theOrganisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD),
where she was head of the OECD Tokyo Centre, she worked witha number of interesting data sets which helped her see common
elements in different scenarios that lead to economic growth.
“You need to have people who are well educated, you need tohave money to invest, and you need to have very good social infrastructure as well as general stability in the society,” she noted,
adding that a high level of technology is key.
“When you look at a lot of the data points around those metrics, Japan does extremely well. It is one of the best countries,
which has all the elements necessary [in order] to have verystrong economic conditions.
“Yet, Japan has not done all that well—especially over the
past 20–30 years—relative to the United States and countries in
Europe or even Asia,” she said.
This left Murakami wondering what is missing in Japan.
“You’ve got all of these great things—people, tech­nology, money,a very stable social and political environment—and realizing thiswas actually one of the triggers where I started to think, what
can I do? What can we do to change that?”
Matsui expanded on this.
“At least for me, I felt the sense of urgency. There was so muchpotential, but the situation, or the conditions, in this country
didn’t feel urgent enough,’’ said the former vice-chair and chief
Japan equity strategist at Goldman Sachs Japan. She retired fromthe company at the end of 2020 to start MPower.
“We know that Japan needs innovation. We know that Japanneeds to leverage its human capital. We know that there’s ¥2,000
trillion in cash sitting under futons. So, who’s going to make thatchange? Who’s going to start that progress?” she asked. “We are,perhaps, one small grain of salt in this vast landscape, but what
is it that we can bring to this dialogue from our own experiences
and, frankly, what do we want to do with the next chapter of ourlives? That’s what prompted this whole idea generation.”
Diversity also played a key role in the genesis of MPower,
added Seki, an associate professor at Kyorin University who spent
more than 20 years at Morgan Stanley and Clay Finlay. This issomething that she, Matsui, and Murakami felt was lacking inJapan which they could bring to the table to help address the lackof global perspective that sometimes hampers Japan’s growth.

Personal Stories

Photo: MPower Partners

While the struggle of women founders to find equal footing withmen remains a serious issue in 2021, Murakami shared the inspiring story of her mother’s entrepreneurial spirit and successthree decades ago.
A housewife until age 47, she opened her first “tiny little drugstore” as she neared 50. The shop did very well, so she opened
another, and another. Soon she was running the largest drugstore
chain in western Japan.
“She was the only woman in this business, and no one else waslike her, which really helped her in terms of understanding themarketplace and where opportunities were,” Murakami explained.
“This is going back to the 1990s. Japan was starting to have thisdemographic crisis, but no one knew about it—except for housewives, who were taking care of their in-laws. In my hometown,[aging] was already starting to occur, but it was really not visible
to anyone else—especially not to those big companies based inTokyo. So she was able to identify this incredible oppor­tunity
basically to cater to the silver economy.”
Today, the silver economy—products and services designed
to meet the needs of people aged 60 and over—is very lucrative,
but at the time that Murakami’s mother was building her drugstore business no one yet knew this was going to be the case. It wasa different perspective that allowed her to see things from outside.
“My mother, because she was a minority in this business, was able
to identify that,” Murakami said.
The story also highlights something that remains an obstacle
30 years later, something MPower hopes to change.
“It was really hard for her to obtain capital. Because she
was a woman, because she was a housewife, she had to use myfather’s name to take out loans. It was the only way for her toraise funds for her business expansion,” Murakami continued.
“So, the moral of the story is, I think, opportunities like that are
actually abundant. You just have to be able to look at the same
opportunity or situation from a different angle and realize, oh,that is not yet addressed in terms of potential demand or needs.
And I think that’s really exciting for us, because there are somany opportunities that have not been discovered. I think we
can unlock some of these really interesting opportunities in theJapanese business setting.”

Focus on ESG
Moving to the foundation of MPower, Hasegawa asked about theareas on which the group would like to focus.
Suzuki, a former general partner of global VC fund Fresco
Capital and former director of Mistletoe, a social impact-focused
VC fund founded by Taizo Son, noted that while most people arefamiliar with the concept of ESG, they may not realize that it isstill early days for ESG in the VC space. MPower sees this as anopportunity and is working on solutions to help startups.
“What we mean by early is there aren’t many frameworks oragreed-upon metrics to measure ESG progress within the startups
and private-company space,” she explained. “We are assembling a
lot of tools on our end and customizing them for each company.
It differs by industry, so startups in a healthcare sector would havedifferent metrics from a startup in a pure software and digitaltransformation sector. It is customized by the industry of thestartup, and also slightly by stage.”
Given that startups in the early stage of development will
have a different environment and probably fewer resources compared with those in later stages, MPower is focusing on mid- tolate-stage companies, Suzuki said. This is because, she explained,
they have a more established foundation on which to incorporate
ESG principles.
Globally, ESG is becoming more important to venture capitalists, according to Suzuki. This is especially true in Europe. In the
United States, while ESG is important, there has been more focus
on diversity, equity, and inclusion given the social dialogue aroundgender and racial diversity that has been taking place there in
recent years. When it comes to ESG, which parts of the acronym
are most important differs by company, and some organizations
may choose to focus on just one.
“Our stance, and I think this is the overall trend, is that they
are all important,” Suzuki said. “But what we are seeing is thatstartups may not realize this. They might think, oh, we are doing

THE ACCJ JOURNAL • VOL. 58 • NO. 7

11

12

$2 trillion$14 trillion$2 trillion$12 trillion$1 trillion

ESG Investment by Region
Investment products linked to ESG, in US dollars

Source: GSIA 2019 / Credit Suisse Global Investment Returns Yearbook 2020

something in [a particular] sector—perhaps it’s an edtech company focusing on social, the S—and we’re contributing to progressin society, so we are okay. However, investors are looking at all
aspects and, once these companies go public, they will be looked
up on the E and the G as well. So, we are tailoring a lot of thesemateriality concepts.”

some of these,” she said. “We understand the challenges, because
startups are resource constrained but, at the same time, theyneed to grow two or threefold per year. So, they need to balance
what types of initiatives they can take on. But we really tried
to align with the company that this is not a cost but is really an
investment in their growth.”

Case Study

Why VC?

Suzuki gave as an example of MPower’s approach its investment
in Japanese startup UniFa Inc., which uses the latest technologies
to support safe and secure childcare environments by reducing
the workload on childcare workers. The company is in the mid tolate stages of its launch.
“They are growing and are on their way to becoming a publiccompany quite soon. We have invested in them because we thinkthey are a growing business with all the types of innovation neededin Japan. This is a childtech company that, in Japan, is selling into
childcare centers—public and private—and they start out by selling sensors to prevent sudden infant death syndrome. These are

Given that Murakami, Seki, and Matsui have a collective backgroundthat is much more in the public equity market rather than VC,
they are often asked why MPower is focusing on unlisted companies as a VC fund rather than as a public market investor. Matsui
explained that it is a matter of finding the right companies withwhich there is a better chance of achieving ESG goals.
Noting fast-moving global trends toward more diversity on
boards, she gave as an example Nasdaq, which has a woman
president. A change to the requirements being proposed would
mandate that a company have at least two diverse board directors
to be listed on the exchange.

high-margin, high-technology solutions. With that, they build relationships with these childcare centers and provide other formsof digital transformation tools for the back end, to enable theservice providers to focus on actually taking care of the children
rather than doing a lot of paperwork.”
Suzuki explained that, before MPower invests in a company,
they want to make certain that the founders are interested in making ESG part of their core business. “We truly believe that incorporating ESG will grow the business and contribute to the bottom line
and enterprise value.” They identified such a desire in the leadersof UniFa prior to investment, and the company is very willing towork with stakeholders on all aspects of ESG.
“In terms of next steps, we will be identifying together withthe company—and the company itself will be setting—the most
relevant ESG metrics that they want to follow, and we will beworking with them very periodically, at least quarterly, to achieve

And such moves are not limited to the United States.
“We’ve already seen here in Japan, over the past few years,
institutional investors—be it State Street Global or Goldman
Sachs [in] asset management, or proxy advisors like Glass Lewis—
demanding in their voting guidelines that at least one diverse
board member be present—or at least be worked on—otherwise, they will cast an automatic no vote against management,”
Matsui said.
She also noted that many Japanese startups with which MPower
speaks say that they have a strong desire to diversify their boards
and are desperately looking for candidates. So, if you are interested in becoming a board member, MPower would like to know,
as they are starting to help match companies and candidates. “It’squite different, of course, serving on the board of a startup versus
that of a large publicly traded company, but we think there are a lotof amazing learning opportunities that could be had,” Matsui added.

THE ACCJ JOURNAL • VOL. 58 • NO. 7

Returning to the reason MPower is focusing on
startups, she explained: “We felt that trying to change
larger, established companies is quite difficult for awhole host of obvious reasons. It’s important here torecognize that we know there’s a lot of what we callgreenwash risk. It’s very easy to tick boxes but much
more difficult to actually implement ESG in your corebusiness strategies.”
For MPower to achieve its goals, the founders feelthat it is better to work with startups and younger
companies, “maybe in their teenage phase,” as Matsui
put it, to integrate ESG.
“Perhaps it’s not easy, of course, but it’s easier to integrate ESG values and principles at that younger stageof a company’s development, before they go public,
before they are acquired,” she explained. “And we’vebeen very positively surprised. We look at domestic
Japanese startups as well as overseas startups. Maybe
its selection bias, but most of the entrepreneurs we’remeeting are very keen to fix the ESG areas that they
deem weak. So, we’re really positively surprised by the
direction thus far.”

Fostering Change
Matsui recalled with a laugh something said to her
by a foreign investor when she began researching
Japanese corporate governance more than 20 years
ago: “Kathy, you’re trying to convince vegetarians tobecome carnivores.” But eventually Japan adopted abusiness and economic sense, not because it is being
mandated by regulations.
“If you don’t start with that argument, I think it’svery, very difficult to convince the naysayers or theskeptics why this is important,” she said. “So, to me,
having a different perspective and a different pointof view to challenge the status quo is one of the mostimportant things that diversity of thought brings to
the discussion.”

Social Solutions
What is it that attracts MPower to the ESG space,
and what do the partners see as Japan’s competitive
advantages and weaknesses?
Seki began her answer by highlighting Japan’s
position as a kadai senshin koku, a country withmany emerging social issues to tackle. Aging is at theforefront, but the lack of diversity in corporate management and low productivity are problems as well.
“Identifying startups to provide the best solutions to those social issues will be a huge opportunity
for us,” she said. “Putting ESG aside, there is a hugefunding gap in the VC field, especially in the growth
to later-stage funding. That provides us with a huge
opportunity to support those startups that are willingto—or are trying to—go global. And the lack of diversity and the aging of society are also great opportunities for companies—and for us as well—to bringdiversity to the table.”

THE LACK OF DIVERSITY AND THE AGING OF SOCIETY ARE ALSOGREAT OPPORTUNITIES FOR COMPANIES — AND FOR US AS
WELL — TO BRING DIVERSITY TO THE TABLE.
stewardship code, in 2014, and a corporate governancecode, in 2015. Despite these requirements, the management of many companies is seen as reluctantly
going along with something they know they must do
but which they “do not really have in the bottom of
their hearts and do not really get,” Matsui said. Many
do not want to spend money on initiatives around gender diversity, for example. They don’t see the benefit.
“I think the biggest roadblock is that of mindset,[understanding] that this is not a cost, but an investment in their future,” she continued. “And I think that a
lot of the governance-related challenges that Japanesecompanies—at least the large ones—have faced, if you
look at the root cause of these problems, stem from anecho-chamber decision-making process. Their pastpresidents or chairmen—even though they don’t havean official vote—are all hanging around. We call it
ghosts in the boardroom.”
Once a company does see the need and benefit, thenext step is helping them understand that the process
is a marathon, not a sprint, Matsui explained. It must
be understood that all the training and education involved in the transition is being done because it makes

13

Matsui noted that Japanese companies tend toscore relatively high for the E in global sustainability
studies, but are weaker when it comes to the S and theG. And in terms of the E, meeting the government’s
ambitious target of being carbon neutral by 2050 willbring serious challenges to corporations in Japan.
“What some companies are complaining about
is that this effectively is a tax on them, if they have to
go in that direction,” Matsui said. “So, even though
on the surface Japanese companies look like they’rereally stronger in the E, just given how rapidly theworld is changing they are going to have to double
down on their efforts on the E. But also on the S andthe G there is a lot of work to be done. That is an absolute opportunity for a fund like ours and investors
like ourselves to help companies who want to provide
those solutions in those spaces.”

Kathy Matsui
General partner

Miwa Seki
General partner

Yumiko Murakami
General partner

Eriko Suzuki
Managing director

Frameworks and Urgency
One need only turn on the news to see how climatechange is impacting our lives on a daily basis. Murakami
said there has been a lot of discussion about climate risk,
but people are beginning to realize that the problem

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15

Photo: MPower Partners

Longtime friends Matsui, Murakami, and Seki chose the name MPower because all three of their maiden names start with M, Seki‘s being Matsuo.

isn’t going away. Efforts must be accelerated, and more agreement on
how to measure and report the effectiveness of actions is needed.
Among the initiatives underway this year are the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), to be held November
1–12 in Glasgow, Scotland, and a working group announced on
March 22 by the International Financial Reporting Standards(IFRS) Foundation, “to accelerate convergence in global sustainability reporting standards focused on enterprise value, and toundertake technical preparation for a potential internationalsustainability reporting standards board under the governanceof the IFRS Foundation.”
Murakami said these are very exciting moves that everyone
should be watching, because one of the problems is that, with somany frameworks in use around the world, it is difficult to reallymeasure what is driving the climate change we are seeing. “Yes,it is hotter, it rains more, and we feel climate change impacting us… but it’s difficult to move the needle when you don’t know where
the needle stands.”
MPower has been developing its own framework for measuring
and reporting, one better suited to VCs than to large companies,
and they have looked at various existing frameworks in the process.
But Murakami is looking forward to a consolidation of the hundreds that are currently out there down to just two or three globally
accepted standards that can be used as guidelines for companies
to measure where they stand on ESG. “I think that’s a very exciting
development that we’re actually watching this year.”

Shifting Needs
The aging of society, expanding role of technology, and efforts tomitigate the impact of climate change are all remaking the jobmarket landscape. Hasegawa asked if the Japanese governmentis doing enough to address the need for skills in emerging areas
and the potential displacement of workers as industries change
as a result of the country’s pursuit of carbon neutrality.
Murakami said one of the greatest challenges for Japan is toaddress the very rigid employment system that makes it difficultfor people to reskill themselves and find jobs.

“One thing the government really needs to do is to encourage companies to become a lot more flexible and understand thechanging demands of the labor market—and of their customers
as well—so that they can adjust the skill sets of their employees
by not only reskilling or upskilling them, but also making sure thatthey can provide opportunities for people who may be joining acompany at the age of 25 or 35 instead of 22,” she said.
In addition, there must also be a merit-based compensation
system and promotion scheme. That is an area where Murakamifeels many companies are trying to change, but have not fully done
so yet—in part due to policies and regulations that are preventing
them from moving to more merit-based systems.

Empowering Women
While MPower is not focused exclusively on female founders,encouraging more women to pursue entrepreneurial paths andworking to close the gender gap in financing is one of their goals.
And as Murakami’s story about her mother shows, women often
bring a perspective and insight that reveals a solution which men
may not see.
But traveling the road to that solution requires money, andone challenge for women looking to raise capital is that most investors are male. Suzuki pointed out that fewer than 10 percent
of decision-making investors in the VC space are female, andjust four to five percent of VC is invested in woman founders.
A common belief among investors, Suzuki said, is that womenare unable to take risks. But studies have found that female
founders actually return capital at a greater rate than their malecounterparts. They may also be more conservative in terms of the
projections they share with investors compared with their malepeers, who tend to be more aggressive. But whereas the men don’tnecessarily hit their targets, the women tend to be very stable.
“So, there’s a lot of great potential there, and we’d love to see
entrepreneurialism in various areas solving some of the issues
that women are facing,” Suzuki added, pointing out how thecaretaking burden disproportionately falls on women. “That issomething we hope to see in the next generation.” n

THE ACCJ JOURNAL • VOL. 58 • NO. 7

EVENT

By C Bryan Jones

Entrepreneurship inJapan and Beyond

16

Oak Lawn Marketing co-founder Robert Roche shares his personal journey

W
Robert Roche
Executive chairman
and president
Oak Lawn Marketing, Inc.
ACCJ vice-president
Chubu

Michel Weenick
Senior vice president,
design and construction
MGM Resorts Japan LLC
Co-chair
ACCJ-Chubu External
Affairs Committee

Harry Hill
CEO and president
Better-U, Inc.
ACCJ governor

Listen to this story:
accj.or.jp/soundhen entrepreneurs consider entering theJapanese market, often they eye the nation’s capital as their starting point. The
allure of Greater Tokyo, with its population of morethan 35 million, is strong. But ask American Chamberof Commerce in Japan (ACCJ) Vice President-Chubu
Robert Roche where you should start and he’ll invite
you west, to the city of Nagoya.
It was there that the entrepreneur, investor, civic
leader, and philanthropist got his start building businesses, and he believes that the capital of Aichi Prefecture, in the central Japan region of Chubu, remains
one of the best places in the country for entrepreneurs.
He expanded on this while also sharing his personal
business journey on September 3, during an event
hosted by the ACCJ-Chubu Programs Committee.
The virtual session was a one-on-one discussion between Roche and his longtime friend and ACCJ-Chubu
External Affairs Committee Co-chair Michel Weenick.
Together, in 1990, they helped found the American
Business Community Nagoya (ABCN), a hub for the US

business, and I had my ‘business’ that really wasn’t abusiness—it was just me kind of doing stuff,” he shared.
“Then he and I formed H&R Consultants together, andthat was really the beginning of a successful creation ofa business. We are very complementary. He’s very goodat stuff that I’m not very good at, and I’m very good at
stuff that he’s less good at.”Roche said that’s how he got started on the entrepreneurial front. At first, they made just enough money
to survive. But after expanding H&R and earning a
bit more, he got into the import–export business.

and greater international business communities in
Nagoya. The ABCN became the Chubu chapter of the
ACCJ in 2000.

four-minute spot for Tiffany,” Roche recalled.
Soon he found himself selling Tiffany items on
television in Japanese—a stint that his mother-in-law
enjoyed critiquing—and the seeds for Oak Lawn
Marketing and Shop Japan were planted.
As a result of these appearances, Roche gained
a reputation for having access to the country’s TV
shopping market. One day, in 1992, he received a callfrom a company in Canada that was selling all sorts ofproducts on CNN. Viewers around the world could calla local number in their country and order items suchas the now-famous Didi Seven stain remover. But not
in Japan.
The company saw Roche as their path into themarket. They told him that he needed to have a call center, a fulfillment center, and all sorts of other things.
“I didn’t have a call center. I didn’t have logistics
ready. I didn’t have anything,” Roche recalled. “I said,‘Sure we got it, we’re gonna go, you just let us know.’
And then they said that we had to make a minimum
order. I asked how much, and we just scrambled to
get the money together. And we ordered all this stuff.”
At the start, Roche and Nakamura just ran calls
through their tiny 100-square-meter office. They
stored products there as well. The calls started rollingin, and the business grew. Doing fulfillment from theoffice wasn’t easy. “One of the products was a stepper

The Magic of Nagoya
Roche joined the session from China, where he currently invests and does business in addition to his US
and Japanese endeavors. But he remains very involved
in Nagoya. In 2018, he returned to Oak Lawn Marketing, Inc., the company he co-founded with Tadashi
Nakamura almost 30 years ago, as executive chairman
and president.
Although Oak Lawn Marketing, and its Shop Japan
e-commerce brand, are well known today, their startis sure to inspire burgeoning entrepreneurs. Roche
shared the story.
Recalling those early years after university, when he
had recently married, he explained: “My wife’s family isfrom Nagoya, and they didn’t want me to be anywhere
else. So, I had this constraint of needing to figure out
something to do. I didn’t know what to do, but [whatever it was] I needed to do it in Nagoya.”He soon met Harry Hill, a current ACCJ governor
who has long been a leader in the Chubu community
as well.
“Harry and I became partners pretty much thesecond day after we met, in 1990. He had his own

THE ACCJ JOURNAL • VOL. 58 • NO. 7

On AirInitially, Roche was importing Tiffany products and
L.L. Bean bags. His partner, Nakamura, being a local
with lots of connections in Nagoya, was able to set upsome meetings with a local TV shopping company.
“In the early 1990s, there was this show called
Waku Waku Terebi Shoppingu. They would tape a onehour program once a month and run it over and overon 25–30 stations. We were lucky enough to secure amachine, and some days we’d send out 100. We were landlocked,
trapped in the office until the Sagawa guy came and took the boxes
away,” he remembered.
“If I was a better planner, I would have had all that stuff inplace before the first call came. But we just had to adapt. And thatwas good, because we learned every key part of the business.
The very beginning, that was fantastic.”

Accelerated Growth“Learn Japanese if you’re going to do business in Japan,
because there are all these seasoned guys like Nakamura, who
could not have communicated with me in English. And I learned
from that guy. That’s what really made a difference.”

More Advice“Hire planners.” That was Roche’s tip when Weenick asked if heis a better planner today than he was 30 years ago, when he doveright into the pool of TV shopping. Often, entrepreneurs feel as
if they can do it all. But to really succeed requires surrounding
yourself with those who are more skilled in areas where you are
weak, just as Hill and Roche complement each other in theirbusiness endeavors.

The business grew incrementally until they were bringing in about¥1.5 billion per year. At that point, something different was needed
to take the next step.
“As entrepreneurs, we love chaos. We love to be the hero.
We love for there to be a problem andthen come in and solve that problem,”Roche said. “H&R Consultants kind of went
through this. Harry and I ran it, and then webrought in John Coomes to run it, and thenScott Reid, and then Harry went back to theStates and did a big development. When hecame back in 2004, there really wasn’t a spot
for either of us at H&R anymore.”
So, Hill joined Oak Lawn Marketingand this, Roche said, is when things reallybegan to take off.
“The company didn’t need a firefighter
anymore; it was getting pretty standard.
We had a nice foundation, but what really
moved it [to the next level] was that Harry
just took over and he banged it out,” heexplained. “I think that, from an entrepreneur’s perspective, there is always that time
Shop Japan has grown immensely since Roche’s TV Tiffany days. This store in the
LaLaport Shonan Hiratsuka shopping mall opened on April 26, 2019.
when, as a founder, you have to hand off.”Fast-forward to 2017 and Hill handedback the baton. “But he gave me a much bigger platform than I“My plan, basically, is to hire people to run the business who
gave him,” Roche said.
are better planners than me,” he said. “I hire people who can plan

Making Connections
For the success they have had, Roche credits the environment of Nagoya and the easier access to top executives compared with Tokyo.
One of the things he said was most important to him about
being a young entrepreneur in Nagoya was the access to people
whom he never would have met in Tokyo.
“There were all these real leaders of Japanese industry who
we had access to. We never did business with those guys ever, but
we learned from their demeanor, and they told us little things like,‘Don’t say it that way.’ You would say something [in Japanese] andthey would kind of twist their head and you would think, ‘Oh, that’s
not the way to say that,’” he recalled. “It was this almost subliminal
teaching from true leaders [that helped], and we never would havegotten access to that caliber of leader in Tokyo. The big businessguys of the ACCJ in Tokyo do, and now we do. But then? No way.”
To make the most of such opportunities, Roche advises
entrepreneurs to learn Japanese.
“If you think you can do this without speaking Japanese, you
can—you can be that unicorn—but I’ll tell you right now, it’s better to speak Japanese,” he said.
That’s because it’s the unplanned conversations you end up
having with people whom you didn’t plan to meet that can make adifference and lead you down unexpected—and fruitful—paths.

and not react—because I’ll react for them.”
Then Roche gave his biggest recommendation: Don’t take nofor an answer. “I was told no every day, 10 times a day. You can’t
do that. You can’t do that.” It’s one of the realities of Japan’s veryorderly society—with its resistance to deviating from exactly
what has been laid out—that can be discouraging to those wanting to explore new ideas.
But he encouraged people not to let the little things thatsometimes frustrate expats get to them. “There is a tendency to
get a little bit negative on Japan,” he noted. “We’ve all sat throughthose complaint sessions. Why do they do this? Why is it thatway? Why are a bunch of things out of our control? But, really, it’s
the positive nature of this that we should focus on. Japan is a very,
very good market, because things don’t change much. And the reality is that most people in Japan want to see foreigners succeed.”To sum it all up, Roche looked back at how, perhaps by lucky
chance, he was accepted into the local business community, themura (village), as he called it, and why it’s important to become
part of the group.
“If you hang out in the village long enough, you understandthe rules and you just get incrementally bigger and bigger andbigger. And then you can diversify. I do a lot of business in
China, and I do a lot of business in the States, but Japan is a really, really nice base, if you can keep it going.” n

THE ACCJ JOURNAL • VOL. 58 • NO. 7

17

CHUBU

By Robert Roche

Nagoya Means
Business

18

Reflecting on the region’s supportive business climateNow more than ever, Nagoya means business.
The Chubu region, and specifically the cityof Nagoya, has attracted many large techcompanies and manufacturers—from automotive toaerospace—because it offers a skilled and talented
workforce, affordable land, and a competitive costof living. With a dedicated focus on creating an innovation ecosystem, Japan’s fourth-largest city has
become an attractive location for small business owners and entrepreneurs.
Nagoya has traditionally been a center for manufacturing and industry, but as home to an innovative techscene it is also fertile ground for startups. As an expat
and a serial entrepreneur, I launched several businesses
in the early 1990s, of which two are well-known today:
Oak Lawn Marketing, Inc. and H&R Consultants K.K.
Oak Lawn Marketing was incorporated in Nagoya
in 1993. Now, more than 30 years later, that small start­
up is a direct-marketing giant with more than 1,000
brick-and-mortar Shop Japan stores selling some 3,500
products in locations across the country.
Over the past three decades, I’ve managed, investedin, or founded more than 50 companies around theworld. I chose Nagoya as the location for Oak Lawn
Marketing because it’s where I lived when I first cameto Japan. As an undergraduate and law student in the
United States, I participated in study abroad programs
at Nanzan University, where I met my wife.

Listen to this story:
accj.or.jp/sound

THE ACCJ JOURNAL • VOL. 58 • NO. 7

Starting a business in a foreign country—in mysecond language—was challenging to say the least.
Today it is much easier, and there are so many solid
business reasons to choose the supportive environment of Nagoya.

Big Market for Small BusinessWith so many people from abroad now doing businessin Japan, the business community in Nagoya has
become much more accustomed to working with nonJapanese. It is also very open to entrepreneurs. While
Nagoya is one of Japan’s largest cities, it is somewhat
off the beaten track. Yet, with 2.3 million residents, itoffers a market that is large enough to develop criticalmass. In addition, the cost of living is a fraction ofwhat it is in Tokyo.
Government support for small businesses andentrepreneurship has increased incrementally overthe past 20–30 years, and these enhancements all
add up to creating a solid environment for foreign
entrepreneurs to do business in Japan.
In addition, the government fosters entrepreneurial collaboration through communal spaces,
education, and networking opportunities. These
include the Nagoya Innovator’s Garage, created by
the Central Japan Economic Federation and Nagoya
City, as well as Nagoya Connéct, powered by Venture
Café Tokyo.

Local universities also provide educational andnetworking opportunities, while organizations—suchas the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan’s
Chubu chapter—offer outstanding opportunities for
networking and mentorship.

Startup Ecosystem
Recently, I participated in a government task force
on startups which brought local business leaders
together to enhance regional entrepreneurship andinnovation by combining different fields and creating
new industries. The goal is for central Japan to expand
beyond manufacturing into other industries.
I learned that, in 2019, startups in Aichi Prefecture raised the third-largest amount of funds in Japan.
The abundance of ideas, technologies, and support
services necessary for startups to grow is providing a
tailwind for new businesses. Large companies basedin Nagoya are instrumental in supporting the startup
ecosystem, and smart human resources are further
driving the local economy and actively engaging ininnovation activities.
In 2020, Aichi–Nagoya was named a “startup
eco­system global hub city” by the Cabinet Office. Thisecosystem aims to realize growth that drives the Japanese economy, and the creation of startups and newindustries continues to promote innovation in thiscentral region of Japan.
Government and local business leaders, as well asuniversities, are working together to form a globallycohesive innovation and startup ecosystem by utilizing the deep tech and manufacturing knowledge thatis the strength of the region.
As a lifelong entrepreneur, I’m excited about theopportunities offered to a new generation of dreamersand doers. There has never been a better time to starta business, nor a better place to do it than Nagoya! n

NagoyaResources for
Entrepreneurs
Startup Guide Nagoya
Developed by the Nagoya Innovator’s Garage and Nagoya
City, this guide—available in digital and print formats—shares practical information about startups, coworking
spaces, business programs, schools, and investors.
https://startupguide.com/shop/startup-guide-nagoya

Nagoya Innovator’s Garage
Created by the Central Japan Economic Federation and Nagoya
City, this coworking space furthers entrepreneurial collaboration through social nights, innovation events, and more.
https://garage-nagoya.or.jp/en/

Nagono Campus
Located in Nagoya City, this renovated elementary school
offers three types of offices and serves as an incubation
space in which to encounter and blend with people to create
new values and form new businesses.
https://nagono-campus.jp/englishguide/

Nagoya Connéct
Powered by Venture Café Tokyo, this innovation promotionand exchange program holds a free event on the fourth Friday
of each month that includes panel sessions, workshops, andnetworking opportunities.
https://venturecafetokyo.org/nagoya-connect/

National Innovation Complex
Part of Nagoya University, the National Innovation Complex
is home to the Promotion Office for Open Innovation, whichaims to establish a structure that enables companies anduniversity researchers to promote and manage large-scale
joint research projects.
https://www.agc.com/en/news/detail/1201303_2814.html

The Tongali Project
Offered by five universities in the Tokai region, this multifaceted program supports the next generation of entrepreneurs.
https://tongali.net/nagoya/

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19

HEALTHCARE

By John Carlson

Impact ofEngagement

20

Continuing our efforts to communicate the value of investing in health

JJohn Carlson
Senior strategic assistant
to Pharma Japan head
Novartis
Co-chair
ACCJ Healthcare
Committee

apan faces a very modern problem: its success indelivering universal health coverage and fostering
longer life expectancy has led to demographic
and social changes that are giving rise to a new set ofinterconnected healthcare challenges.
As the Japanese government moves to reform
its healthcare system to address these challenges,
new policy approaches will be necessary. Promoting
innovation in all areas of the system will allow forincreased healthy life expectancy and improved productivity, helping Japan move to the next phase of
economic growth. And all this can be achieved while
maintaining Japanese patients’ access to the most
cutting-edge medicines, technologies, and treatments,
while ensuring the security and stability of health andsocial care.
With the right approach and policies, Japan cancontinue to improve the health of its citizens and create a blueprint that aging societies around the world
can follow.

More Agile Advocacy
On the back of our successful health and retirement
work, the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan
Healthcare Committee is now moving forward withour biennial health policy white paper. The upcoming report will look different compared with earlier
reports. Previous white papers published by the
Healthcare Committee have included topics ranging
from the use of advance modeling and simulationin pandemic-related planning to improving cervicalcancer screening. However, the wide range of topics

made it difficult to maintain an up-to-date and compelling narrative in a single document.
Starting with our next white paper, we plan to create more succinct recommendations that fit with theoverall messages of our committee viewpoints. The individual viewpoints will become the tools with which todig deeper into issues featured in the white paper, thus
creating a hybrid set of materials that can be updated
regularly and used with greater agility in our advocacy.
We are excited about the new format, and appreciate
the ongoing contributions of member companies.
In the forthcoming white paper, we plan to explore
a range of issues, focusing our recommendations
across four key themes:
 Investing in prevention, early detection, andtreatment of disease Maximizing healthcare quality and efficiency
through digital and data innovation
 Developing innovation policy, exploring reimbursement models
 Ensuring the financial sustainability of Japan’s
healthcare system
We believe that each theme will help Japan chart apath to more sustainable healthcare, and we encourage
you to join upcoming Healthcare Committee meetings
to learn more about our ongoing efforts and to help us
finalize our recommendations.
To help you consider what form those final recommendations should take, more information about eachof the key themes is provided on the facing page. n

ACCJ Healthcare
White Papers & Viewpoints
The ACCJ Healthcare Committee strives to stimulate multi-stakeholder
partnerships and discussions that will drive healthcare transformation by identifying practical,
tangible actions and providing innovative solutions that address patient needs and ensure
the sustainability of Japan’s healthcare system. Read advocacy documents and get involved in
the committee’s ongoing efforts at: www.accj.or.jp/healthcare-advocacy.
Listen to this story:
accj.or.jp/sound

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21

1. Prevention, early detection, treatment
In recent years, the Japanese government has shifted its focus
from simply caring for disease to applying the practices of
prevention, early detection, and earlier aggressive treatment
to reduce overall healthcare expenditure and to sustain the
productivity of its citizens. While significant progress has been
made, much more could be done.

2. Digital and data innovation to boost quality, efficiency
Recognizing the need for better healthcare data management,
the Japanese government has begun to centralize data platforms,
accelerate data-driven innovation programs, and strengthen cybersecurity infrastructures to safeguard against external threats.
Yet, despite these efforts, Japan trails other developed
countries in the implementation of a comprehensive healthcare
data platform. Much more could be done to incentivize bettercollection and utilization of healthcare-related data.

3. Innovation policy, reimbursement models
In response to calls for the acceleration of healthcare innovation in
Japan, the government launched a healthcare innovation initiativein 2014. Since then, the government has pursued several broad
initiatives for research and development support, as well as theregistration, authorization, commercialization, and evaluation of
new healthcare technologies.
Despite this, reforms made to the pricing of, and reimbursement for, innovative medical technologies threaten to undo theprogress made over recent years. With the clear purpose of delivering innovative healthcare to people in need, as soon and safely
as possible, more could be done to allocate physical, human, andfinancial resources to maximize the potential for innovation.

4. The healthcare system’s financial sustainability
Japan’s healthcare system is respected around the world for its
quality of care and contribution to long life expectancy. However, the aging society and low birthrate are straining a systemdesigned, starting in 1868, primarily to control infectious andacute diseases in a different population structure. Improving
the overall financial health of the system will be critical as moreof the population ages and the workforce shrinks further.

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HEALTHCARE

By C Bryan Jones

HxD 2021

22

ACCJ drives innovation by bringing together startups and big pharmaL

ast August, the American Chamber of Commercein Japan (ACCJ) announced Healthcare x Digital,
an XPRIZE-style competition meant to spurindustry-changing technologies and connect Japanbased startups with major pharmaceutical companies
and public officials.
Driven by the ACCJ Healthcare Committee—with
support from the chamber’s Kansai Chapter—the initiative is led by ACCJ Corporate Sustaining Members
AstraZeneca K.K., Bayer Yakuhin, Ltd., Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu LLC, and President’s Circle Member
Eli Lilly Japan K.K.
The inaugural event was a huge success, with 28
companies submitting proposals. Three finalists wereselected from this pool, and each emerged from theDecember 1 Pitch Event with awards and prize money
to help them continue development of their ideas.
Honors went to: Bisu, Inc.: Best Innovation; the Moonshot Prize MediFrame, Inc.: Best Value Proposition
 MICIN, Inc.: Best Product

Great Opportunity

Pitch your idea or
become a sponsor:
www.accj.or.jp/hxd

In a follow-up interview, Bisu Chief Executive Officer
Daniel Maggs told The ACCJ Journal that participationin the Healthcare x Digital competition was importantto them because “it matters for us to have validation
and recognition from the medical industry, because
we care very deeply about quality.”

Listen to this story:
accj.or.jp/sound

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Ryoichi Kusama, co-founder and senior vice president of MICIN, said that his company wants to help the
medical industry change from within and become aplayer that can be trusted. Therefore, “the biggest plus
is that it has expanded the collaboration with major
pharmaceutical companies.”
And Mediframe CEO Atsushi Wada said that it
meant a lot to him to be recognized by AstraZeneca,
Bayer, and Lilly. “For them to see the potential in mycompany made me feel very pleased and encouraged.”
This year’s competition will once again bring together global healthcare leaders with top and emerging tech companies, entrepreneurs, and innovatorsin the search for new ideas.

Three Challenges
Healthcare x Digital 2021 will carry forth the goal offorging new partnerships and creating new solutions
to solve Japan’s most critical community healthcare
and individual patient challenges by focusing on
three areas: Overcoming the urban vs. rural healthcare divide Reimagining the hospital of the future Empowering patients to own their healthcare
These areas tie into the digital transformationof society and can help Japan continue to take careof—and provide even better care for—all its citizens.
Demographic and economic trends are creating astrong contrast between rural and urban regions, and theseshifts will require Japan to adopt new healthcare approaches
and solutions. One question being asked in this year’s competition is how digital technology can break down the boundaries
of distance to provide great and uniform care for everyone, nomatter where they live.
Of course, reform of the healthcare system puts great pressure on hospitals to transform themselves and make better use oftools and resources. Technology is certainly key to that makeover,
but what are the most innovative digital levers that can open up
those paths to greater efficiency?
Another important part of ensuring that the healthcare systemremains sustainable is empowering individuals to monitor theirown health. A great example of such a tool is Bisu’s home healthlab, for which the startup won ¥1 million in funding at last year’scompetition. The elegant and easy-to-use system supports a rangeof tests that anyone can perform at home, allowing early disease
detection and providing a way for individuals to track their healthand adjust their daily lifestyle habits and decisions.

Joining Forces
At the core of Healthcare x Digital is the goal of bringing together
emerging players—who have healthcare ideas, but requirepartners—with established players looking for innovative ideas
to solve healthcare challenges.
This is made possible through the Healthcare x Digital ecosystem, which comprises four groups:
 Innovators and startups
 Established companies
 Government organizations
 Academic and non-profit institutions
These public, private, and non-profit sector players join
forces to deliver all the pieces required to envision and execute
groundbreaking solutions.
In the private sector, startups often have innovative digital
healthcare ideas, but they lack the partnerships to evolve them.
Teaming up with established companies that have the resources
to develop an idea and bring it to market can allow the startup
not only to grow as a company, but to change the course of
future healthcare.
In the public and non-profit sectors, government bodies aresearching for solutions to long-term healthcare challenges, suchas cost, quality, and access. They want to drive innovation, which
can lead to economic growth, but how to drive that change is notalways clear. Academics and research institutions have insightsthat can help effect change, and they need a way to translate this
into real-impact non-profit organizations.

Pitch Your Idea
Healthcare x Digital 2021 began accepting submissions on July
1 and the deadline is October 1. Evaluation of submissions is set
to start on October 5. Pitches will be evaluated according to thefollowing criteria:
 Focus on patient and community needs
 Healthcare x Digital value proposition
 Need for an ecosystem to flourish

Everyone who participates in Healthcare x Digital will
benefit from having their ideas reviewed by top executives fromleading international healthcare and technology companies.
Those selected to participate in the Pitch Day will be invited
to the full-day virtual event on October 14. Finalists will then takepart in the HxD Ideas Day on November 11, a hybrid in-person
and virtual event at which they will present to a panel of leading
healthcare and pharmaceutical executives—all empowered toinitiate business deals and new relationships on behalf of theirglobal brands.
Monetary prizes will also be awarded, and the finalists willmeet with senior executives from the organizing sponsors. Winning companies will receive mentoring and support from healthcare professionals and executives from organizing sponsors.
Join us to discover Japan’s most innovative healthcare ideas
and develop partnerships to make them a reality. nSponsors
President’s Circle Sponsor
Eli Lilly Japan K.K.

Organizing Sponsors
AstraZeneca K.K.
Bayer Yakuhin, Ltd.
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu LLC
i2.JP (Innovation Infusion Japan)

Contributing Sponsors
DentsuK&L Gates LLP
NRW Global Business
Omron Corporation
Trilations G.K.
Real Life Sciences

Supporting Organizations
City of Kobe
Embassy of the United States, Tokyo
Foundation for Biomedical Research andInnovation at Kobe
Global Venture Habitat
GVH#5
LINK-J
Osaka Innovation Hub

Have an idea to pitch? Want to becomea sponsor? Request an info packet at:

www.accj.or.jp/hxd

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23

ESG

By C Bryan Jones

Do the Right Thing

24

Medline’s Tomo Hasegawa on the importance of ethics to business successAs the coronavirus pandemic unfolded in early
2020, supply chain disruptions put extreme
pressure on many companies. The healthcare
industry, in particular, struggled with a shortage of
personal protective equipment (PPE), and procuringresources became a difficult—and sometimes risky—business for those in need, as some unscrupulous
vendors took advantage of the situation.
For others, the crisis was a chance to show how
strong ethics provide a solid foundation for long-termbusiness success. One such company is Northfield,
Illinois-based Medline Industries, LP, whose Japan
president, Tomo Hasegawa, is scheduled to speak at
an upcoming American Chamber of Commerce inJapan (ACCJ) event hosted by the ACCJ Independent
Business Committee on November 4.
Topics he will discuss include supply chains andethical sourcing, and The ACCJ Journal spoke with
Hasegawa ahead of the event to find out how Medline
weathered the Covid-19 storm of 2020 and what advice
he has for leaders trying to make tough choices andguide their companies in a sustainable way.

Sudden Impact

Listen to this story:
accj.or.jp/soundMany of us watched the early days of the pandemic
unfold on TV, as initial reports from China painted
a confusing and grave picture, but one that felt far
away. For Hasegawa, however, the reality of what
Covid-19 would bring to the world was much closer.
“We were at the 35th Annual Meeting of theJapanese Society for Infection Prevention and Control, which was being held in Yokohama in February
2020,” Hasegawa recalled. “That was just after the
Diamond Princess made its way into the port there.
Having the ship right in the backyard of this major

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medical conference, which was all about infection
control, made it very real.”
As the seriousness and widespread nature of
the pandemic became clear, Medline began to lookat how the situation might affect their business inJapan. Hasegawa said that their initial assessments
underestimated the impact.
“We thought it might drive the sales of some PPE
and were not thinking about changing what we would
do in terms of strategy,” Hasegawa said. “Then, all ofa sudden, the next stage of the crisis occurred andthere was a business continuity scenario playing out.
I don’t think anybody anticipated the entire countryof China literally shutting down for two months.”

Supplies Stopped
China manufactures almost half of the world’s supply
of PPE. With the source of so many medical supplies
cut off, Medline had to quickly work with its Chinese
partners to assess the situation and look at alternative ways of obtaining products, including qualifying
new substitute PPE offerings.
Recalling the scramble for toilet paper that occurredin spring 2020, and the empty shelves that greeted
panicked buyers, he said that Medline faced the same
situation with medical supplies, as masks, gowns, andgloves “were literally being hoarded.”
As it turned out, the China supply situation, while
acute and unprecedented, was just a harbinger of evenbigger issues. China was able to get Covid-19 under control and mobilize its entire infrastructure so that, by the
middle of 2020, most of its PPE factories had increased
capacity to meet the ever-increasing global demand.
The real crisis turned out to be a shortage of examination gloves. Malaysia supplies 75 percent of the world’s
nitrile (synthetic rubber) gloves. Unlike factories that
manufacture non-woven PPE products, such as masks
and gowns, those that produce examination gloves
require significant capital investment and cannot
increase capacity in a matter of months. Figuring
out how to manage the supply chain was critical, but
doing so was not as simple as finding a factory that
could churn out PPE. For example, the nitrile gloves
supply had a hard constraint and, despite all factories
running 24/7, demand outpaced supply by 37 percent,according to the 2020 Personal Protective Equipment
Market Report, published by the Health Industry
Distributors Association.
“Medline is very proud of how we do sourcing
to begin with. We’re very strong advocates of what
we call ethical sourcing—we have a supplier code ofconduct, for example—and there were certain companies andfactories with which, even prior to Covid-19, we chose not towork,” Hasegawa explained.
“This is because we did not agree with how they went about
producing products, making money, etc. Coronavirus literally
brought out the best and worst of many companies. A lot of suppliers went into a mode that was pure capitalism—supply anddemand at its extreme—as the demand skyrocketed,” he said.

Ethical Sourcing
Human rights issues in supply chains is a growing concern andis something investors consider when assessing how a company
is doing in the social aspect of its environmental, social, andcorporate governance, or ESG, efforts.
In August, Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry
began a large-scale investigation into about 2,600 companies listedon the first and second sections of the Tokyo Stock Exchange tobetter understand where they stand on these issues and what
support they need from the government.

WAKING UP THE NEXT DAY,I ALWAYS WANT TO BE PROUD
OF THE DECISIONS I MADE.
Medline is a great example of how a company should approach the matter. Their Ethical Sourcing Program comprises 11
pillars, through which the company carries out its commitment
to promote human rights. That involves setting expectations
and requirements for its suppliers, assessing and investigating
alleged violations, and empowering employees and supplierswith information and training.
The company undertook a comprehensive assessment of its
policies and procedures in 2020, and its approach is guided bywidely accepted international standards, including the United
Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
Medline’s suppliers are obligated to ensure: No forced labor, human trafficking, and slavery
 No child and underage labor No discrimination and harassment
 Promotion of health and safety
 Minimal environmental impact“These are standards that most companies would normallystate, but I think the difference is that we put our money where
our mouth is,” Hasegawa said. “We regularly conduct onsite social
compliance audits, and we expand and update our supplier risk
assessments on an ongoing basis.”
He added that there is a strong belief at the top of the familymanaged business that the values which are important to the family
should be important to the company. Medline’s stability and successshow that the approach works. The company recorded $17.5 billion
in worldwide sales in 2020 and has had 54 years of consecutive
annual growth. In all but one, the growth was in the double digits.

Focus on Stable Supply
Hasegawa said that Medline’s strong buying power was a real asset
during all of last year, as companies were scrambling to securesupply. Not only were they able to minimize price increases fromvarious suppliers as the situation changed, but they were also able
to secure much needed supply allocations for their customers.
“It certainly was challenging, not just for us but the entire
industry,” he said. “The radical imbalance in supply and demand
was unprecedented. Literally, on our supplier side, costs reachedlevels previously unimaginable. Masks went up by a factor of 16.
Gowns and gloves went up by at least five times. That was ourcost to procure the products. So, what do you do with that?”
As costs rose, Medline eventually did have to raise their own
prices, but Hasegawa said that the way this was done makes him
feel proud. “After making initial price adjustments to get the exam
gloves business profitable again, we took a different approach
where, if we got a cost increase of, say, ¥5 per glove, then we asked
our customers to pay that same ¥5 increase. We did not take any
incremental profit on top of that to our customer,” he said.
Covid-19 forced companies to make trade-offs. At Medline, thedecision was to prioritize stable supply over growing the bottom
line. “Our mission is to be a partner for healthcare providers sothey can focus on providing care,” said Hasegawa. “We interpreted
that as, ‘Don’t stop healthcare’ and focused all our energy on maintaining stable supply to our customers.
“In addition, multiple new customers were willing to pay ahigher price to us for the much needed gloves. It was painful toturn away accounts who obviously needed help but we chose toprioritize protecting our existing customers over the opportunity to make more money,” he continued.
“Specifically for gloves, where the pricing truly went out ofcontrol all around the world, we saw some very unethical behavior;customers ended up getting something completely different thanwhat they had ordered when they went outside the normal supply
chain.” Customers purchased what they thought were medicalgrade gloves from a new vendor and received substandard gloves.
Even now, around the world, many hospitals are realizing they havestockpiles of inappropriate gloves and are having to replace them.
Medline, Hasegawa said, chose to protect their customers
and make sure they did everything they could to ensure that
customers received a steady flow of proper supplies. This meant
minimizing, as much as possible, the financial impact of pricegouging by unscrupulous vendors. This also meant educating
customers on how to conserve usage of much needed PPE products such as examination gloves.

Making a Difference, Together
Japan is known for coming together in the face of adversity, andHasegawa noted that there was very good cooperation among
vendors and distributors. While most large companies moved toprotect their own customer base, wholesalers worked together
to ensure the supply was as stable as possible to hospitals.
“It was all about making sure we got life-saving equipment to
the hospitals, to the doctors and nurses who depend on it,” he explained. “That singular focus on the mission to provide not justa service, but to protect the healthcare workers who were doing
everything they could to save the lives of Japanese citizens, wasvery clear to us and, I believe, most of the industry followed suit.”
And that’s a big reason Hasegawa—who says he is fortunatethat his personal values mesh with those of the company—believes
so strongly in Medline and its role in healthcare. “That tone fromthe top makes it very, very clear that this is how we want to run thebusiness. And waking up the next day, I always want to be proud of
the decisions I made.” n

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25

ECONOMY

By Jesper Koll

Make Japan aStartup Nation

26

How can government best encourage economic growth?

I
Jesper Koll
Global ambassador
Monex Group Inc.

f you had two minutes with the new prime minister,to give your best-shot advice on how to create a better economic future for Japan, what would you say?
From a macro perspective, by far the best answer
is: Do whatever you can to make Japan a startup nation.
But where does economic growth come from?
Not from the stuff politicians and technocrats talkabout most of the time—e.g., monetary, fiscal, ortrade policy. And importantly, it doesn’t come from
population growth. It comes from entrepreneurs.

Clear-Cut Correlation
History has confirmed again and again that we only getsustained economic growth when human ingenuity
and ambition are allowed and encouraged, and people
are empowered to start an enterprise and build theirown business.

than 20 years actually destroyed some 800,000 jobs
over the same period.
So, dear prime minister, make no mistake—startups and entrepreneurship are a nation’s single
most important source of growth and prosperity.

Finding Founders
The need for entrepreneurs is clear, but where dothey come from?
Unfortunately, there is no magic bullet, no one
simple policy tool that can be turned on to deliver
entrepreneurs and create Startup Nation Japan.
However, the key ingredients are all in place and, in
my personal view, I firmly believe Japan stands at thebrink of a golden age of entrepreneurs and startups.
Why? It’s a combination of cyclical and structuralforces. Cyclically, the Covid-19 crisis has not only freed

HISTORY HAS CONFIRMED AGAIN AND AGAIN THAT WE
ONLY GET SUSTAINED ECONOMIC GROWTH WHEN HUMAN
INGENUITY AND AMBITION ARE ALLOWED AND ENCOURAGED.
China long had one of the world’s highest rates
of population growth, but it only started becoming
an economic miracle when the Communist Party
encouraged entrepreneurship and private businessin the early 1980s.

Listen to this story:
accj.or.jp/soundMore generally, the numbers speak for themselves.
When you analyze the world’s 40 leading economies
over the past 30 years, you find a clear-cut correlation
between the percentage of entrepreneurs in the adult
population and the sustainable growth of the country’s
gross domestic product (GDP). More entrepreneurs
create higher sustainable growth. In fact, if you raise
the number of entrepreneurs in the population by one
percentage point, your potential GDP goes up by about
half a percent.
In even simpler terms, employment data confirms
the positive power of entrepreneurship: startups havecreated 60–70 percent of new jobs in G7 countries overthe past 20 years. Specifically, here in Japan, new companies set up after 2010 have provided about 2.3 million
jobs over the past decade. In contrast, companies older

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up resources but, more importantly, has become acatalyst for many people to rethink their career and life
priorities. No matter how small, a startup can finallyhire people and build teams, investing in what always
yields the highest returns for any new venture: humancapital. One of the biggest obstacles for growth andexpansion has finally disappeared.
Even the most techy of tech companies, such as
Google or Amazon, did not grow by the force of theirsuperior algorithms, business models, or charismatic
leadership vision. Instead, they grew as a result of thesweat equity and animal spirits of their team leaders,sales managers, and back-office clerks who pulled
all-nighters. Elon Musk’s biggest problem is nottech, engineering, or digital transformation; it is his
teams, the people who actually get stuff done.
In Japan, the bar for startups to attract talent has
always been especially high because top graduates
strongly prefer established companies. Bigger is supposedly safer. Here again, the current recession may
well mark an important turning point. Not a week goesJob Creation

How does the age of a Japanese company impact its contribution to the job market?

+

2.3 million
jobs created bycompanies formed
since 2010-

800,000
jobs destroyed bycompanies formed
before 2000

by that we don’t read about establishment companies announcing
a restructuring plan. All of a sudden, big-company job security is
not what it used to be. This is great news for entrepreneurs.
To be specific, I have the good fortune of working as an adviser
and angel investor for a couple of Japanese venture capital funds.
Over the past six months, all the startups with which we deal havegrown their staff and partners. Several have more than doubled
the size of their teams. Most importantly, the quality of potential
candidates has grown enormously.
One young woman from a top establishment company, who
has had no overseas or global experience, told me: “Working at
my current employer has been great, but now that I know how
good I am, and what I want, staying there puts me at risk. I don’t
want to be reassigned to some random project by some randomsalaryman superior. I want to create my own destiny. Your startup
is the best place to do that.”
To be sure, this young woman almost certainly is exceptional,
and it may very well be wrong to present her as anything like the newnorm for Japanese employees. However, unlike five or 10 years ago,
candidates such as her do exist, and it would be wrong to underes-

Learning from the Masters

timate the powerful ambitions—and awareness of opportunities—
that Japan’s young talents and employees are prepared to explore.
Taking the leap from exploring to actually quitting one’s job
and beginning a new career at a startup venture is likely to become
easier. There’s no doubt that opportunities will increase, large
established companies will continue to stagnate, and more young
startups will demonstrate high, sustainable growth. Opportunities
worth watching include:

include mentorship programs, incubators, accelerators, venture
capital funds, and daily discussions on the drop-in audio chat app
Clubhouse. This private-sector ecosystem of open discussion,
sharing, and networking is vital because a sustainable startup
culture can only develop if success is celebrated and, more
importantly, if failure is peer-encouraged to become a catalyst
for another try.
As Japan’s most successful entrepreneur, Yanai Tadashi,founder of FastRetailing, which owns Uniqlo, supposedly once
said, “I failed about 25 times before I finally succeeded.”All said, the new Japanese golden age for entrepreneurs isvery exciting. If I am right, we will have to become more optimistic about the overall outlook for Japan. Because one thing iscertain: private entrepreneurship—not government handouts—
will build future prosperity.
Dear prime minister, I trust you understand. n Healthcare and biotech
 Professional services and process automation
 Education and deep tech-based materials
 Anything serving wealthy Japanese retirees
Some will make a fortune building the Louis Vuitton retirement communities of Japan.

On the structural side, Japan has developed a true and sustainable ecosystem of support for startups and aspiring entrepreneurs. Not a day goes by that the major newspapers don’t advertise a startup competition or venture capital symposium. Even
Keidanren—the Japan Business Federation, which is the proud
sanctuary of Japan’s corporate culture—now fully embraces
innovation and entrepreneurship in its strategic vision. Japan’s
elite establishment now knows that BAU—business as usual—is
no longer an option.
Most importantly, Japan has a new generation of successful
entrepreneurs, people who have built true going concerns, whocommercialized and monetized an original idea, who overcame
many obstacles and difficulties to build their dream. Sure, they
have money to invest; but more fundamentally, many of these new
successful entrepreneurs are focused on creating a positive legacy
by giving back, mentoring, and advising the next generation.
Hidden from view by media obsession with Silicon Valley
superstars, Tokyo, Osaka, and Fukuoka have become hotbeds ofprivate initiatives to grow and develop a startup culture. These

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27

EDUCATION

28

By John Amari

SOCIAL
IMPACT

US - RAISED ENTREPRENEUR PRIYA SULTANOPENS PATHS TO SOCIAL INNOVATION IN JAPANIf the future of Earth as we know it is to be secured, not justfor ourselves but for generations to come, the way we dobusiness has to change.
That was the conclusion of scientists in a recently released
report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC),a body under the mandate of the United Nations. In August, an
IPCC working group found that human activity is changing theclimate of the planet in unprecedented ways, and that a change incourse is necessary.
Serial entrepreneur Priya Sultan agrees with the report’s
conclusions, adding that the education system—in addition tobusiness practices—must be upgraded.
For Sultan, a new focus has to be placed on education andbusiness models driven by social outcomes if the challenges identified by organizations like the IPCC are to be
tackled. That’s the reason she established Social Impact
Lab Japan, a company that incubates, accelerates, andinvests in businesses that have societal solutions attheir core.
Since its founding in 2019 in Tokyo, Social Impact
Lab Japan has supported dozens of aspiring entrepreneurs, including high school and university
students, as well as professionals. Working withpartners in industry and education, the company
isn’t just trialing new ideas; it is also inspiringa generation of founders in Japan—and, in the
future, overseas.
It is Sultan’s hope that, by supporting social entrepreneurship, new, socially minded leaders will emerge to define
the shape of future business opportunities and solutions.

Social Business
The chief executive officer and founder of Social Impact
Lab Japan, Sultan speaks in rapid sentences, a sense ofurgency and determination rising in her voice.

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“The way that we are living in the world is not
scalable or sustainable, it’s not good,” she told The
ACCJ Journal. “There are a billion people going
hungry every year, and it’s worse now because of thecoronavirus pandemic. Why is that?”
But it’s not just solving the challenge of global
hunger that motivates Sultan. Lack of access to education is another of her bugbears.
“Why don’t people have access to basic education, things that we took for granted when we weregrowing up?”
There are three ways to begin tackling both issues,
all of which are priorities at her lab, she explained:

In other words, students in Japan—quite apartfrom professionals already in the workforce—often
sideline their ideas about entrepreneurship for thesake of a risk-free career in a large company. Social
Impact Lab Japan was established to provide suchpeople with the resources necessary to take theirburning ambitions from idea to product or service
and beyond.

29

 Education
 Creating allies Raising awareness about social impact as a solution
For Sultan, “it’s about people hearing that thingsneed to change. And so, you have to inspire more people
to effect that change, because you can’t do it alone.”
What’s more, she added, “it’s realizing that social
entrepreneurship is crucial to how we do business inthe future.”
Young people are amenable to socially drivenchange and businesses. “They want to spend theirmoney on companies that are doing things the rightway,” Sultan said. “And if more companies start to do
things that way, we’re going to be able to make thechanges that are absolutely needed.”

Inspiring Founders

Impact Lab

The motivation behind Social Impact Lab Japan goesback to 2017, when a conversation between Sultan
and a female student at Showa Women’s University
sparked an idea.
“I told them my story; told them about the Hult
Prize. At the end, I remember some students coming
up to me to say thanks,” she said.
At the time, Sultan was speaking at Japanese universities in her capacity as the global projects director
with the Hult Prize, a global competition that incentivizes students to pitch socially focused business ideas.

Working with socially minded startups and founders,
Social Impact Lab Japan provides a platform whereideas are pitched, tested, and prototyped—and incubated or accelerated.
Entrepreneurs there can tap into a wide networkof mentors from the private, public, and non-profit
sectors to learn the ins and outs of developing andlaunching a business.
The company does “a lot of sessions with entrepreneurs to help them get the skills they need, and forthem to hear different voices, meet different people,
and leverage our network, which can give them more

“So, this girl comes up to me—I think she was 20
or 21 years old. And she burst into tears. I asked, ‘Are
you okay?’ Clearly there was something there.” As
Sultan recalls, the student said, “This is the first timein my life that someone told me that I could pursue
my own dreams.”
For Sultan, the student’s comment was eye-opening.
On reflection, she remembers thinking, “How can you
be 21 years old and have this sense of hopelessness?”
Speaking to other students during her tour ofJapan, she discovered that this sense of hopelessness
ran deep among students, especially regarding theirpost-university career.
“They would say, ‘I have all these ideas, but whenmy third year comes, I have to start job hunting so that
I’m secure in my final year, and that’s it.’”resources if they need it,” Sultan said.
Sessions include seminars and workshops on
subjects such as purpose-driven leadership, pitchingfor contests, and mentoring.
“We’re focused on the education side, because I
think there is an education and cultural change thatneeds to happen,” she explained. “People need to get abetter understanding of what social entrepreneurshipis really about.”
And the result? “You can see them light up when
they feel that they can make a change in society, and I
notice that particularly with young people, especiallyhigh school students,” Sultan said.
Because of social-distancing rules during thecoronavirus pandemic, these sessions are conducted
via video conference instead of in person.

Listen to this story:
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THE ACCJ JOURNAL • VOL. 58 • NO. 7

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sSocial Impact Lab and the Hult Prize Japan
hosted a mentorship session on March 10, 2021.

31

But it’s not just founders and aspiring
entrepreneurs who are the focus of activities
at the lab. Companies, too, are important
players in their social impact ecosystem.
“In talking to, and doing sessions
with, corporates, I noticed that there is a
big misunderstanding about the conceptof social entrepreneurship,” Sultan said.
“I think [they believe that what we do is]charity, but it’s not charity. And the reason
it’s not charity is that charity doesn’t work,
because it’s a donor-based model, whichmakes it donor-dependent. If charity
worked, we wouldn’t see the problems that we are seeing, suchas so many people going hungry, or without water or electricity.”

Time to Change
Born in India and raised in the United Sates, Sultan’s own journey
into entrepreneurship could not have been predicted from thechoices she made early in her career. Like so many in her peergroup, her priority on graduating college was to join the workforce,and to do so in a sector that conformed to societal expectations forjob security. That’s why she joined multinational financial services
provider Wells Fargo & Company in New York, where she worked
for a couple of years as a credit manager.
“It’s banking in New York, so working 90 hours a week [was]normal,” she recalls.
But it was not long after joining the bank that she hit a crossroad: continue or change path. In the end, it was her father’s worry
for her well-being that helped her decide.
“My dad came up to me and said, ‘Priya, it’s six in the morning.
You’re stressed all the time. And you don’t seem happy with yourjob, so think about changing it.’”That very same day, Sultan walked into her workplace andtendered her resignation.
“I walk out of there with no job. I’m 25 years old, and I don’tknow what I’m doing with my life,” she remembers.
And yet, only two months later, she set off on a new course,
boarding a plane to New Delhi, India’s capital. That was 2009.

Meaningful Mentors
Starting her life in New Delhi, Sultan found refuge in a small garage
apartment. Her goal? To begin work at World Health Partners, asustainable healthcare services provider in the city.
In hindsight, her experiences at the organization played an
important role in setting her on her current trajectory. In particular, she found a mentor there who inspired her to pursue a careerin the social impact sector.
“Gopi Gopalakrishnan, the director of World Health Partners, took me under his wing and said, ‘I’ll teach you everything
I know.’ What I learned was that you can do business and makesocially positive changes. And that was something that was notoften spoken about more than 10 years ago,” she explained. “Hereally opened my eyes to how you can make profitable companies
and create the positive change that society desperately needs.”
After nine months at World Health Partners—but desiring
to add new skills to her knowledge belt—Sultan enrolled at the
Hult International Business School in London.
During that period, she herself became a student competitor in the Hult Prize (then the Hult Global Case Challenge). Her
team made it to the regional finals.
When she graduated with a masters in international relations,another mentor connected her to a job opportunity at the Hult
Prize, which was at the time—more than a decade ago—taking
on its very first hires.

Full Circle
As the global projects director at the Hult Prize, Sultan is able
to leverage the platform’s international network to support her
work at Social Impact Lab Japan.
“We exist in over 121 countries; we have over 3,000 universities that participate every year—and that’s just in the on-campus program,” she noted, speaking about the prize.
In Japan alone, student teams from 50 to 100 universities
take part in the Hult Prize’s annual pitch contest. The challenge
for students in 2022 is “to create 2,000 jobs by 2024 by thinking
globally and acting locally.”
Pitches are made at the campus level, with successful ideas
going through regional finals and an accelerator program in the
United Kingdom. The top prize of $1 million in startup funding
is awarded to one team at a ceremony at the United Nations in
New York.
Promoting participation in the competition among universities in Europe and Asia was the main thing that drew Sultan to
Japan in the first place.
“I first came to Japan because we saw an opportunity togrow the Hult Prize here. Ahmad Ashkar, the founder of the
Hult Prize, said, ‘Priya, why don’t you go and check out thescene.’ This was at the end of 2016,” she recalls.
A year later, Sultan had the encounter with the student at
Showa Women’s University, a despairing moment that opened
new paths of hope and entrepreneurship. And she has been helping young Japanese talents pursue their dreams ever since. n

THE ACCJ JOURNAL • VOL. 58 • NO. 7

32

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

By Malcolm Foster

START IT UP!
ADVICE ON TURNING YOUR BIG IDEA INTO
A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS AS AN EXPAT

S

tarting a business anywhere is a demanding endeavor,
but doing so in Japan presents its own particular set of
hurdles and idiosyncrasies. For those who can navigate
the process, however, there are many rewards to be had.
Although the dynamics can vary widely depending on theindustry, the top challenges facing startups in Japan include simply breaking into the market, language and cultural differences,
the time it takes to build a customer base, bureaucratic requirements, and difficulties raising money. It’s also hard to find staff
suited to the brisk-paced, rough-and-tumble, uncertain worldof startups. That is according to 10 entrepreneurs and venture
capital (VC) investors interviewed for this story.
“This is definitely playing with the difficulty level turned
up,” said Jim Weisser, co-founder and chief executive officer of

THE ACCJ JOURNAL • VOL. 58 • NO. 7

e-signature service provider SignTime KK. Weisser has launchedfive companies in Japan, some of which have succeeded and onethat he says was a “complete flop.”Yet, Japan also offers many positives and rewards for entrepreneurs—from the loyalty of customers and employees tothe high quality of infrastructure and a society that is much lesslitigious than the United States.
Michael Alfant, founder and CEO of software solutions provider Fusion Systems Group—one of about 25 companies he has
started here as well as in mainland China, Hong Kong, Australia,
and the United States—said that Japan is one of the most challenging markets to crack, but not that much harder than elsewhere.
One big advantage is that Tokyo by itself is the most “target-richenvironment” in the world, he told The ACCJ Journal.

“People sometimes lose sight of the density of economic activity in Tokyo, which is the highest anywhere.
You’ve got the third-largest [gross domestic product] inthe world, and 35 percent of that is accessible to us via
the subway,” Alfant said. “In Tokyo, I can easily do fouror five meetings a day with clients. If I wanted to do thatin Los Angeles, I’d better have a helicopter.”
Sophie Meralli of Eight Roads, a VC fund backed
by Fidelity Investment, pointed out that Japan shows
strong potential for new businesses in part because
it is still in the early stages of digital transformation.
“Japan’s economy provides entrepreneurs with numerous opportunities to launch new businesses,” shesaid. “Due to their position in the adoption cycle of
new technologies, entrepreneurs can continuously
innovate by transforming the way services can be
deployed in Japan.”It’s a Marathon
Nearly all those interviewed—representing a collective
180 years living in this country—agreed that two key
qualities needed for an entrepreneur to succeed inJapan are patience and perseverance. That’s true of any
startup, but the more traditional nature of Japanesesociety and business, which deeply values relationships and trust built over time, requires extra stamina,
they said.
“I can guarantee there will always be hard times,”
said Terrie Lloyd, who has lived in Japan for 38 years
and is the founder and CEO of full-service travel services
provider Japan Travel K.K. “If you’re not prepared for
those hard times, then maybe you’re not cut out to be
an entrepreneur.”
Alfant noted that starting and running a businessin Japan is like running a marathon, whereas in othermarkets where he’s done business—especially New
York and Shanghai—it’s like being in a boxing match.
“When the bell rings, you have to be on your toes,
totally engaged from the first nanosecond, or somebody is going to knock your block off. It’s intense fora shorter period, and then you get a break.”But in Japan, “you put your head down and you
keep putting one foot in front of the other—and you
don’t look up for the finish line,” because it’s still along way off. When you get to the very end, “and you
hear the crowd yelling, [then you say] ‘Okay, now I can
see the finish line.’”Start with a Hunch (and Test It)
So how do you start that marathon here? What are
the first steps? What lessons can be learned from entrepreneurs who have succeeded and failed in Japan?
“Entrepreneurship is not one size fits all,” Alfant
explained. “In fact, it’s the bespoke aspect of entrepreneurship that tends to create value for, and appeal
to, a certain kind of person. So, it doesn’t surprise methat you get different answers from different people.”
Lloyd, who teaches classes for would-be entrepreneurs, said that often the kernel of a business idea issimply a hunch. Three of his companies began thatway, and all three have done well; two he sold and thethird is Japan Travel.
The quality of the hunch is, of course, what makes
the difference, according to Lloyd. So, to test out youridea, he recommends finding a mentor, someone who
already has entrepreneurial experience and can help
you “sort of BS-check your idea.”
Steve Bleistein, founder and CEO of consultancy
Relansa, Inc., recommends doing something similar—
talking about your idea with a lot of people who might
become customers to validate whether it is a credible
concept. Some entrepreneurs develop a business idea
without really checking to see if there’s an interest in
it. That, Bleistein said, is a big mistake. It is throughthose conversations that you gain valuable information
about what exactly your potential customers want.
“This is a way you can mitigate risk,” he continued.
“If you’re talking to 12 people who you think are likely
buyers of your product, you understand exactly what
it is that’s valuable to them. You find out that some ofyour assumptions were wrong, but some were right.
Then you start to discover opportunities that you
hadn’t realized existed.”
Some entrepreneurs worry that sharing too muchinformation—even with a mentor—might lead totheir idea getting stolen. If that’s the case, then ask
them to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA), said
Lloyd. He has signed NDAs with numerous people
who have showed him business plans.
Already having business experience in Japan—
and a deep knowledge of the target market—obviously
helps with getting a hunch right. Seth Sulkin, who
operates hotels and shopping malls and has lived inJapan for 27 years, came up with the idea for Food-e,
the upscale food delivery service he started last year,
as he was exchanging information about businessconditions with struggling restaurant owners earlyin the pandemic.
But the idea didn’t come out of nowhere. He
noticed a trend at his favorite restaurants during the
pandemic: none of them delivered. When he began to
ask about this, he found that higher-quality restaurants couldn’t rely on mass delivery services because
the food couldn’t be reliably transported on time orwithout being shaken up.
“After talking with 20 restaurant owners, I could
see there was a clear opportunity. And it wasn’t something I needed to test,” Sulkin said.

33

Jim Weisser
Co-founder and CEO
SignTime K.K.
Co-chair, ACCJ
Digital Transformation
Committee

Michael AlfantFounder and CEO
Fusion Systems Group
ACCJ
president emeritus

Sophie Meralli
Venture capitalist
Eight Roads

Compelling Idea vs. Fierce Execution
Lloyd explained that once you’ve tested and refined
your idea, and it’s becoming a more realistic businessconcept, you need to ask yourself some key questions: How powerful is this idea?
 Does it engross you?
 Do you dream about it?
 Do you wake up thinking about it?
If not, maybe it’s not strong enough, he cautions.

Terrie Lloyd
Founder and CEO
Japan Travel K.K.

Listen to this story:
accj.or.jp/sound

THE ACCJ JOURNAL • VOL. 58 • NO. 7

Japanese Startup Funding

Total deal value(in billions of US dollars)

2,619

$6

34
2,258

Number of startups(including deals with undisclosed values)

5.06
2,403

4.44
2,055

1,990
$4

1,862
3.16

1,536
1,300
$2

4.89

3.01
1,014

2.24

1,161
1.81
1.18
0.66

0

2012

0.82

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021 (H1)
Source: INITIAL“In years two and three, when things are getting tough,people give up. In fact, most new companies fail within the first
three years,” Lloyd said. “But if you have something that’s akinto religion—and you can hold onto that dream—the idea willsustain you through the hard times.”
Alfant has a slightly different approach to this initial “hook,”
as he calls it—an information advantage in the market segment
he’s targeting. “That doesn’t mean inside information. It means
I have access to knowledge and information that gives me anadvantage over other entrants into the space.”
And while businesses do need a compelling concept, “ideas
are a dime a dozen. Execution is what matters,” he added. “If theidea is so shallow that someone else can go and replicate it orbeat me to the punch, God bless them. I view execution as thedifferentiating factor.”
This is a familiar debate in the world of startups, Weisser
said. Some believe that the right idea can rule the world. Others
hold the view that an idea doesn’t win without excellent execution, but execution can often lead to success even if the idea is not
so good. “I’m firmly in the second camp,” he said, noting that thishas been borne out in the US tech industry where “not-as-good”

The best time to start a business is at the bottom of themarket, said Lloyd, who launched Japan Travel shortly after theGreat East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami of March 11, 2011, andsubsequent nuclear disaster, when foreigners left the country by thetens of thousands. “Thinking about how tourism was devastatedafter the disasters, I thought, well it’s a great industry to get into.”
Timing may be important, but not at the expense of careful planning, said Andrew Dunbar, who founded his wine importing business Iconic Wine Japan, Inc. about 10 years ago. He cautions against
launching too quickly and without investing time in a well-thoughtout, five-year business plan. He said having that gave him confidence
when things got tough and helped him see the big picture.
“A lot of times, people jump into things quickly, thinking it’sgoing to work out. But it’s so much better if you have a full written
plan and projections for how you’re going to build the businessfor the first five years,” he explained. “Make a good plan and beable to finance that plan in a credible way.”ideas executed fiercely and quickly usually beat out better ideasthat take more time to take shape.

can be outsourced to a lawyer who can file the necessary papers foryou, the entrepreneurs said. Getting approval takes anywhere fromseveral days to three weeks, depending on the circumstances.
The two main options are registering as a kabushiki kaisha(KK), a stockholding company, or godo kaisha (GK), a limited
liability company. Essentially, if you’re planning to bring in
outside investors, you need to be a KK. If you don’t need a lotof money, you may want to be a GK. Most entrepreneurs in thisstory registered as the former.
For some businesses, such as consultancies, that’s all you
need. But many other kinds of companies require various
licenses and approvals specific to the products or services they
aim to provide. Acquiring those can take a lot more time.
Anything to do with food and beverages, for example, tends
to be heavily regulated in Japan. Having run hotels and shopping
malls, Sulkin was familiar with the regulations, but he was still

Timing Matters (But So Does Planning)
Sometimes, the biggest factor determining a business’s successis timing—particularly in something as fast evolving as technology, Weisser noted. In his case with SignTime, he had discussed
the idea of creating a digital signature business for Japan a few
years ago, believing that, at some point, Japan would give up
its reliance on hanko (personal seals) and faxes. But he wasn’t
convinced the timing was right. “A lot of companies have greatideas, but if it’s too early, they go bankrupt.”
When Covid-19 struck, and people were forced to work from
home, he knew the moment had arrived. “We’d already laid thegroundwork for the company, so getting it up and going, and doingsome of our first pitches, was doable,” Weisser said.

THE ACCJ JOURNAL • VOL. 58 • NO. 7

Red Tape, No Tape
Once you’re ready to launch the business, the formality of incorporating the company with authorities is relatively easy. The task

surprised by the amount of red tape he encounteredin setting up Food-e.
Since he was using cars and motorcycles, notbicycles, he discovered that if his company wanted tohire drivers directly he needed a difficult-to-obtainlicense that required him to have his own garage
and maintenance staff. So instead, he outsourced
the actual delivery part to another company, which
required a different license.
Then he was told that alcohol served as part ofa delivery service was taxed at a different rate thanwhen served in a restaurant. Initially, authorities said
this meant restaurants needed to purchase and store
the alcohol for delivery separately. Untangling all thisinvolved several trips to the tax office with lawyers.
“There were just insane layers of regulation,” hesaid. Before starting a business, “I would highly recommend getting help from lawyers to investigate whether
there’s any aspect that is regulated.”
In Dunbar’s case, he had to get a liquor license toimport wine, which took about three months, though
now it can take up to six months, he said. And hefound that waiting times for such licenses can vary bylocation. Getting permission in Kanagawa Prefecture,
where he was initially based, took less time than inTokyo, which has a reputation for being stricter.

safety, and delivery. “If you’re looking to start a businessin Japan, look really hard at services,” Bleistein added.
On the flip side, that also means there are few
barriers preventing competitors from jumping into
the same market, Lloyd pointed out. “There is nosafety in having a low hurdle to entry. Yes, products
are harder and riskier, but if you get it right you havea much longer run before the competition shows up.”

Breaking In
Perhaps the most difficult step in starting a business isfinding customers, most of the experts agreed. Clearing
this wall is do-or-die for a startup, and it can be particularly hard in Japan, where business is driven so muchby long-term relationships. So how do you break in?
Here is where a mentor or consultant with anestablished network can be a big help by introducing
you to potential clients. When Dunbar started his
wine importing business, he hired a Japanese consultant who knew the alcohol industry and introduced
him to people in the business. “That was a very important step for me, because I was new to the industry.”That was a start, but Dunbar still needed to makehundreds of cold calls and visit a slew of wholesalers
and other related companies to drum up business.
While at times the rejections got discouraging, he

A LOT OF FOREIGN BUSINESSES SEE THINGS FROM THEIR OWNCOUNTRY’S PERSPECTIVE … BUT DO THEY HAVE A REALLYSTRONG UNDERSTANDING OF THE JAPANESE PLAYERS AND
MARKET, AND WHY THEIR SOLUTION WILL BE BETTER?
Once Dunbar had the license, the regulatory sideof his business was pretty straightforward. It waseasier than in the United States, where alcohol regulations are more complex, differing by state and requiring some wineries to hire entire regulatory teams tohandle the paperwork, he said. Dunbar has no suchheadaches here and hired a customs broker to handle
his incoming shipment paperwork.
Other businesses—many providing services—aremuch less regulated. Consulting, for example, has little
regulation and is easier to get into because it requires
little upfront investment—not even an office. “You needa phone, a laptop … and that’s about it,” said Bleistein.
Given that ease of entry, first-time entrepreneursshould try independent consulting for starters, advised
Jeff Crawford, founder and CEO of Zo Digital Japan,
which provides digital marketing services-related
advice to foreign companies entering the market.
“Put together a nice website that basically advertises
your services and demonstrates that you’re an expert
in some field,” he said. “That’s what I did.”
The finances at a consultancy are also simpler.
Once you provide the services, the client pays you. You
don’t have to worry about suppliers, delivery costs, orother middlemen as you do in a product business,
which tends to be much more capital-intensive andrequires owners to handle inventory, production,

35

knew that, to survive, he had to get out there and makeconnections. And he enjoyed sales, so that wasn’t a
problem. He later discovered that he had started hisbusiness during a seasonal year-end ebb.
“The sales portion was not something that wasscary to me. I’d much rather go and visit customers thanalmost anything else,” he said. “And in this particularbusiness, it’s all about meeting people. We have to goout and visit our customers—they don’t come to us.”Similarly, after he set up his consultancy website,
Crawford started “pressing the flesh”—going to meetups where he thought he might connect with potential
clients. He also attended other relevant events, suchas those presented by the American Chamber ofCommerce in Japan (ACCJ). “I’m a big fan of going tomeetups, introducing myself, and handing out a tonof business cards,” he said.
Crawford, who worked at Microsoft Japan Co., Ltd.
and Adobe KK in Japan after having worked in Silicon
Valley, also started hanging out at online sites where
digital marketers and search engine optimization
experts would gather. He would field any questions
about Japan to establish his expertise in his niche,and started blogging and creating podcasts. He tried tosnag public speaking opportunities and was thrilled
to be invited to do so at the ACCJ. Writing and blogging
also helped him become more widely known within

Annie Chang
Founder and president
AC Global Solutions Ltd.
Vice-chair, ACCJ
Independent BusinessCommittee

Steve BleisteinFounder and CEO
Relansa, Inc.
Co-chair, ACCJ
Independent BusinessCommittee

Seth Sulkin
CEO
Food-eCo-chair, ACCJ
Real Estate Committee
Chair, ACCJ Integrated
Resorts Task ForceTHE ACCJ JOURNAL • VOL. 58 • NO. 7

Attend online!
December 1–11, 2021
Charity auction ends at noon
on Saturday, December 11.
More details: www.accj.or.jp/charityballthat business circle and paved the way for better initialconversations with people, he explained.
“If people see you on stage talking about a topic,
they view you as an expert,” he said. “It’s great whenpeople come up to you afterwards and say, ‘Hey, weread your content. You sound like you know what you’re
doing.’ They already assume you’re competent. They
don’t ask questions like, ‘Tell me about your clients.’
They just jump right into their issues. It’s like a levelof trust is already there.”
In Bleistein’s radically stripped-down view ofstarting a business, there really is only one step: finding a customer. Everything else is secondary. Many
entrepreneurs mistakenly think they need to have allsorts of systems in place before they launch, he said,
but that’s not true.
“At the start, you’re going to be serving one
customer—that’s how you get started, that’s how you
learn. Everything else will fall into place,” explained
Bleistein, who is author of the book Rapid Organizational Change. “There is no capability more important than client acquisition. I don’t care what people
say about delivery, expertise, or product ratings. You
have to have the ability to acquire customers.”“The hottest market is now IT, so there are lots of opportunities there,” she noted. “And I think foreign entrepreneurs have an advantage because they generally havemore skills and can move more quickly in the market.”
When starting a business, it’s also important not
to be too narrowly fixated on your niche or specificbusiness solution, because there simply may not beenough interest in that, Chang said. When she started
her company 32 years ago, she needed to be more of anandemo-monoya, or a shop that sells anything, andbe willing to accept a wider range of projects just to getcash flow, she explained.
“Later, when you’re in a better position financially,
you can focus more narrowly.”
Language can also be a barrier for doing businessin Japan. For Dunbar, being able to speak Japanese
was absolutely critical to selling wine. “You need to getin front of your target audience and get them interested in your product. If you have difficulty communicating, that’s going to be a major hurdle to success.”
But in other businesses, particularly IT, language
is less of a problem. Early on, Abidova used Japanese toengage potential clients, but these days she communicates in English with most of her customers at Trusted.

Branding Yourself

Raising Money

Fariza Abidova said that a key step to gaining clientsat her first company, SOPHYS Corporation, a humanresources and training business, was to attend events
that catered almost entirely to Japanese. This, of course,
required language ability. “I was just showing up andtalking to people and sharing what I do and my passion.”
Abidova also paid close attention to how shebranded herself, stressing and repeating key words
and phrases that she wanted people to remember andspread among their networks. For SOPHYS, that was“cross-cultural communication.” For her second company, Trusted Corporation, which was founded in2016 and helps clients with technological innovation,
she stressed the key words “global open innovation.”
One way to divide Japan’s business world is tosplit it into a business-to-customer (B2C) market anda business-to-business (B2B) market, said Lloyd. The
first functions pretty much as it does elsewhere, so iseasier to enter, although you need to understand theJapanese consumer psyche, he said. The B2B market
is much more political and based on long-term relationships and brand loyalty, making it much harder
to break into.
“If you’re a new entrepreneur, my recommendation is to go B2C,” Lloyd said. “But if your expertise is in
B2B, then secure your first project before you launch,
because it’s going to be a long, hard haul.”Still, these days, one good way to get business if
you’re a tech entrepreneur is to contact Japan’s big,established companies. They are struggling to digitallytransform their business, have money to spend, andare looking for people to help them make that transition, according to Annie Chang, founder and presidentof IT recruiting company AC Global Solutions Ltd.

In addition to acquiring customers, the other big
hurdle is funding your business. If a startup can breakeven after two years, it’s doing very well—unless you’rea tiny consultancy with very few expenses. During thattime, you need to keep spending money.
Nearly all startups are initially self-financed by
the entrepreneur’s savings, with additional help fromfamily and friends as the case may be, experts interviewed for this story said. Some service businesses
may be able to survive on that plus income generated
from the new business—especially if the founder hasreceived a large severance package from their previous job and wants to stay small.
But most product businesses or companies thatplan to grow even modestly will need financing help
from investors or banks once they get up and running.
“If your company is growing at a fairly high pace, you’regoing to need more capital,” said Dunbar. “That was

37

Fariza Abidova
Co-founder
Trusted Corporation
Founder
SOPHYS Corporation

Jeff Crawford
Founder and CEO
Zo Digital Japan
Vice-chair, ACCJ
Independent BusinessCommittee

Andrew Dunbar
CEO
Iconic Wine Japan, Inc.

especially true for me in a physical goods business.”
Most of the experts said they didn’t borrow fromthe bank, partly because they found that banks inJapan generally won’t lend to startups, particularly
in IT or services. “The bank is the worst place to start
unless you have a lot of assets and you want to do a collateralized loan,” said Bleistein. “Banks do not makemoney on business plans. That’s not their model.”But there can be benefits to pursuing that route.
Dunbar said he obtained bank loans and worked tocultivate relationships with banks as much as possible, and that the Japan Finance Corporation (JFC)
is a good place to begin if you are looking for debt
financing. Once you establish some payment history
with the JFC, it is easier to work with commercial ortrust banks.

THE ACCJ JOURNAL • VOL. 58 • NO. 7

38“I found that even if you don’t need money, if the bank offers
it, you should take it,” he said. “This allows you to develop apayment history with them. When it comes time for you to ask
for bigger loans, it’s a much easier conversation than if you don’t
have a relationship.”More entrepreneurs said they relied on VC funding, but eventhat was often hard to obtain. “I think the biggest challenge in
growing a business is raising money,” said Sulkin, who first raised
money from outside investors 10 months after founding Food-e.
In his experience, Sulkin found that venture capitalists inJapan—despite their name—are very risk averse. “If you’re an
unknown entrepreneur, even with the greatest idea ever, you’re
still going to have a lot of trouble raising money. And that’s a
problem for Japan.”She explained that, while the Japanese government has tried
to support the startup market through its growth fund, JIC Venture
Growth Investments Co., Ltd., at an early stage, Japan also needs
more accelerators—organizations that help startups define
and build their products by offering mentoring, connections toinvestors, and sometimes capital.
Eight Roads Ventures is a global growth stage fund with morethan $6 billion in assets under management that invests in technology and healthcare companies. Meralli, who is also an advisor
to Tokyo’s Shibuya Ward in its efforts to bring in more startups,
said that among foreign entrepreneurs in Japan, she looks forindividuals or teams who have experience in their field, demonstrate cultural flexibility, are coachable, and are self-aware.
She said there are always questions such as:

Fledgling Market
Japan’s VC industry is still small and young compared with thatin the United States, but it has grown rapidly over the past 10
years. While it cooled off last year amid the pandemic, funding
has bounced back so far this year.
The total number of startups that received funding in Japan
peaked at 2,619 in 2018 before falling to 2,055 last year, according
to Initial Inc., which tracks new deals. Total deal value slippedfrom $5.06 billion in 2019 to $4.89 billion last year, but it’s on
track to reach a record $6 billion this year. That’s up sharply fromthe $660 million raised by 1,161 startups in 2012.
Since mergers and acquisitions are not common in Japan,
67 percent of startups exit through an initial public offering(IPO), Eight Roads’ Meralli said. But in recent years, there havebeen only 50–70 IPOs in Japan. In the United States, there were
407 last year alone.
There are very few second-time Japanese entrepreneurs who
have successfully led their first startup to an IPO, Meralli noted.
“The industry is quite young, and there is a need to take a bit
more risk. When we get more of these, the ecosystem will becomemuch stronger.”
Meralli sees recent growth particularly among the early-stage
funds, especially seed and Series A rounds. But she sees a gap inthe subsequent “growth stage” funds—Series B, C, D, and so on.

 Why you?
 Why now?
 How big is the market?
 How defensible is your business?
“A lot of foreign businesses see things from their own country’s
perspective,” Meralli added. “But do they have a really strong
understanding of the Japanese players and market, and why
their solution will be better?”
She and her colleagues look very closely at the founding
management team when considering investment. One suggestion
she offered is to bring on board one or two experienced people whohave a local track record and can help refine the startup’s business.
Sulkin agrees. “If you really want to speed up your fundraising process, probably the best thing you could do is get someone
who has worked for a famous startup company and borrow their
credibility,” he said. “Get them on your board and call them a
co-founder. That will jump-start your fundraising.”

Agile Mind
Another big challenge for startups is hiring good staff. This canbe particularly hard in Japan, where the pool of talented candidates is smaller because many people work for one company

Best Countries for Startups in 2021

Japan has the ingredients for a vibrant startup ecosystem, but has a lot of ground to make up to compete globally.
1

124.420

4

UnitedStates2

728.7195

17.05327.741

6

14.94313.70111913.286
Netherlands

Switzerland

15.423Sweden10Singapore

8

Germany

Israel15.128
China

CanadaUnitedKingdom3

19.87613.835Australia

21

8.709
Japan

Each country is given a total score (shown here), which is the sum of three scores: Quantity (e.g., number of startups, coworking spaces, accelerators, meetups)
 Quality (e.g., presence of supporting infrastructure, amount of private-sector investment, presence of unicorns)
 Business environment (e.g, ease of doing business, internet speed and freedom, R&D investment)
Source: StartUp Blink Global Startup Ecosystem Index 2021

THE ACCJ JOURNAL • VOL. 58 • NO. 7

their entire lives. Switching jobs is somewhat unusual, although
it is becoming more common.
It’s also difficult to find people who may have experience inyour niche, and startups generally aren’t able to use headhunters,
because they cost so much.
Sulkin, who has eight employees at Food-e, said he relied ona variety of online recruiting services, some of which worked
better than others. Rather than searching only for people withexperience in food delivery, he looked for those with consumerrelated online experience.
Key qualities he wants in individuals are flexibility and fast
thinking—an agile mind. “Someone who can quickly adapt from
whatever they were doing before to whatever I’m doing now,”
Sulkin said.
Weisser said that, in a startup, you’re typically hiring “forpotential more than for the past,” and are looking for someone“who can deal with change every quarter. That’s hard.”
Lloyd said it’s important to appeal to something bigger thansimply the chance to make money in an exciting new venture.
At Japan Travel, he stressed how the business would help Japan
recover after the devastation of March 11.
“I was appealing up Maslow’s hierarchy of needs to self-esteem.
That is way above the base level of physiological needs, which I
equate with money. The weakest form of loyalty in an employee
is how much you’re paying them,” he said.

dangerous waters and a small hole appears in the hull, the lastthing you need is for your chief engineer and your guy who is thelookout to run down there and try to fix it.”
Crawford said one reason for the failure of a previous consulting business he started—that was designed to provide web
advice to US dance and music schools—is his personal lack ofinterest in what they did. “I had no musical or dance talent. I wassort of in love with the solution and not really in love with thecustomer,” he explained.
At Zo Digital, he’s more interested “not just in the customer
but in the kind of problems they face”—breaking into the Japanese market.
Lloyd likens running a company to flying a plane. You needto pay attention to multiple dimensions. Focusing too muchon one will result in a crash. Just as a compass has four points,
business founders need to attend to four key stakeholders:customers, suppliers, investors, and staff.
“Most people, when they start their company, worry about
the money. So, they go after the shareholders. But after that’s
done, they forget about them,” he said. That’s a big mistake, because those shareholders can make introductions, give endorsements, and provide more financing.
Similarly, many people get a deal from a supplier and thenleave it at that, Lloyd said. “They don’t keep pushing the supplier
to innovate, reduce prices, and provide alternatives.”

THERE IS NO CAPABILITY MORE IMPORTANT THAN CLIENTACQUISITION. I DON’T CARE WHAT PEOPLE SAY ABOUT DELIVERY,
EXPERTISE, OR PRODUCT RATINGS. YOU HAVE TO HAVE
THE ABILITY TO ACQUIRE CUSTOMERS.
“For fresh startups, you need an idea that’s so powerful thatwhen people come to work for you, or when people do businesswith you, they’re thinking about the idea not the underlying
economics,” Lloyd added. “They’re there because they believe inthat vision.”

Lessons Learned
Entrepreneurship necessarily involves some failures and mishaps—and lessons to learn from them. For Fusion Systems’ Alfant,the biggest mistakes have related to choosing business partners
who didn’t share his values. This created friction.
“That doesn’t mean they were bad people, but there was nota consistency of values, ethics, and approach to business and life,”
explained Alfant. He added that, as a result of those experiences,at this point in his career, he won’t go into business with people
he doesn’t already know and trust, and with whom he sharescommon values.
Another trap that entrepreneurs can fall into is getting distracted by “shiny new objects,” he continued. Entrepreneurs tend
to see opportunities everywhere, so you must train yourself tostay focused. He likened the temptation to a crow building a nest
and seeing a sparkling object on the road. When he flies down topick it up, he gets hit by a car. “In the end, that sparkling thingwasn’t going to help with the nest, but it looked really appealing.”
Alfant has also seen business founders attack minor problems
with their most valuable resources. “Intelligent people like to solve
problems. But if you’re the captain of the ship sailing throughListen … and Exercise!
Listening to your customers—and thinking about their customers—is vital to success, several experts said. Many entrepreneurs
are eager to talk and sell their ideas to people, but that often
means they can’t hear what potential clients want or see how
they can adjust their businesses to meet those needs.
“Instead of spending 80 percent of the time talking and explaining my idea, I try to spend 80 percent of the time listening
to what my clients or potential clients want,” said Alfant. “That’s
extraordinarily valuable.”It’s active listening that matters, he said. “I’m not thinking
about what I’m going to say next. I’m trying to open up my mind
and allow everything my counterparty is saying to come in before
I formulate my next statement.” As a president emeritus of the
ACCJ, Alfant stressed the many valuable and tireless contributions that entrepreneurs had made over the years. “They are theengines for a lot of the chamber’s activities.”
A final tip from Alfant is about health: the need for exercise.
Being an entrepreneur requires physical and mental stamina.
Keeping physically fit is an important part of that.
“We tend to lose sight of the fact that it’s not easy to work 60and 70-hour weeks for years on end,” he said. “You’re setting thetone in your organization. You are the leader. You need to havestamina, be in good physical condition, and have good mental
acuity and balance to do that. It’s important for young entrepreneurs to understand this, and allocate time so they can have abalanced lifestyle.” n

THE ACCJ JOURNAL • VOL. 58 • NO. 7

39

STARTUPS

By Julian Ryall

R
E
H
T
O
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S
S
H
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A
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G
AND FINDIN
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P
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D
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DEALING W
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E
C
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O
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YOUR WAY

THE ACCJ JOURNAL • VOL. 58 • NO. 7

R

ed tape and entrenched ways of operating
are facts of business life in any country. Yet,Japan seems to have more head-scratchingrules and regulations to confound the unwary thando most countries. Entrepreneurs who have navigatedthe minefields that make up Japanese business law
each have a tale to tell of the experience—but all thosewith whom I spoke for this story expressed the firm
belief that the country’s bureaucratic red tape is slowly
being unwound.
“Setting up a company is like a lot of things inJapan—difficult and time-consuming,” said Timothy
Langley, founder and chief executive officer of government affairs consultancy Langley Esquire. “You’re boundto make mistakes, particularly if you are doing it for the
first time. You can attempt to do it by yourself, with apartner or friends who can help fulfill the requirements
in Japanese, or you can pay someone to do it.
“Once you’ve set up a few companies and learn
the ropes, you know what hoops you need to jump
through. But the first couple of times, you’re going to‘learn by mistaking,’ even if you pay someone to do it
for you,” he told The ACCJ Journal.

Layers of Difficulty
The requirements for anyone setting up a company areclearly going to vary depending on the business sector.
Anything in the healthcare industry is likely to facesignificant scrutiny before being permitted to operate,
while companies in the legal, financial, real estate, or
cryptocurrency spaces, for example, will all need therelevant licenses, said Langley, who serves as vicechair of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan(ACCJ) Secure Digital Infrastructure Committee.
“But if it’s plain vanilla and you have an innovativetechnology, product, or service you are trying to sell—and you simply want to set up an entity that has formal
recognition and grants access to things like opening
a bank account—there are several layers of difficultythat you hit at different stages of the company’s development,” he added.
The first layer is simply getting established, holding an incorporators’ meeting, the first shareholders’meeting, and setting up a bank account. And while
opening a bank account should be straightforward, themajority of people interviewed for this story expressed
exasperation over the great pains to which new businesses are expected to go.
Banking can be a “game-stopper,” Langley admitted.
“Sometimes you simply can’t.”
Thomas R. Shockley, CEO of travel business DocuMonde Inc. and co-chair of the ACCJ Independent
Business Committee, is one of the founders who isof the opinion that innovations such as the ¥1 capitalrequirement (instead of the traditional ¥10 million)
have made it easier to set up a company in Japan. But
banking, he agrees, remains a source of frustration.
“Regulations are not the issue. The most challenging
thing today is the same as it was 20 years ago: establishing a corporate bank account,” he said. “Banks choose

their clients restrictively … and from the bank’s pointof view, there is no business advantage—and it is quitepossibly a disadvantage—in having a ¥1 company as
one of its corporate accounts.”

41

Taxing Choices
Robert Roche, executive chairman and president of
Oak Lawn Marketing, Inc., concurs that abolishingthe ¥10 million capital requirement was a positive
development, but also believes that elements ofJapan’s tax system are unnecessarily draining entrepreneurial capacity.
“Although at the entrepreneurial level, I think thatJapan is on a par with America and better than China,
where everything has to be a wholly foreign-owned
enterprise,” he said. “So, in general, Japan is ahead of
the game in making many things easy.”
But that does not extend to one key element oftax laws here.
“If you live in Japan for more than five years,
the Japanese tax your worldwide income,” he said.
“My original success was in Nagoya. From there, notonly did I establish several more companies, I also
invested in even more startups in Japan. Naturally,
I also invested in my home country and other countries. For many foreign entrepreneurs, over time,
their non-Japanese investments become material.”
Roche said that his businesses are in several
countries, each with separate teams; however, income
generated from them would be taxed in Japan. Consequently, he did less entrepreneurial business in Japan
simply because he was not proximate, not because hedidn’t want to.
“I’m aware of quite a few people who no longer
reside in Japan because of this tax,” he continued. “Ifthey did live in Japan, they would be building and investing in more and more Japanese businesses. But
the true loss is the mentoring of new entrepreneursthat doesn’t happen as a result of their absence.”

Catherine O’Connell
Founder
Catherine O’Connell Law
Co-chair, ACCJ
Legal Services and IP
Committee

Timothy LangleyFounder and CEO
Langley Esquire
Vice-chair, ACCJ
Secure Digital
Infrastructure Committee

Piles of Paper
Catherine O’Connell, founder of Catherine O’Connell
Law and co-chair of the ACCJ Legal Services and
IP Committee, discovered that setting up a legal
practice in Japan “does take a lot of time and paperwork,” although she emphasized that it is “absolutely
correct” for the Ministry of Justice to regulate who
can practice law in Japan so that consumers are protected and to ensure that lawyers behave ethically.
“That said, the procedure for being approved as a
Registered Foreign Lawyer is an example of where theprocess could be a whole lot shorter and much moretransparent,” she suggested. While the approval process is a “check-the-box” confirmation of paperworkthat is submitted by the applicant, it can take eightmonths for approval to be granted.
“They need to remove the smokescreen and makethis process transparent. I believe that crossing t’s
and dotting i’s should really only take a month, maximum,” said O’Connell, who will be speaking on policy

Thomas R. Shockley
CEO
DocuMonde Inc.
Co-chair, ACCJ
Independent BusinessCommittee

Listen to this story:
accj.or.jp/sound

THE ACCJ JOURNAL • VOL. 58 • NO. 7

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measures and regulatory practices for setting up alaw firm in Japan at the APEC Study Center Japan
event Promoting Trade in Services by SMEs andWomen Entrepreneurs on October 1.
“I have an unsubstantiated personal belief that
imposing lengthy processes is a way to test our dedication for doing business in Japan,” she added. “Anyone
who is in Japan or has commercial relationships withbusinesses here knows that you are in this for the long
game, building relationships over years.
“So, the process to set up is perhaps the very firsttrial of your tenacity and tolerance for what will be along and successive line of tests of your gaman, your patience, in the journey that is doing business in Japan.”

Resistance to Change
Other arcane requirements of the Japanese bureaucracy—such as the need for hanko (personal seals)on all official documents and the domestic businessworld’s ongoing need for fax machines—were frequent bones of contention among business leaders.
O’Connell said she was glad she opted to use asignature when opening her law firm bank account instead of a hanko but is shocked at how many Japanesecompanies protested against government plans tothe company are not resident in Japan. Also, a personal
address in Japan is required for many things, suchas housing rental, personal bank accounts, auto purchases, domestic credit cards, and a cell phone.”
Obtaining residency status can be much moretime-consuming than expected, resulting in frustrating delays in getting your business life started.
For Iwamura, it is “very important to hire a trusted
bilingual judicial scrivener who will advise you about
the total picture, rather than just providing the seemingly simplified incorporation services.”
Frank Packard, an advisor at Synnovate CapitalPartners and chair of the ACCJ Alternative Investment
Committee, said setting up a company is relatively simple but agrees that obtaining the necessary services,such as banking facilities, can be more of a challenge.
“The biggest problems lie within us,” he said.
“Approaching regulations with a negative attitude
and seeing it as necessary to ‘overcome’ regulations
will almost surely lose every engagement. However,
if you look to ‘meet’ or ‘satisfy’ regulations, then you
will have a much better chance of success.”
Parker J. Allen, president and CEO of government relations and PR consulting firm Parthenon
Japan Company Ltd., said that setting up a company

APPROACHING REGULATIONS WITH A NEGATIVE ATTITUDE …
WILL ALMOST SURELY LOSE EVERY ENGAGEMENT. HOWEVER,
IF YOU LOOK TO ‘MEET’ OR ‘SATISFY’ REGULATIONS, THEN YOU
WILL HAVE A MUCH BETTER CHANCE OF SUCCESS.
abolish fax machines and introduce electronic alternatives to the hanko.
“Japan still has a long way to go on what othercountries consider to be a given in business,” she said.
“Japan is a modern country and a member of the G7,
but they can’t move beyond the fax machine?
“The pandemic has shifted things a bit, thankfully,
but these archaic remnants are anchoring Japan in thepast and are a major deterrent for anyone considering
doing business here.”

Smoother Paths
For all the hurdles in some sectors, however, others
insist the process does not have to be too traumatic.
Over more than two decades as a partner at
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu LLC, Steve Iwamura set
up a number of companies and says changes to therules on representative directors, the attestationof the articles of incorporation, and the minimum
paid-in capital have made the procedure much morestraightforward.
“Although the incorporation process itself has been
simplified, certain practical difficulties start to surface
after the company is registered,” he said. “Even after
the company is legally registered, most Japanese banks
will not open corporate accounts when the directors ofis easier in the United States and other countries
purely because much of the paperwork can be completed online. “However, having done the procedures
on behalf of over a dozen companies in Japan, I don’t
find them overwhelmingly difficult.
“For any issue that one may encounter in Japanese
corporate affairs, the solution is always out there
somewhere,” he added. “Having a strong network of
specialists and legal professionals really makes a massive difference here. I am fortunate in that, no matterthe situation, if I can’t solve it myself, I usually know
who to ask.”

43

Robert Roche
Executive chairman
and president
Oak Lawn Marketing, Inc.
ACCJ vice-president
Chubu

Steve Iwamura
External advisor
Deloitte Touche
Tohmatsu LLC
Chair, ACCJ-Kansai
External Affairs
Committee

Frank Packard
AdvisorSynnovate Capital Partners
Chair, ACCJ Alternative
Investment Committee

Room for Improvement
Yet Langley insists the hurdles to doing business inJapan—actual or perceived, large or surprisingly
small—are still damaging to innovation and entrepreneurship here.
“This applies to entrepreneurs who are Japanese,
foreigners who want to start a business in Japan,
and those from overseas who want to innovate newprocesses or technologies and introduce them to theJapanese market,” he said.
“While there is promise of Tokyo’s growing attractiveness as a global financial hub, much work still needs
to be done in this regard.” nParker J. Allen
President and CEO
Parthenon Japan
Company Ltd.

THE ACCJ JOURNAL • VOL. 58 • NO. 7

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SKILLS

By Diana Lestari

Be on Time45

Why punctuality matters and how to ensure itH

ow often do we hear people say, “Sorry forbeing late”? How about, “I’m sorry I’m late, thetraffic was so bad”? Does this sound like us?
Many studies have shown why some people just can’t
get somewhere on time. Several causes have been identified, but there is one common trait running throughthe behavior of chronically late individuals that may
be the universal reason for their perpetual tardiness.
Do we need to be on time for our appointments
and meetings? Have we given thought to why punctuality is important?
Nick Saban, head football coach of the Universityof Alabama Crimson Tide, is renowned for teaching
teamwork and responsibility. He says, “Be on time
because it shows we care.” His teams’ success demonstrates why it matters.
Being on time shows others that we: Respect their time Are reliable and trustworthy
When we are punctual, we show others that we
respect them and are thinking not only of ourselves
but also their lives, roles, and responsibilities. We’re
actively considering how our actions will affect them.
Arriving on schedule should not be a one-time
event. To set a strong foundation of trust—and to makethe most of our personal and professional relationships—we should always arrive on time.
As a secondee to the Tokyo office of Grant Thornton
Japan for more than a year—and having worked formore than six years as an audit manager handling many
Japanese clients in Indonesia—I am well aware of how
important punctuality is in Japan. These days, more
Japanese people have become relaxed about this, but
being on time remains important in Japanese society,where shinrai (trust) is key.

How to Be Punctual
Here are three ways to break a pattern of tardiness:
1. Set alarms
This might not be an easy thing to do if we are notorganized, but the more we use alarms to get things
done—and stick to the process—the more reliable
this approach will become.
2. Write it downSome of us need to physically record things to remember them. Note conversations and plans on your smart­phone calendar and stick to them.

3. Anticipate delays
Think ahead and plan for the unexpected:

Presented inpartnership with

 Check the traffic and weather before leaving
 Make sure you have enough gas the night before
 Ensure that your commuter pass has adequate fare
 Have breakfast at home instead of along the way Leave earlier to avoid crowded roads or trains Always have a Plan B
 For online meetings, make sure that you are in
front of the computer at least 10 minutes early

When we are punctual, weshow others that we respectthem and are thinking not
only of ourselves but also …
actively considering how ouractions will affect them.

Diana Lestariis a manager at
KAP Gani Sigiro &Handayani, a member
firm of Grant Thornton
International in Indonesia, and a secondee
to Grant Thornton
Taiyo LLC in Japan

Sometimes, delays are unavoidable. What should
you do when you are late?
1. Apologize
The first and most crucial thing to do is to apologize
to your boss and colleagues. When we can’t arrive on
time, someone else may have to cover our work. Ourabsence might have caused a huge problem for ourcolleagues, therefore the most important thing is toshow them respect and apologize.

www.grantthornton.jp/en
For more information,please contact Grant Thornton
Japan at info@jp.gt.com.

2. Explain
It is considered good manners in Japan to explain why
we are late for work. But we need to be careful of what
reason we give and avoid those which are too personal.
3. Update
While still in transit, it is important to state exactly
what time we expect to arrive, as this will affect the efficiency of the workplace. Giving our superiors enoughinformation is also a way to show our sincerity andthat we care about the work. Upon arrival at the office,we should apologize directly to our superiors and again
explain the reason for our tardiness. It is also advisable to apologize once again prior to leaving to showthat we care about having inconvenienced others. By
doing so, we can leave a good impression and build abetter relationship with our superiors. n

Listen to this story:
accj.or.jp/sound

THE ACCJ JOURNAL • VOL. 58 • NO. 7

Corporate Sustaining
Member Companies
The ACCJ thanks these organizations for their extensive participation, which provides a cornerstone in the chamber’s efforts topromote a better business climate in Japan. Information as of September 13, 2021.

PRESIDENT’S CIRCLE

3M Japan Limited

EY Japan

Naigai Industries, Inc.

Abbott Laboratories/Abbott Japan LLC

Facebook Japan

Nippon Boehringer Ingelheim Co., Ltd.

AbbVieFederal Express Japan Godo Kaisha

Northrop Grumman Japan

Adobe KK

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer Tokyo

Novartis

Aflac

GE JapanNTT

AIG Companies in Japan

Gensler and Associates/International, Ltd.

Oak Lawn Marketing, Inc.

Amazon Japan G.K.

Gilead Sciences K.K.

Oshidori-MGA Japan K.K.

Amway Japan G.K.

Goldman Sachs Japan Co., Ltd.

P&G Japan G.K.

AstraZeneca K.K.

GR Japan K.K.

Pattern Energy Group Inc.

Asurion Japan Holdings G.K.

Hard Rock Japan LLC

Pfizer Japan Inc.

Bank of America

HiltonPrudential Financial, Inc.

Bayer Yakuhin, Ltd.

IBM Japan, Ltd.

PwC Japan

Bloomberg L.P.

IHG ANA Hotels Group Japan

Qualcomm Japan LLC

Boeing Japan K.K.

IQVIA

Randstad K.K.

Bristol-Myers Squibb K.K.

Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies

Robert Walters Japan K.K.

Brookfield Asset Management

KPMG

salesforce.com Co., Ltd.

Carlyle Japan LLC

Kraft Heinz Japan

Squire Patton Boggs

Caterpillar

Lenovo Japan Ltd.

State Street

Chevron International Gas Inc. Japan Branch

Lockheed Martin

Stryker Japan K.K.

Citigroup

Mastercard Japan K.K.

Uber Japan Co., Ltd.

Coca-Cola (Japan) Co., Ltd.

McKinsey & Company, Inc. Japan

Visa Worldwide (Japan) Co., Ltd.

Cummins Japan Ltd.

MetLifeWalmart Japan/Seiyu

Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu LLC

Microsoft Japan Co., Ltd.

The Walt Disney Company (Japan) Ltd.

Delta Air Lines, Inc.

Mitsuuroko Group Holdings Co., Ltd.

Western Digital Japan

Discovery Japan, Inc.

Morgan, Lewis, & Bockius LLPWhite & Case LLP

ELC Japan K.K.

Morgan Stanley Japan Holdings Co., Ltd.

Zimmer Biomet G.K.

en world JapanMSD K.K.

Want to join the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan?
We offer membership programs for entrepreneurs, executives, individuals, and companies of all sizes—
from small and medium-sized enterprise to multinational companies.
For details, visit accj.or.jp/join-us.

Event coverage specialists
Photographers and videographers

Transforming valuable
moments into an asset
for the future.

We believe that visual documentations are assets in one’s brand. Our team at LIFE.14 works
closely with foreign embassies, international organizations, and global conferences.
We are not just camerpersons, we are your professional partner to provide high-quality
photographs and footages to broaden your possibilities for the future.
www.life14.com • contact@life14.com • 03-6709-9442

Global Visual Production

Have agreat idea?
Want to have it reviewed by top
executives from leading international
healthcare and technology companies?
The deadline for submissions to beconsidered for participation in the2021 HxD pitch event is October 1.
Don’t miss your chance to win prizes and makekey industry connections: accj.or.jp/hxd