Latest / Real Gaijin — Japan’s Business, Culture & Life Podcast: A podcast about Japan’s economy, work culture, foreign residents, regional revitalization, and the people shaping the country’s future.
▶︎ AMA Podcast (S-02, E-01) with Timothy Connor, Founder and CEO of Synnovate, a boutique advisory focused on Go-to-Market strategy in Japan
Foreign brands often misjudge Japan, not because it is “closed,” but because it is unforgiving of superficiality. Many arrive armed with global playbooks, confident that past success will translate. However, they discover that Japan quietly but methodically rejects offerings that feel rushed, overly marketed, or insufficiently localized. In Japan, product-market-fit is more about credibility than scale. It requires packaging that signals care, service that anticipates needs before they are voiced, and messaging that respects context rather than shouting through it. Brands that mistake…
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