Wednesday, May 6, 2026
Lessons from a Foreign Entrepreneur in Japan
（日本で成功する外国人起業家から学んだこと）
I recently came across an interesting YouTube video titled “Why Most Foreigners Fail in Japan (And How to Win).” The interview featured Oya Koc, a businesswoman and entrepreneur.
Oya was born and raised in Turkey and first came to Japan for a summer internship about twenty years ago. She later decided to pursue graduate studies in semiconductors at The University of Tokyo. After graduating, she joined Boston Consulting Group.
She later founded Oyraa in Japan—an online interpreting service provider with more than 3,000 interpreters around the world. As CEO, she has built the company into a seven-figure business. She is now planning to expand her services to support foreigners who want to successfully launch businesses in Japan.
During the interview, she shared an interesting story about how she came up with the idea for her business.
Her foreign friends in Japan would call her almost every day, asking, “Can you translate this?” or “Can you say this in Japanese?” At the time, she was working at Boston Consulting Group, so she sometimes had to hide in meeting rooms to take these calls and interpret for them. Over time, the number of people and calls kept increasing to the point where she could no longer handle them on the side.
That’s when she had an aha moment. She realized there should be a service where people could instantly connect with professional interpreters whenever they needed help, instead of relying on friends.
Her foreign friends didn’t want to use conventional interpreting agencies because they would have had to book a professional interpreter at least half a day in advance, and such services were typically expensive. As a result, many people relied on friends, partners, or colleagues instead.
That’s how Oya came up with the idea of a pay-per-minute online interpreting service. It was inspiring to learn how she identified a business need from the problems she encountered in daily life and turned them into a business opportunity. As the cliché goes, necessity is the mother of invention.
Her business did not take off smoothly. Nine months after founding the company, her savings had dried up, and she still had no product to sell. At that point, she had no choice but to seek investment and advice from influential Japanese businesspeople she knew.
She followed their advice and put together a Japanese team to promote her services. Oya had taught herself Japanese and passed the N1, the highest level of the Japanese-Language Proficiency Test, so she could speak Japanese fluently—almost like a native speaker. However, she realized that many Japanese companies often feel uncomfortable dealing with an entirely foreign team.
Her prospective Japanese clients would always ask about her company’s proven track record (jisseki). To address this, she decided to offer free trials to leading companies in various industries in order to build credibility and establish a track record. She then used press releases to publicize those results. She learned that, in Japan, press releases can work almost like magic when it comes to generating inbound leads, to borrow a marketing term.
Based on her firsthand experience, she shared the following three pieces of advice for foreigners who want to start a business in Japan.
First, learn Japanese. Without it, building a business in Japan is extremely difficult.
Second, build a strong network of successful people—not just random connections through superficial networking.
Third, if you are targeting Japanese customers, build a Japanese team. She emphasized that it still matters greatly in Japanese business society.
She also talked about the biggest mistakes she made along the way.
At one point, she tried so hard to fit in and act like a Japanese person that she lost the uniqueness and appeal she originally had as an outsider who could bring fresh perspectives and new energy to conventional Japanese business culture.
She also explained that, as a founder, she saw endless opportunities everywhere and temporarily lost her sense of direction. Over time, however, she gained the wisdom to understand not only what to do, but also what not to do. She realized the importance of filtering information carefully, deciding what truly matters, and prioritizing. It is important to maintain focus instead of trying to pursue every opportunity.
Lastly, she shared the following practical advice about choosing the right market and dealing with the fear of failure.
- Make sure there’s a real market. Don’t try to create an entirely new market as a first-time founder. Instead, find a niche that isn’t overcrowded and where you have a competitive edge.
- Identify your fears clearly. Ask yourself what would happen if everything failed—usually, the outcome isn’t nearly as bad as you imagine.
Oya Koc was only 38 years old at the time of the 2024 interview. She is an amazing and inspiring woman. Her advice was practical and impressive. My biggest takeaways were the importance of building a strong network of successful people, staying grounded and focused without getting distracted, choosing the right market where you have a competitive edge, and learning how to deal with the fear of failure so you can take meaningful risks. The interview was a serendipitous discovery.