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Disrupting Japan
disruptingjapan.com · Personal blog · on HN since 2015
Disrupting Japan is a podcast and blog about startups in Japan, run by a founder with years of experience there.
What HN saysHN commenters link it for its explanations of Japanese UI design and why Japan's software industry declined, calling the UI post the most accurate they have seen.
23HN people shared it
10linked it in comments
20stories submitted
932story points
3 months agolast shared
2015people per year2026
Most-shared posts
- 1A mistake that killed Japan's software industry? (2023)4 people · 276 points · first shared 2023 · 324 comments on HN
- 2Disrupting Japan: The Japan Startup Podcast4 people · 3 points · first shared 2015 · discussion on HN
- 3This Startup Just Built Japan’s Most Powerful Supercomputer3 people · 14 points · first shared 2018 · discussion on HN
- 4The lies, myths, and secrets of Japanese UI design3 people · 3 points · first shared 2023 · discussion on HN
- 5I turned down $500k, pissed off my investors, and shut down my startup (2016)2 people · 361 points · first shared 2022 · 143 comments on HN
- 6Uber's Failure in Japan2 people · 170 points · first shared 2016 · 135 comments on HN
- 7What three-card monte can teach you about NFTs2 people · 64 points · first shared 2022 · 14 comments on HN
- 8How to Create a Micro-Startup in Japan – Patrick McKenzie2 people · 2 points · first shared 2017 · discussion on HN
- 9Will Japan’s Geisha Survive the Digital Age? [audio]1 people · 27 points · first shared 2016 · 2 comments on HN
- 10The Luddites would have loved AI1 people · 3 points · first shared 2026 · 1 comments on HN
- 11The Real Reason Uber Is Failing in Japan1 people · 2 points · first shared 2016 · discussion on HN
- 12How I Made $8k per Month Podcasting, and Why You Probably Don’t Want To1 people · 2 points · first shared 2019 · 2 comments on HN
- 13What This 330-Year-Old Company Is Learning from Startups1 people · 2 points · first shared 2023 · 1 comments on HN
- 14The secret social network of Japanese high school girls [Podcast]1 people · 1 points · first shared 2017 · discussion on HN
- 15Japan’s Geisha are disappearing in the social media age1 people · 1 points · first shared 2020 · discussion on HN
What HN people wrote when they linked it
timoth3y · 2019-11-26
I'm a foreigner who has started a number of companies in Japan over the past 25 years. Right now is a great time to be starting a company here.
BTW, shameless plug for my podcast:
https://www.disruptingjapan.com/
However, the idea of trying to get someone to move to Japan to start a startup is kind of odd. Ideally, you should be near your customers.
Japan is a wonderful place to live, but there is much more they can do to make things attractive to Japanese entrepreneurs, which will, in turn, make it attractive to everyone, including foreign entrepreneurs.
fomine3 · 2023-11-06
This is the most accurate explanation about current Japanese design I've ever seen.
https://www.disruptingjapan.com/the-lies-myths-and-secrets-of-japanese…
favorite quote: > So, one thing we learned about Japanese users is that people feel insecure of empty space and people feel insecure if they don’t see everything up front.
hoherd · 2026-07-29
This podcast about the history of zaibatsu, hardware, and software comes to mind. https://www.disruptingjapan.com/the-forgotten-mistake-that-killed-japa…
> Software was not viewed so much as a product, but more like a service, similar to integration, training, and ongoing support and maintenance. It was usually sold on a time-and-materials basis, and sometimes it was just thrown in for free to sweeten the deal. The real money was in the hardware.
> Software development was considered rather low-skill work. It didn’t pay well and was viewed as a kind of clerical work. The job was simply to write software that was close enough to whatever sales had promised the client while they were out drinking last week.
gus_massa · 2025-10-16
Patio11 should have some post about it, but I can't find it https://www.google.com/search?q=patio11+japan
Try https://www.disruptingjapan.com/create-micro-startup-japan-patrick-mck…
bamboozled · 2024-06-13
This is a pretty good article that talks about other reasons for everything going awry in Japan regarding software:
https://www.disruptingjapan.com/the-forgotten-mistake-that-killed-japa…
e2e4 · 2023-03-18
This article/podcast from Tim Romero (
Head of Google for Startups Japan) provides good insights on the topic:
The lies, myths, and secrets of Japanese UI design
https://www.disruptingjapan.com/the-lies-myths-and-secrets-of-japanese…
gringoDan · 2019-07-11
This author really practices what he preaches with regards to being vulnerable himself to get others to open up. Check out the about page [0] of his site. It's an honest reckoning of his entire life, not just a list of the highlights, as so many other people's bios are.
[0] https://www.disruptingjapan.com/tim/
akamaozu · 2017-08-24
For those looking to hear more about DMM's work in Japan's tech community, I think you'll find this podcast episode interesting.
https://www.disruptingjapan.com/taking-akiba-back-otaku-dmm-make/
jtrip · 2016-09-04
I personally block adds, not because of annoyance, but because of tracking. I find private collection of information a bigger threat than I do government tracking. I like neither, but given the option, I would rather be tracked by the government.
I am not accusing the OP of any bias or failing in ideals, just pointing out an interesting perspective on things that I got from reading [0]. 'Mistrust of government is pretty much universal, and that’s a good thing. Outside of the United States, however, people trust corporations even less.'
[0]http://www.disruptingjapan.com/how-ubers-failure-in-japan-can-help-sta…
griffinheart · 2015-09-01
What do you mean so few? If you expect the same hype you get from SV startups yeah it doesn't compare and also the language factor plays a big role there.
But there is a community and Japanese startups, at least the ones targeting Japanese market face unique challenges like Big companies not wanting to work with small/unproved startups.
Here's some resources that might introduce you some startups:
- http://www.disruptingjapan.com/
- http://www.startjapan.org/
- http://japanventureshow.com/
- https://hntokyo.doorkeeper.jp/
- http://www.tokyostartupevents.com/
(shameless plug) I work at a startup here: http://www.mytenten.com