Episode #301: Why Does Everything Take So Long In Business In Japan?

In a market where change is constant, leaders often ask: “Why do things move so slowly inside Japanese firms, even when Japan looks so efficient from the outside?” If you’re operating in Tokyo (東京 — Tokyo), especially inside a small-to-mid-sized franchise or 外資系企業 (multinational/foreign-affiliated company), speed is not just a preference—it’s survival. Yet many international leaders find themselves stalled by careful, layered decision-making that seems to clash with global business norms.

Because at your size, agility is your competitive edge. Large organizations can afford slower turns; smaller ones can’t. A speedboat wins by reacting faster, testing sooner, and adjusting quickly. An oil tanker (a massive, slow-moving organization) survives through scale, not speed.

In Japan, however, the cultural operating system favors safety, precision, and shared responsibility. That means small firms can feel pulled into “oil tanker habits” even when they desperately need speedboat performance.

Mini-summary: Smaller firms need rapid decisions to stay alive, but Japan’s business culture naturally rewards caution over speed.

Japan is outwardly efficient. The Shinkansen (新幹線 — Bullet Train) is world-famous for reliability and near-perfect punctuality. Cities are orderly, public systems run smoothly, and safety is high.

But social efficiency and corporate efficiency are not the same thing. Inside many Japanese offices, the hidden goal is not speed—it’s correctness, consensus, and avoiding reputational risk. What looks “slow” to outsiders is often perceived internally as “responsible.”

Mini-summary: Japan’s public precision is real, but corporate decision-making is guided by different priorities: trust, caution, and zero-error expectations.

In many Western firms, a small error rate is acceptable if it increases growth or profitability. Leaders may think in percentages: “A 3% defect rate is fine if profit rises overall.”

In Japan, that logic crashes into a different value set. No defects, no embarrassment, no public failure are treated as non-negotiable standards. Speed that introduces risk is seen as reckless.

This creates a “measure three times, cut once” mindset—deep checking before moving forward.

Mini-summary: Japanese firms often prefer slow certainty over fast risk, because mistakes carry a high cultural and reputational cost.

Why is MVP thinking (minimum viable product) hard to apply in Japan?

MVP approaches reward learning through early release and iteration. But in Japan, the first release must be excellent, or customers lose trust immediately.

Incremental improvement—kaizen (改善 — continuous improvement)—is loved in Japan. But kaizen begins after a solid, reliable baseline exists. If the baseline is weak, the product is “dead in the water.”

Mini-summary: Japan embraces improvement over time, but expects the initial version to be highly polished and dependable.

Western companies often treat partnerships as flexible “marriages of convenience.” If benefits fade, the partnership ends.

Japanese firms view partnerships more like lifelong commitments with mutual obligations. Breaking trust can damage reputation for years. So before agreeing, they do extensive due diligence to ensure the relationship will be stable and safe.

That’s why even promising deals move at a glacial pace.

Mini-summary: Deals take longer because Japanese firms assume partnerships are long-term and reputationally binding.

Isn’t the President (社長 — company president) the final decision-maker?

Sometimes—but often not directly. Unless the company is founder-led, decisions usually rise through layers of review.

Junior teams investigate, divisions harmonize opinions, and everyone involved checks the risk. This is formalized through a ringisho (稟議書 — internal approval document), which gathers seals from multiple stakeholders before final authorization.

No one is rewarded for speed. But everyone shares the downside if something goes wrong. So the system naturally slows.

Mini-summary: Decision authority is distributed, and approvals require broad internal alignment, not just a top leader’s “yes.”

1. Assume the buyer is not on your timetable.
   “We will think about it” often means exactly that.

2. Build patience into your pipeline.
   Winning a client you met three years ago is normal.

3. Support consensus with clarity.
   Provide materials that reduce risk and help internal champions explain value upward.

4. Expect slow to be strategic, not lazy.
   In Japan, slow = safe. Your job is to make “safe” feel achievable sooner.

Mini-summary: Success in Japan comes from patience, risk-reduction, and supporting internal consensus, not pressuring for speed.

• Japan values zero-error reliability, so decisions prioritize safety over speed.

• Corporate processes like ringisho (稟議書 — internal approval document) spread responsibility, slowing action.

• Partnerships are treated as long-term commitments, requiring heavy due diligence.

• Foreign leaders win by building trust, enabling consensus, and planning for long cycles.