Disrupting Japan

The innovative age of Shadow IT is coming to an end. Yasu Matsumoto, former CEO of Raksul and founder of Josys, discusses why the end of shadow IT is a good thing for everyone. He shares his experience leading Raksul from startup to post-IPO success and his new startup, Josys, which aims to end shadow IT. They talk about the challenges of enterprise SaaS, global expansion plans, and the impact of COVID-19 on remote work and cloud services. They also highlight the importance of continuous play and the scarcity of serial founders in Japan.

Sei Uchiyama, founder of an online lending startup, discusses the future of finance in Japan, including automated loan approvals, real-time credit scoring, and the impact of competition between FinTech startups and banks. They also explore the unique nature of lending in Japan, the challenges faced by lending fintech startups, and the success of automated debt collection. Finally, they discuss Credit Engine's expansion into Southeast Asia and the potential opportunities in different markets.

The legal system is complex, hard to understand, expensive to navigate, and ripe for disruption. In the future, we will still need lawyers to help us understand the law, but it look like we are going to need far fewer of them than we have today. Nozo Tsunoda is an attorney who walked away from a promising legal career to start LegalOn, an AI startup focused on making the practice of law more efficient, transparent, and easy to navigate. We talk about why corporate legal departments are the early adopters, but why AI technology is forcing its way even into the most traditional law firms, and how it might someday be used by consumers as well. It's a great conversation, and I think you'll enjoy it. Show Notes Why it's hard to sell AI technology to law firms How AI is starting to change the way law firms compete Why Nozo left the law to start a legal startup The contract review workflow and why it's perfect for AI disruption How many lawyers will AI replace in the next five years? Differences in how US and Japanese staff view working from home A $100M investment in US market entry Differences between Japanese and American legal systems Can today's AI understand contracts better than a junior associate? The big changes AI will force on the legal industry The need for more immigration in Japan Links from the Founders Everything you wanted to know LegalOn Their US website Learn about LegalOn's Products Japan Products LegalForce LegalForce Cabinet US Products Read about LegalOn's US market expansion Transcript Welcome to Disrupting Japan. Straight Talk from Japan's most successful entrepreneurs. I'm Tim Romero and thanks for joining me. Of all the industries that are going to be impacted by artificial intelligence, the legal profession is going to be one of the most profoundly transformed. And today we sit down and talk with Nozo Tsunoda, a licensed attorney and the founder of LegalOn a rapidly growing startup using AI to review and manage contracts. And while their initial clients have been mostly corporate legal departments, Nozo explains how AI is beginning to force changes to the behavior of even traditional legal firms. Now if you're in the US you might not have heard of LegalOn yet, but you'll be hearing a lot about them soon. Nozo and the team recently raised over a hundred million in large part to fuel their recent US market entry. Nozo and I talk about the challenges of selling increased efficiency to lawyers who bill by the hour LegalOn’s US expansion plans, and how AI is going to change the entire legal industry. But, you know, Nozo tells that story much better than I can. So, let's get right to the interview.   Interview Tim: So, I'm sitting here with Nozo Tsunoda of LegalOn, who's using artificial intelligence to simplify and improve contract review and management. So, thanks for sitting down with us. Nozo: Thank you. Tim: Well, listen, I gave a really brief description of what LegalOn does, but I'm sure you can explain it much better than I did. So, what does LegalOn do? Nozo: LegalOn technology is legal tech companies. I found it seven years ago, and now we have three solutions. And globally we have four solutions and globally we have 3,700 customers. Tim: Well, but to get to the basics for some listeners who might not understand anything about the legal process, so what is the service that LegalOn provides? Nozo: For contract area we have three product for pre-ex execution process of contract drafting or review. And second product is for contract management. Tim: So, contracts is a very, very broad subject. So, LegalOn focus is mostly on things like NDAs and purchase agreements and things like that. Nozo: Yes, of course we can support NDA, purchase agreement or service agreement, but we can review 50 types of contracts for the market. Tim: Tell me a bit about your customers. So,

Startups solve real problems. During the boom times, the media focuses on the multi-billion-dollar valuations and the mega-IPOs. But even in those times, founders are innovating in the background and using technology to just make the world a better place. Today we talk with Sun Xiaojun, who started BionicM in 2015 as a way to replace the limb that he lost when he was a child.  And since then, he has built the startup into much more. We talk about the challenges he had to overcome to bring innovative medical technology to market, why Japanese universities still struggle to productize their impressive deep-tech,  and why the world has been thinking about prosthetic limbs all wrong for thousands of years. It's a great conversation, and I think you'll enjoy it. Show Notes Why powered prosthetics are a game-changer The challenges of being your own first beta-tester How coming to Japan changed Sunny's life How prosthetics are fitted and sold Go to market strategy and discovering the true customer Total addressable market size User feedback, human variation,  and future changes How people are using the bionic leg as a fashion statement How Japanese professors make product development difficult Why it is often so hard for Japanese startups to sell to Japanese consumers Links from the Founders Everything you wanted to know BionicM Follow Sunny on Twitter @Bio_Leg Friend him on Facebook Connect with him on LinkedIn A great article about BionicM Transcript Welcome to Disrupting Japan. Straight Talk from Japan's most successful entrepreneurs. I'm Tim Romero and thanks for joining me. Today we're going to talk about bionic legs, the real deal, a battery powered below the knee powered prosthetic leg that is already being used by amputees all over the world, and it looks pretty good too. We're going to sit down with Xiaojun Sun or Sunny, as he likes to be called. The founder, and CEO of BionicM who lost his leg when he was nine and spent the next 15 years determined to do something about that, and he did. BionicM is a Japanese startup creating artificial limbs that are not just functional or practical or good enough, but are different and innovative and well, to be honest, kind of cool. We're going to talk a lot about Sunny's journey and the BionicM prosthetic leg, but we also talk about why it's easier to launch this kind of product in America, despite the stricter certification requirements. The challenges in figuring out who the actual customers for artificial limbs really are and why Japanese universities have so much trouble getting their deep tech startups out of the labs and into the market. But, you know, Sunny tells that story much better than I can. So, let's get right to the interview. Interview Tim: We're sitting here with Sunny Xoajun, the founder and CEO of BionicM who makes a robotic prosthetic leg, and thanks for sitting down with us. Sunny: Ah, thank you. I'm very glad to be here. Tim: So, I've given a brief description of what you do, but I'm sure you can explain what BionicM does much better than I can. So, what does BionicM do? Sunny: Yeah, we are a startup company, spin of the Tokyo University. We are building a powered prosthetic leg to have the handicap improve their mobility. Tim: Why is the powered prosthetic leg important? What's the important part of having the active? Sunny: Currently, most of the prosthetic is unpowered. We're developing something different from the current products which has a power to have user walk more easily. Perhaps do something which they couldn't do with current products. Tim: It's battery powered electric motors. What does this leg do for users that passive prosthetic legs cannot do? Sunny: For example, it's very difficult for some elderly amputee to stand up because when they stand up with the passive prosthetic, there is low power to help them, so they have to rely on their sound leg.

Some things are supposed to be only whispered about in Japan. But startups are about breaking taboos and pushing boundaries, and making the world a bit better when they do it. Today's we sit down with Amina Sugimoto of Fermata, and we talk about how quickly and radically the FemTech movement is changing Japan's conversations, attitudes, and even public policy around women's health. It turns out things are both much worse and much better than you probably imagine. It's a great conversation, and I think you'll enjoy it. Show Notes Why VCs have been hesitant to invest in FemTech How FemTech is defined in Japan, and what makes a "FemTech product" FemTech as a B2B business in Japan Japanese enterprise's, hesitant moves into FemTech Discussing sexual pleasure with Isetan's conservative management and customers How the FemTech label is opening up a new conversation about women's health in Japan FemTech as a national movement Why it is hard to get FemTech devices approved in Japan The future of FemTech in Japan What we need in addition to FemTech to really make a difference #WereNotSalmon Links from the Founders Everything you wanted to know about Fermata Transcript Welcome to Disrupting Japan. Straight Talk from Japan's most successful entrepreneurs. I'm Tim Romero and thanks for joining me. I love it when a conversation takes me by surprise. I usually already know the guests I'm interviewing and I do my research ahead of time. So, I generally know what to expect from these conversations. But every once in a while things head off in a completely different direction and the facts on the ground take me by surprise. Today is one of those conversations. Today we sit down with an Amina Sugimoto, the founder of Japanese FemTech powerhouse Fermata, and we talk about how Japanese attitudes towards women's health are changing and how the FemTech movement is a driving force behind that change. Fermata speaks directly and candidly about topics that Japanese society has always preferred to whisper about. She's worked with industry, government, and consumers to change laws and attitudes and is seeing real progress. Amina and I talk about how to get laws changed in Japan, what happens when women start frank conversations about their health and sexual needs. And what she learned by selling vibrators to Isetan department stores super conservative shoppers. But you know, Amina tells that story much better than I can. So, let's get right to the interview. Interview Tim: So, I'm sitting here with Amina Sugimoto of Fermata, one of the leaders of consumer FemTech in Japan. Amina: Thank you. Tim: And thanks for sitting down with me. Amina: Of course, of course. It's my pleasure. Tim: I gave a really brief explanation of what Fermata is and I’m sure you can do a much better job than I can. So, what is Fermata? Amina: So, we initially started as a research group within the Venture Capital. Tim: Mistletoe, right? Amina: Yeah. Ran by [inaudible 00:02:16]. There is this one company that came across two things that I found out. One is not many venture capitalists were interested in this emerging new technology, our women's health. And then two, there are not many companies that instead of actually focusing on how to actually create industry brand a product, Tim: So, at Mistletoe were you trying to get them to invest in these FemTech companies? And Amina: So initially, yes. I still remember today that we were sitting around in the table and there's one company from the US that's actually called Modern Fertility. Now, what they did is they brought in existing technology of measuring AMA's hormone, which basically we can measure how much eggs we've got left. This technology is available at clinics in the name of marriage checks in Japan. So, basically before you get married, you get the test. And if you can't get pregnant anymore, oftentimes that marriage just no longer.

Graffiti is impermanent. Normally, thats a good thing, but as the global art world has begun to recognize graffiti and street art as a legitimate art form, the short-term and public nature of street art has presented challenges around sales and ownership. The team at Totomo has found a solution. They have been working with street artists around the world and galleries across Tokyo to create a platform to prove digital ownership of street art. We talk about the challenges of bringing digital tools and provenance into the spray-can world of street art, why this international team decided to launch in Japan first, and how to take advantage of the new startup support programs offered by the Shibuya government. It's a great conversation, and I think you'll enjoy it. Show Notes The challenges involved in monetizing street art Is street art "legitimate", and how world opinion is changing Why Japan views street art differently Why Totomo is not using the standard NFT marketing strategy The importance of real-world gallery events Why most Totomo NFTs are not bought using crypto Do NFTs really pay artists on resale? Bailing an artist out of jail How attitudes to street art are changing in Japan The real reason Totomo launched in Japan first How a foreign-run startups can raise money from the Japanese government Links from the Founders Totemo Street Art NFT Gallery Street Art Collector podcast Follow Totemo on Twitter @totemoart See some great street art Check it out on Instagram Street art on YouTube Transcript Welcome to Disrupting Japan. Straight Talk from Japan's most successful entrepreneurs. I'm Tim Romero and thanks for joining me. Today we're going to talk about NFTs and no, no, it's not what you think. Regular listeners know that I'm an NFT skeptic, but being an honest skeptic means keeping an open mind. And in that spirit, I'd like to introduce you to the team at Totemo because they're doing some genuinely interesting things with graffiti, street art and the block chain. They're helping artists get paid and as far as I'm concerned, that's always a worthy activity. So, today we sit down for a four-way conversation with the Totemo team of Marty Roberts, Elena Calderon Alvarez and Minami Kobayashi. We talk about why Totemo decided to target their business much more tightly on the art community than on the crypto community. and also why this international team who represents international artists, decided to launch their startup in Japan. We talk about how graffiti and street art are becoming accepted as mainstream art around the world and the amazing level of support that the Shibuya government is providing startups these days and whether bailing your clients out of jail is a good use of investor capital. But you know, the Totemo team tells that story much better than I can. So, let's get right to the interview. Interview Tim: So, I'm sitting here with the founders of Totemo. Marty, thanks for joining us. Marty: Thanks so much Tim for having us. Tim: It’s good to have you back. And Elena. Elena: Hi. Thank you for having us. Tim: It's good to have you on and Minami. Minami: Hi.. Thank you for having us. Tim: It's great to have you on. I don't usually have three people on the show, but making an exception this time because what you guys are doing is really interesting. You're bringing street art and graffiti art to the blockchain, but I think you can probably explain it a little better than I just did. So, what exactly does Totemo do? Marty: Yeah, yeah, I think you summed it up quite well already, but the point that we're trying to work on is that right now graffiti and street art, while it's loved by many around the world, it's impermanent and eventually it will be destroyed by the elements, by the government, by other graffiti writers. So, if there was a way to make this permanent and also collectable and tradable,

Not many startups land their tech on the moon. Dymon has designed an autonomous lunar rover that will land near the lunar south pole later this year as part of NASA's Artemis program. Today, we sit down and talk with founder Shin Nakajima who explains what it takes for a startup to become part of a NASA mission, the role YouTube had to play, what startups can contribute to space exploration, and how NASA and JAXA are changing to be more startup-friendly. It's a great conversation, and I think you'll enjoy it. Show Notes How Yaoki became part of NASA's Artemis program How Yaoki got its name Why Dymon focused on lunar rather than terrestrial problems How to (not) make money building autonomous lunar rovers How the Artemis program is driving innovation Why we expect a lot of water at the lunar South Pole How a YouTube video got the attention of NASA What's involved in getting technology approved by NASA Possible Earth-bound use cases and long-term business model How to raise money for a literal moonshot The future of lunar exploration and settlement The role startups have to play in space exportation Why Japanese aerospace startups want to work with NASA rather than JAXA Links from the Founder Everything you ever wanted to know about Yaoki Follow Yaoki on Twitter @yaoki_space_g  or in Japanese The official Yaoki Facebook page Follow Shin on Twitter @Shin_Nakajima Friend him on Facebook Transcript Welcome to Disrupting Japan. Straight Talk from Japan's most successful entrepreneurs. I'm Tim Romero and thanks for joining me. Today we're going to talk about moonshots, and I don't mean moonshots in the sense of wildly ambitious dreams, although come to think of it, yeah, yeah. We're also going to talk a lot about wildly ambitious dreams. But today's focus is on actually going to the moon. Shin Nakajima's startup Dymon has built a lunar rover called Yaoki that later this year we'll be traveling to the moon as part of NASA's Artemis project. Now, the name Yaoki comes from the Japanese expression nanakorobi-yaoki, which means falling down seven times and getting up eight. It means persisting in the face of repeated failures. It means never giving up. And both that word and that outlook on life feature prominently in today's conversation. We have an interesting debate on the role startups have to play in space exploration. And I don't mean just the SpaceX scale startups. SpaceX is doing awesome things, but most aspiring founders don't have access to the level of capital needed to play at that scale. We're talking about how small teams of innovators can make a difference and how NASA and maybe even JAXA are changing in order to give them the chance to make that difference. Shin and I talk about the design of the Yaoki Rover itself, how we raised money for a project that almost no one believed in, and what it really takes to get your technology approved for a NASA mission. But, you know, Shin tells that story much better than I can. So let's get right to the interview. Interview Tim: So we're sitting here with Shin Nakajima of Dymon, so thanks for sitting down with us. Shin: Thank you. Me too. Tim: You make this amazing lunar rover Yaoki, which is just amazingly cool. Tell us a little about the rover. Shin: This is what I am developing for 10 years, and now it's finished, and now it is contract with NASA Moon Rover project, which is called an Artemis. We are joining for commercial [inaudible 00:02:45]. Tim: Right. And for our listeners who can't see this, this looks nothing like you would imagine a lunar rover would look like. It's like, can I hold it? Shin: Yes, you can. Tim: Okay. That's so cool. I don't even know how to describe it. It looks like a little barbell with treads on it. Shin: Yes. Tim: I mean, this is really tiny, right? Shin: So very, very tiny. And it's just on the hand.

There is a lot of hate directed at Japanese UI design. To Western eyes, it's just too busy, too dense, too confusing, too outdated, and just plain wrong. And sometimes that's true, but usually there are very good, and highly profitable, reasons Japanese websites and Japanese software looks the way it does. Today I sit down and talk (and argue a bit) with Brandon Hill about how Japanese design got this way, and the new direction it's currently heading. It's an amazing conversation, and I think you'll enjoy it. Show Notes Why people think Japanese UI design is broken The real reason Japanese sites never seem to get updated Why young Japanese sometimes prefer old-fashioned design How high-information density builds trust in Japan The social trigger that caused Japan to (almost) abandon minimalist design Why Japanese core design metaphors differ from those in the West Answering the top Western criticisms of Japanese design How Japanese labor law affects web and app design Why Western logo design is changing (and not for the better) The impact of smartphones on online and brick-and-mortar design What it's like for foreign designers at Japanese companies Links from the Founder Everything you ever wanted to know about btrax The amazing btrax blog A recommended in-depth article on American and Japanese UI/UX design Follow Brandon on Twitter @BrandonKHill Friend him on Facebook Transcript Welcome to Disrupting Japan. Straight Talk from Japan's most successful entrepreneurs. I'm Tim Romero and thanks for joining me. Today we're going to talk about Japanese UI/UX design. For the last 20 years, there's been this steady stream of Western designers explaining how Japanese web design is “broken”. Now, those critics often make some good points, but they usually completely misunderstand the underlying reasons that Japanese design is the way it is. Today we're going to address these criticisms once and for all as we sit down over a beer with my old friend Brandon Hill. Now Brandon runs btrax, a design and market entry consultancy based in San Francisco. And for the past 10 years, Brandon's been working with Japanese firms to get their design and UI ready for the American markets and with American firms to get their design and UI ready for the Japanese markets. In terms of practical hands-on experience, Brandon probably knows more than anyone in the world about the reasons Japanese and Western UX design are so different. And that's what we're going to dig deep into today. This episode's a little long, but I assure you it's worth it. There was simply nothing more I could have edited out. We explore the common criticisms of Japanese design, we talk about the psychology of e-commerce, and we dive deep into Japan's commercial culture. But you know, Brandon tells that story much better than I can. So, let's get right to the interview. Interview Tim: So, cheers! So, I'm sitting here with Brandon Hill, the CEO and founder of btrax. So, welcome back. Brandon: Thank you so much. It's my pleasure to be back here. Tim: Now I've given everyone a really detailed description of you and your expertise during the intro. But just to make sure, why don't you tell us a little bit about what btrax does. Brandon: I started this company btrax long time ago. It's a long time that I don't even remember when that was, but started as a web design agency in San Francisco, and then we started specializing in US and Japanese localization and cross-border, cross-cultural marketing and branding. We now do a lot of work for Japanese corporations to create a new businesses as well as promoting them, branding them, and expanding them into the global market. Likewise, we work with many US companies coming to the Japanese market, taking care of their marketing and branding and localization. So, that's what we do, Tim: And that is why I'm so glad to have you here,

Sometimes it seems like Japan is almost invisible in global e-commerce. Despite a dynamic domestic e-commerce market and a long tradition of global exports, Japan just  doesn't seem that interested in selling to the outside world. But things are changing, and Kazuyoshi Nakazato of Zig Zag is working to make sure they change even faster. We talk about why Japan is unrepresented in global e-commerce, why that's changing, some things you should never try to sell online. It's a great conversation, and I think you'll enjoy it. Show Notes Why even small e-commerce is global The bowling ball export experiment What are Japan's biggest export markets for e-commerce How acquire overseas e-commerce customers How to select overseas markets to target How fast are Japanese e-commerce exports growing? How to grow and thrive as a small e-commerce site How to get Japanese founders to think more globally Links from the Founder Everything you ever wanted to know about Zig Zag and their World Shopping international or domestic in Japanese Check out a good video intro to World Shopping Shop in Japan from the rest of the world Follow Kazuyoshi on Twitter @nakazaty Friend him on Facebook Connect on LinkedIn Transcript Welcome to Disrupting Japan. Straight Talk from Japan's most successful entrepreneurs. I'm Tim Romero and thanks for joining me. Japan is missing out on the global e-commerce boom. Well, there is plenty of e-commerce going on in Japan, but it's almost all domestic and Japan is really missing out on the growing global market. However, Kazu Nakazato, founder of Zig Zag is changing that. Japan's e-commerce exports are still relatively small, but growing at 140% a year. And Kazu is looking to increase that even more. But as you'll hear, that's not easy. Kazu and the team at Zigzag are up against strong entrenched interests, language barriers, and one particularly frustrating aspect of Japanese business culture that we'll talk about in a few minutes. Kazu and I also discuss what COVID taught us about the resilience of global e-commerce. Some things you should never try to sell online. And Kazu also shares some really great advice about how to survive and grow as an independent e-commerce site. But you know, Kashi tells that story much better than I can. So, let's get right to the interview. Interview Tim: So, we're sitting here with Kazu Nakazato of Zig Zag. Kazu: Yeah, Zig Zag. Tim: Who's helping Japanese e-commerce sites sell globally. So, thanks for sitting down with us. So, I explain really simply what you do, but I think you can explain Zig Zag much better than I can. So, what does Zig Zag do? Kazu: We offer a service called global base. Our eCommerce site can quickly transform into share site. It's very simple. All it takes is a single line JavaScript tag. It's provide marketing input forms, marketing our customer support and payments support. Tim: That's a lot for one line of JavaScript to do. So, it covers the translation, payments, logistics? Kazu: Yes. Shipping. Tim: Okay. Wow. And do you handle like returns? Kazu: Returns, yes. And there are 200 countries. Tim: So, tell me about your customers. Who's using Zig Zag? What kind of e-commerce sites? Kazu: Fashion, cosmetics, Anime and entertainment type. For example, Japanese apparel is Beams and Tower records about 2,500 website. Tim: So, that's quite a range. So, is it mostly the bigger sites like Tower Records and Beams or small independent sites also using it? Kazu: Yeah, for example in Fukuoka, very, very small apparel shop. And in Chiba, bowling maker site. Tim: Like bowling ball maker? Kazu: Yeah, bowling ball. Very, very heavy. Tim: I was going to say that’s really expensive to ship. Kazu: Yeah. FedEx or DHL, air or by ship. Tim: Exporting bowling balls. Are like Japanese bowling balls, like really high quality or something?

This is our 200th episode, so I wanted to do something special. Everyone loves to complain about the poor quality of Japanese software, but today I’m going to explain exactly what went wrong.  You'll get the whole story, and I'll also pinpoint the specific moment Japan lost its way. By the end, I think you'll have a new perspective on Japanese software and understand why everything might be about to change. You see, the story of Japanese software is not really the story of software. It's the story of Japanese innovation itself.   The Elephant in the Room Japanese software has problems.  By international standards, it’s just embarrassingly bad. We all know this, but what’s interesting is that there are perfectly rational, if somewhat frustrating, reasons that things turned out this way. Today I’m going to lay it all that out for you in a way that will help you understand how we got here, and show you why I am optimistic about the future. You see, the story of Japanese software, is not really about software. It's the story of Japanese innovation itself. The ongoing struggle between disruption and control. It’s a story that involves, war, secret cartels, scrappy rebels, betrayal, rebirth, and perhaps redemption.   How This Mess Started So let’s start at the beginning. The beginning is further back than you might expect. To really understand how we got here, we need to go back, not just to the end of WWII, but to the years after the Meiji restoration, the late 1800s, back when the Japanese economy was dominated by the zaibatsu. Now, “zaibatsu” is usually translated as “large corporate group” or “family controlled corporate group.” While that is accurate, it grossly understates the massive economic and political power these groups wielded around the turn of the 20th century.    Japan’s zaibatsu were not corporate conglomerates as we think of them today. You see, although the Meiji government adopted a market-based economy and implemented a lot of capitalist reforms, it was the zaibatsu, with the full support of the government, that kept the economy running. And the zaibatsu system was almost feudal in nature. The national government could, and did, pass legislation regarding contract law, labor reforms, and property rights, but in practice these were more like suggestions. In reality, as long as the zaibatsu kept the factories running, the rail lines expanding, and the shipyards operating at capacity, the men in Tokyo didn’t trouble themselves too much with the details. In practice, the zaibatsu families had almost complete dominion over the resources, land, and people under their control. They were the law. At the turn of the pervious century, there were four major zaibatsu (Sumitomo, Mitsui, Mitsubishi, and Yasuda). And each zaibatsu had its own bank, its own mining and chemical companies, its own heavy manufacturing company, etc. But it wasn’t just industry, each of these zaibatsu  groups had strong political and military alignments. For example, Mitsui had strong influence over the army, while Mitsubishi had a great deal of sway over the imperial navy. At the start of WWII, the four zaibatsu families controlled over 50% of Japan’s economy. This fact, when combined with their political influence, quite understandably, made Japan’s military government very uncomfortable, and during the war, the military wrested away a bit of the zaibatsu’s power and nationalized some of their assets. After Japan’s defeat, the American occupation forces considered the zaibatsu a serious economic and political risk to Japan becoming a liberal, democratic fully developed nation. They targeted 16 firms for complete dissolution and another 24 for major reorganizations.   Rising from Ashes Now, that was supposed to be the end of the zaibatsu. I say “supposed to” because those of you who know Japanese history understand that it never really happened. Of course, many things changed.