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
If you're working on something ambitious, we’d love to hear from you at Coral Capital!
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:
Learn more about Coral Capital
This episode was produced & distributed with the help of our friends at Atomik Growth.