Market Entry Manifesto

A reporter from The Telegraph in the UK contacted me for my views on the challenges of market entry in Japan. What follows is my manifesto — a set of principles I believe apply not just to Japan, but to any market, anywhere in the world.

1. Language is no barrier for those who know how to communicate.

Being skilled at international communication means being able to understand people even when you don’t share a common language. Consider that even between native English speakers, miscommunication is constant. We assume we’re understood when we’re not. We let vagueness slide when we should ask for clarification.

The real skill isn’t linguistic. It’s the discipline to confirm understanding, to ask pointed questions, and to give concrete examples when something seems unclear. In Japan as everywhere, that kind of rigor is both rare and universally effective. Don’t let language anxiety become an excuse for poor communication fundamentals.

2. Market validation is as crucial for success in Japan as anywhere else. Do yours diligently — and do it yourself.

Don’t rely on standardized reports. Don’t delegate this to JETRO or any other trade promotion organization. Treat the prognostications of supposed Japan market insiders with healthy skepticism. Even if you engage a professional firm to support you, always conduct your own validation in parallel.

Meet with actual prospects. Ask your questions directly. Test your assumptions in the real world and see what breaks. Standardized reports are built on generalized assumptions that may have nothing to do with your specific product or customer. And trade organizations have institutional incentives that don’t always align with yours. You understand your business better than any of them. Trust that understanding enough to act on it.

3. A superlative leader is crucial for success — a Japanese man with industry contacts is not.

The conventional wisdom says hire an older Japanese man with industry experience and an established network. He knows people. He can open doors. I have never seen this work. Not once.

Industry experience does not automatically translate into business acumen or leadership capability. And someone who sees their Rolodex as their primary value will always prioritize the health of those relationships over the needs of your business. When doing right by your business means asking something inconvenient of a contact, they will hesitate. The contact wins. Your business loses.

Being Japanese is not a credential. Japan-ness does not make a person an expert on business in Japan. If all the conventional advice about Japan had been followed, Seven-Eleven, Costco, Michelin, BMW, Adidas, and Godiva would never have launched here — much less achieved their remarkable success. What they had in common was great leadership, not simply local connectivity.

4. Just because a Japanese person tells you something about Japan does not make it true.

Take such advice with a massive grain of salt. Local perspective is useful. But it is not infallible, and it is often colored by assumptions about how things have always been done — not how things could be done. The most important breakthroughs in any market come from people willing to question received wisdom, not those who transmit it.

5. Demanding customers are the rule in Japan — and an asset.

Japan has a global reputation for exceptionally demanding consumers and clients. Quality standards are high. Tolerance for mediocrity is low. This intimidates many companies before they even arrive.

But the best companies have reframed it entirely. Adidas and Michelin both develop specific products for the Japan market — and then sell those products globally, because meeting the Japan standard produces some of the best products in their respective categories. If your product can meet the bar in Japan, it can meet the bar anywhere. Use that.

6. Brand strength at home does not automatically translate into brand strength in Japan.

No matter how well-known you are outside of Japan, be prepared to invest in building your brand here. Awareness does not transfer across borders the way companies hope. Reputation must be earned locally, and that takes time, presence, and genuine commitment to the market.

7. Value is universal — even in Japan.

If you have a great product, breakthrough technology, and genuinely exceptional service, you will succeed in Japan as you would anywhere else. Michelin — a French company — supplies top-of-class tires to Japan’s leading automobile and truck manufacturers, as well as to Japan Airlines. They didn’t succeed despite being foreign. They succeeded because they were excellent.

8. The most successful businesses in Japan buck the system, not adapt to it. You should too.

Fast Retailing turned the clothing industry on its head. Softbank redefined what service looks like in consumer telecommunications. Ito-Yokado — now 7&i Holdings — revolutionized retail with Seven-Eleven. Starbucks changed what a coffee shop could be. Honda, in its early years, ignored ministerial directives entirely when it entered the car market.

The pattern isn’t adaptation. It’s disruption. What do you intend to disrupt? If you don’t have a clear answer to that question, you may not be ready to enter.

9. Gaining a foothold in Japan is no more difficult than any other market — if you invest in the right things first.

And here is the point I want you to carry with you. You can replace the word Japan with the name of any country — the United States, Germany, Brazil, Vietnam — and every principle above still holds. The peculiarities of any market are real, but they are rarely the decisive variable. Execution is.

Don’t let geography become an excuse for weak strategy.

Do you have your own hard-hitting advice on entering the Japanese market? If so, drop me a line. I would like to know.