It's companies which understand innovation and the international markets -- although it's somewhat ironic that the world leader for patent applications was turn-around challenged Panasonic corporation.

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.

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.

Things have changed a lot since the heady days of 1998-1999, when the 4-year US dotcom bubble had just hit Japan's shores and when it was possible to raise a hundred million yen on a mere business plan.

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.

To our surprise, the number of companies being started up in 2009 and 2010 in fact exceeded the number shutting down by a substantial margin.

There are numerous announcements of the formation of funds and incubation facilities for Japanese start-ups.