Doing Business in Japan
Japan is a vibrant, prosperous country, with the world’s second
largest economy. Japanese consumers spend hundreds of billions of
dollars on food, clothing, travel, entertainment and a wide
variety of other consumer goods and services each year. The top
Japanese firms are among the most efficient and best-run firms in
the world. Unemployment is down to about 4.1%, lower than in most
developed countries. The average Japanese household has over
$100,000 in savings, and disposable income of about $4,000 per
month. Japan is the largest overseas market for U.S. exporters,
with imports from the U.S. in excess of $59 billion in 2006.
This comprehensive annual report looks at the Japanese commercial environment and features segments on economic and political trends and environment, marketing of U.S. products and services, trade regulations and customs information, investment climate and financing, trade statistics and in-country contacts, and more...
Summaries of market research reports on specific industry sectors, prepared by Commercial Service Japan offices, information on trade events and useful links for each industry are available here. more...
The U.S.-Japan Regulatory Reform and Competition Policy Initiative was launched in 2001 as a bilateral forum to promote economic growth through regulatory reform. Each year, the Initiative addresses a broad range of sectoral and cross-sectoral issues, and outcomes are reported on an annual basis through the Initiative’s Report to the Leaders. more...
This periodic update, prepared by the Commercial Service Japan Compliance Unit, is a summary listing of selected Japanese Government documents recently released for public comment and is intended to alert U.S. companies to potentially significant new Japanese regulatory actions. more...
Japanese culture is very different from the American. All aspects of Japanese life, especially business relations, are governed by strict rules of etiquette. These web sites are recommended reading for business visitors to Japan, especially first-time business visitors. more...