Ep. 12: 3.11. Earthquake to COVID-19, the changing landscape of business expansion to Japan with Daiki Nakajima

In this episode we are joined by Daiki Nakajima. Daiki leads two initiatives for JETRO, the Japan External Trade Organisation; he leads their Invest Japan division, and Japan - US bilateral relationships. We dive into insights and a success story around bilateral investment and international expansion all rooted in over a decade of experience. To me, Daiki, represents the future leadership potential of a JETRO leader. He is, for what you may consider for a 'traditional' Japanese government employee, extremely young and as a New Jersey native, Daiki is perfectly positioned to leverage his bilingual and bicultural abilities to lead the dialogue around creating an open innovation ecosystem in Japan.

Thank you to Daiki who not only so generously donated his time but for his commitment and contribution to moving the needle for foreign companies to do business in Japan.

If you enjoy this episode as much as I did make sure to let me know on your favourite social media platform.

Let's begin!

Key Takeaways:

💡 05:30 | Pivoting to a 'Work from Home' model as a government organisation in a COVID-19 hotspot.
💡09:45 | Changing landscape of investment and business expansion between US-Japan in the decade 2010 - 2020.
💡17:30 | Government of Japan Implementing technology and policy changes in response market needs.
💡19:35 | Success Story; inbound marketing startup, Hubspot, goes to Japan.
💡27:17 | What are the "gaps" around doing business in Japan and how can we navigate them.
💡36:38 | Lessons from COVID-19 in diversifying your supply chain.
💡43:00 | Benefits of working with JETRO and why you should look outside Tokyo.
💡53:00 | Telling your story as a Japanese company expanding to the US and other insights.
💡58:23 | Don't expect to sell your product on the first day as a US company and expanding to Japan and other insights.
💡1:09:20 | Reverse engineering bilateral success with research as entrepreneurs.

To find out more about Daiki or JETRO, connect with him on LinkedIn.

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About this Podcast
The Business Karaoke Podcast, sponsored by Design Thinking Japan, modernizes the dialogue around doing business in and with Japan for the modern global leader. Through sharing stories of both failure and success, we give global leaders with a passion for Japan, and Japanese leaders with a passion for the global market, the tools they need to operate more effectively and with impact.