FirstPoint Japan
  • What's New?
  • Table of Contents
  • Overview
  • Japan Expert Insights
  • Japan Expert Interviews
    • Listen To The Experts (audio / video)
    • Are You A Japan Expert?
    • Prepare For Your Interview
  • Japan Market Entry
  • Our Sponsors
  • Advertise on FirstPointJapan
  • Newsletters & Alerts
  • The Japan Business Blog
  • Resources
    • Japan Labor Standards Office (English Helpline)
    • Tozen Union
    • Nambu Union
  • Glossary of Terms
  • Content Archives (Full)
  • About
    • Leadership & Advisory Board Members
    • Advisory Board Members Application Form
    • Content Contributors & Vendors Application Form
    • Terms Of Service
    • Privacy Policy
    • Policies: Challenges, Rebuttals & Retractions
    • Contact Us

The Japanese Mind: Does A Fear of Failure Hold Back Entrepreneurs & Leaders?

9/29/2014

0 Comments

 
By James Santagata
Principal Consultant, SiliconEdge


That Japan like any country, be it developing or developed, has her share of problems is not in the least bit surprising or at least it shouldn't be.

However, what has surprised me over the years is how many foreign "Japan watchers" and "Japan pundits" always seem to miss the crux of what's really going on on the ground in Japan and more importantly what's going on in the mind of the Japanese.

...
...
With that said,  there is another popular myth and meme that comes up regarding the lack of Japanese startups and that is the idea that the Japanese have an almost in-born fear of failure.

I'm not here to argue that Japanese don't have a fear of failure because they do. We all do. Just as most other peoples around the world do, including those in the US and even including those working in Silicon Valley.

People fear failure. 

But to hear the pundits tell it, "Japanese need to get over failure and embrace it". These pundits act like the fear of failure in Japan is simple a psychological construct* like it is in parts of the West like in the US.
Japanese psychology & The Fear of Failure
0 Comments

The Sun Also Rises (陽はまた昇る): Japanese Leadership & Innovation

7/15/2014

0 Comments

 
The Sun Also Rises (陽はまた昇る), starring Ken Watanabe (Westerner's will know him from The Last Samurai and Inception) is a great movie showing Japanese Leadership & Innovation at its finest -- in this case concerning the development of the VHS tape standard and VHS Video Tape Recorder by Victor Japan (JVC).

Picture
0 Comments

 Japan's Leaders & Founders: Toyota

7/1/2014

0 Comments

 
In case you missed it, TBS ran a very good drama called Leaders which covered Toyota's founding as an automotive design and manufacturing company and their revolutionary transition from weaving looms to becoming an international automobile giant.

The DVD is coming out August, 8th.

Picture
0 Comments

Does Japan Really Need Nore English-speakers? The Tip of The Sword Strategy Says No

5/9/2014

0 Comments

 
By James Santagata
Principal Consultant, SiliconEdge


If it seems that we're under a constant barrage of the Western Media Myth (WMM) that (a) Japan is "failing" and that (b) this "failure" is primarily due to Japan's "talent problem" don't fret because we are.

Further, we are told that Japan's supposed "lack of talent" has manifested itself in such as way as to be responsible for Japan's supposed "lack of creativity" and "lack of innovation"".

But not to worry according to the WMM as we're then told that these "problems" that Japan faces can simply solved by (a) increasing the number of English-speaking Japanese and (b) internationalizing "backwards" Japanese-only speaking Japanese and (c)  increasing the number of immigrants in Japan, preferably by engaging in a sort of US-Open Bordersfashion.
....
....
The Western Media's argument or framing of the issues, especially in terms of Japan's supposed lack of  "English-speaking" talent becomes even more silly when we consider that it ignores what I have deemed the "tip of the spear" or "tip of the sword" strategy.
....
....
[more] Understanding The Tip Of The Sword
0 Comments

Start-up Spirit Emerges In Japan (New York Times)

12/27/2013

0 Comments

 
Japanese Start-Ups Channel Samurai Spirit: The Samurai Startup Island, in a low-rent office district built on a landfill on Tokyo Bay, is at the vanguard of what many hope is a new generation of innovators.

By Martin Fackler, New York Times
Published: December 25, 2013

TOKYO — The 20-somethings in jeans sipping espresso and tapping on laptops at this Tokyo business incubator would look more at home in Silicon Valley than in Japan, where for years the surest signs of success were the gray suits of its corporate salarymen. But for those hoping the nation’s latest economic plan will drag Japan from its long malaise, the young men and women here at Samurai Startup Island represent a crucial component: a revival of entrepreneurship.

The signs of that comeback are still new, and tentative enough that the statistics on start-ups and initial public offerings have not caught up. But analysts and investors report that hundreds of new Internet and technology-related companies have sprung up in the last two to three years, creating an ecosystem of incubators like Samurai Startup Island and so-called accelerator new venture investment funds, which invest in early-state start-ups in hopes of cashing in.

Some top universities — the same ones that have long defined success as a job in an established company or elite government ministry — have begun not only to create their own incubators and venture funds, but also to develop curriculums on birthing start-ups. And while some young entrepreneurs say real progress will come only if Prime Minister Shinzo Abe acts as promised to shake up Japan’s hidebound corporate culture, they say the stock market rally and broader optimism created by the economic plan known as Abenomics are already making it easier to find investors and customers.

“This is the beginning of something that could rejuvenate Japan,” said Mitsuru Izumo, the founder of Euglena Corporation, a biotechnology start-up valued at $1 billion, and one of the country’s most prominent new entrepreneurs. “If we don’t unleash our youth, then Japan will become too weak to survive another blow like Fukushima. Entrepreneurship is Japan’s last chance.”

For years, sagging entrepreneurial spirit has been cited as a major reason for Japan’s inability to save itself from a devastating deflationary spiral. The nation that produced Sony, Toyota and Honda has created few successors.

[more] Japan's Start-up Spirit
0 Comments

Can Korea’s New Culture of Business Creativity Rival Silicon Valley? (VentureBeat)

12/25/2013

0 Comments

 
By Mario Gamper, VentureVillage
Published December 24, 2013 4:00 PM 

It may be time to say goodbye to a well-trodden cliche. Young entrepreneurs are proving that Korea can do more than copy. The number of tech startups has surged by 80 per cent since 2011. The number of accelerators went from one to more than 50. Here marketing consultant Mario Gamper, who has worked for Platoon Kunsthalle in Berlin and Seoul, gives us a glimpse of  how Korea is building a new culture of business creativity – that apparently rivals Silicon Valley.

There’s no need to look for suburban garages — the next generation of Korean businesses is born downtown. Many startups are home in the now-famous Gangnam district, a landscape of 400 ft glass towers, expensive suits, and women with fashionable noses. Some of the startups, like online deal siteCoupang, have already succeeded in sticking their own logo on an office tower. But even young hopefuls who are still demoing enjoy prime real estate. In brand new coworking space Dreamcamp, teams polishing PowerPoints look out over a beautifully landscaped park.

“This is the best time ever to start your company in Korea,” said Dreamcamp Manager Ryu Hahn. The coworking space and incubator is funded with more than $450m by 20 Korean banks who have formed the “Banks Foundation for Young Entrepreneurs”. Offering a wide range of support, from pitch clinics to funding, Dreamcamp is just one example of the structures for new business ideas that popped up in the last couple of years.

After taking office in 2013, South Korean President Park Geun-Hye swiftly announced a more “creative economy” and launched the new Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, and endowed it with a bunch of cash. For 2014, the ministry’s budget increased to more than $12bn, with over two billion going directly into beefing up the startup ecosystem.

“Korea is now the biggest startup in the world,” smiles Richard Min, cofounder of the SeoulSpace incubator and brand new Fashion Tech (FT) Accelerator. “60 per cent of all venture capital here is government-backed. In the US it’s one per cent,” said Min.

This creates a unique startup ecosystem: “Korea has always been a top-down economy. The government has now decided to merge it with bottom-up creativity. We’re creating a completely new business culture, one that’s not even seen in Silicon Valley, or anywhere else,” added Min.

[more] Korea's culture of Business creativity
0 Comments

Japan Expert Insights Section Now Live

9/28/2013

0 Comments

 
The Japan Expert Insights section of FirstPoint Japan is now live. In this section, we'll 
explore and explode the myths and memes of what it really takes to do business 
and succeed in the Japanese market today.

From innovation, diversity, recruiting, staff retention, business development, software internationalization and localization and more!
Japan Expert Insights
0 Comments

Can Japan Compete Globally? You Betcha And Here's Why

9/23/2013

0 Comments

 
By James Santagata
Principal Consultant, SiliconEdge

Richard Solomon of Beacon Reports recently wrote a very thoughtful piece first questioning and then analyzing the ability of Japanese firms to complete globally (see: Can Japanese Firms Compete In Global Markets?)

I. Myths & Memes
As so often happens with this and many other topics, ranging from war to innovation to relationships and dating, the question itself is beset if not hobbled with a series of Myths and Memes which we'll explore and unravel together in a series of future articles. 

II. Are Japanese Baseball Players Good Enough For Major League Baseball?
My first thought upon reading this article was simply how it parallels this modern reality: Are Japanese baseball players good enough for major league baseball?

Think about it.  We used to ask this very same question about Japanese baseball players. Could Japanese baseball players make it in the major leagues?  Sure, we all knew that the Japanese players were solid players, they were good, no one disputed that but we wanted to know could the Japanese baseball players really make it in the major leagues? (see: The New Age Of Japanese Baseball-Player Media Coverage Sam Robinson May 9, 2008)

III. Can Japan Compete Globally On A Military Basis?
From historical records we know that the Japanese can compete globally, industrially, cultural and, yes, even militarily. So let's start with the military perspective. Militarily, the fierce fighting tactics and spirits of Japanese soldiers during WWII lead to horrific allied battle casualties, both physical and psychological (see: Thousand Yard Stare), that in many cases easily outstripped what was encountered in the European theater (although there are obviously some exceptions). And, of course, some of the fiercest battles of WWII were held in the Pacific theater: Tarawa. Saipan. Midway. Coral Sea. Marshall Islands, Eniwetok. Guadalcanal. Iwo Jima, and, of course,Okinawa all come to mind along with the horrific casualties and loss of life among both soldiers and civilians.
More: Can Japan Compete Globally?
0 Comments

Roukan.com's Work Environment Surveys Solution Is Now An Official Sponsor of FirstPoint Japan

8/24/2013

0 Comments

 
A big thanks goes out to Roukan.com as Roukan.com's Work Environment Surveys Solution Is Now An Official Sponsor of FirstPoint Japan.
Picture
0 Comments

Japan Aims To Return To Walkman Glory Days (The Globe & Mail)

7/16/2013

0 Comments

 
Japan aims to return to Walkman glory days
STUART BRAUN

In an effort to climb back to its Walkman glory days, Japan is investing heavily in R&D, especially in its technology strongholds. But the culture may not have the same appetite for risk as its competitors and may be outpaced by more aggressive countries, experts say.

When Japan exclusively developed and manufactured Walkmans, Honda hatchbacks and Nintendos, it was set to overtake the United States as the world’s largest economy. Today, Japan continues to be a world-leading high-tech innovator. Yet in commercial terms, the competition has caught up, and is often running ahead. As the Apples and Samsungs of the world outcompete Sony and Panasonic, Japanese companies are trying to revive the country’s economic miracle.


Others argue that Japan’s declining competitiveness is less a lack of innovation than of leadership. “Innovation by itself, though mesmerizing, is worthless without productization. And productization is worthless without monetization,” says James Santagata, managing director of SiliconEdge, a Tokyo-based leadership development consultancy working with startups in Japan and the United States.

Mr. Santagata describes a number of pioneering innovations emerging from Japanese corporate R&D, such as Sony’s Location Free TV. “Yet due to corporate constraints on monetization of these innovations for fear of rocking the boat, or cannibalizing some products, they allow scrappy firms like Sling Media [U.S. producer of the Slingbox Internet TV interface] to come from behind that gobble up the market,” he says.
MORE: Japan aims to return to glory days
0 Comments
<<Previous

    About FirstPoint Japan

    "Where Japanese Business Begins™"
     
    FirstPoint Japan™  is the first and only English-language portal that helps you accelerate your Japanese Business with expert advice. 

    We advise and guide Japan-based, Japan-facing or Japan-related companies, subsidiaries, senior executives, hiring managers, HR professionals, executive search consultants and others seeking to enter the Japan market, build-out existing operations or accelerate business growth or that are looking to acquire, retain, train or outplace bilingual talent in Japan.

    Archives

    December 2015
    November 2015
    August 2015
    April 2015
    February 2015
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013

    Categories

    All
    Advisory Board
    Asia
    Business Japanese
    Business Mixer
    Business Networking
    Ethical Recruiting
    Ethical Recruiting Alliance
    Event
    Expert Interviews
    Firstpoint Japan
    Firstpoint Japan Advertising
    Firstpoint Japan Announcements
    Firstpoint Japan Website
    Hr
    Hr Events
    Human Resources
    I18n / L10N
    Internationalization
    Interviews
    James Santagata
    Japan Advertising
    Japan Auto Industry
    Japan Auto Industry
    Japan Banking
    Japan Buildings
    Japan Business
    Japan Business
    Japan Careers
    Japan China Relations
    Japan-china Relations
    Japan Culture
    Japan Depositions
    Japan Earthquake
    Japan Ecommerce
    Japan Economy
    Japan Economy
    Japan Education
    Japan Entrepreneurs
    Japan Entrepreneurs
    Japanese Agriculture
    Japanese Careers
    Japanese Consumers
    Japanese Creativity
    Japanese Creativity
    Japanese Culture
    Japanese Culture
    Japanese Diversity
    Japanese Diversity
    Japanese Education
    Japanese Food
    Japanese Food Products
    Japanese Gaming
    Japanese Innovation
    Japanese Innovation
    Japanese Investments
    Japanese Language
    Japanese Leadership
    Japanese Leadership
    Japanese Life Science
    Japanese Military
    Japanese Mobile Gaming
    Japanese Navy
    Japanese Pharma
    Japanese Politics
    Japanese Politics
    Japanese Population
    Japanese Population
    Japanese Security
    Japanese Trends
    Japanese Trends
    Japanese Universities
    Japanese Venture Capital
    Japanese Venture Capital
    Japan Exchange Rates
    Japan Executive Search Firms
    Japan Expert Insights
    Japan Expert Insights
    Japan Fashion
    Japan Finance
    Japan Foreign Law Firms
    Japan Hr
    Japan India Relations
    Japan Infrastructure
    Japan Internet
    Japan Interpretation
    Japan Israel
    Japan Legal
    Japan Litigation
    Japan Luxury Goods
    Japan Manufacturing
    Japan Market Entry
    Japan Marketing
    Japan Monetary Policy
    Japan Patent Litigation
    Japan Recruiters
    Japan Rental Space
    Japan Retail
    Japan Sightseeing
    Japan Startups
    Japan Startups
    Japan Taxes
    Japan Tech News
    Japan Tours
    Japan Translation
    Japan Venture Capital
    Japan Venture Capital
    Jet Programme
    Kim Pedersen
    Korean Business
    Korean Population
    Korean Startups
    Language Acquisition
    Languages
    Localization
    Myths And Memes
    Myths And Memes
    Office Relocation
    Office Space
    Rakuten
    Real Estate
    Recruiting
    Recruiting Events
    Recruiting Japan
    Rumors
    Singapore
    Social Networking
    Softbank
    Sponsors
    Startup Nation
    Succeeding In Japan
    Toefl
    Toeic
    Tokyo American Club
    Toyota
    Videos
    Work Culture
    Work Environments
    Yahoo Japan

    RSS Feed

Picture
Picture

© Copyright 2007-2022 SiliconEdge™ Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved.