I seem to have a weird fascination with Japan. But not in a "weird" way of course. (I've been around weebs and realized I'm not one of them.)

I find Japan especially interesting from a business person's perspective. They were the biggest success story after WW2 — not only the second biggest economy in the world after the USA, but also the most technologically advanced, having had bullet trains since the freaking 60s. And all this despite having no natural resources to speak of.

But recently, Japan's competitiveness has shown signs of wavering, with an aging population, abysmal birth rates, and a general lack of technology proliferation.

To understand what it means for international entrepreneurs, I invited Terrie Lloyd, CEO of Japan Travel (and founder of several other companies), a rare serial entrepreneur based in Japan for over 35 years. Terrie is probably the foremost authority in the world for any foreigner thinking about Japan as a business location.

We cover:

01:30 – Why Terrie is the #1 voice among all foreign entrepreneurs in Japan

04:17 – A secret office romance, translation company, and selling submarine parts

8:00 – How the US' jealous move overturned Japanese currency overnight

10:36 – Why Japanese banks can be hard to deal with

14:50 – Hiring foreigners in Japan: then and now

16:39 – The sad state of English teaching in Japan

18:15 – How Tokyo's skies turned from grey to blue

22:00 – Step one in hiring network engineers: bail your recruiter out of prison?!

27:00 – The bubble pops

34:12 – Why are Japanese business valuations so low?

45:11 – The roots of Masayoshi Son's "street fighter" mentality

52:00 – Why Japan has so few unicorns

57:00 – The PLUS points of starting a business in Japan

62:00 – The annoying problem of IP theft in China

65:00 – Terrie's M&A business