May 16, 2025
TOKYO – Late in 2023, a Japanese executive of a major Japanese corporation took me out to a sushi dinner at one of his favorite spots in Tokyo. During the dinner, I updated him on the progress of my Japanese studies, mentioning that I was at a basic conversational level. He responded, “You don’t need Japanese anymore to do business in Japan.”
His comment surprised me. However, several other Japanese business leaders have since conveyed similar views to me. One of them said, “Mike, Japanese is good to know for convenience and your personal life in Tokyo, but it is not needed for your business in Japan.”
These comments from Japanese businesspeople led me to ponder the question: Is Japanese necessary to do business in Japan?
My answer is “no.”
No language issue with trading house
I run a Tokyo-based consultancy helping foreign AI startups build lasting customer relationships with corporations in Japan. I also cover other countries in Asia, but the majority of my work is in the Japan market. And in fact, all of my work is done in English.
When I was an early employee at a startup in the San Francisco Bay Area, someone from the local office of a major Japanese trading house reached out to us. He had learned about the startup’s technology and sent an email in English to the startup’s general email address introducing himself and his corporation.
All of the email communications, meetings, materials, and contracts with the trading house were conducted in English. There was never a request by them for communication or materials in Japanese.
Fast forward to several years later, and the corporation became the first Japanese investor in the startup, became a distributor, and introduced their Japanese customers. I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to work so closely with them. Language was not a barrier to collaboration.
Mike Kim. PHOTO: CONTRIBUTED/THE JAPAN NEWS
Digital teams key to connections
Large Japanese companies today are impressive for their ability to conduct business in English. I believe we’ll see the English capabilities of these large companies trickle down to smaller companies. This may happen as smaller and mid-sized companies increasingly adopt AI and require more English-language collaboration in the process. It may also occur as employees from large corporations take on leadership roles at smaller firms.
I advise foreign startups that digital and innovation teams within Japanese corporations are your best friends. They are excellent entry points and can help you efficiently navigate the large company as these sections often have the role of scouting and sourcing startup technology while maintaining connections with internal business units. In my experience, all or almost all of these departments at large Japanese corporations have been able to support business in English.
All of the business between NTT Data, a Tokyo-based IT services provider, and my client Bifrost AI, a U.S. startup specializing in 3D synthetic data generation for AI training, has been conducted in English, without the need for interpretation or translation. The NTT Data team we work with has members from Japan, Romania, Italy and India. English is their common language. We have collaborated solely in English.
To further highlight the global nature of NTT Data, in March they hosted a conference in Milan for their European and global customers. They invited Bifrost AI and me to attend and present.
At the conference, I spoke with NTT Data employees from all over the world. It was a mixture of people from various countries, as well as globally minded Japanese professionals based outside of Japan.
Language as proxy for cultural fluency
Language functions as a proxy for cultural fluency. Those who don’t speak the language are unlikely to fully grasp the culture or its nuances. If a Japanese customer you’re working with can’t speak English, it’s a good indicator that they may also lack exposure to the business culture of the United States, Britain, Australia or other countries. Since U.S. startups also tend to lack familiarity with Japanese business culture, it’s a recipe for friction — particularly in communication and expectations. I’ve seen this firsthand.
Instead of taking on non-English-speaking customers, what I tell my clients is save themselves the pain. As a strategy, I recommend they start with the many Japanese corporations today that can conduct business in English. Then once they gain critical momentum, they can hire Japanese staff as part of their growth plan so that they can expand support to Japanese customers in Japanese.
English becoming ecosystem
Of course, there are areas of business in Japan that absolutely require Japanese language skills. But there are many areas of business in Japan where Japanese is no longer a necessity. This wasn’t the case when I first started doing business here in 2016, but the landscape has changed.
I’m grateful that in 2025, a consulting business like mine is possible in Japan. I’m especially thankful that English is becoming an ecosystem of Japanese corporations.
My wife is from Brazil and also doesn’t speak much Japanese, but Tokyo has become our favorite city in the world. Both of our sons were born here. Our older son, now 3 years old, attends a Japanese preschool. Unsurprisingly, he’s picking up the language much faster than I am.
Just the other day, my wife and I reflected on how our sons might one day be well positioned to work at the intersection of U.S.-Japan business. They’re on track to be fluent in Japanese — but chances are they might not even need it for business.
Mike Kim is the founder of Gradient Consulting, a consultancy specializing in accelerating the Japan and Asia business of AI technology companies and startups. He has over 20 years of experience across nine countries in the Asia Pacific region and is based in Tokyo.