What happens when you come to Japan hoping to become a rock star, but end up becoming one of the most recognizable voices in Tokyo’s startup community?That’s the unlikely story of Tim Romero, who is, by the way, still very much of a “rock star” (intentional use of quotation marks).Who is he?Tim arrived in Japan in the late 1980s after being signed by a Japanese record company. His music career didn’t work out, but Japan did. Since then, he has founded and sold companies, invested in startups, worked inside major Japanese corporations, and become a leading chronicler of Japan’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.Tim is a Tokyo-based entrepreneur, investor, mentor, and the founder and host of Disrupting Japan, which explores Japan’s startup and innovation ecosystem.🎂 In fact, this week marks the 12th anniversary of the show, making it the longest-running podcast in English from Japan. Congratulations, Tim! Real Gaijin can learn a lot from him.Tim’s career includes founding and selling Vanguard, bringing Engine Yard to Japan, working on innovation at TEPCO, where he helped to establish their first corporate venture capital fund (CVC), leading Google for Startups Japan, and joining JERA Ventures as a partner.This gives Tim a unique perspective. He has watched Tokyo’s startup scene evolve from the dot-com era to the current government-backed initiative to establish Japan as a global startup hub.On the agendaDuring our wide-ranging discussion, we covered the following topics:* Tim’s unconventional journey to Japan and the successes and failures that shaped his entrepreneurial career;* Tim’s advice for aspiring founders;* Tokyo’s startup ecosystem; and* Tim’s prognosis about where he thinks Japan’s startup ecosystem is headed.Key takeaways* Japan’s startup ecosystem has matured significantly: Japan is now a much better place to start a business than it was when Tim entered the ecosystem in the late 1990s. Venture capital is more plentiful, and M&A and IPO exits are more viable. Perhaps most importantly, large Japanese corporations now actively seek relationships with startups. The old model, in which entrepreneurs trying to work with major corporations were pushed through layers of subcontractors, has largely given way to dedicated startup, innovation, and corporate venture capital (CVC) teams.* Foreign founders should understand Japan before trying to disrupt it: Tim strongly cautions foreigners against moving to Japan with an idea and immediately launching a company. The critical ingredient is proximity to—and understanding of—the customer. He recommends working inside a Japanese startup first to learn the market, build relationships, and identify the relatively small but consequential differences between Japan and other markets. Only then should they launch when a genuine opportunity emerges. Foreign founders must also demonstrate their ability to sell and operate in Japan. Having a capable Japanese co-founder can help solve this execution problem.* Japan’s next startup opportunity may come from commercializing its world-class science: Tim identifies physical AI, particularly the convergence of robotics and artificial intelligence, along with biotech and materials science, as especially promising areas. More consequentially, he expects significant innovation to emerge from Japanese universities over the next five to ten years. Japan has long had world-class academic research, but it has struggled to commercialize it. A shift toward pairing researchers with professional managers and venture investors could finally unlock the intellectual property that has historically remained within universities instead of becoming scalable companies.* Founders must protect their product—and their company—from powerful corporate partners: Working with Japan’s major corporations creates opportunities, but it also poses a significant risk: allowing one customer or investor to dictate the startup’s direction. Tim particularly warns against endless customer-specific customization because every special feature creates a permanent maintenance burden and can eventually cause founders to lose control of their product. His practical rule is revealing: If several customers request the same feature, pay attention. If one customer wants something inconsistent with the product vision, founders should be prepared to stand their ground.* Japan does not lack capable entrepreneurs; it lacks Silicon Valley’s sense of urgency: Tim rejects the stereotype that Japanese founders are less entrepreneurial or risk-tolerant than their Silicon Valley counterparts. He describes their knowledge, capabilities, and tolerance for risk as “world-class.” The biggest remaining difference is speed. In San Francisco, a good idea may trigger action that afternoon. In Tokyo, the same idea may produce a meeting the following week. Japan does not necessarily need Silicon Valley’s hype and exaggerated claims. However, Tim believes that adopting more of its “let’s get it done now” mentality could strengthen the ecosystem.* Japan’s tighter Business Manager visa rules may cause unintended economic damage: Tim argues that the tougher requirements for foreign entrepreneurs should not be interpreted as a message that Japan no longer wants foreign founders. Rather, he describes the policy environment as fragmented, with different ministries and agencies pursuing separate objectives without effective coordination. The result can be rules that appear rational in isolation but contradictory when combined. In the case of the Business Manager visa, this can mean excluding capable would-be entrepreneurs who cannot meet the higher capital threshold, even though they could build viable businesses and contribute to Japan’s economy.TimelineSubstack does not yet have the functionality to allow you to use a link to jump to a specific section like YouTube’s “chapters.” Please refer to the times listed below to navigate through our hour-long conversation. Thank you for your understanding.Links* Substack: * Website: https://www.disruptingjapan.com/* LinkedIn (Tim): https://www.linkedin.com/in/timromero/* LinkedIn (Disrupting Japan podcast): https://www.linkedin.com/company/disrupting-japan-podcast/* Shizen Capital (Matt Romaine and Mark Bivens, who were cited by Tim at around the 53-minute mark): https://shizen.vc/#/#TimRomero #DisruptingJapan #StartUp #RealGaijin #リアル外人ICYMIPlease check this out! If you’ll be in Tokyo on Thursday evening, November 5, join Tim, Mark, and a small group of Japan-based Substack writers and readers for a meetup. Get your tickets before they sell out!If you found this post valuable, please click the ❤️ button and restack it. Restacking helps more than you’d think! Thanks!Thanks for reading Real Gaijin! This post is public so feel free to share it.Please note that you can subscribe to Real Gaijin for free. If you are so inclined, you can also purchase an annual subscription for a relatively small fee.However, I understand that even the lowest level of annual subscription allowed by Substack may seem too high for many. If you just want to buy a coffee for Real Gaijin (or maybe a green tea), you can also make a small donation here:https://buymeacoffee.com/realgaijinAll levels of support - including just liking a particular article and/or leaving a comment - are very welcome. Thanks again for reading.While Real Gaijin lives in Substack, you can also find Real Gaijin on a few other platforms (listed in alphabetical order).https://www.instagram.com/real_gaijin_on_substack/https://www.threads.net/@real_gaijin_on_substackhttps://www.tiktok.com/@real.gaijinhttps://x.com/Real_Gaijin_https://www.youtube.com/@RealGaijinhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-wilt-kennedy/ Get full access to Real Gaijin at realgaijin.substack.com/subscribe

🍻 Thank you to everyone who joined the first-ever “Beers with Real Gaijin” live stream on Sunday evening! What started as an experiment—an informal conversation without an agenda about recent Real Gaijin articles, Japan-related news, and whatever else was on your mind—turned into the kind of lively exchange I had hoped for.Key TakeawaysWhile we enjoyed a wide-ranging discussion that included a review of several recently published Real Gaijin articles, the three main points to take away were probably the following:* Japan’s demographic crisis is no longer an abstract future problem; it is beginning to reshape the country now: The discussion repeatedly returns to the extraordinary contraction of Japan’s younger population and the implications of a shrinking domestic workforce. At the same time, the foreign-resident population is expected to comprise a substantially larger share of the country. The central point is that demographic change will affect virtually everything, including employment, regional economies, social services, immigration policy, and the everyday lives of Japanese nationals and foreign residents alike. Review this recent post for more background:* Japan’s labor shortage is forcing policymakers to make increasingly difficult trade-offs: Raising wages is necessary, but imposing a uniform national minimum wage could hurt rural small-to-medium-enterprises (SMEs) that are already struggling to find workers. The discussion instead argues for greater regional differentiation based on local wages and employers’ ability to pay. Meanwhile, the loosening of overtime guidelines illustrates the other side of the same problem. When Japan cannot find enough workers, existing employees may be asked to work more, increasing the risk of exploitation. This makes it particularly important for foreign workers to understand their employment rights and company work rules. Review these recent posts for more background.* Political and technological change may be coming from outside Japan’s traditional establishment: Team Mirai emerges as an example of a younger, more technocratic approach to Japanese politics. They advocate ideas such as electoral reform, AI-enabled “digital democracy,” and a more pragmatic approach to fiscal policy. While these proposals may have little immediate impact on foreign residents who cannot vote nationally, they are important indicators of whether Japan’s political system can modernize sufficiently to confront demographic decline, labor shortages, fiscal pressures, and other structural problems that affect everyone living in the country. Review this recent post for more background:🍺 I’m already looking forward to the next “Beers with Real Gaijin” in September! The invitation will be sent out soon…🎉 P.S. I look forward to meeting you in person at the upcoming “Japan Substackers IRL Meetup in Tokyo” on November 5, 2026, if you’re able to make it. For more information about this event, check out this post:#BeersWithRealGaijin #リアル外人と飲む #ResidentForeigners #RealGaijin #リアル外人If you found this post valuable, please click the ❤️ button and restack it. Restacking helps more than you’d think! Thanks!Thanks for reading Real Gaijin! This post is public so feel free to share it.Please note that you can subscribe to Real Gaijin for free. If you are so inclined, you can also purchase an annual subscription for a relatively small fee.However, I understand that even the lowest level of annual subscription allowed by Substack may seem too high for many. If you just want to buy a coffee for Real Gaijin (or maybe a green tea), you can also make a small donation here:https://buymeacoffee.com/realgaijinAll levels of support - including just liking a particular article and/or leaving a comment - are very welcome. Thanks again for reading.While Real Gaijin lives in Substack, you can also find Real Gaijin on a few other platforms (listed in alphabetical order).https://www.instagram.com/real_gaijin_on_substack/https://www.threads.net/@real_gaijin_on_substackhttps://www.tiktok.com/@real.gaijinhttps://x.com/Real_Gaijin_https://www.youtube.com/@RealGaijinhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-wilt-kennedy/ Get full access to Real Gaijin at realgaijin.substack.com/subscribe

If you have ever had the opportunity to live and work in Japan, Salarymanhood: The Illustrated Jokes of an American Salaryman in Tokyo will resonate with you. From office customs like VPs falling asleep during discussions they started to everyday life like accidentally buying funeral flowers on Valentine’s Day and dodging road-raged moms on e-bikes, it will all feel familiar.Building upon his past success with the Salaryman series, this week’s guest on the Real Gaijin AMA podcast, Michael (“Mike”) Thuresson, collaborated with Japanese manga artist Kazuhiro Yoshida (吉田一裕) who also goes by the pen name Kotobuki Maeno (前野コトブキ) to create illustrations from his sketches. Japanese stand-up comedian Meshida, famous for the WTF Japan!? The Japan Show, translated Mike’s stories into Japanese. The project evolved into an experiment in cross-cultural collaboration on multiple levels.The book is written in English senryū (川柳), a traditional Japanese form of short poetry consisting of just three lines and 17 syllables. It uses the same basic syllabic—or, more precisely, moraic—pattern as haiku (俳句): 5-7-5. While haiku poetry tends to reference nature, the seasons, and fleeting observations, senryū poetry focus on human nature, everyday life, social behavior, irony, and humor. Senryū poems often make wry observations about people’s habits or contradictions, making them the perfect genre for poking fun at Japan’s salaryman life.Who is he?Before moving to Tokyo and becoming a salaryman in 2008, Mike was a businessman in Los Angeles. His first book, The Salaryman: An American Dude Becomes a Tokyo White-Collar Warrior, A Memoir, was published in 2019 and called “thoroughly entertaining” by The Japan Times. His new book, Salarymanhood: The Illustrated Jokes of an American Salaryman in Tokyo, offers a distinctly Western perspective on Japan’s centuries-old senryū tradition, transforming the rituals, frustrations, and absurdities of Japanese working life into comic verse.On the agendaIn addition to covering Mike’s initial path to Japan, we discussed the following as part of a rolling conversation:* The inspiration behind his books;* The ins and outs of self-publishing in Japan, from writing and illustration to production, distribution, and marketing; and* What’s next for the Salaryman universe, including new books, collaborations, and Mike’s plans for the future of the series.Key takeaways* An accidental journey into Japan became an 18-Year salaryman story: Mike did not arrive in Japan with a lifelong ambition to immerse himself in Japanese culture. It was a friendship with a Japanese college rugby teammate that led to his first visit around 2000, followed by work as a journalist and a business English teacher. After returning to the U.S., he moved back to Japan in 2008 and entered the traditional corporate world, going directly from the casual culture of a Los Angeles software startup to an old-line Japanese manufacturer, where he was the only foreigner in the office. This culture shock ultimately provided the material for his first book, The Salaryman: An American Dude Becomes a Tokyo White-Collar Warrior: A Memoir.* “Salarymanhood” finds humor in the culture gap rather than mocking Japan: The central idea behind Mike’s new book, Salarymanhood: The Illustrated Jokes of an American Salaryman in Tokyo, is that everyday Japanese corporate life can look radically different depending on your cultural perspective. His humor is deliberately self-deprecating rather than an attack on Japanese culture; the comedy stems from the often “unsolvable” gap between how a foreign employee interprets a situation and how Japanese colleagues interpret it. For example, he believed a customer meeting had been a disaster because a Japanese executive fell asleep. However, his colleagues told him that this indicated the customer was comfortable. This example perfectly encapsulates the premise.* Japanese senryū poetry provides the perfect vehicle for salaryman humor: Salarymanhood: The Illustrated Jokes of an American Salaryman in Tokyo grew out of Mike’s fascination with senryū, the traditional three-line poetic form that has long been used in Japan to capture the frustrations and absurdities of everyday life. Inspired by the long-running, annual Salaryman Senryū competition sponsored by the Dai-ichi Life Insurance firm in particular, Mike adapted the concept from a foreign salaryman’s perspective. The new book contains 50 bilingual jokes, each accompanied by manga artwork. This effectively combines a deeply Japanese form of expression with a Western perspective on Japanese working life.* Self-publishing has made professional book publishing accessible, but the author becomes the publisher: Drawing on his experience as an author and a former product manager for Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing, Mike maintains that writers can now perform most of the functions of a traditional publishing house themselves. Freelance marketplaces provide editing, cover design, interior design, and other specialized services. Print-on-demand eliminates the need to finance and warehouse inventory. The trade-off is that the independent author must assemble the production team and, most importantly, market and sell the finished book. By the way, it can be easier said than done to manage all the resources needed to turn your idea into a professional-looking book. Fortunately, Mike runs a side business that can manage the process for you. Visit his Memoir & Life Story Services website for more information.* AI can assist the creative process without replacing the creator: Mike draws a sharp distinction between using AI to create writing and using it as a production tool. He says he did not use AI to write Salarymanhood: The Illustrated Jokes of an American Salaryman in Tokyo, describing the actual writing as “sacred,” but he did use AI extensively to solve difficult design and layout problems for a highly visual, bilingual book. Otherwise, this work might have required an expensive professional designer. His approach offers a broader model for independent creators: preserve human authorship while using AI to reduce the cost and complexity of production, workflow, and other noneditorial tasks.TimelineSubstack does not yet have the functionality to allow you to use a link to jump to a specific section like YouTube’s “chapters.” Please refer to the times listed below to navigate through our hour-long conversation. Thank you for your understanding.Links* Personal Website (includes links to his books): https://www.michaelthuresson.com/* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-thuresson-a39735/ Not our first rodeoMike and I, both sons of Chicago, have collaborated in the past. Back when he was still using his pen name, Michael Howard, I had the pleasure of reviewing his first book, The Salaryman: An American Dude Becomes a Tokyo White-Collar Warrior: A Memoir. The book is still very much relevant.From the archives…https://japaninsider.com/american-dude-becomes-salaryman/#MichaelThuresson #Salarymanhood #JapanBusiness #RealGaijin #リアル外人If you enjoyed this, click the ❤️ button and restack.Thanks for reading Real Gaijin! This post is public so feel free to share it.Please note that you can subscribe to Real Gaijin for free. If you are so inclined, you can also purchase an annual subscription for a relatively small fee.However, I understand that even the lowest level of annual subscription allowed by Substack may seem too high for many. If you just want to buy a coffee for Real Gaijin (or maybe a green tea), you can also make a small donation here:https://buymeacoffee.com/realgaijinAll levels of support - including just liking a particular article and/or leaving a comment - are very welcome. Thanks again for reading.While Real Gaijin lives in Substack, you can also find Real Gaijin on a few other platforms (listed in alphabetical order).https://www.instagram.com/real_gaijin_on_substack/https://www.threads.net/@real_gaijin_on_substackhttps://www.tiktok.com/@real.gaijinhttps://x.com/Real_Gaijin_https://www.youtube.com/@RealGaijinhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-wilt-kennedy/ Get full access to Real Gaijin at realgaijin.substack.com/subscribe

Have you ever wondered what it takes to command a room full of top-tier CEOs, advise government officials, and navigate Japan’s media landscape? Today, Real Gaijin was thrilled to welcome David Wagner, a veteran communications expert, media coach, and author who is a well-established fixture in Japan’s international business community. David has trained over 30,000 leaders, written multiple books on business communication, and hosted national television programs. He offers a masterclass in navigating, decoding, and succeeding at the highest levels of media communication.Who is he?Recognized as one of Asia’s premier authorities on media, crisis, and business communications, during his 30+ year career, David has coached over 30,000 trainees, including CEOs, presidents, ambassadors, and government officials, across the Asia-Pacific, Middle East, and North America.David has conducted over 4,000 workshops for over 550 global organizations, including Goldman Sachs, Oracle, Johnson & Johnson, Singapore Airlines, and Walmart. He has also lectured on business communications at institutions including Tokyo’s Waseda University.He is a former reporter for The Denver Post and a columnist for the Mainichi Daily News and The Daily Yomiuri. David was also the creator and host of two nationally televised three-month series on NHK focusing on international business skills. He is also the author of numerous books on Japan regarding business communications and cultural navigation, including Forever Foreign.On the agendaIn addition to covering David’s initial path to Japan, we discussed the following as part of a rolling conversation:* The “Gaijin” Evolution: How foreign leadership and corporate integration in Japan have shifted over three decades.* Managing the Media & Crisis PR: Mastering Japanese media dynamics, executive presence, and high-stakes public messaging.* Cross-Cultural Communication: Bridging behavioral gaps to lead teams and persuade effectively in Japanese corporate environments.* Insights from the Top: Key lessons from coaching 30,000+ executives and interviewing successful foreign business leaders.Key takeaways* Cross-cultural success requires “style shifting” in both directions: David’s concept of “style shifting” applies to Japanese professionals working overseas and non-Japanese people working in Japan. Japanese mmanagers operating internationally may need to become more direct and explicit, as well as more individually oriented. Meanwhile, foreigners in Japan may need to adjust in the opposite direction, learning to work with indirect communication, hierarchy, consensus-building, silence, and other Japanese cultural norms. The point is not to abandon your personality or decide that one culture is “right.” Rather, it is to understand the environment well enough to modify your communication style deliberately so that you can operate effectively within it.* Respecting Japanese norms sometimes means knowing which battles not to fight: David illustrates this with a painful episode from his early career at Fuji Xerox. When company president Yotaro Kobayashi (小林陽太郎), a well-known business mogul, visited his department, the Japanese employees were invited to hear him speak. However, the foreign employees, who were hired to teach cross-cultural communication, were excluded. Furious, a young David wrote directly to the president’s office. The resulting investigation, he says, was a “witch hunt.” He was ostracized and ultimately felt compelled to resign. Decades later, David says he would handle the situation differently. Instead of trying to change the company, he would recognize that the environment was not right for him and leave. This experience taught him that succeeding in Japan requires understanding its cultural and organizational norms, as well as recognizing when confrontation is unlikely to produce the desired change.* In Japan, knowing what happens before the meeting can be more important than the meeting itself: David highlights nemawashi (根回し), or building consensus before a formal meeting, as a particularly important feature of Japanese business culture. This contrasts sharply with cultures in which participants expect debate and decision-making to occur during the meeting itself. He also mentions hierarchy, indirect communication, silence, and nonverbal cues as elements that foreigners must learn to interpret rather than simply applying their home country’s business norms.* Effective media communication is about controlling the message, not saying more: David’s decades of media and crisis training have led him to a deceptively simple principle: executives generally talk too much. Effective communicators identify a few key messages, repeat them consistently, and avoid allowing an interview or press conference to derail them. Delivery matters too—pace, body language, visual presentation, and cultural appropriateness can determine whether the intended message actually reaches its audience.* In a crisis, speed, honesty, and transparency matter more than ritualized contrition: David is skeptical of what he calls the “empty bow”—the highly visible corporate apology that appears disconnected from genuine accountability. He argues that Japan’s consensus-driven decision-making process can become a liability during a crisis because organizations may take too long to formulate a response. Crisis management requires taking control quickly, communicating transparently, and acknowledging mistakes instead of allowing internal deliberation to create a communications vacuum.TimelineSubstack does not yet have the functionality to allow you to use a link to jump to a specific section like YouTube’s “chapters.” Please refer to the times listed below to navigate through our hour-long conversation. Thank you for your understanding.Links* Personal Website (includes a list of his books): https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/davidwagner* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-wagner-a9900317/* Information about Igor Prusa, author of Scandal in Japan: Transgression, Performance and Ritual#DavidWagner #BusinessCommunicationsJapan #CrossCulturalCommunication #RealGaijin #リアル外人If you enjoyed this, click the ❤️ button and restack.Thanks for reading Real Gaijin! This post is public so feel free to share it.Please note that you can subscribe to Real Gaijin for free. If you are so inclined, you can also purchase an annual subscription for a relatively small fee.However, I understand that even the lowest level of annual subscription allowed by Substack may seem too high for many. If you just want to buy a coffee for Real Gaijin (or maybe a green tea), you can also make a small donation here:https://buymeacoffee.com/realgaijinAll levels of support - including just liking a particular article and/or leaving a comment - are very welcome. Thanks again for reading.While Real Gaijin lives in Substack, you can also find Real Gaijin on a few other platforms (listed in alphabetical order).https://www.instagram.com/real_gaijin_on_substack/https://www.threads.net/@real_gaijin_on_substackhttps://www.tiktok.com/@real.gaijinhttps://x.com/Real_Gaijin_https://www.youtube.com/@RealGaijinhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-wilt-kennedy/ Get full access to Real Gaijin at realgaijin.substack.com/subscribe

What happens when someone leaves a successful career at one of the world’s most acclaimed tech companies to trade a major, global city for a quieter life in the countryside, leveraging their experience to develop the next stage of their career? In an era of aging populations, labor shortages, and rural decline reshaping Japan, these personal choices provide a unique perspective on some of the most pressing issues of our time. Today, the Real Gaijin AMA podcast welcomes the perfect guest to discuss reinventing your life across careers, communities, and countries.Who is he?Meet Arie Meir, a computer scientist and a UC Berkeley-trained biophysicist with a Ph.D. He is one of the few AI leaders whose career spans both Silicon Valley and the healthcare industry. Prior to spending over a decade developing AI products at Google, Arie held engineering leadership positions at GE Healthcare, where he worked on advanced medical technologies, and at Qualcomm, where he developed large-scale software platforms.Currently, Arie advises healthcare organizations, startups, and executive teams on integrating artificial intelligence into clinical and business operations—all from a new base in the mountains to the north of Tokyo.On the agendaIn addition to covering Arie’s initial path to Japan (which is quite a story on its own), we discussed his bold decision to leave the corporate world and the “mothership” of Google, deciding to relocate from central Tokyo to the Japanese countryside, and the ins and outs of navigating between multiple cultures and countries.Key takeaways* Treat major life changes as experiments, not leaps of faith: Arie’s philosophy is to test before committing. Before leaving Google, he took mini-sabbaticals to see if greater independence would make him happier and more productive. Arie applied essentially the same method to leaving Tokyo: rent a house, experience ordinary life, talk with locals, document what works and what doesn’t (+ search for hidden patterns with AI tools), and only then make a larger commitment. His broader lesson is that seemingly radical change can be approached systematically by turning uncertainty into a series of manageable experiments.* Leaving a successful career means giving up an identity, not just a paycheck: After 11 years at Google, Arie discovered that leaving the “mothership” entailed a profound psychological transition. Being a “Googler” had become part of his identity, social network, and sense of belonging. This led to the unsettling question:“If I’m not a Googler, who am I now?”Arie’s experience suggests that anyone contemplating a major career transition should prepare not only for the financial consequences but also for the loss of structure, status, community, and professional identity that may accompany it.* Technology matters when it solves a real human or business problem: Although Arie describes himself as an “AI nerd” (notice his shirt), his career philosophy is problem-first rather than technology-first. His early experience at GE Healthcare showed him that engineering and software could directly improve people’s lives. This eventually led him to Google Cloud Healthcare, where he became the first product manager on the healthcare team. Today, Arie’s consulting work focuses on translating business problems into appropriate technological solutions rather than adopting AI simply because it is fashionable.* Japan’s demographic problems create an important laboratory for technology: Arie finds the intersection of healthcare, AI, and Japan particularly compelling. An aging population, a declining birthrate, and a shortage of healthcare providers increase the need for technological solutions. Meanwhile, aspects of Japanese society may make certain technologies easier to deploy. His example of robotic servers (as in replacements for human waiters and waitresses) in “family restaurants” in Japan illustrates a larger point: demographic necessity combined with social acceptance could make Japan an important proving ground for automation and other technologies designed to compensate for labor shortages.* Rural Japan can offer an alternative to big-city life, but integration matters: Arie’s move away from Tokyo was not simply a search for cheaper housing or prettier scenery. He emphasizes that rural communities can differ dramatically even at the neighborhood (shūraku・集落) level and that newcomers need to integrate rather than merely relocate. His preference for Nasushiobara, one of the summer retreats of the Japanese Imperial Family, emerged through repeated visits and experimentation rather than a checklist alone—an instructive example of how remote work can expand lifestyle choices while still requiring careful attention to family needs, infrastructure, community, and everyday quality of life.TimelineSubstack does not yet have the functionality to allow you to use a link to jump to a specific section like YouTube’s “chapters.” Please refer to the times listed below to navigate through our hour-long conversation. Thank you for your understanding.Links* Personal Website: https://ariemeir.com/* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ariemeir/#ArieMeir #CareerReinvention #キャリアの再構築 #RealGaijin #リアル外人If you enjoyed this, click the ❤️ button and restack.Thanks for reading Real Gaijin! This post is public so feel free to share it.Please note that you can subscribe to Real Gaijin for free. If you are so inclined, you can also purchase an annual subscription for a relatively small fee.However, I understand that even the lowest level of annual subscription allowed by Substack may seem too high for many. If you just want to buy a coffee for Real Gaijin (or maybe a green tea), you can also make a small donation here:https://buymeacoffee.com/realgaijinAll levels of support - including just liking a particular article and/or leaving a comment - are very welcome. Thanks again for reading.While Real Gaijin lives in Substack, you can also find Real Gaijin on a few other platforms (listed in alphabetical order).https://www.instagram.com/real_gaijin_on_substack/https://www.threads.net/@real_gaijin_on_substackhttps://www.tiktok.com/@real.gaijinhttps://x.com/Real_Gaijin_https://www.youtube.com/@RealGaijinhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-wilt-kennedy/ Get full access to Real Gaijin at realgaijin.substack.com/subscribe

Have you ever wondered what it takes to build, scale, and successfully exit multiple businesses in one of the world’s most unique and tightly knit corporate landscapes? In this special interactive episode, Real Gaijin was joined by a legend of the Tokyo startup scene to discuss strategy, cultural adaptation, and the realities of doing business in Japan.Who is he?Terrie Lloyd is a powerhouse serial entrepreneur and dual national of Australia and New Zealand. A fixture of the Japanese business ecosystem, he has lived and worked in the country for over four decades. Terrie arrived in Japan on a working holiday visa in March 1983 at the age of 24—without a university degree. He started his first translation and computer-related venture out of an apartment and evolved into a self-made success. Throughout his remarkable career, Terrie has founded or co-founded 18 companies spanning technology, publishing, recruitment, IT services, and inbound tourism. These include pioneering ventures such as Japan’s first mid-career online job site, Daijob.com, and the crowdsourced travel network Japan Travel KK. He also manages Akiya 2.0 Inc, J@pan Inc Holdings KK, MetroWorks KK, and Toursoft Pte Ltd. Widely known for his successful corporate exits (he boasts eight major earn-outs for investors) and his long-running, insightful business newsletter, Terrie’s Take, Terrie is the ultimate authority on navigating Japanese bureaucracy, securing local funding, and turning a foreign perspective into a distinct business advantage.On the agendaIn addition to discussing how Terrie first ended up in Japan on a working holiday, we talked about entrepreneurship, business strategy, and his life in Japan over the last 44 years. We explored Terrie’s accidental beginnings in Japan, his early ventures in technology and importing, and his significant business exits. Terry also shared practical insights on generating and testing business ideas through iterative feedback, executing successful company exits by managing buyer greed and fear, building a targeted professional network as an expert, and his recent ventures into inbound tourism and traditional Japanese housing renovation (Akiya 2.0).Key takeaways* Leverage Your Unique Background as a Foreign Entrepreneur: Foreign entrepreneurs should use their differences to their advantage rather than trying to compete on the same terms as locals.“The foreign face opens the doors, and the Japanese face keeps the doors open.” - Time-tested adage about doing business in JapanBeing a foreigner in Japan can open initial doors and unlock unique opportunities, such as access to distinct ideas, networks, or technologies before others do. This allows founders to embrace their individuality and take calculated risks instead of blending into a crowded market.* Focus on Creating Real Social Change Over Money: The most successful and fulfilling businesses often stem from driving meaningful social change rather than just chasing profit. Terrie’s best companies addressed significant societal needs, such as pioneering mid-career job switching with Daijob or focusing on inbound tourism and traditional housing. This proves that building a business around solving real problems naturally attracts customers and creates lasting value.* Test and Refine Ideas Through Iterative Feedback: Raw business ideas should be rigorously shaped by talking directly to knowledgeable industry peers rather than relying solely on personal intuition. By pitching concepts via presentations and actively seeking critical feedback from sector experts, entrepreneurs can modify their approach after each conversation and fine-tune their offering to be ready for the market.* Understand the Core Dynamics of Exiting a Business: A successful company exit depends on building genuine value for a buyer and managing greed and fear carefully. Founders must understand what a strategic buyer truly wants, whether it’s forward-booked revenue, customer demographics, or skilled employees, while alleviating due diligence concerns. They must also ensure the business is fully mature and profitable before selling.* Cultivate a Targeted Community as an Expert: Building a strong professional network relies on establishing recognized expertise within a specific niche rather than chasing mass appeal. Rather than trying to target thousands of casual readers, newcomers should position themselves as authorities on a specialized topic. This will help them secure a dedicated group of hundreds of people who genuinely care about the subject. In doing so, they will build a far more powerful community.TimelineSubstack does not yet have the functionality to allow you to use a link to jump to a specific section like YouTube’s “chapters.” Please refer to the times listed below to navigate through our hour-long conversation. Thank you for your understanding.Links* Personal Website: https://www.terrielloyd.com/* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/terrielloyd/* Current Companies* Akiya 2.0 Inc: www.akiya2.com* J@pan Inc Holdings KK: www.japaninc.com* MetroWorks KK: www.metroworks.co.jp* Japan Travel KK: www.japantravel.com* Toursoft Pte Ltd: www.toursoft.systems* Volunteer Activity* EO Tokyo Metropolitan (EOTM): https://www.eotokyometropolitan.org/* Singapore Chamber of Commerce in Japan: https://www.singchamjapan.org/* Tokyo Chapter of The IndUS Entrepreneurs (TiE): https://japan.tie.org/#TerrieLloyd #StartupsJapan #Entrepreneurship #RealGaijin #リアル外人If you enjoyed this, click the ❤️ button and restack.Thanks for reading Real Gaijin! This post is public so feel free to share it.Please note that you can subscribe to Real Gaijin for free. If you are so inclined, you can also purchase an annual subscription for a relatively small fee.However, I understand that even the lowest level of annual subscription allowed by Substack may seem too high for many. If you just want to buy a coffee for Real Gaijin (or maybe a green tea), you can also make a small donation here:https://buymeacoffee.com/realgaijinAll levels of support - including just liking a particular article and/or leaving a comment - are very welcome. Thanks again for reading.While Real Gaijin lives in Substack, you can also find Real Gaijin on a few other platforms (listed in alphabetical order).https://www.instagram.com/real_gaijin_on_substack/https://www.threads.net/@real_gaijin_on_substackhttps://www.tiktok.com/@real.gaijinhttps://x.com/Real_Gaijin_https://www.youtube.com/@RealGaijinhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-wilt-kennedy/ Get full access to Real Gaijin at realgaijin.substack.com/subscribe

The digital transformation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is critical to Japan’s ability to reshape its economy. However, a key question is whether Japanese SMEs are ready.As labor shortages intensify and artificial intelligence transitions from hype to practical implementation, how are companies modernizing the systems that power everyday commerce? To help answer these questions, we’re joined by a resident expert.Who is he?Real Gaijin was joined by Tiby Kuruvila, the Chief Technology Officer of POS+ (Postas). POS+ is one of Japan’s leading cloud-based point-of-sale platforms, serving the restaurant, retail, beauty, and healthcare sectors. With more than 25 years of experience in enterprise software, AI, cloud architecture, and entrepreneurship in Japan and India, Tiby has started companies, mentored startups, and helped thousands of businesses embrace digital transformation.On the agendaWe discussed AI adoption, Japan’s unique technology landscape, and how to build successful products and teams across two distinct business cultures.Key TakeawaysToday’s discussion flew by. It is difficult to select only a few key takeaways, but these were mine:* AI is transforming point-of-sale systems from mere record keepers into intelligent business advisors: Traditional point-of-sale (POS) systems tell owners what happened yesterday. The next generation will predict what will likely happen tomorrow. Instead of merely tracking sales, AI-powered systems will forecast demand, optimize staffing, recommend inventory purchases, identify profitable customer behavior, and communicate recommendations in natural language. The long-term vision is for the POS system to become the “secondary brain” — and eventually the operating system — for an entire business, rather than merely processing transactions.* Japan’s greatest obstacle to digital transformation is not technology—it is trust: Throughout the interview, Tiby emphasizes that Japanese businesses rarely adopt new technology solely because it offers a better return on investment. Instead, adoption depends on building long-term trust. Sales cycles may last a year or more, but once a relationship is established, customers often remain loyal for many years. For foreign technology companies entering Japan, demonstrating reliability, cultural understanding, and long-term commitment is often more important than showcasing technical superiority.* Labor shortages are making digital transformation a business necessity rather than a luxury: Japan’s aging population and shrinking workforce are forcing businesses, particularly restaurants and SMEs, to automate routine operations. Technologies such as QR code ordering, AI-assisted forecasting, CRM systems, and workflow automation allow companies to serve more customers with fewer employees while improving customer service. Many technologies evolve from being “nice to have” to becoming essential when labor shortages threaten business survival.* The future belongs to organizations that combine human judgment with AI execution: Rather than replacing people outright, AI will perform more repetitive, administrative, and analytical tasks, allowing humans to focus on strategy, creativity, and decision-making. Tiby argues that developers, managers, and business leaders will spend less time producing work themselves and more time designing systems, defining objectives, and directing AI agents. This shift enables dramatically smaller teams to accomplish work that previously required many more employees.* Success in Japan requires localization, patience, and solving uniquely Japanese problems: Tiby advises entrepreneurs that simply translating an overseas product into Japanese is not enough. They must design products specifically for the Japanese market, address challenges such as an aging society and labor shortages, build local relationships, respect Japanese business processes, and maintain exceptional customer support. Those willing to invest the necessary time to earn trust are rewarded with exceptionally loyal customers and long-lasting relationships.TimelineSubstack does not yet have the functionality to allow you to use a link to jump to a specific section like YouTube’s “chapters.” Please refer to the times listed below to navigate through our hour-long conversation. Thank you for your understanding.Links* POS+: https://www.postas.co.jp/* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tibyk/#JapanBusiness #DigitalTransformation #EnterpriseAI #RealGaijin #リアル外人If you enjoyed this, click the ❤️ button and restack.Thanks for reading Real Gaijin! This post is public so feel free to share it.Please note that you can subscribe to Real Gaijin for free. If you are so inclined, you can also purchase an annual subscription for a relatively small fee.However, I understand that even the lowest level of annual subscription allowed by Substack may seem too high for many. If you just want to buy a coffee for Real Gaijin (or maybe a green tea), you can also make a small donation here:https://buymeacoffee.com/realgaijinAll levels of support - including just liking a particular article and/or leaving a comment - are very welcome. Thanks again for reading.While Real Gaijin lives in Substack, you can also find Real Gaijin on a few other platforms (listed in alphabetical order).https://www.instagram.com/real_gaijin_on_substack/https://www.threads.net/@real_gaijin_on_substackhttps://www.tiktok.com/@real.gaijinhttps://x.com/Real_Gaijin_https://www.youtube.com/@RealGaijinhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-wilt-kennedy/ Get full access to Real Gaijin at realgaijin.substack.com/subscribe

Foreigners have been visiting and trading with Japan for centuries, but from the 1630s the Tokugawa shogunate imposed strict limits on foreign contact. For more than two centuries, European trade was largely confined to the Dutch trading post on Dejima in Nagasaki, while Chinese merchants and a handful of other neighboring states maintained tightly regulated relations.Following the arrival of U.S. Commodore Matthew Perry’s “Black Ships” (Kurofune, 黒船) in 1853 and the treaties that followed, Japan reopened its ports beginning in 1859. As the country entered the turbulent 1860s, Yokohama rapidly emerged as the primary gateway for trade and interaction with the West, becoming the focal point of Japan’s transformation into a modern nation.Today, Real Gaijin sat down with Simon Partner, a professor of history at Duke University, to discuss life in 1860s Yokohama. As a new treaty port, Japan’s encounter with the outside world became part of daily life there. Drawing on The Merchant’s Tale, Professor Partner introduced us to the lives of visiting foreigners and some of the Japanese people who encountered them for the first time. Professor Partner has written extensively about one particular farmer-turned-merchant named Shinohara Chūemon, who arrived in Yokohama in 1859. Over the next fourteen years, Shinohara witnessed extraordinary upheaval, including foreign trade, gunboat diplomacy, civil war, the collapse of the Tokugawa order, and the birth of Meiji Japan. Through Chūemon’s eyes, we explored high politics, global markets, and the lived realities of food, clothing, medicine, hygiene, opportunity, anxiety, and cultural exchange for Japanese people and foreigners in one of the most consequential cities in modern Japan.More about Professor PartnerSimon Partner is professor of history, with particularly deep knowledge in the fields of Asian Studies and East Asian History, at Duke University.Besides The Merchant’s Tale, Professor Partner is the author of several books including Assembled in Japan: Electrical Goods and the Making of the Japanese Consumer (1999); Toshié: A Story of Village Life in Twentieth-Century Japan (2004); The Mayor of Aihara: A Japanese Villager and His Community, 1865–1925 (2009); and most recently Koume’s World (2023), which was the winner of the 2026 Modern Japan History Association Book Prize.On the agendaWe discussed Professor Partner’s personal connection to Japan — which includes a 40+ year marriage partner whom he originally met in Alabama (of all places) — before exploring the following:* Why Yokohama mattered: How a small fishing village became Japan’s gateway to the West and the epicenter of the country’s modernization.* Everyday life in a changing city: What life was like for both Japanese residents and foreign visitors, from commerce and housing to food, clothing, medicine, and hygiene.* Shinohara Chūemon’s story: How one farmer-turned-merchant witnessed foreign trade, political upheaval, and the transition from Tokugawa to Meiji Japan.* Lessons for today: What Yokohama’s first wave of globalization can teach us about cross-cultural exchange, immigration, and international business in the 21st century.Key TakeawaysToday’s discussion flew by. We covered a variety of subjects and took questions from active participants who used the chat functionality (many thanks). It is difficult to select only three key takeaways, but these were mine:* Yokohama’s opening transformed Japan before the Meiji Restoration: The conversation emphasizes that Japan’s economic and social transformation did not begin with the Meiji government alone. Rather, the opening of Yokohama in 1859 unleashed an unprecedented wave of largely unrestricted international trade, which rapidly reshaped markets, created new industries, accelerated inflation, and produced winners and losers across Japanese society. Professor Partner argues that this period of commercial disruption laid much of the foundation for Japan’s later modernization. This challenges the conventional narrative that places the Meiji Restoration at the center of the country’s transformation.* Ordinary people provide the most revealing perspective on history: Rather than focusing exclusively on political leaders or famous historical figures, Professor Partner explains that his research examines how major historical events were experienced by everyday people. Through the story of farmer-turned-merchant Shinohara Chūemon, we learn how individuals navigated uncertainty, embraced entrepreneurial risk, adapted to global economic forces, and experienced spectacular success and devastating failure. This micro-historical approach illustrates that history is best understood through the experiences of those affected by large-scale political and economic change.* Japan’s early globalization was deeply connected to world events: The interview highlights how local merchants in developing 1860s Yokohama were influenced by events occurring thousands of kilometers (miles) away. For example, the American Civil War unexpectedly created a lucrative export boom for Japanese cotton. Later, the Franco-Prussian War contributed to the collapse of European silk demand, ruining highly leveraged traders such as Shinohara Chūemon. These examples demonstrate that, by the 1860s, Japan was tightly integrated into the global economy, where international conflicts and market disruptions could dramatically alter the fortunes of businesses and communities.TimelineSubstack does not yet have the functionality to allow you to use a link to jump to a specific section like YouTube’s “chapters.” Please refer to the times listed below to navigate through our hour-long conversation. Thank you for your understanding.Links* Professor Partner’s new Substack (open to collaborating with guest historians): * Duke University: https://scholars.duke.edu/person/spartner* Book cited during podcast -- The Merchant’s Tale: https://cup.columbia.edu/book/the-merchants-tale/9780231182928/* Most recent book – Koume’s World: https://cup.columbia.edu/book/koumes-world/9780231211857/* Colleague’s book about the international tea trade during the 19th century - Green Tea with Milk and Sugar: When Japan Filled America’s Tea Cups by Robert Hellyer: https://www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/Green-Milk-Sugar-Filled-America/dp/0231199104#SimonPartner #DukeUniversity #JapanHistory #Yokohama #MeijiRestoration #TokugawaJapan #JapaneseHistory #ModernJapan #EastAsianHistory #CommodorePerry #BlackShips #CulturalExchange #サイモンパートナー #デューク大学 #横浜 #明治維新 #幕末 #日本史 #開国 #黒船 #徳川幕府 #外国人 #日米交流 #横浜開港 #RealGaijin #リアル外人If you enjoyed this, click the ❤️ button and restack.Thanks for reading Real Gaijin! This post is public so feel free to share it.Please note that you can subscribe to Real Gaijin for free. If you are so inclined, you can also purchase an annual subscription for a relatively small fee.However, I understand that even the lowest level of annual subscription allowed by Substack may seem too high for many. If you just want to buy a coffee for Real Gaijin (or maybe a green tea), you can also make a small donation here:https://buymeacoffee.com/realgaijinAll levels of support - including just liking a particular article and/or leaving a comment - are very welcome. Thanks again for reading.While Real Gaijin lives in Substack, you can also find Real Gaijin on a few other platforms (listed in alphabetical order).https://www.instagram.com/real_gaijin_on_substack/https://www.threads.net/@real_gaijin_on_substackhttps://www.tiktok.com/@real.gaijinhttps://x.com/Real_Gaijin_https://www.youtube.com/@RealGaijinhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-wilt-kennedy/ Get full access to Real Gaijin at realgaijin.substack.com/subscribe

We are often told that the path to success in Japan is straightforward: study hard, join a company, work long hours, and repeat. This system is built on precision and discipline, but it often comes at a heartbreaking cost: the fading of our creative spark. Our guest today spent years observing this struggle and realized that creativity isn’t a divine gift reserved for artists. Rather, it’s a survival skill we’ve forgotten.Today on the Real Gaijin AMA podcast, we introduce a guest who refuses to color within the lines. He is a man who transformed his own grief and isolation into a blueprint for innovation. He proves that even a “gaijin“ with tattoos can thrive by putting broken pieces back together in unexpected ways.Who is he?Carlos Lastres is not your typical designer. A senior product designer, software engineer, and MBA holder, he operates at the volatile, lucrative intersection of aesthetics, code, and business strategy. A winner of the Apple Design Award for Inclusivity (2025, Speechify), Carlos has built digital experiences that have reached millions across SaaS, Web3, and health tech.His journey is one of profound transformation. Growing up in Costa Rica, he was pushed toward “safe” paths. However, life took a turn when he lost his mother to cancer in his early 20s. This tragedy shocked Carlos to his core and forced him to ask hard questions about legacy and purpose. This quest led him to China and eventually to Japan, where he became a three-time TEDx speaker, a polyglot, and a vocal proponent of fostering creativity in the workplace. Carlos doesn’t just design products; he solves problems by blending his unique cultural perspective with his passion for business-driven, user-centric design.On the agendaWe cut through the jargon to explore what it means to be creative in a rigid world.* The “Gaijin“ Edge: How Carlos’ background as an outsider in Japan and China became his greatest asset for innovation.* Creativity as a Survival Skill: Tactical steps to retrain the brain, break out of professional labels, and move beyond the “logical vs. creative” binary;* Designing for Revenue: Why the best design isn’t just about beauty—it’s about data-informed decisions that move the needle.* The AI Era: How tools are changing the landscape for product designers, and why the human “taste” factor remains irreplaceable.* Lessons from the Journey: Insights from winning an Apple Design Award.Key Takeaways* Embrace cultural differences as a catalyst for professional growth: Carlos describes his journey through Latin America, Silicon Valley, China, and Japan as a master class in professional development. He learned to balance the innate creativity of his roots with the essential “speed-to-market” mindset practiced in China and the meticulous, quality-driven documentation standards found in Japan. Ultimately, he used this blend to develop award-winning software.* View “gaijin” (foreigner) status as a strategic superpower: Rather than letting his status as a foreigner in Japan be a barrier, Carlos uses it to challenge rigid corporate norms. Acting as a contrast to the traditional Japanese “salaryman” archetype provides his colleagues with a different perspective and helps them feel more comfortable taking calculated risks and thinking creatively within a structure that often discourages standing out.* Understand that true “balance” is a myth: Carlos asserts that achieving a perfect work-life balance is not the goal for high-performing professionals. He advises prioritizing based on a project’s specific needs, whether that means moving at lightning speed to capture market share or slowing down to ensure absolute quality and compliance when working with government entities.* Leverage AI as a partner, not a replacement: Addressing the fear that AI will replace developers, Carlos argues that people using AI will replace those who do not. He emphasizes that the future of software interaction is natural language and has found that using tools like ChatGPT helps him become a better, more precise thinker by forcing him to refine his ability to describe complex ideas clearly.* Invest in yourself to remain relevant in an evolving landscape: Carlos emphasizes that, regardless of tools or technological shifts, the most critical investment is in oneself. He maintains confidence in his ability to stay ahead of the curve by “learning how to learn” and continuously adding new skills, whether through certifications, personal projects, or exploring fields outside of software development. Carlos notes that he currently feels three times faster and more productive than before the widespread adoption of AI.TimelineSubstack does not yet have the functionality to allow you to use a link to jump to a specific section like YouTube’s “chapters.” Please refer to the times listed below to navigate through our hour-long conversation. Thank you for your understanding.Links* Website: https://www.lastrescarlos.com/* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carloslastres/* Speechify — Text to speech. Voice typing. Fast answers: https://speechify.com/* Glimpse – AI vision for your Ray-Bans: https://glimpseai.jp/* YouTube TEDx Talk:#CarlosLastres #ProductDesign #Innovation #Creativity #JapanTech #UXDesign #CareerAdvice #TechLeadership #DesignThinking #カルロスラストレス #プロダクトデザイン #イノベーション #クリエイティビティ #日本企業 #キャリア #デザイン思考 #テック #エンジニア #RealGaijin #リアル外人Please note that you can subscribe to Real Gaijin for free. If you are so inclined, you can also purchase an annual subscription for a relatively small fee.However, I understand that even the lowest level of annual subscription allowed by Substack may seem too high for many. If you just want to buy a coffee for Real Gaijin (or maybe a green tea), you can also make a small donation here:https://buymeacoffee.com/realgaijinAll levels of support - including just liking a particular article and/or leaving a comment - are very welcome. Thanks again for reading.While Real Gaijin lives in Substack, you can also find Real Gaijin on a few other platforms (listed in alphabetical order).https://www.instagram.com/real_gaijin_on_substack/https://www.threads.net/@real_gaijin_on_substackhttps://www.tiktok.com/@real.gaijinhttps://x.com/Real_Gaijin_https://www.youtube.com/@RealGaijinhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-wilt-kennedy/ Get full access to Real Gaijin at realgaijin.substack.com/subscribe

Imagine if pediatric therapists could spend less time on paperwork and more time helping children communicate, move, and thrive. Innovative software platforms are transforming how clinics operate across the healthcare industry, and pediatric therapy is no exception. In this episode, we explored how technology, artificial intelligence, and thoughtful software design are helping speech-language pathologists, occupational therapists, and physical therapists reduce administrative burdens, improve patient care, and establish more sustainable practices.This episode of Real Gaijin’s Ask Me Anything (AMA) podcast series featured an expert in this emerging field, Japan-based Kevin Dias, Founder of Ambiki and The Problem-First Method.Who is he?Kevin Dias is the founder of Ambiki, a healthcare technology company that develops electronic medical record (EMR) and practice management software for pediatric speech, occupational, and physical therapy clinics. Originally from the United States, Kevin has lived in Japan since 2008. His career has taken him from investment banking and English teaching to translation technology and healthcare software. Prior to launching Ambiki, Kevin served as the CTO of Sidekick Therapy Partners. There, he helped develop a custom practice management platform that supported the company’s rapid growth from roughly 70 to over 180 clinicians in just three years.In 2026, Kevin published The Problem-First Method, a book that challenges organizations to focus on solving real problems instead of creating solutions in search of a problem.He currently lives in Oyama, Japan, with his wife and three sons.On the agendaIn this conversation, Kevin shared his journey from the United States to Japan and his unconventional career path from English teaching and technology to healthcare software. We discussed the challenges pediatric speech-language pathology (SLP), occupational therapy (OT), and physical therapy (PT) practices face, such as clinician burnout, staffing shortages, and the administrative burden that often prevents therapists from providing patient care. Kevin explained why existing electronic medical record (EMR) systems often fail to meet the needs of pediatric providers, how Ambiki was designed to address these shortcomings, and how AI can help clinicians without replacing them. We also discussed the lasting impact of teletherapy, lessons learned from scaling a healthcare technology company, the principles behind his book The Problem-First Method, and his vision for the pediatric therapy clinic of the future.Key takeaways* Increasing your “Luck Surface Area”: Kevin emphasized the importance of proactively learning new skills and taking risks to create more opportunities. He describes this process as increasing one’s “luck surface area.” He demonstrated this concept by teaching himself programming and attempting to solve operational problems during his time as an English teacher. This willingness to go beyond his initial job duties eventually facilitated his successful pivot into the tech industry.* Leveraging remote work structures: Running a U.S.-based company from a rural area in Japan required Kevin to master asynchronous communication and strategic time management. He is successfully balancing his professional responsibilities with his life abroad by waking up early to overlap with U.S. business hours for meetings and dedicating his remaining time to deep, focused work.* The “Problem-First Method”: At the core of his business, Ambiki, is the “Problem First Method,” a philosophy that focuses on deeply understanding the specific pain points of a niche customer base. After identifying that speech-language pathologists were underserved by existing software, Kevin built a tailored operating system that addressed their complex administrative and clinical workflows rather than attempting to provide a generalized product.* The value of local community: Reflecting upon his experience living in Japan, Kevin highlighted how deep integration into a local Japanese neighborhood can provide a vital, supportive safety net. After a frightening health incident involving his middle son, his rural neighbors’ immediate, caring response transformed his perspective on local communal obligations. Being an active, contributing member of the community is a significant and rewarding part of living in Japan, he says.TimelineSubstack does not yet have the functionality to allow you to use a link to jump to a specific section like YouTube’s “chapters.” Please refer to the times listed below to navigate through our hour-long conversation. Thank you for your understanding.Links* Substack: https://substack.com/@kevindias2* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-dias-ambiki/* Ambiki Website: https://ambiki.com/* The Problem-First Method Book Website / Bookstore: https://problem-first-method.com/#TheProblemFirstMethod #FounderStory #ExpatEntrepreneur #LifeInJapan #HealthcareTech #FromTeachingToTech #KevinDias #Ambiki #AIinHealthcare #PediatricTherapy #SpeechTherapy #OccupationalTherapy #PhysicalTherapy #DigitalHealth #創業ストーリー #外国人起業家 #ヘルスケアテック #教育からテックへ #ケビンディーアス #医療分野におけるAI #小児療法 #言語療法 #作業療法 #理学療法 #デジタルヘルス #RealGaijin #リアル外人Please note that you can subscribe to Real Gaijin for free. If you are so inclined, you can also purchase an annual subscription for a relatively small fee.However, I understand that even the lowest level of annual subscription allowed by Substack may seem too high for many. If you just want to buy a coffee for Real Gaijin (or maybe a green tea), you can also make a small donation here:https://buymeacoffee.com/realgaijinAll levels of support - including just liking a particular article and/or leaving a comment - are very welcome. Thanks again for reading.While Real Gaijin lives in Substack, you can also find Real Gaijin on a few other platforms (listed in alphabetical order).https://www.instagram.com/real_gaijin_on_substack/https://www.threads.net/@real_gaijin_on_substackhttps://www.tiktok.com/@real.gaijinhttps://x.com/Real_Gaijin_https://www.youtube.com/@RealGaijinhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-wilt-kennedy/ Get full access to Real Gaijin at realgaijin.substack.com/subscribe