We first came across Rann shortly after he arrived in Japan, when he was helping out a media firm, and a little after that when he was appointed the CEO of an internet recruiting firm called Asia-net.

A new government initiative operated from the Japan External Trade Organization in cooperation with the Tokyo Metropolitan Government has been launched to help make it easier for foreigners to start a company in Japan.

The Country Manager of a foreign company starting up in Japan is more than just a manager, he/she also has to be an entrepreneur and salesperson to run the minutiae of a new business for the first 3-5 years.

A newer global self-help entrepreneurial business organization, TiE, has appeared on the Japan scene, and this one seeks specifically to develop new entrepreneurs, although the networking aspect is there as well.

We think that METI and others should be looking to Singapore and its government-owned Spring corporation. Singapore appears to have figured out how to bring entrepreneurs to their country and how to provide access to capital.

Today we want to recognize two foreign entrepreneurs who are classic start-ups in their respective fields and who are using technology to build possible new futures for Japan.

The Financial Services Agency may allow crowdfunding websites in Japan to expand from their limited "donations" style of getting cash to start-ups, similar to the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) in the USA.

We were surprised and happy to come across a Stanford University paper, which offers some fascinating facts and figures about the make up of the Japanese entrepreneurial community.

While it may be counter-intuitive, we still believe that now is a good time to start a firm, especially in a market as large and diverse as Japan's.

There is plenty of opportunity in M&A-hungry Japan for enterprising foreign entrepreneurs to sell locally.