The arc runs from why your product won't work yet, through the craft of building for the Japanese user, to shipping and iterating in-market. Sessions 1 and 2 are scoped in full below; 3 to 6 are on the way.
01Why your product won't work in Japan (yet)
The hook · the three walls
We open on what actually wins in Japan, SmartHR, Preferred Networks, Money Forward, then the products that died and why: Uber, eBay, Vodafone, each on a different wall. Then our own scar tissue from inside LINE, Showtime and Timee, before the rare foreign product that landed. You leave seeing your own product differently, with a clear read on which of the three walls is most likely to stop you.
Takeaway · The Japan Readiness Scorecard
02Designing for the Japanese user
UX, density, expectations · 一目瞭然
Why dense reads as trustworthy, not cluttered: information equals trust, kanji density, the i-mode legacy, and 一目瞭然, clear at a glance. The proof is in the data, Rakuten and Amazon Japan A/B tested cleaner designs and the busier ones won. Then a live teardown of real Japanese screens, so you can audit your own product against the patterns.
Takeaway · The Japanese UI Audit
03Localisation beyond translation
payments, LINE, conventions
The 90% that is not language: payment methods, LINE, formats, and the local conventions that break a product even when every word is translated correctly.
04Trust, quality, and the Japanese standard
the quality bar
What passes as good enough elsewhere reads as broken here. The cultural quality bar, support expectations, and how trust is built into a product rather than bolted on.
05Pricing and packaging for Japan
how Japan buys
Japanese customers buy differently: willingness to pay, procurement norms, and the approval cycles that catch foreign founders out.
06Shipping and iterating in-market
the feedback loop
Launching is not landing. Building the in-market feedback loop, the first iterations after launch, and staying current with Japanese users.