Episode #82: Networks For Doing Business in Japan

In business the ability to develop a strong network is critical. There is nothing better than getting to know buyers through these networks and establish a personal connection. Japan is the premier nation on the planet for networks. When I first came here in 1979, I was taken to a ryokan- a traditional inn with a hot spring bath. That evening we could hear this raucous party going on next door in one of the restaurants. It turned out to be the annual reunion for the graduates of their local elementary school. I was thinking I hadn't seen anyone from my elementary school in decades and had lost touch with them. Not here in Japan though, they are much better organised. The Middle Schools, the High Schools, The Universities have excellent capability for getting everyone together for reunions. Probably unsurpassed anywhere else in the world.

There are also so many formal business organisations. The Keidanren, the Japan Business Federation or the Keizai Doyukai, the Association of Business Executives are big and powerful bodies. However, you won't even get a look in to joining those, unless you are a major company. The Keieisha Kyokai or the Employers Association may be a better possibility, as we have been able to join it. There is also the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce, which will be easy to join.

Rotary clubs in Japan are also very business oriented in the sense that Japanese business people comprise the membership and there are lots of clubs. You can also visit other clubs, so you are not restricted to just the one group. My own club the Tokyo Rotary Club, has 330 members and is full of big hitters.

There are a number of private business clubs like the Tokyo American Club and the Tokyo Club where I am a member, and the Kojun Club, the Kobe club, International House of Japan, Roppongi Hills Club, Ark Hills Club, Tokyo Lawn Tennis Club, the Yokohama Country and Athletic Club, For Empowering Women Japan (FEW), College Women’s Association of Japan (CWAJ) etc., which are sometimes hard to get into, but have lots of influential members.

There are also many, many friendship associations like the Japan-British Society, the Japanisch-Deutsche Gesellschaft, the Australia Society, the Tokyo Canadian Club, etc. These tend not be business oriented, but you can still meet business people socially.

If you have children here in Japan and are sending them to International Schools, then the PTA is a great place to meet people. You will find that the captains of industry are sending their children to these schools and you can meet them through that avenue. I am the President of the Parent Faculty Advisory Board at my son's school and I meet many leading business people through that connection.

Then there are all the various Chambers of Commerce - we are or have been, members of the American Chamber, the British Chamber, the French Chamber, the German Chamber, The Australia New Zealand Chamber (of which I am Emeritus President), the Italian Chamber, etc etc. All of these chambers are full of people you would want to meet to expand your network here in Tokyo.

Every major country has a chamber and like us, you can join multiple chambers. These chambers are holding regular meetings and events, especially the American Chamber, so there is no shortage of things to attend. By way of example the American Chamber is probably holding two to three events every week, with speakers talking on different topics of interest. Actually forget the topic, if you want to meet people, then pick a popular subject regardless of your personal interest and go. You will find 150 business people in the room ready to meet you.

Some of the international chambers also have regional equivalents as well and there will be local Japanese Chambers of Commerce for that region. Obviously the greatest concentration is in Tokyo, but if you are outside of Tokyo, you can still find plenty of existing networks you can join.

There are also benkyokai or study groups. I belong to a CEO Insights group, an Entrepreneur group and the Foreign Corporate Communications (FCC) group. There are many, many more that I don’t belong to, like the infamous Beef and Burgundy Club (The B&B), the Carbine Club, the Good Grub Club, the Chicken and Chablis Club, the Tokyo Women’s Club, the Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan (FCCJ), etc. And there are probably many others I have never heard of or have forgotten about. These are great opportunities to build your connections and networks of people across a broad spectrum of industries and sectors. They usually meet regularly have guest speakers and allow you to mix with other leaders in town.

So there are lots of networks already well established and all we have to do is join them and become active. The foreign and local chambers have the largest companies active here as members and this is a great way to meet the leadership.

If you can speak Japanese then there are mind boggling number of benkyokai available to join and connect with other businesspeople who may become your clients. Remember in Japan, each person you meet is a connector to a large number of other people because they have such strong networks of their own. I know that through my networks, I can get to just about anybody in Japan I want to meet. That is a tremendous advantage in business anywhere but especially here, where things are more formal and more closed.