Japan's Weeb Economy Explained: Where Anime, AI, and FDI Collide | Noah Smith

At Coral Capital’s Tokyo HQ, economist and writer Noah Smith joins James Riney, Founding Partner and CEO of Coral Capital, to explore how Japan is uniquely positioned for a global resurgence.

They discuss how the country can convert its global fascination into a strategic advantage, and why Japan is increasingly on the radar of institutional capital and high-net-worth investors.

The conversation dives into:

• The rise of the “weeb” economy” (think anime, fashion, subculture, and Japan’s growing soft power on the global stage)

• Why Japan is primed for greenfield FDI in AI, semiconductors, and deep tech

• How Tokyo is rivaling Austin and Paris as a global tech & startup hub

• Japan’s untapped operational MOAT for builders and investors

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Chapters:

00:00 Trailer

00:52 "Weebs" and Japanese tourism

05:48 Rule by law and economic factors

14:22 GDP and exports

17:19 Cultural mindshare and diasporas

24:51 Enterprise value creation

30:29 Small businesses

34:46 Financial policy

39:35 Immigration, fluency, zero-tolerance

47:54 Exports need improvement

49:35 Untapped demand

50:00 Plaza Accord

54:50 Book plug and outro

Mentioned in this episode: Battle Royale, Ruth Benedict, Sakana AI, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC), Apple iPhone, Taro Kono, Mijoté San Francisco, The Boeing Company, Christopher Poole a.k.a. moot, Jack Ma, Silicon Valley, Dell Inc., Donald Trump, WeChat (Weixin)

Connect with Noah: https://x.com/Noahpinion

Noah’s Substack: https://www.noahpinion.blog/

Connect with James:

• X: https://x.com/james_riney

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesriney

Learn more about Coral Capital

This episode was produced & distributed with the help of our friends at Atomik Growth.