After languishing for three decades, Japan is on the cusp of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to revitalize its economy through tech innovation and entrepreneurship.
A tight labor market has emboldened young workers to ditch the stereotypical salaryman mold of lifelong employment at big firms and empowered them to take risks. The economic pain wrought by the so-called lost decades is easing and the nation’s soft power is attracting global talent. Investors spooked by uncertainty in China’s tech sector see stability in its neighbor, while geopolitical tensions are driving closer ties between the U.S. and Japan.
Factors are ripe for lasting change. The government seems aware of this critical moment and has been attempting to invigorate economic growth by encouraging startups — although in its own bureaucratic way. But for Japan to succeed in creating the type of companies that can have global impact, policymakers need to be much bolder and the companies they support more ambitious. The country also needs to forge its own path to success instead of copying strategies that worked elsewhere.
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