JAPAN MNE Insights
Volume 9, Issue 1-2
March 2024
CONTENTS

1. Special Essay:
Martin Hemmert“Technology Entrepreneurship:
Japan’s New Growth Engine?”

2. Special Essay:

Japan Academy of Multinational Enterprises

http://www.mne-jp.org

Special Essay:
Technology Entrepreneurship:
Japan’s New Growth Engine?

Takahide Yamaguchi

Martin Hemmert“Global “Jinzai” Development inJapanese Universities: The Caseof University of Hyogo”

Professor of Global Business,
Korea University, South Korea
mhemmert@korea.ac.kr

3. Special Essay:
Risa Jitosho and Hajime Baba

“Brand Personality in Japan”

Introduction
Ever since I started doing research on
Japanese companies more than 30 years ago, I havebeen strongly interested in the role of small andmedium-sized companies (SMEs) in the Japanese
economy. While Japanese business is globally mostwell-known through its highly competitive
automobile and IT companies, SMEs constitute thebackbone of the Japanese industrial system. In my
doctoral dissertation research, I studied the division oflabor between large manufacturers and their
suppliers, and the highly sophisticated anddifferentiated patterns of collaboration between
participants in Japanese supply chains (Hemmert,
1999). Subsequently, my research interest shifted totechnology collaborations. Together with colleagues,
I conducted studies on technology collaborations
between companies as well as between companies
and universities, and we learned that most suchcollaborations are conducted by SMEs. Furthermore,
we found that similarly to industrial supply chains,technology collaboration outcomes in East Asian

countries are mostly driven by the relationship quality
between partners (Hemmert et al., 2014; Bstieler &Hemmert, 2015).
Regardless of the fact that most employment
and value added in the Japanese and other East Asian
economies falls to SMEs, the dominance of large
manufacturing companies and conglomerates in
global business and their strong control over suppliers
featured as a fundamental and persistent characteristicof the industrial systems in these countries. Since theearly 2010s, however, a change to these ostensibly
stable fundamentals became discernible. Across East
Asia, technology start-ups, understood as new,technology-based firms that are designed to grow
(Storey & Tether, 1998), rapidly gained momentum.
While such firms always existed, they played arelatively marginal role in East Asia before, as incontrast to the USA and some other Westerncountries, top talent and investment funds gravitatedto large manufacturing firms and conglomerates.
Therefore, it was remarkable and exciting to see thattechnology start-ups now play a larger role in East1

Vol.9, Issue 1-2
Asian countries. Together with colleagues, I therefore
set up a research group to study technology start-ups
across Japan, South Korea (hereafter: Korea) andChina and understand how they develop and whichchallenges they face. In this essay, I would like toshare some of our key observations and findings.

The Growth of Technology Start-ups in East Asia
The number of technology start-ups hasgrown strongly in East Asia since the early 2010s.
Most of these start-ups focus on IT solutions in areas
such as e-commerce and the mobile internet, and haveclustered in megacities. In 2016, there were an
estimated 24,000 technology start-ups in Beijing and
5,000 each in Tokyo and Seoul, compared with
15,000 in Silicon Valley (Hemmert et al., 2019).
These numbers are impressive, as they show thatleading East Asian start-up ecosystems have grownquickly to a comparable size with the world’s leading
start-up cluster. As regards the growth of individual
start-ups, however, East Asian countries are stillclearly lagging behind the USA. At the beginning of2024, there were 169 unicorns (start-ups with amarket valuation of more than US$ 1 billion) in
China, 14 in Korea and 6 in Japan, compared with
653 in the USA (World Population Review, 2024).
Thereby, China, Korea and Japan are globally ranked
2nd, 10th and 20th, respectively, in terms of the numberof unicorns.
Another angle to assess technology
entrepreneurship across different locations is therelative evaluation of start-up ecosystems, which arealso referred to as entrepreneurial ecosystems and canbe understood as sets of interdependent actors andfactors that enable productive entrepreneurship withina specific region or location (Stam, 2015). Based on awide range of criteria, the start-up ecosystems ofBeijing, Shanghai, Seoul and Tokyo have been
globally ranked 7th, 9th, 12th and 15th among 290
ecosystems in 2023 (Startup Genome, 2024).

JAPAN MNE Insights
Overall, these observations suggest thattechnology entrepreneurship in East Asia has strongly
grown and become globally prominent in recent
years. Most East Asian start-up activity isconcentrated on the largest cities in the region.
Furthermore,
withinEast
Asia,start-upentrepreneurship appears to be most dynamic in
China, followed by Korea and Japan.

Driving Forces of Start-up Growth
It is apparent that technology entrepreneurshiphas become a major economic force in East Asia inrecent years. At the same time, this development issurprising when considering the long-term dominanceof large manufacturing firms and conglomerates inthis region. Thus, the question emerges what hascaused the rapid growth of start-up ecosystems in
East Asia.
Some factors behind the recent start-up boom
appear to be global. Rapid technological progress in
information and communication technologies has
dramatically lowered entry barriers for technology
start-ups. These days, it is conceivable to start up a
new company with only a promising business idea, a
few individuals and a few computers in a small officespace, or even working from home, and reach a large
number of potential customers for newly developed
digital services across the globe via bits and bytes.
Furthermore, the volume of venture capital available
to finance the growth of start-ups has increased
multifold since the turn of the millennium. However,these factors do not explain why technology
entrepreneurship in East Asia has not only increased
absolutely, but also relatively compared with otherparts of the world, as shown in global rankings.
To understand what happened in East Asia, let
us consider what is fundamentally needed for a startup to be successful: (1) skilled founders who havepromising new business ideas and are willing to start
up a new technology company; (2) capable technicaland managerial talent that is motivated to join start-2Vol.9, Issue 1-2
ups; (3) investors who are willing to finance startups, particularly when substantial investment capitalis needed for scaling up; and (4) early customers
who are willing to buy the products or services by a
new company. On all four counts, start-ups in East
Asia faced an uphill battle until the 2000s. Though
there was an abundance of skilled professionals
with deep technological knowledge and valuablebusiness ideas, few among them were motivated tostart up a new company. Similarly, most high-end
technical and managerial talent flocked to large
conglomerates and the public sector and was notinterested in joining start-ups. Venture capital
markets were underdeveloped and most investors
and financial institutions were not keen on investing
into start-ups with a highly uncertain future. Finally,
established companies were mostly relying on theinhouse development of new products andtechnologies and did not work with start-ups, whilemost potential private customers were also notusing the products and services offered by start-ups,
as few among were aware of these offerings.

JAPAN MNE Insights
Figure 1 Venture capital investment in Japan and Korea

Source: OECD (2024).
start-ups and uses them, while the number of
established companies willing to collaborate with startups and become their early customers has also
gradually increased.

Why have the conditions for obtaining key
resources and customers improved so markedly fortechnology start-ups in East Asia? Start-up support
policies have been one major supporting factor. In
Japan, Korea and China, the promotion of highIn the last 15 years, the businesstechnology entrepreneurship became a strong policy
environment has improved markedly in all thesepriority. In all three countries, national
policy programs include financial support
Why have the conditions for obtaining key
policies, including direct funding and loan
resources and customers improved so
support programs for start-ups and indirect
markedly for technology start-ups in Eastfunding support by the augmentation ofAsia?
“fund-of-funds” for venture capital“

aspects for technology start-ups in East Asia.
More start-ups are founded, as more individuals
are motivated to become technology entrepreneurs.
Moreover, the number of skilled young professionals
willing to work for start-ups has increased. The amountof venture capital has also grown. As shown in Figure
1, venture capital investment expanded more than
threefold in Japan between 2009 and 2021, while it
increased more than tenfold in Korea during the same
period. Finally, a much higher number of individuals is
now aware of the products and services provided byinvestment. Furthermore, a wide array of other start-up
supportmeasures,includingentrepreneurshipeducation and information-sharing programs, theorganization of entrepreneurship and networkingrelated events, and support for the creation of
incubators has been rolled out (Hemmert et al., 2019).
While many governments across the world havesupported technology entrepreneurship in recent years,
the policy shift towards start-up support has been
particularly strong in East Asia, arguably as a potential
means to diversify economies away from large
manufacturing firms and conglomerates.

3Vol.9, Issue 1-2
Furthermore, technology entrepreneurshippolicies in East Asian countries have also improved thebusiness conditions for start-ups indirectly through the
public dissemination of policy goals and priorities.
East Asian governments do not only support start-ups
through funding programs and other policy measures,
but also communicate to the public that technology
entrepreneurship has a bright future. Such public
communication matters because it helps changing
prevalent negative views about start-ups. Potential
technology entrepreneurs and technical and managerial
talent have previously been discouraged from foundingor joining start-ups not only for economic, but also for
cultural reasons. It used to be much more prestigious towork for a large company than for an unknown startup. While this social preference has not been unique toEast Asia, it has been particularly strong in this region.
Confucian values provide parents with strong influence
over the professional choices of their offspring, andparents’ preferences for their children’s employment inlarge companies which presumably offer safe jobs andsocial prestige have been strong. Persistent official
communication that start-ups have good prospects
arguably has helped with growing technology
entrepreneurship, as such communication has resulted
in more positive views of technology start-ups not only
among young professionals, but also their parents.
Another factor that has supported the growth oftechnology entrepreneurship in East Asia is the techsavviness of consumers in this region. The advent of
the smartphone has enabled technology start-ups toconnect with users of their applications much more
directly and effectively than in the past, resulting in
more opportunities to secure early customers. This
trend has been particularly strong in major East Asian
cities, where smartphone users tend to be highlysophisticated and keen to use new digital services(Hemmert et al., 2019).

JAPAN MNE Insights
Challenges for Technology Start-ups in East Asia
While technology entrepreneurship in Japan,
Korea and China has been strongly growing in recent
years, start-ups in these countries are nonethelessfacing some major challenges, which are partiallyrooted in cultural and economic background factors.
One challenging aspect for many East Asiantechnology entrepreneurs that our research group has
identified is the need to establish personal legitimacy
in order to attract talent, investors and customers(Hemmert et al., 2022).
Confucian values in East Asian countries placea high value on human capital (skills acquired via
education and practical experience). Moreover,business communities in these countries are relatively
stratified. This means that in order to be perceived as
legitimate, technology entrepreneurs need not only tobe highly educated and experienced, but should also
have graduated from prestigious universities or worked
for major companies. The importance of the face valueof first-tier universities and companies is reinforced
through the networks which individuals build
throughout their higher education and professional
careers. In other words, when a start-up entrepreneur
has graduated from a famous university or worked fora well-known company, former classmates andcolleagues can effectively help the entrepreneur withsecuring talent, investors and customers. Conversely,
even highly educated and experienced entrepreneurs
tend to struggle with attracting skilled talent and major
investments and customers unless they have such a“first-tier background.” In short, not only the amount,but also the quality of entrepreneurs’ human capitalstrongly influences the chances of resource andcustomer acquisition, which in turn determine
entrepreneurial
success.
Furthermore,theentrepreneurs’ human capital is built and leveraged intandem with their social capital – networks ofrelationships with other individuals (Figure 2).
Furthermore, successful internationalization
constitutes another major challenge for East Asianstart-ups. Generally speaking, technological progress

4

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Vol.9, Issue 1-2

Figure 2 Human capital dimensions, contextual conditions, exploitation mechanisms and start-up
entrepreneurship outcomes in East Asia
Contextual
Conditions

Dimensionsof Human CapitalSocial stratification
and relational
orientation
strengthen theeffects

Human Capital Quality
・Reputation of alma mater・Reputation of prior employer
・Level of tertiary education
・Relatedness of prior working
or entrepreneurial experience

Human Capital Amount・Amount of prior working
experience
・Amount of priorentrepreneurial experience

Positive
Legitimacybuilding Signaling
Effects

Human Capital
Exploitation Mechanisms

Talent Acquisition

Performanceof East Asian
Start-ups

Financing
Acquisition

CustomerAcquisition
Social Capital

Source: Hemmert et al. (2022, p.16)
has not only lowered entry barriers for start-ups ingeneral, but also has lowered cross-border market
entry barriers. In the global digital space, it is now
much easier for start-ups to connect with overseas“

generally quite successful, relatively few of thesecompanies have successfully expanded to global
markets (Hemmert & Kim, 2021; Kapturkiewicz,2022). This observation is remarkable in view of thegenerally strong export performance of Japanese,
Korean and Chinese firms over the last
decades.

Specifically, policy can enhance theinternational connectivity of start-up
ecosystems by promoting international
exchange and attracting foreign
entrepreneurial talent through supportive
immigration policies
customers than in the past. As a result, there are now
numerous “born globals” – entrepreneurial start-ups
that, from or near their founding, seek to derive asubstantial proportion of their revenue from the saleof products in international markets (Knight &Cavusgil, 2004). However, while many Japanese,
Korean and Chinese technology start-ups have been

Many East Asian start-ups are
not motivated to expand to foreign markets, as
they find that their domestic markets are
sufficiently large and attractive. However, in
our studies we have also found that even thosecompanies
thatarecommitted
tointernationalization often struggle to establish
a stable customer base on foreign markets. A key
reason for this relative lack of success is aninsufficient understanding of the needs of overseas
customers. Japan, Korea and China have all strongly
distinct business systems (Hasegawa & Witt, 2019).
As a result, there are major adaptation costs when5Vol.9, Issue 1-2

JAPAN MNE Insights

products, services and business models which havebeen developed for domestic customers are taken to
overseas markets (Hemmert & Kim, 2021).

ecosystems by promoting international exchange andattracting foreign entrepreneurial talent throughsupportive immigration policies.

Successful born globals tend to develop
products and business models that can be easily rolled
out internationally from the outset (Hennart, 2014).
However, East Asian start-ups rarely apply thisstrategy and first develop products for domestic
customers instead, resulting in major hurdles whentrying to expand internationally later on. The low
prevalence of a born-global approach in business andproduct development in East Asia is partially the resultof the scarcity of foreign technology entrepreneurs inJapan, Korea and China. In a major survey of almost
3,000 technology start-ups across the three countries,
we found that less than 1% of all start-up founders
have been foreign nationals. There are also relatively
few core management team members with a foreign
background in East Asian start-ups. This situationstrongly contrasts with some major Western start-up
ecosystems, where approximately half of all start-up
founders are immigrants (Startup Migrants, 2020). As
most technology start-ups in East Asia lack aninternational perspective in their founding teams, theyfind it difficult to develop products and businessmodels that can be easily rolled out internationally.

Start-up entrepreneurs in East Asian countries
can substantially increase their odds of success by firstbuilding up strong expertise through higher educationand professional experience, which strengthens theirlegitimacy. Furthermore, as the prestige of universities
and former employers is quite important for the ease of
acquiring resources and customers, founders who havenot graduated from leading universities or worked forwell-known companies may at an early stage of theirventure identify and attract co-founders who have sucha background to facilitate access to valuable resources.

Implications for Policymakers and Entrepreneurs
While entrepreneurship promotion policies in
East Asian countries have been highly effective ingrowing major start-up ecosystems over the last two
decades, it would be helpful to update these policies, asmany ecosystems are maturing. It may be more
effective now to focus support on high-potential startups instead of providing relatively untargeted subsidies
for a large number of new firms. Furthermore, in
relatively mature start-up ecosystems that are
increasingly relying on private capital, improvementsin the general business environment and in the global
connectivity of start-up ecosystems may be more
effective than providing direct support for start-ups(Brown & Mawson, 2019). Specifically, policy canenhance the international connectivity of start-up

Furthermore, start-up entrepreneurs who areinterested in international expansion should from theoutset focus on developing products and businessmodels that can be rolled out on international markets
relatively easy. The expertise in identifying suchbusiness opportunities can be strengthened byattracting co-founders or core management teammembers who are immigrants or have extensive
international experience.
Overall, it seems that within East Asia,
technology entrepreneurship has evolved more
dynamically in China and Korea than in Japan. The
relatively slower growth of start-up ecosystems inJapan may be related to demographic and cultural
factors. The number of young professionals isdiminishing, and Japan appears to have the most riskaverse business culture among the three countries.
Nonetheless, Japan can reinforce the positive trend
towards more vibrant technology entrepreneurship byleveraging its own strengths. For example, major
Japanese cities are increasingly seen as highly
attractive places to work and live in from a global
perspective. Technology entrepreneurship in Japan
may be reinvigorated by attracting first-rate global
talent more actively. If technological, cultural andpolicy changes continue to be supportive, technology
entrepreneurship may become a major growth engine
for the Japanese economy in the future.

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References
Brown, R., & Mawson, S. (2019). Entrepreneurial
Bangalore. Research Policy, 51(9), 104377
ecosystems and public policy in action: A critique
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2021.104377
of the latest industrial policy blockbuster. Knight, G.A., & Cavusgil, S.T. (2004). Innovation,
Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy andorganizational capabilities, and the born-global
Society, 12(3), 347-368.
firm. Journal of International Business Studies,
Bstieler, L., & Hemmert, M. (2015). The Effectiveness35(2), 124-141.
of Relational and Contractual Governance in New OECD. (2024). OECD. Stat. Venture capital
Product Development Collaborations: Evidence
investments.
from Korea. Technovation, 45/46, 29-39.
https://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=V
Hasegawa, H., & Witt, M.A. (Eds.). (2019). Asian
C_INVESTBusiness and Management: Theory, Practice and Stam, E. (2015). Entrepreneurial ecosystems andPerspectives (3rd ed.). Red Globe Press.
regional policy: a sympathetic critique. European
Hemmert, M. (1999). ‘Intermediate Organization’
Planning Studies, 23(9), 1759-1769.
Revisited: a Framework for the Vertical Division Startup Genome. (2023). The Global Startup
of Labor in Manufacturing and the Case of the
Ecosystem Report 2023. San Francisco: Startup
Japanese Assembly Industries. Industrial andGenome
LLC.
Corporate Change, 8(3), 487-517.
https://www.startupgenome/report/gser203
Hemmert, M., Bstieler, L., & Okamuro, H. (2014). Startup
Inclusive
Migrants.
(2020).
Bridging the cultural divide: Trust formation in
Entrepreneurship: The Handbook. How to create
university-industry research collaborations in the
successful
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in
your
city.
US, Japan, and South Korea. Technovation,
https://startupmigrants.com/wp34(10), 605-616.
content/uploads/2020/10/startupmigrantsHemmert, M., Cross, A.R., Cheng, Y., Kim, J.-J.,
handbook-en.pdf
Kohlbacher, F., Kotosaka, M., Waldenberger, F., Storey, D.J., & Tether, B.S. (1998). New technology& Zheng, L.J. (2019). The distinctiveness andbased firms in the European Union: An
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Japan, and South Korea: An exploratory analysis. World Population Review. (2024). World Population
Asian Business & Management, 18(3), 211-247.
Review. Country Rankings. Unicorns by Country
Hemmert, M., Cross, A.R., Cheng, Y., Kim, J.-J.,
2024. https://worldpopulationreview.com/countryKotosaka, M., Waldenberger, F., & Zheng, L.J.
rankings/unicorns-by-country(2022). The influence of founders’ human capitalon the performance of new technology-based
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exploratory study. Asia Pacific Business Review.
DOI: 10.1080/13602381.2022.2151711
Hemmert, M. & Kim, J.-J. (2021). Entrepreneurship in
Korea: From Chaebols to Start-ups. Routledge.
Hennart, J.-F. (2014). The Accidental Internationalists:
A Theory of Born Globals. Entrepreneurship
Theory & Practice, 38(1), 117-135.
Kapturkiewicz, A. (2022). Varieties of Entrepreneurial
Ecosystems: A comparative study of Tokyo and

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Vol.9, Issue 1-2

Special Essay:
Global “Jinzai” Development inJapanese Universities: The Case of
University of Hyogo
Takahide Yamaguchi, Ph.D.
Professor of International Business Administration,
School of Economics and Management,
University of Hyogo, Japant-yama@em.u-hyogo.ac.jp

Introduction
I was the Dean of the School of Economics andManagement at the University of Hyogo for four years,
from April 2019 to March 2023. This faculty has many
features, but the most prominent one is the Global
Business Course (hereafter referred to as GBC). The
GBC admits 50 Japanese students (Japanese highschool graduates, to be precise) in April and 30
international students (non-Japanese and dual
nationality students who graduated from high schools
abroad) in September, providing education ineconomics and business administration, and conferring“

educational activities at GBC over the past four and ahalf years and clarify that the challenge for global
human resources education at Japanese universities is
to bring global human resources back to the regions
where they were trained.
Toward this challenge, I proceed in thefollowing order. First, the concept of global humanresources in Japan will be explained. The concept ofglobal human resources in Japan is considered to be
the abilities that Japanese people should possess towork in a global work environment. Second, the caseof the University of Hyogo will be presented.
I will clarify that the challenge for global
After explaining the background of theestablishment of the former Hyogo
human resources education at Japanese
Prefectural Kobe Higher Commercial School
universities is to bring global humanand its location, the GBC established at theresources back to the regions where they
University of Hyogo's School of Economics
were trained.
& Management will be explained. Third, thea bachelor's degree in economics. Students enrolled in
April 2019 graduated in March 2023 after four years ofstudy. Students enrolled in September 2019 graduatedin September 2023. In other words, GBC, which we
founded, is finally in the process of graduating its firstbatch of graduates. In this essay, I will review the

gap that has emerged in the training of global humanresources in Japan will be discussed. Finally, I willconclude by presenting the structure required for
global human resource development at Japanese
universities, which can be gleaned from the discussionof this gap, and the need for further research.

8Vol.9, Issue 1-2
Concept of Global Human Resources in Japan
Prior to the various discussions in this section, it
is important to confirm what is meant by the concept of"global human resources" in Japan. In the first part ofthis essay, I used the term global human resources. Thisis a literal translation of the Japanese word jinzai. In
fact, it is not a perfect match for the English translationof global jinzai 1 . The Japanese word jinzai implies a
person who has the ability and mindset to work
globally. In line with this sense of the word, looking
back at previous studies, it can be said that the study of
global leaders and global talent is the study of global
jinzai in Japan. Even with this correspondence, thestudy of global jinzai is not necessarily monolithic.
Mendenhall, et al. (2012) point out that a common
understanding of its definition has not been formed in
the study of global leadership (A similar point is also
made by Pless et al. (2011)). Therefore, there is no fixed
definition of global jinzai either. However, several
studies have shown the characteristics of humanresources who can thrive in a global environment2.
From the study of global organizational behavior, thediscussion of the qualities of an effective manager in a
multicultural environment presented by Adler andBartholomew (1992) is the groundwork for manystudies. Then, Caligiuri's (2006) discussion identified
the knowledge, skills, abilities, and personalities that
global leaders need in terms of the tasks required ofthem. Subsequently, Caligiuri and Tarique (2012)attempted to measure the effectiveness of global
leadership; the elements of global leadership presented
by Caligiuri (2006) were also cited in. In this essay, we
will elaborate on the characteristics Caligiuri (2006)
indicated a global leader should possess.
Caligiuri's (2006) discussion presents 10 tasks
specific to global leaders, drawn from group meetingsand surveys of leaders actually working in global
companies in Europe and North America. The 10 tasks
are as follows:

JAPAN MNE Insights① Global leaders work with colleagues from othercountries.
② Global leaders interact with external clients fromother countries.
③ Global leaders interact with internal clients fromother countries.
④ Global leaders may need to speak in a language
other than their mother tongue at work.
⑤ Global leaders supervise employees who are ofdifferent nationalities.
⑥ Global leaders develop a strategic business plan ona worldwide basis for their unit.
⑦ Global leaders manage a budget on a worldwide
basis for their unit.
⑧ Global leaders negotiate in other countries or withpeople from other countries.
⑨ Global leaders manage foreign suppliers orvendors.
⑩ Global leaders manage risk on a worldwide basis
for their unit.
Caligiuri (2006) states that global leaders require thefollowing competencies to perform the above ten tasks(pp. 221-222).
① Knowledge
・ Culture-general knowledge ： Culture generalknowledge is defined as knowledge of the societallevel values and norms on which most cultures vary.
That is, the extent of understanding of a given
country's culture is the level of one's culture specificknowledge.
・ International business knowledge ： International
business knowledge is the topic-specific knowledge
related to conducting business globally. That is, theextent of one's expertise in international business is thelevel of one's international business knowledge.

1 Based on materials provided by J. E. Olsen at a workshop day for MEXT's Global Human Resource Development Promotion Project in 2012（https://www.doshisha.ac.jp/attach/page/OFFICIAL-PAGE-JA-1622/37661/file/7.pdf：final access, 2023/11/13）. In this essay, I will also use theJapanese word jinzai. Its meaning is someone who can work effectively in a global work or work environment, as will be described in detail in themain text.
2 The discussion here is based on Olsen's ideas mentioned above. Taking as a starting point the question he posed of whether there is a need to unify
the differences between Japan's own definition of global jinzai and the academic definition, I am attempting to clarify the image of global jinzai that issought after in Japanese society.

9JAPAN MNE Insights

Vol.9, Issue 1-2② Skills and abilities
・ Intercultural Interaction Skills ： Skills such as
foreign negotiating skills or cross-national conflict
resolution comprise intercultural interaction skills.
These skills can improve over time as one learns theway in which cultural nuances affect their interactions
with people from different cultures.
・Foreign Language Skills：Skill in a given foreign
language can increase to some level of fluency withpractice (for some much more practice than others) but
may be limited by abilities such as hearing sensitivity,
speech recognition, and memory.
・ Cognitive Ability ： To be effective globally,
individuals must possess cognitive complexity andintuitive perceptual acuity to accurately perceive andinterpret behaviors across multiple cultural contexts.
③ Personality characteristics
These five factors have been found repeatedly
through factor analyses and confirmatory factor
analyses across, time, contexts, and cultures and arelabeled “the Big Five.” The Big Five personality
factorsare:extroversion,agreeableness,
conscientiousness, emotional stability, and openness or
intellect.
・ Extroversion ： Many of the global leadershiptasks have a social component (e.g., working withcolleagues from other countries, supervising
employees who are of different nationalities).
・Agreeableness：Leaders who are more agreeable(i.e., deal with conflict collaboratively, strive formutual understanding, and are less competitive) report
greater cross-cultural adjustment and are likely to havegreater success on global leadership tasks involving
collaboration.
・ Conscientiousness ： Individuals who areconscientious demonstrate greater effort and task
commitment. Given the higher level of complexity,
global leadership tasks (e.g., managing foreign
suppliers or vendors) will likely require more effort
than comparable tasks in the domestic context.

・ Emotional stability ： Emotional stability is auniversal adaptive mechanism enabling humans tocope with stress in their environment. Given that stressis often associated with leadership in ambiguous andunfamiliar environment emotional stability is an
important personality characteristic.
・Openness or intellect：For a global leader, theability to correctly assess the social environment ismore complicated given that the global context
provides ambiguous or uninterpretable social cues.
Global jinzai is discussed in international
research papers as a capability that global leaders are
expected to possess.
On the other hand, how is global jinzai definedin Japan? In Japan, the ability to work in a global
workplace was not so much identified as research, butrather the government backed up the private sector'srequest for human resource development in order tostrengthen Japan's competitiveness (Fukagawa, 2012;
Yoshida, 2014). As a result, one of the goals of
training the human resources that universities are
responsible for has become the training of global
jinzai3. To this end, the definition of global jinzai inJapan was discussed at a Japanese government council,
and the results of its deliberations were published in
the form of a report. The best known definition of
global human resources by the Ministry of Education,
Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) is
the 2011 "Interim Summary" of the Council for the
Promotion of Global Human Resource Development4.
“The concept of "global jinzai" that Japan
should develop and utilize in the globalized
world economy and society in the future is
generally considered to include the following
elements.
Element I: language and communication skills
Element II: Initiative and proactivity,
challenging spirit, cooperativeness3 Yoshida (2014) clarifies the process of convergence of global human resources in Japan.
4 This definition is based on the following website.

https://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/shingi/chousa/koutou/46/siryo/__icsFiles/afieldfile/2011/08/09/1309212_07_1.pdf（final access: 2023/11/13)

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Vol.9, Issue 1-2
and flexibility, sense of
responsibility and sense of
missionElement III: Understanding of different
cultures and Japanese identity
In addition to the above, other qualities
commonly required of not only "global Jinzai" but also
those who will support the core of society in the future
include a broad range of liberal arts and deep expertise,
the ability to identify and solve problems, teamwork
and leadership (bringing together groups ofheterogeneous people), a sense of publicity and ethics,
and media literacy, and so on.”In its 2017 evaluation recommendations for
MEXT's policy, the Ministry of Internal Affairs andCommunications defines global jianzi as follows5.
“Human resources who can play an active rolein various fields by acquiring rich language andcommunication skills, initiative and proactivity,
and a spirit of cross-cultural understanding,
based on a deep understanding of Japanese
identity and Japanese culture.”
As described above, the attempt to define
global jinzai in Japan has proceeded as the Japanese
government responds to the challenge of fostering
global jinzai, and in the process, a definition has beenmade. Let us compare the Japanese definition of global
jinzai with the definition proposed in academic
discussions (see Table 1). Comparing the requirements
for global leader, the Japanese definition of global
jinzai shares similarities with academic discussions interms of knowledge, skills and abilities, and suitablepersonality. The major difference is that the Japanese
definition of global jinzai requires global jinzai to
identify themselves as Japanese. This reflects theJAPAN MNE Insights
location-specific nature of training global jinzai inJapan. We will discuss in the next section and beyond
that this identity item is a key point in the training of
global jinzai at Japanese universities.
The Case of the University of Hyogo
Before discussing the gap in global jinzai
training at Japanese universities, we will briefly
introduce the Global Business Course (GBC)
established at the University of Hyogo's School of
Economics & Management as a case study.
(1) Public university in a rural area
The University of Hyogo was founded in 1929
as Hyogo Prefectural Kobe Higher Commercial
School. Since its establishment, it has been an
institution of higher education in Hyogo Prefecture6.
Kobe City, where the University of Hyogo is located,
is a city that has developed along with overseas trade7.
A record of the development of Owada Tomari appears
in 821.
Until the mid-1400s, Hyogo was the center of Japan's
trade with China. In 1603, Japan became the seat of theEdo shogunate, the government of the Tokugawa
family. Under the policy of the Edo Shogunate, Japanas a whole adopted a policy of seclusion. Negotiations
with the U.S. led to the establishment of the Port of
Kobe east of Hyogo-tsu due to problems with thehinterland, and the Port of Kobe was opened in 1868.
Shortly thereafter, a political upheaval brought about
the end of the Edo shogunate and the start of direct ruleby the emperor. 1868 onward, the port of Kobe wasdeveloped and Kobe became the western hub ofJapan's overseas trade (Kobe became a trading port for
Osaka and the rest of the Kansai region).
After 1868, Kobe became a hub for overseas
trade and international business. In 1878, following theplan of Hyogo prefectural governor Masazumi
Morioka, the Kobe Institute of Commerce (now Hyogo
Prefectural Kobe Commercial High School) was

5 The MIC definition is presented in the MIC's "Policy Assessment on the Promotion of Global Human Resource Development - Recommendations

Based on the Assessment Results -" published in 2017(https://www.soumu.go.jp/main_content/000496468.pdf：final access 2023/11/13).
6 The history of the establishment of national Kobe University of Commerce is based on the Fifty-Year History Compilation Committee of Kobe

University of Commerce (1979).
The history of the establishment of the Port of Kobe is based on the following website
https://www.city.kobe.lg.jp/culture/modern_history/archive/detail/history_01.html#year_1868 (final access, 2023/11/13）
7

of

the

11

City

of

Kobe.

JAPAN MNE Insights

Vol.9, Issue 1-2
Table 1 Comparison of elements required for global jinzai

Knowledge

Academic Definitions
・General knowledge (knowledge of different cultures)Japanese Definitions
・Broad knowledge

・Knowledge of international business・Understanding of different cultures
・In-depth expertiseskills and abilities

・Skills to operate in a cross-cultural environment

・Language skills

・Foreign language skills

・Communication skills

・Ability to recognize problems in a multicultural environment

・Problem identification and problem-solving skills,
・Teamwork and leadership (bringing together groupsof heterogeneous people)
・Media literacy, etc.

Suitable personality

・Extroversion

・Initiative and proactivity

・Agreeableness・Challenging spirit

・Extraversion

・Cooperativeness, Flexibility

・Agreeableness・Sense of responsibility

・Conscientiousness

・Sense of mission

・Emotional stability

・Publicness or Ethics,

・Openness or Intellect
Identity―

Identity as Japanese

Source: The author summarizes the discussion in this section
established to provide business-related education. It
was the second business education institution in Japan,
after Tokyo8. This led to the establishment of the
National Kobe Higher Commercial School (now Kobe
University) in 1903. It was decided that the National
Kobe Higher Commercial School would be upgradedto national Kobe University of Commerce in 1929.
Accordingly, it was decided to establish Hyogo
Prefectural Kobe Higher Commercial School (now
University of Hyogo, and hereinafter called Kobe High
Commerce) again as a prefectural institution, and it
was established in 1929. Thus, along with thedevelopment of the Port of Kobe, an educational
institution was established in Kobe to foster humanresources for international business.
The first principal of Kobe High Commerce
was Masao Ito, who set forth the following threeeducational policies for Kobe High Commerce9.

① Focus on trade and economics.
② Cultivate academic ability and skills to respond
immediately to the real needs of society.
③ Cultivate an autonomous spirit.
In particular, I would like to address Ito's
educational emphasis on trade as it relates to thecurrent discussion. In addition to the focus on tradeand economics in his seminar education, Itoestablished the Trade Research Office (now theInstitute for Policy Science) in 1934. The Trade
Research Office was intended to conduct research andanalysisoninternational
economic
issues.
Differentiating itself from the national Kobe
University of Commerce (now Kobe University), thelaboratory emphasized theory and, taking advantage ofthe geographical location of Kobe, tried to make theanalysis of trade with foreign countries a pillar of Kobe

8

The description of the establishment of business educational institutions in Kobe here is based on the following websites.
https://www.shinshoudousoukai.com/history/ (final access, 2023/11/13）.
9 The educational policy indicated by Ito is based on Matsuyama (2021). In addition, the description of the early education and research of theprefectural Kobe High Commerce written here is based on Matsuyama (2021).

12

JAPAN MNE Insights

Vol.9, Issue 1-2
High Commerce's research. Ito also established asystem of overseas research for faculty members andwas keen to have them gain international experience.
He focused on teaching language skills, and in relation
to English education, three foreign teachers wereassigned along with one Japanese teacher. German wastaught by two Japanese teachers, while French andChinese were taught by one Japanese and one foreignteacher. What is now known as "native speaker"
language education was provided. In addition, Ito's
educational philosophy was to nurture smart,
gentleman-like citizens. These words indicate that Itowanted his students to improve their liberal arts andinterpersonal skills through education at Kobe High
Commerce.
Kobe High Commerce's social reputation did
not shake out in the measure of employment of its
graduates10. The employment rate for students who
graduated in 1933 (the second graduating class) was60%. For students who graduated in 1935, allapplicants were able to find employment. In 1939, thedemand for graduates increased and the number of job
applicants increased to 10 times that of graduates. In
1935, graduates were employed by Mitsui, Itochu,
Marubeni, Kanematsu, and other general trading
companies, non-life insurance companies, and banks.
In 1948, Kobe High Commerce became Kobe
University of Commerce owned by Hyogo Prefecture
under the new Japanese university education system(the former national Kobe University of Commerce
became Kobe University)11. Prefectural Kobe
University of Commerce was originally a college of
economics and business administration, but later added
the Department of Management Science and then the
Department of International Commerce, giving it atotal of four courses. The International Commercecourse was designed to train personnel to engage ininternational business. In 2004, prefectural Kobe
University of Commerce was merged with otheruniversities owned by Hyogo Prefecture to form the

University of Hyogo. Prefectural Kobe University ofCommerce was taken over by the School of Economics
and the School of Business Administration of the
University of Hyogo, and in 2019, the School of
Economics and the School of Business Administration
were merged to form the School of Economics andManagement.
(2) Global Business Course
In the 2019 reorganization, the School of
Economics and the School of Business Administration
were merged to create the School of Economics andmanagement, while the School of Social Information
Science was established with faculty members in OR
and information sciences12. The concept of thisreorganization was to train global human resources in
the School of Economics and Management, and todevelop human resources in the field of data science in
the School of Social Information Science. The Schoolof Social Information Science was the third faculty inJapan to be established in the field of data science. theSchool of Economics and Management, in addition to
the Economics and Business Administration courses,
established the Global Business Course (GBC, shown
above), which offers a degree in economics and isdesigned around the subjects of economics andbusiness administration. It is common for Japanese
universities to have a business administration course
within the economics department and offer a bachelor's
degree in economics. Since economics was established
as a major field of study and business administration
was taught within it, the course was named the Global
Business Course, but it offered a bachelor's degree in
economics, which is a major field of study. However,the postgraduate master course that was subsequently
established is a global business course, but it offers amaster's
degreeininternational
business
administration.
The GBC is a specialized course for the
training of global jinzai. The course has a capacity of

10 The employment status of Kobe High Commerce is based on Matsuyama (2021).
11 The history of Kobe University of Commerce is as follows.

https://www.u-hyogo.ac.jp/outline/about/history/kobe.html (final access: 2023/11/13)
12 In 2018, the author became the Director of the Preparatory Office for the establishment of the School of Economics and Management, and served as

the Dean of the School of Economics and Management from April 2019 to March 2023.

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Vol.9, Issue 1-2
80 students, 50 of whom are Japanese high school
graduates enrolled in April according to the regularJapanese academic calendar, and 30 of whom areforeign high school graduates enrolled in September13.
September enrollment was chosen to be consolidatedwith the academic calendar of the foreign country.
Students admitted in April are selected in the same
way as general students, through two entrance
examinations: one is a recommendation-based entrance
examination, and the other is a general entrance
examination that involves taking The National Center
Test for University Admissions. A CEFR level B1 isrequired for admission. On the other hand, September
admission is based on recommendations from partnerhigh schools and the general entrance examination.
The school has agreements with high schools in
Taiwan, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand,
Indonesia, India, and Romania for high school students
to enter the school, and entrance examinations are heldin each country to attract students. At the same time,
the school conducts an entrance examination once a
year as a general entrance examination and accepts
students from Japan and abroad. The nationalities andnumbers of students admitted in September are shownin Table 2.
Looking at the educational structure, April
entrants spend one year in the International Student
Dormitory. Similarly, September entrants live in thedormitory for one year, sharing a living room andkitchen with other September entrants who havealready entered the dormitory the previous year. At theend of August, the previous year's students leave thedormitory and welcome the new September entrants.
The purpose of living in the dormitory is to help
students understand other cultures and develop amindset of tolerance toward other cultures while living
together with students of different nationalities,
cultures, and religions. April entrants will spend theirfirst term working on improving their English skills
through a five-week English language training
program in the Philippines during the summer
vacation, while September entrants will replace thisJAPAN MNE Insights
English language training with a program focused onlearning about Japanese culture through hands-on
experience.
The second term for students entering in April
and the first term for students entering in September
will be identical, so students will begin a program ofstudying economics and business administration
courses in English. As an alternative research outcome
to the graduation thesis, all GBC students are required
to submit their research to Review of Global Business,
which is a graduation requirement along with thepresentation of their graduation research.
Currently, study abroad is not a graduation
requirement for students entering in April. The goal is
to increase the number of students who can reach the
CEFR C1 level of English at the time of graduationand to provide them with expertise in economics andbusiness administration over their four years of study.
On the other hand, we are facing an unexpectedchallenge for students who enroll in September.
Students are not making progress in their internshiptraining at companies. This is related to the fact that
there is no Japanese language test as a requirement foradmission. Local companies in the Kobe area quite
often require international students to speak Japanese.
Some parts of the company are in a situation where
they can communicate in English. However, thisenvironment is inevitably limited, and even companies
that are expanding their business globally still require
Japanese language skills. But, if they cannot speak
Japanese, they will not be able to find jobs at Japanesecompanies, including returning to their homecountries. Although efforts are being made to increase
the number of Japanese language classes, it can be said
that the stagnation of internationalization within
Japanese companies is causing the stagnation of job
placement for students who enter in September.
GBC is an attempt to mix Japanese andinternational students in Japan and train them to work
for Japanese or global companies. This educational
program has yet to be evaluated. The fact that the

13 There will be students from various backgrounds, not all of whom will be Japanese nationals, but will have been educated in Japanese high schools inaccordance with the guidelines of MEXT.

14JAPAN MNE Insights

Vol.9, Issue 1-2
Table 2 GBC September Enrollments and Country/region of Origin

Note: Figures as of February 15, 2023.
Source: https://www.u-hyogo.ac.jp/em/topics/pdf/GBC_Report2023_1.pdf (final access: 2023/11/13)

program is taught in English has expanded theopportunities for many international students to study
in Japan. With future improvements to the program,
we intend to produce more people who will be able towork as global human resources.
Gaps in Training Global Jinzai
So far, we have organized the definition of
global jinzai and introduced the case of the Universityof Hyogo. We would like to identify several gaps in
the training of global jinzai in Japan. First, there is a
gap in the definition of global jinzai, especially in theelement of identity. Second, I will explain the gap inthe education program of the University of Hyogo
from the aspect of identity. And third, we will discuss
how the intention of advocating identity widens thegap between the characteristics of global jinzai andthose of global jinzai.

(1) Gaps in the Definition of Global Talent
As explained in Section 2, academic
discussions defined the characteristics of people
engaged in global business in terms of three elements:
knowledge, skills and abilities, and suitablepersonality. The definition of global human resources
made mainly by MEXT adds Japanese identity toknowledge, skills and abilities, and suitablepersonality. This, when considered separately fromJapan, is the identity as a person of one's country oforigin.
As Hall (1973) says, different cultures are
mirrors for looking at one's own culture, and thesituation of reaffirming one's own identity in thecontext of being internationally active isunderstandable. Caligiuri's (2006) discussion is anindicator derived from interviews with people who

15Vol.9, Issue 1-2
actually work for global companies in the U.S. andEurope and are considered to be global leaders.
Therefore, it can be said that the element of homecountry identity is not a factor that those working as
global leaders are aware of during the actual businessphase.
Why did MEXT include in the definition of
global jinzai the element of national identity, which is
not considered by actual global leaders?14 One possible
explanation is the difference between the academic“

JAPAN MNE Insights
Japanese identity in global jinzai education. In thesame report, MEXT also stated that it aims to attract alarge number of excellent foreign students to Japan andto make Japan an “educational hub”16. It states thatexcellent foreign students enrolling in Japanese
educational institutions will serve as a stimulus toJapanese students. In addition, it states the following17“In addition, the report states that "excellent
international students are considered to be an
important human resource who candeepen their understanding of Japan
In this sense, identity education may be
and the Japanese people throughimportant in the early stages of education
direct exposure to Japanese culture
when people come into contact with different
and serve as a bridge between thecultures.
two countries even after they return

definition and the MEXT definition in terms of thetime frame of global jinzai. One idea is the differencein the time horizon of global jinzai between theacademic definition and the MEXT definition. The
academic definition is derived from people working ina global work environment in global companies. In
contrast, the MEXT definition is based on thisacademic discussion, but is based on the argument thathigh school students and universities who have not yet
entered the workforce should be people who are readyto work in a global work environment. The difference
between these two definitions is the gap in time frame
between those who are working and those who will beworking. From the perspective of an educational
institution, it is important what kind of education toprovide to those who will be working in the future. In
this sense, identity education may be important in theearly stages of education when people come into
contact with different cultures15.
(2) Gap in the University of Hyogo's Educational
Program
It was the policy of MEXT to emphasize

to their home countries. As other countries
reaffirm the importance of higher education in aknowledge-based society and make national
efforts to recruit foreign students, Japan must notlag behind and develop its own initiatives thattake advantage of its unique characteristics andstrengths.”
This is reflected in the basic policy for global jinzai
development. In this 2011 report, it is as follows18.
“Strengthening the ability to expand globally
while improving the educational capabilities ofuniversities.To
provideJapaneseandinternational students with an attractive higher
education in Japan and abroad, we will improvethe educational capabilities of universities andcreate an environment for global expansion.”
From the above basic policies, policies such as
internationalization of the university and securing

14

The report was published in 2011 by the Council for the Promotion of Global Human Resource Development through Industry-Academia
Collaboration （ https://www.mext.go.jp/component/a_menu/education/detail/__icsFiles/afieldfile/2011/06/01/1301460_1.pdf ： Final access,2023/11/13）.
15 Hirata (2014) provides a survey of research on cross-cultural adaptive competence. Cross-cultural adaptive training has long been studied in Japan(e.g., Yasumuro, 1986). Some argue that identity, which is considered uniquely Japanese, works to advantage in a global work environment（https://globis.jp/article/7476：Final Access, 2023/11/13）.
16 Final report of the Council for the Promotion of Global Human Resource Development through Industry-Academia Collaboration (2011)17 Ibid, p.4
18 Ibid, p.5

16

Vol.9, Issue 1-2
excellent foreign students have emerged. The GBC of
the University of Hyogo, shown as a case study, isdesigned in line with this policy.
To this end, GBC enrolls 50 students for April
admission and 30 to 40 students for September
admission, and provides global jinzai education. The
educational environment at GBC provides anopportunity to convey the appeal of Japanese higher
education to Japanese as well as international students.
GBC's curriculum generally consists of classes thatprovide the general and specialized knowledge
required of a global jinzai, classes and projects thatenhance language skills and problem-solving abilities,
and opportunities to adjust one's personality to a global
work environment. The classes are designed to provide
students with the opportunity to adjust their own
personality to a global work environment. In short, theprogram provides the elements required for academic
global jinzai. For international students, however, theprogram additionally provides Japanese language
education, Japanese cultural experiences, and an
environment to study Japanese companies in order tooffer the advantages of studying in Japan. However,internships for international students at Japanesecompanies are limited to only a few companies in the
Kobe area. This is partly because Japanese companies
do not offer long-term internships, but also because
Japanese workplaces have only a limited number ofpeople who can provide job guidance in English, and if
these people are sent to provide guidance tointernational students, the work will not get done. Thisis a situation in which internationalization of the innercompany is desirable19.
This is where the second gap arises. The
program does not provide educational programs tostrengthen Japanese identity or familiarize students
with Japan, as defined by MEXT. Opportunities to be
Japanese or learn about Japanese culture do not exist
unless they participate as assistants in classes designed
to help foreign students understand Japanese culture
and society, which they are engaged in. In the
globalization of Japanese universities, there are no
opportunities for Japanese students to learn about

JAPAN MNE Insights
Japanese people or Japanese culture, and opportunities
to learn such knowledge are limited to international
students. It can be said that there is a gap in theJapanese identity required as a global jinzai, as
advocated by MEXT, in the globalization ofuniversities, Japanese students do not haveopportunities to learn about Japanese people. As forJapanese students, many things are customs and rituals
that they already find basic, making it difficult forJapanese to learn Japanese culture directly as auniversity course.
(3) Gap between the element of Japanese identity andthe characteristics of global jinzai
When asked whether Japanese universities
must offer classes for Japanese students to learn about
their identity as Japanese, we predict that only aminority of Japanese universities will answer that theydo. Why would MEXT choose to include elements ofglobal jinzai that Japanese universities are unlikely tooffer classes on in order to train global jinzai? One
possible factor is that global jinzai originated in Japan,
and in consideration of the globalization of theJapanese people, it is likely that they want theirstudents to have a Japanese identity. Sinceinternational students are enrolled in universities as aresult of globalization, and classes on Japanese culture
and Japanese identity are offered to them, it is not agood idea to offer classes to Japanese students at thesame time. The idea would be to have them participate
in the global working environment as Japanese people.
Another idea is that Japanese society as a whole should
be global. The MEXT report states20.
“In today's global society, Japanese people are
expected to become global human resources withthe ability to respond to globalization in
anticipation of a more globalized society."
In other words, in addition to some people becoming
global, Japanese society as a whole is becoming moreglobal. In this context, universities are responsible for

19 Issues for Japanese companies pointed out in Yoshihara (1989).
20 The MEXT's 2011 report is as follows.

https://www.mext.go.jp/component/a_menu/education/detail/__icsFiles/afieldfile/2011/06/01/1301460_1.pdf（Final access, 2023/11/13）

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Vol.9, Issue 1-2

JAPAN MNE Insights

return to Japan. Global jinzai inherently has the
opposite characteristic of regional ties. Global jinzai
are disconnected from the region and work globally.
The desire of the Japanese and regional governments
to keep or return people with these characteristics tothe region is difficult to realize. There is a gap between
the desire of the Japanese and regional governments toreturn global jinzai to Japan by adding Japanese
identity as an element of global jinzai, and the desire of
global jinzai to be educated to work with anyone
anywhere in the world as a global jinzai and to have acareer as a global jinzai. There is a gap between thedesire of Japanese and regional governments to returnto Japan as global jinzai and the desire of those whoare educated to work anywhere in the world withanyone as global jinzai and pursue careers as global
jinzai. In order to keep global jinzai in the region
where they were raised, it is necessary to have amechanism to bridge this gap. A major point is therealization that, like salmon, global jinzai
will return to the regions where they were
The logic goes that the return of global jinzai
nurtured. However, the national average
to Japan will lead to the globalization of
return rate for salmon in 2022 is 1.93%, andJapanese society as a whole in the future. This even in Hokkaido, which has the highest
is the theory of the return of global jinzai.
return rate, it is 3.35%22. Even in the worldof salmon, the probability of returning to
the University of Hyogo is located, is home to local one's hometown after venturing out to sea is low.
companies such as Kobe Steel, Kawasaki Heavy Efforts to increase the return rate of those raised as
Industries, Kanematsu, ASICS, and Sysmex, as well as global jinzai can be expected to be a very difficult
the Japanese headquarters of foreign companies such endeavor.
as P&G, Nestlé, and Eli Lilly. However, in manycases, students educated as global jinzai do not choose Conclusion
an area as long as it has a global work environment.
Three gaps were pointed out in relation to theThis is true not only for Japanese but also for mission of training global jinzai at universities. First,
international students. Global jinzai are trained to work in relation to this point, a comparison was madeanywhere in the world, and it is rare for them to remain between the academic discussion regarding thewhere they were educated.
definition of global jinzai and the definition of global
However, the emphasis on Japanese identity human resources initiated by MEXT in Japan. The
can be said to be the stance of MEXT and others who results of the comparison showed that global jinzai
want to achieve the globalization of Japanese society commonly discusses knowledge, skills and skills, andby linking global jinzai who were raised in Japan to suitable personality, while the definition made in Japan
training global jinzai. The anchor that holds global
jinzai together in Japan is their identity as Japanese21.
The anchor of Japanese identity will keep Japanesepeople who are active in the global environment inJapan. Japanese who become global jinzai anchor
themselves in Japan and build their careers there.
Global jinzai recognize that their Japanese identity is
the starting point from which they will build theircareers in global companies.
For the globalization of Japanese society, let
the global jinzai anchor in Japan. When global jinzai
cease their global activities, they will return to theplace where they have anchored themselves. The logic
goes that the return of global jinzai to Japan will leadto the globalization of Japanese society as a whole in
the future. This is the theory of the return of global
jinzai. Some students educated as global jinzai choose
to work for local companies and grow into global
jinzai within those companies. The Kobe area, where“

21 The expression anchor here is inspired by Schein's (1978) discussion of carriers.
22 The results of the study on salmon return rates are based on the Japan Fisheries Research and Education Agency's

website as follows. https://salmon.fra.affrc.go.jp/zousyoku/fri_salmon_dept/ok_relret.html(final access, 2023/11/13)

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adds the element of identity as a Japanese person.
Second, he introduced the efforts of the University of
Hyogo. He showed that since the University of Hyogo
opened as Kobe high commerce, the starting point of
its education has been the training of global jinzai. The
current efforts of GBC are rooted in this tradition, andare consistent with the policy of university
globalization aimed at by MEXT, and are an effort totrain global jinzai at the university, he explained.
Thirdly, he introduced three gaps in the training of
global jinzai at universities: First, the definition of
global jinzai includes an element of Japanese identity;
second, even if global jinzai are trained in university
education programs, there are still various gaps in the
training of global jinzai. Third, even if global jinzai aretrained in university educational programs, they cannot
incorporate a lecture on Japanese identity due to avariety of factors. However, the characteristics ofglobal jinzai materials inhibit a return to locality.
From this examination of the definition of
global jinzai, the following logic can be derived.
① Start training global jinzai in Japan② Completion of training of global jinzai in a global
work environment③ Global jinzai return to Japan④ Globalization of Japanese society as a whole
As mentioned earlier, this is the image of salmon
returning to their hometowns. However, as formeasures to bring global jinzai back, so far only thepsychological anchor of identity has been found.
Further research is needed to understand how mature
global jinzai return to their local communities andconsider new careers.
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development and university education in Japan:
From the perspective of “localism” in discussion
among actors. Waseda Educational Research,81(2), 164-175.
Yoshihara, H. (1989). Genchijin Shacho to Uchinaru
Kokusaika (Head of overseas subsidiary from thehost country and Internationalization within thehead office in Japan), Toyo Keizai Inc.

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Special Essay:
Brand Personality in Japan
Risa Jitosho
Associate Professor of International Business,
Faculty of Policy Science,
Ryukoku University, Japanrjitosho@policy.ryukoku.ac.jp

Hajime Baba
Associate Professor of International Marketing,
Faculty of Business and Commerce,
Kansai University, Japanhajimeb@kansai-u.ac.jp

We are very honored to have the opportunity tocontributetoTransformationofJapanese
Multinational Enterprises and Business which was
projected to commemorate the 50th of Japan Academyof Multinational Enterprises (JAME). Please see
http://mne-jp.org/english/sub1.html for the history of
JAME. This publication was compiled through the
dedicated efforts of three editors – Professor Shige
Makino of Kyoto University, Professor Yasuro Uchidaof University of Hyogo, and Professor Tami Kasaharaof University of Shizuoka / Bentley University. We
would like to express our sincere gratitude for their“

Brand Personality in Japan”, we discussed brandpersonality in Japan to answer a question: What are theelements of brand personality that undergo changes
and remain stable? Especially, we focused onfollowing points. First, as a carrier of culture brandpersonality varies spatially and temporally. Althoughspatial aspects of brand personality have been well
examined, temporal aspects were ignored. Second,scale development of brand personality using hybrid
approach has its strength to measure both culture
specific and culture free elements without losing the
explanatory power of theories/constructs in multi-

In the chapter “Variation and Continuity of
Brand Personality in Japan”, we discussed
brand personality in Japan to answer aquestion: What are the elements of brandcommitment and works with integrity. At the sametime, it should be noted that this book would not havebeen possible without the contributions of the JMNE
members. The book consists of 11 chapters and will be
published by Springer Nature in 2024.
In the chapter “Variation and Continuity ofcultural comparison. Third, we found thattoday’s brand personality in Japan has
same and different dimensions from Aaker(1997) and Aaker et al. (2001). The
excitement and sophistication dimensions
are spatially and temporally stable, thecompetency and peacefulness dimensions should be relabeled to sincerity and imperfection, and theruggedness dimension has emerged again since Aaker(1997).
In this short essay, we would like to briefly
show readers the overview of our study and conclude

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Table 1 Four approaches to cross-cultural research
Approach
Emic
Etic
Derived Etic
HybridComparison
Impossible
Possible, but ethnocentric
Possible, but narrow
Possible

Theory/Construct
Specific to each culture
Universal
Limited to common element
Pan-cultural

Measurement
Developed in each culture
Applied to different cultures
Only common measures are used
Combination of common and specific measures

Source: Jitosho and Baba (forthcoming)with some comments for the future research direction.
Brand Personality as Multi-cultural Scale
The study of brand personality originated with
Aaker’s seminal work in 1997, which defined theconstruct as “the set of human characteristics
associated with a brand” (p. 343). The famous big fivemodel consists of sincerity, excitement, competence,sophistication, and ruggedness dimensions, and eachdimension consists of facets and traits. For example,
the sincerity dimension encompasses down-to-earth,honesty, wholesomeness and cheerfulness facets, andthe down-to-earth facet is comprised of down-to-earth,family-oriented, and small town traits. The multi-leveland nested nature of brand personality provides the“(Sung and Tinkham 2005), conscientiousness,extraversion, agreeableness, intellect, and emotional
stability in Croatia (Milas & Mlačić 2007), drive,
conscientiousness, emotion, and superficiality inGermany (Bosnjak et al. 2007), and responsibility,
activity, aggressivity, simplicity, and emotionality in
Belgium (Geuens et al. 2009).
According to Aaker et al. (2001, p. 2),“processes of cultural meaning creation andredefinition occur over time, and involve manydifferent fragments of society.” However, most ofprevious studies were one-shot in nature, lacking
longitudinal perspective, and failing to examine thechange in brand personality dimensions within a
specific country or culture. Therefore, our interest liesin the temporal continuity and variation ofbrand personality.

Therefore, our interest lies in the temporalcontinuity and variation of brandpersonality.

richness of the concept as multi-cultural scale tointernational marketing research.
The special consistency and variation of brandpersonality was within the range of previous studies. In
this sense, brand personality scale is an excellent
measure for discovering cultural characteristics. The
brand personality scale has been replicated around theworld and many country-specific dimensions were
found. For example, dynamism, robustness,conviviality, and femineity in France (Ferrandi et al.
2000), superficiality in Italy (Caprara er al. 2001),
peacefulness in Japan and passion in Spain (Aaker et
al. 2001), gentle, distinction, annoyance in Netherlands(Smit et al. 2002), likeableness, trendiness,traditionalism, western, and ascendancy in Korea

The Strength of Hybrid Approach
Table 1 shows four approaches tocross-cultural research based on emic-etic
dilemma (Pike 1996; Berry 1969, 1989). In

emic approach, the theory/construct is specific to each
culture and international comparison is not possible. In
etic approach, the theory/construct is universal andinternational comparison is possible, but ethnocentric,
because the same measure is applied to different
cultures. The derived etic refers to finding the common
element between cultures. This approach enables
international comparison but narrows the explanatory
power of the theory/construct. Thus, these approaches
have its strength and weakness.
The scale development of brand personality has
the same logical structure with the hybrid approach
which has its strength to retain comparability andexplanatory power (Wind & Douglas 1980). By

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Table 2 Brand Personality Dimensions in Three Studies

Aaker (1997)
Aaker et al. (2001)*
Jitosho and Baba (forthcoming)

Dimension 1
Sincerity
Excitement
Excitement

Brand Personality Dimensions
Dimension 2
Dimension 3
Dimension 4
Excitement
Competence
Sophistication
Competence
Peacefulness
Sincerity
Sincerity
Imperfection
Ruggedness

Dimension 5
Ruggedness
Sophistication
Sophistication* While Aaker et al. (2001) conducted surveys in both Japan and Spain, the dimensions outlinedin Table 2 pertain solely to the Japanese context.
First, we consider the common dimension. The
excitement dimension being common to all threestudies is the most typical brand personality dimension(Aaker 1997; Aaker et al. 2001; Kim et al. 2001; Smit
et al. 2002). For instance, the match rate of traits
between Aaker et al. 2001 and our study was 71.9%(28/32). Therefore, we can say that this dimension is
spatially and temporally stable. The sincerity
By combining the common and specificdimension mirrors the Japanese consumers'
emphasis on brand trustworthiness. To
elements, it develops “pan-cultural”
illustrate, the traits, which have over .70
theories/constructs/scales, which avoid
factor loadings in our analysis, such as
cultural bias and reflect the idiosyncrasy of
precise, neat, diligent, sincere, and selfcomposed are important requirements for
Brand Personality in Japancombining the common and specific elements, it
develops “pan-cultural” theories/constructs/scales,
which avoid cultural bias and reflect the idiosyncrasyof each culture. By conducting scale development ofbrand personality in a specific country, the researchers
can find the dimensions which are common acrosscountries and specific to a country.

“

We conducted a questionnaire survey to a fulltime undergraduate program in a Japanese university(n = 582, 48% female, mean age = 19.9) using online
platform. We relied on Aaker et al. (2001) for stimuli
selection, personality attribute selection, participants,
and procedures. The participants were asked “If brand
X was a person, how would you describe them?” They
checked a number between “not at all descriptive” (1)to “extremely descriptive” (5) for 100 traits of fivebrands (Coca-Cola, Nintendo Switch, Clear Clean(Kao toothpaste), iPhone, and Toyota cars). To identify
the dimensions of brand personality, the principal
factor analysis was performed.
Table 2 shows the brand personality
dimensions of Aaker (2001), Aaker et al. (2001), andour study. The excitement is the only dimension
common across three studies in the US and Japan.
Comparing Aaker et al. (2001) and our study, the same
dimensions are excitement sincerity and sophistication,and the specific dimensions to our study areimperfection and ruggedness.

how a brand should be for the Japanese consumers.
Although the second dimension of Aaker et al. (2001)
was competence, we re-labeled it into sincerity
because of the interpretation of Japanese meaning oftraits and the lower match rate of traits (50%). The
sophistication was the fifth dimension in Aaker et al.
(2001) and our study and had only three traits such as
sexy, romantic, and stylish in our analysis. Thisdimension is common to Aaker et al. (2001) and ourstudy but the relative importance in explaining brandpersonality in Japan is low.
Second, we discuss the specific dimensions toJapanese context. Most notably, we found theimperfection dimension which consists of 14 traits(naive, timid, shy, dependent, reserved, clumsy, mildmannered, careless, easy-going, unrefined, easygoing,childlike, cute, and laid-back). Although Dimension 3
shows the highest match rate (83.3%), the mostrepresentative traits of “peaceful” are not part of it.
Thus, this dimension rather shows Japanese specifictendency to embrace one’s imperfection than22

Vol.9, Issue 1-2
peacefulness. Japanese consumers tend to favorably
accept a person’s imperfection. For example, the term
"Kawaii" denotes an aesthetic concept characterized bycuteness and adorableness, rather than perfect beauty.
Nowadays, Kawaii anime characters and local mascots
are experiencing increasing popularity, extending
beyond Japan to international consumers. The
emergence of ruggedness dimension, which is absent
in the findings of Aaker et al. (2001) but identified by
Aaker (1997), was a big surprise to us, because webelieved that Japanese society is slowly moving from apatriarchal and masculine society to a gender-freesociety. This finding underscores the importance of atheoretical explanation of by what mechanism brandpersonality dimensions change.
Finally, through conducting a survey on brandpersonality in Japan and comparing our results withprior studies, we came to the realization that brandpersonality and its scale development can makesignificant contribution to the advancement ofinternational marketing literature by addressing
common and special factors of countries, cultures, ormarkets simultaneously. Stated differently, brandpersonality and hybrid approach facilitate research thatis globally consistent while also being culturally
sensitive.
Some Comments for Future Research
To further develop international marketing
study, the following three points are essential. First, themechanism of temporal continuity and variation ofbrand personality must be explained. As mentioned
above, the emergence of ruggedness dimension implies
the existence of background factors such like theinfluence of COVID-19, the rightward shift in youth
demographics observed in Japan, and so on.
Second, multi-site and longitudinal studies areneeded. Our study was conducted only in Japan. Our
understanding stands to significantly advance throughconcurrent surveys conducted across multiple
countries, allowing for longitudinal comparisons of theresults. Although this endeavor will necessitate
considerable effort and financial resources, it presents

JAPAN MNE Insights
a worthwhile challenge to undertake.
Finally, while it has been reiterated innumerous contexts, the cross-cultural collaboration
among researchers is essential for conducting globallyconsistent and culturally sensitive studies in the fieldof international marketing (see Craig and Douglas2005). Unfortunately, international marketing researchfrequently encounters adverse outcomes stemmingfrom mistranslation, misconceptualization, andmisinterpretation. To avoid these problems, researchers
should collaborate with counterparts who possess
expertise in the cultural nuances of the target country,
fostering close communication and extensive
discussion among collaborators.
The authors intend to extend this research toother East Asian countries. If there is interest from any
individual in reading this essay, we would be pleased
to hear from you.
References
Aaker J. L. (1997). Dimensions of brand personality.
Journal of Marketing Research, 34(3), 347–356.
Aaker J. L., Benet-Martínez V., & Garolera J. (2001).
Consumption symbols as carriers of culture: A
study of Japanese and Spanish brand personality
constructs. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 81(3), 492–508.
Berry J. W. (1969). On cross-cultural comparability.
International Journal of Psychology, 4(2), 119–
128.
Berry J. W. (1989). Imposed etics-emics-derived etics:
the operationalization of a compelling idea.
International Journal of Psychology, 24, 721–
735.
Bosnjak M., Bochmann V., & Hufschmidt T. (2007).
Dimensions of brand personality attributions: A
person-centric approach in the German culturalcontext. Social Behavior and Personality, 35(3),303−316.
Caprara G. V., Barbaranelli C., & Guido G. (2001).
Brand personality: How to make the metaphor
fit? Journal of Economic Psychology, 22,377−395.
Craig C. S., & Douglas S. P. (2005). International
marketing research (3rd ed.). John Wiley &
Sons.

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Geuens M., Weijters B., & Kristof D. W. (2009). A
new measure of brand personality. International
Journal of Research in Marketing, 26(2), 97–
107.
Ferrandi J. M., Valette-Florence P., & FineFalcy S.
(2000). Aaker's brand personality scale in a
French context: A replication and preliminary
test of validity. Developments in Marketing
Science, 23, 7−13.
Jitosho R., & Baba H. (forthcoming) Variation andcontinuity of brand personality in Japan. In S.
Makino., Y. Uchida., & T. Kasahara. (Eds.),
Transformation of Japanese Multinational
Enterprises and Business. Springer-Nature.
Milas G., & Mlačić B. (2007). Brand personality andhuman personality: findings from ratings offamiliar Croatian brands. Journal of BusinessResearch, 60, 620−626.
Pike K. L. (1966). Language in Relation to a Unified
Theory of the Structure of Human Behavior.
Mouton.
Smit E. G., van den Berge E., & Franzen G. (2002).
Brands are just like real people! the developmentof SWOCC's brand personality scale. In F.
Hansen., & L. B. Christensen. (Eds.), Branding
and Advertising. Copenhagen Business School
Press.
Sung Y., & Tinkham S. F. (2005). Brand personality
structures in the United States and Korea:
Common and culture-specific factors. Journal ofConsumer Psychology, 15(4), 334−350.
Wind Y., & Douglas S. P. (1980). Comparative
methodology and marketing theory. In W.
Lamb Jr., & P. M. Dunne. (Eds.), Theoretical
DevelopmentsinMarketing.
AmericanMarketing Association.

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Japan Academy of Multinational Enterprises
2023-2025 Executive Board
President:International Relations:

Masayuki Furusawa (Kindai University)

Shige Makino (Kyoto University)

Vice President:

Kohei Mishima (Keio University)

Chie Iguchi (Keio University)

Shoukou Shin (Kyushu Sangyo University)*

Naotoshi Umeno (Osaka University of Commerce)

Naoki Yasuda (Rikkyo University)*

General Affairs:

Program Commitee:

Masahiro Ida (Hannan University)

Takahide Yamaguchi (University of Hyogo)

Hiroshi Hoshino (Kyusyu University)

Masashi Arai (Asia University)

General Planning:

Yoshikazu Sakamoto (Nihon University)*

Yasuro Uchida (University of Hyogo)

Motoyuki Kanetsuna (Nanzan University)*

Tamiko Kasahara (Bentley University)

Kenji Nagasato (University of Hyogo)*

Hajime Baba (Kansai University)

Eastern Chapter:

Tatsuo Mori (Hirosaki University)*

Hiroyasu Furukawa (Meiji University)

Publications Commitee:

Kyung-Tae Lee (Chuo University)*

Yoshinori Yasuda (Soka University)

Naoki Yasuda (Rikkyo University)*

Takeshi Fujisawa (Kwansei Gakuin University)

Mitsuru Nakagawa (NihonUniversity)*

Hajime Baba (Kansai University)

Eiichi Haraki (Otsuma Women's University)*

Tatsuya Karasawa (Kanto Gakuin University) *Hiroto Soga (Kushiro Public University of Economics)*

Sadanori Arimura (Yamaguchi University)*

Western Chapter:Best Book and Paper Award Commitee:
Naotoshi Umeno (Osaka University of Commerce)
Takeshi Fujisawa (Kwansei Gakuin University)
Kazuhiro Asakawa (Keio University)
Takahide Yamaguchi (University of Hyogo)
Hirofumi Tatsumoto (University of Tsukuba)

Public Relations:Takuya Fukazawa (Tokyo Fuji University)
Tamiko Kasahara (Bentley University)
Yukiko Shinomiya (Kindai University)
Masashi Arai (Asia University)
Hiroyuki Yamabe (Nara Prefectural University)
Toyoko Funahashi (Ritsumeikan University)*

Yukiko Shinomiya (Kindai University)
Taehyun Lee (Hannan University)*
Shingo Nishii (Osaka University of Commerce)*
Ling Li (Prefectural University of Hiroshima)*

Executive Secretariat and Directors:
Head Office: Nisato Suzuki (Meiji University)
Eastern Chapter: Kohei Mishima (Keio University)
Western Chapter: Hiroyuki Yamabe (Nara Prefectural
University)

Auditor:Kazumi Tada (Hosei University)
Risa Jitosho (Ryukoku University)

Tomonobu Chishima (Hannan University)*
Note: Those with * are coordinators of the role.

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Japan MNE Insights will be published twice a year on the JAME official website (http://mne-jp.org/english/).
Please feel free to contact the editorial team if you have any questions or requests.

Japan MNE Insights Editorial Team
Editor-in-Chief
Tamiko Kasahara (Bentley University)
EditorTakuya Fukazawa (Tokyo Fuji University)
Masashi Arai (Asia University)
Yukiko Shinomiya (Kindai University)
Hiroyuki Yamabe (Nara Prefectural University)
Toyoko Funahashi (Ritsumeikan University)*
Tomonobu Chishima (Hannan University)*
Japan MNE Insights Editorial Team is currently located at the Office of Dr. Tamiko Kasahara,
Bentley University, Management Department
175 Forest St, Waltham, MA 02452
Contact e-mail address: tkasahara@bentley.edu
Copyright @ Japan Academy of Multinational Enterprises (Japan)

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