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Comment by umjames | Hacker News Reader

So how are new companies created in Japan? Doesn't someone have to stick their neck out and be an entrepreneur? You would think that if some of these young Japanese people started companies and hired some of their contemporaries, you could get around that societal disapproval.

I don't think any society would mind having companies that brought them wealth and employment.

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For Japan, it's all about 'tradition'. So society/entranched interests resist changes heavily. For example, the entrepreneur who started 1000-yen haircut chain in Japan (severely undercutting the barbershops) used to get death threats on his life, and had to fight tooth and nail to get spaces in shopping centers.

You should see the blank stare I get, when they ask me about how to be successful in life (I'm a bit older and have my own company) and I tell them to start a business.

"Tradition is the enemy of progress."

Unless it's the tradition of entrepreneurship and hard work.

One could say it's a meta tradition; ok.

seems like this would be an awesome opportunity for someone willing to start a business and dispel some of the apathy by hiring the kids in the trouble situations. a focal point to induce some change. especially if the laws are generally favorable, and its just society that views new businesses unfavorably.

My point exactly.

Maybe they can adopt what the Chinese have started doing by paying a foreign person to appear to be the CEO for publicity purposes, even though the company would actually be owned and run by Japanese people. If the Japanese were made to believe that the company is a foreign one, would they be less opposed to its existence in their country?

Once "tradition" has changed in Japan not to frown on entrepreneurs, they can stop pretending to be foreign-owned.

I'm not particularly familiar with modern Japanese history, but wasn't the culture more amenable to entrepreneurialism in the postwar years?

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