Hi Robert, first thing that comes in my mind would be the language barrier in Japan. Did you experience this yourself or did you find methods to work around this? Anyhow, very nice to read that you went to Japan to explore the search fund model.

Language certainly plays a huge role here. Although as English is taught from a young age and there are a growing number of English speaking expats entering the country.

The biggest barrier I found was culture and finances. Running a small business or starting an entrepreneurial venture is seen as high risk and a no-go area by many still so investment support is very low compared to the US or UK and is not encouraged a great deal by schools. This is slowly changing as there have been a number of incubators and co-working spaces pop up in recent years which has drawn more attention to the way this is governed.

The turnover rate of staff in many companies is generally very low as they are generally well cared for and have their own communal spirit so people tend to spend years working their way up the ladder within large corporations where a vision (In terms of growth), rather than revenue focus is prioritised.

There is a large trend in these corporations to acquire or collaborate with companies outside Japan, so from an exit point-of-view could be very interesting but a huge challenge as a searcher.