Breaking into the Japanese market isn’t just about slapping your logo on a product and calling it a day; it’s a high-stakes game that will chew you up and spit you out if you’re not ready to play by their rules. Japan isn’t just "another market"; it’s an intricate puzzle of culture, consumer psychology, and technology that rewards precision and punishes laziness. This guide doesn’t sugarcoat it, if you want a slice of the action in this marketplace, you will need more than a strategy.

In marketing, there are certain patterns of behaviour that repeat themselves like bad jingles. Chief among them is the endless reinvention of the Four Ps, Product, Price, Place, Promotion. Every few y...