Japanese startups are generally seen as inward-looking and unwilling to take on the risk of expanding their businesses overseas, making globally competitive Japanese startups few and far between.

But with strengthening Japan’s startup sector being one of the top economic policy items of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s administration, there is growing momentum for an increased presence of Japanese startups and entrepreneurs overseas.

For instance, the government has drafted a five-year startup policy package that includes sending 1,000 entrepreneurs and businesspeople overseas to expand global networks and bases for Japanese startups. Japan is also aiming to bump up the amount of investment in startups by more than tenfold to ¥10 trillion ($72.17 billion) annually as it looks to increase the number of young firms from 10,000 to 100,000.