Tokyo - The City
of Opportunities
English entrepreneur Tove Kinooka finds success for her global business in the city.
Tove Kinooka
Tokyo is a vital center for global business, serving as a springboard for foreign companies to enter the Japanese market.
Around 3700 companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange have a market capitalization of over USD 5.5 trillion, making it the largest stock market in Asia and the third largest in the world.
The city has a range of accelerator and growth-focused initiatives, highlighting Tokyo as a profitable location for startups and companies from all over the globe. One such startup is by English entrepreneur Tove Kinooka who started her business in Tokyo with ease, as she was preparing to give birth to her second child.
Business Launch
Tokyo is a thriving international business hub where more than 75% of foreign companies with offices in Japan, representing a variety of industries, are located.
The city is continuously evolving to make it even easier for non-Japanese companies and entrepreneurs to launch and be successful. One such entrepreneur who has found success in setting up a business in Tokyo is consultant Tove Kinooka.
Originally from Devon in England, Kinooka first came to Tokyo in 1998 as an English teacher.
“Japan first appealed to me as it had a reputation for being both very different but also very safe and comfortable.”
Tove Kinooka
She had initially intended to stay for just one year but plans changed.
“I realized I actually really liked living here, so I found a new job.”
Now, 21 years later, she is a Tokyo resident and female entrepreneur with a Japanese husband and two children, running a company that is helping other businesses achieve sustainable impact.
In 2015, Kinooka was co-founding and setting up her leadership and organizational development consultancy Global Perspectives from a Tokyo hospital bed, preparing to give birth to her second child.
“It was a very stressful time, obviously,” Kinooka said. “But it was helped a lot by the fact that there was a lot of support here.”
Thanks to the services of a local accounting and business service company in Tokyo, Kinooka and her business partner set up the company without a hitch.
“There was often somebody around who could speak English, and they helped me understand and write the Japanese, too,” she said.
And in the last few years, it has become even easier to launch a business in Tokyo.
Launched in 2015 by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, the Tokyo One-Stop Business Establishment Center provides foreign companies with various services, free of charge. All filing procedures required to launch their business can be swiftly done at the center.
It also offers free consultation, in both Japanese and English.
Since becoming an entrepreneur, Kinooka has benefited from Tokyo’s status as an international business hub.
“Tokyo attracts people and companies from all over the world, from individual entrepreneurs to major global brands,” Kinooka explained. “There is an active network of business and social events in the business community, so there are plenty of opportunities to make connections.”
FinTech Sustainability
Other initiatives include the Tokyo Financial Award, established to highlight players in the financial sector that promote Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) investment and for those that provide solutions to the financial service requests from local residents.
Despite not being in FinTech herself, Kinooka values the efforts of Tokyo to put sustainability and ESG investment high on the agenda. Her business, Global Perspectives, helps organizations of all sizes align their vision with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and define actionable steps to create positive impact for people and the planet.
“We started the company to focus on organizational change and sustainability, and it feels like a very good time in Japan to be doing that,” Kinooka explained. “So, these initiatives have really given us an opportunity to tell our potential clients this is something they need to be thinking about and taking action on.”
Empowering Women
Kinooka’s two children are aged 13 and three years old, and she appreciates the services and the flexibility as both a mother and an entrepreneur.
“My son is in a local daycare now, and I'm extremely impressed with the standard of care there,” she said.
Kinooka has always felt it was safe for her child to walk to school alone or with friends, something she recognizes as a usual concern for parents. Tokyo’s overall safety has even been acknowledged by The Economist Intelligence Unit when it awarded the Japanese capital 2019’s safest city in the world.
Kinooka has noticed a shift in perceptions when it comes to working mothers, especially in her daily work.
“You see a lot more women now sort of juggling careers with family. And we're beginning to see more and more women in our client work.”
For anyone looking to start their business in Tokyo, Kinooka has one piece of advice:
“Make an effort to learn at least a little bit of Japanese. There is lots of support from the local city hall, for example, that have free or very cheap Japanese language classes,” she said.
For Kinooka, her decision to stay in Japan has allowed her to start a successful business that will have global impact, and best of all, a great place to call home for her family.
With the Tokyo 2020 Games shining its spotlight on the city, it may just inspire people to think about finding their own opportunities of a lifetime, in one of the best cities in the world.
