Japanese HR departments are in a bit of a panic right now.The increasing job mobility that startups have unleashed is forcing them to rethink their entire mission.Today we sit down and Takako Ogawa, co-founder and CEO of Panalyt, a startup at the center of this transformation, and we talk about the changing career paths in Japan, when startups need…

Fusion energy promises almost unlimited, inexpensive, clean energy.That's a pretty big promise.Today we sit down with Satoshi Konishi, co-founder and CEO of Kyoto Fusioneering, and we talk about what it is really going to take to develop commercially viable fusion power and the role that startups have to play in that process.We talk about the emerg…

Most sustainability startups struggle to find sustainable business modelsTowing, however, has found their solution, and their customers are seeing 20% to 70% increases crop yields.Today we sit down with Towing co-founder Teppei Okamura and he explains why even such a drastic yield improvement required an innovative production and distribution model…

Everyone agrees that the Japanese education system needs to be modernized, but EdTech startups still face an uphill battle in Japan.Of course, academia and governments are not known for being particularly innovative or forward-thinking, and that's why Kohei Kuboyama left a fast-track career at Japan's Ministry of Finance to launch an EdTech startup…

The medical industry is one of the most challenging areas for startups to succeed in."Move fast and break things" just doesn't work in medicine. So you might be surprised to learn that right now there are quite a few innovative medical startups coming out of Japan.Today we talk with Yuichi Tamura, founder of Cardio Intelligence, who has developed S…

Japan wants to learn how to code.Over the past 15 years software development in Japan has changed from low-level clerical work to a mission-critical skill, and the Japanese government and industry as scrambling to find programmers and develop new talent.Yan Fan came to Japan on a mission to teach everyone how to code. After opening Japan's first co…

Shadow IT has been responsible for more enterprise SaaS deployments and workflow innovation than any growth strategy of the last 15 years.And that 's all about to end.Today we sit down with Yasu Matsumoto, who stepped down as CEO of Raksul after leading the startup from founding to post-IPO success, to start Josys, a new startup helping enterprises…

For decades (centuries, really) lending in Japan has relied on personal guarantors and introductions rather than objective credit scoring. This startup is changing that.Before starting Credit Engine, which provides credit scoring, automated approvals, and other services to mega-banks and other financial institutions, Sei Uchiyama founded an online …

The legal system is complex, hard to understand, expensive to navigate, and ripe for disruption.In the future, we will still need lawyers to help us understand the law, but it look like we are going to need far fewer of them than we have today.Nozo Tsunoda is an attorney who walked away from a promising legal career to start LegalOn, an AI startup …

Startups solve real problems.During the boom times, the media focuses on the multi-billion-dollar valuations and the mega-IPOs. But even in those times, founders are innovating in the background and using technology to just make the world a better place.Today we talk with Sun Xiaojun, who started BionicM in 2015 as a way to replace the limb that he…

Some things are supposed to be only whispered about in Japan.But startups are about breaking taboos and pushing boundaries, and making the world a bit better when they do it.Today's we sit down with Amina Sugimoto of Fermata, and we talk about how quickly and radically the FemTech movement is changing Japan's conversations, attitudes, and even publ…

Graffiti is impermanent.Normally, thats a good thing, but as the global art world has begun to recognize graffiti and street art as a legitimate art form, the short-term and public nature of street art has presented challenges around sales and ownership.The team at Totomo has found a solution. They have been working with street artists around the w…

Not many startups land their tech on the moon.Dymon has designed an autonomous lunar rover that will land near the lunar south pole later this year as part of NASA's Artemis program.Today, we sit down and talk with founder Shin Nakajima who explains what it takes for a startup to become part of a NASA mission, the role YouTube had to play, what sta…

There is a lot of hate directed at Japanese UI design.To Western eyes, it's just too busy, too dense, too confusing, too outdated, and just plain wrong.And sometimes that's true, but usually there are very good, and highly profitable, reasons Japanese websites and Japanese software looks the way it does.Today I sit down and talk (and argue a bit) w…

Sometimes it seems like Japan is almost invisible in global e-commerce.Despite a dynamic domestic e-commerce market and a long tradition of global exports, Japan just doesn't seem that interested in selling to the outside world.But things are changing, and Kazuyoshi Nakazato of Zig Zag is working to make sure they change even faster.We talk about w…

This is our 200th episode, so I wanted to do something special.Everyone loves to complain about the poor quality of Japanese software, but today I’m going to explain exactly what went wrong. You'll get the whole story, and I'll also pinpoint the specific moment Japan lost its way. By the end, I think you'll have a new perspective on Japanese softwa…

There has never been a better time to be raising money in Japan than right now.Founders ask me about fundraising more than any other topic, so this guide is long overdue. There are links that cover the basics in the Show Notes, and I will be keeping this page updated as new information becomes available and members of the community create new resou…

Police departments around the world are using this startup's AI to predict future crime.Mami Kajita, founder of Singular Perturbations, explains the success of their models, the public reaction to the technology, and how the physics models of glass transition lead to a crime prediction AI.We debate the future impact of crime prediction technology, …

Today's episode is about trust; trust in technology and trust in each other.Very few startups experience what LPixel went through and far fewer survive it.Today we welcome Yuki Shimahara, founder of LPixel, back to the show. The last few years have been a roller-coster for LPixel, and despite the chaos LPixel managed to created Japan's first certif…

The way we get our food is changing.Many are discussing how to make modern farming more sustainable, but this startup working to end it entirely.Ikuo Hiraishi is a serial entrepreneur and the Japan head of Infarm Japan, an urban-farming startup growing food at supermarkets. In fact, as Ikuo explains, a lot more of your food is grown indoors than yo…

We need to get the health care revolution right.Artificial Intelligence promises to reduce bottlenecks, improve quality of care, and allow our over-stretched healthcare systems to scale to meet the needs of the aging global population.But it's not going to be easy.Today we talk with Kota Kubo, founder of Ubie about the opportunities and challenges …

World-changing trends can start anywhere in the world today.Because the social media platforms evolved differently in Northeast Asia, e-commerce developed differently as well. And because of recent shifts in regulation and social attitudes, Western social media is going to start to look a lot more like it does in Aisa, and e-commerce trends will fo…

You never hear the names of some of the world's best SaaS startups.Why waste money building awareness among consumers when you can quickly and steadily grow your B2B business across Japan then across Asia?Today Yu Taniguchi founder of TableCheck returns to the show and answers that question.TableCheck is rapidly expanding their table-management sys…

Manga is one of Japan's best known exports, but it's surprisingly hard to make money here.Today we dig into exactly why this is. We sit down with Sho Ishiwatari, founder of Mantra, who explains how is company is trying to expand the global market by streamlining the translation and global marketing processes.We also talk about why manga is so much …

Subscription boxes can be a tough business.Most of these startups shine brightly as they burn through investor capital and flame out well before becoming profitable.But there are exceptions. So today we sit down with Danny Taing, the founder of Bokksu, to learn what he and the team did differently, how they obtained substantial VC funding, and wher…