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Japan Country Report

Health and biotechnology sector

bioXclusters plus Japan Country Report page 2

Japan Country Report

Health and biotechnology sector

1. Introduction 3‐4

2. The healthcare system 4‐6

3. Governmental Structure for Science & Technology 6‐9

4. The health industry 9‐11

5. Life science research and clinical development 11‐13

6. Life Science Clusters 14‐17

7. Market entry, sales and cooperation support 17‐18

8. Language and business culture tips for Japan 18‐19


1. Introduction

Japan is the 3rd largest economy in the world with a GDP of 4.383 trillion USD in 20151. Major

industries in Japan include manufacturing, construction, services, distribution and

communication2. The average annual growth since 2012 has been around 1 %, with exports being

the main growth driver3.

The Global Competitiveness Report for 2016‐2017 ranked Japan the eighth most globally

competitive country in the world, citing the nation’s business sophistication, quality of local

suppliers, and strong international distribution controls as some of its most outstanding business

features4.

Science and technology research has been fundamental for the Japanese economy. The steadily

increasing national research budget acknowledges the importance of research and development

(R&D) for the country as well as its role in finding solutions to Japan's urban, environmental, and

economic challenges. In 2014, R&D expenditure accounted for 3.6 % of the country´s GDP, placing

Japan 2nd in the worldwide ranking on R&D spending. These efforts are reflected in the high

number of patent applications filled, reaching a worldwide share of 20.3 % in 20155. To promote

and encourage research and development, Japan also has some of the strongest intellectual

property laws in the world, making it ideal for businesses with research and development

interests.

Currently one of the biggest long‐term challenges for the Japanese economy is the rapidly aging

and declining population. The actual population of 127.3 million is expected to shrink to 117

million by 2030 and more dramatically to 90 million by 2050. The rising healthcare costs and

reduction of the working force has put pressure on the economy. This led to the introduction of

new policies by the government to address these issues. The aging population and introduction

of these policies are changing the current status of the healthcare, life science and pharmaceutical

markets, creating new trends and opportunities for investments.

1 The World Bank, Global Development Data (2017), Current GDP, Gap‐filled total. Retrieved from: http://data.worldbank.org/country/japan?view=chart 2 “Key industries in japan”. Export to Japan (n.d). http://www.exporttojapan.co.uk/your‐industry/key‐industries‐japan 3 “Overseas Business Risk‐Japan”. Gov.uK (2016). https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/overseas‐business‐risk‐japan/overseas‐business‐risk‐japan 4 “The Global Competitiveness Report 2016‐2017”, The World Economic Forum (2016). http://www3.weforum.org/docs/GCR2016‐2017/05FullReport/TheGlobalCompetitivenessReport2016‐2017_FINAL.pdf 5 “Who filled the most PCT Patent Applications in 2015?”. WIPO‐World Intellectual Property organization (2015) http://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/ipstats/en/docs/infographics_pct_2015.pdf


Japan is amongst Europe’s top five pharmaceutical trading partners. The national support strategy

for industry, science and clusters in pharmaceutical & biotechnology development offers an

increasing number of opportunities and incentives for collaborations with international partners.

As a result, Japanese pharmaceutical companies strive to implement an open innovation concept

and seek alliances with early technologies from academic drug discovery and biotech ventures to

fuse external and in‐house R&D. In addition, the recent increase in young, innovative biotech

ventures, pushing to become globally competitive, offers novel business fields for European

technical and clinical service companies.

2. The Japanese healthcare system

The Japanese healthcare system is characterized by a mandatory, universal public insurance

coverage for all age groups. This is guaranteed through the National Health Insurance scheme

(NHI, kokumin kenko hoken). The healthcare insurance system is composed of three types of

insurances: 1. Employee´s health insurance: For employees and their family members; 2. National

health insurance: For self‐employed / unemployed individuals and their family members; 3. Social

medical insurance program for people of 75 years and older.

Expenditures on health services are predominantly paid by the government, which funds them

mainly from social health insurance contributions. Insurers have to pay a co‐payment of 30 % of

the government set price of medical costs for curative services and 10 % for treatment of long

term diseases. This payment varies depending on the patients’ age and circumstances. The

medical fees are revised by the government every two years, and this uniform reimbursement to

providers is one reason for Japan´s control of medical expenditure6.

6 “Health Service Delivery Profile, Japan”. The World Health Organization and Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, japan (2012). Retrieved from: http://www.wpro.who.int/health_services/service_delivery_profile_japan.pdf

“We have the vision to create catalytic systems to fast-track medical R&D for human’s quality of life.”

Prof. Makoto Suematsu, President, Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED)


The total health expenditure in 2014 was 470,672 million US dollars accounting for 10,2 % of the

country´s GDP7. Despite the large health expenditure, Japan has about the lowest per capita

health care costs among the advanced nations of the world. However, given the fast aging society

and increase of chronical diseases, as well as the emergence of innovative and expensive

treatments, Japan has experienced a dramatic increase in health expenditure over the last

decades (Fig. 1). In order to contain the expenditures and keep the healthcare system sustainable,

the government introduced several measures including the following:

Annual drug‐price revision: Under the NHI system, the government strictly regulates

prescription drugs. Drug prices are set both according to standardized formulas and

through negotiations between government officials and applicant companies on a

product‐by‐product basis. With few exceptions, the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor,

and Welfare (MHLW) sets the reimbursement prices for all newly launched prescription

drugs in Japan8. So far, price revisions had been conducted every other year, but the

Japanese government has unveiled their plans to review drug prices annually, starting

from April 20189.

Repricing of “Huge Sellers”: This measure introduced in 2016 seeks to reduce prices of

“high‐selling” drugs. As part of the rule, if a product’s annual sales are in the range of ¥ 100

billion to ¥ 150 billion and its actual sales are at least 1.5 times projected sales, it will face

7 The World Bank, Global Development Data (2017) Health expenditure, total %GDP, Weighted Average Method. Retrieved from: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.XPD.TOTL.ZS?view=chart 8 Pharmaceutical Pricing and Reimbursement in Japan (2007). Wiley Handbook of Current and Emerging Drug Therapies. 9 “Japan introduces new measure to cut health spending”. The Pharma Letter (December 2016)

http://www.thepharmaletter.com/article/japan‐introduces‐new‐measure‐to‐cut‐health‐spending

Figure 1: Total health expenditure (% of GDP) vs Years.


a price cut of up to 25 %. If the drug generates sales of over ¥ 150 billion and stands at 1.3

times its sales outlook, then it will face a price cut of 50 %10.

Promotion for the use of generic‐drugs: In April 2013, the MHLW released a five‐year plan

to expand the use of generic medicines to 60 % by 2018. The targeted volume has been

updated to reach 80 % by the same year. This plan is called the “Roadmap for the further

promotion of the use of generic medicines”. The general feature of this program is that

the government wants to strengthen the generic maker’s supervision in terms of delivery,

quality assurance, and drug information services. Also, an agency has been commissioned

to give advice to consumers and health professionals about generic medicines as well as

to campaign for generic substitution. One important change of the public health insurance

is that pharmacists have now the power to substitute generic pharmaceuticals for branded

products unless physicians explicitly prohibit substitution on their prescription forms11.

Rx‐OTC switching: The MHLW launched a new scheme on April 2016 on over the counter

(OTC) switching. The new scheme will allow requests for prescription to non‐prescription

switches from various stakeholders, such as medical societies, consumers, and drug

makers. Previously, these requests could only come from the Pharmaceutical Society of

Japan12.

Other initiatives that have been introduced include, self‐management of chronic diseases

and prevention, reduction of hospital stays as well as the number of medical visits at

hospitals without a doctor´s referral.

3. Governmental structure for Science & Technology

In accordance with the Science and Technology Basic Law enacted in 1995, the Council for Science,

Technology and Innovation formulates every five years a “Science and Technology Basic Plan” and

resulting Science and Technology (S&T) policies are implemented by all other related

governmental bodies. The 5th S&T 5‐year Basic Plan was published in December 2015

(http://www8.cao.go.jp/cstp/kihonkeikaku/5basicplan_en.pdf). The S&T Basic Plans set goals

and basic principles for the country and identify specifies issues to be resolved and promotion

measures to be undertaken to realize these goals and principles. In addition, the government

enhances basic research and human resource development.

10 EY Life Science Update”. Ernst & Young (2016) http://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/ey‐life‐sciences‐sector‐update‐asia‐pacific‐and‐japan/$FILE/ey‐life‐sciences‐sector‐update‐asia‐pacific‐and‐japan.pdf 11 “Generic drugs: The best medicine for Japan´s economy?. Japan today (September 2014)

https://www.japantoday.com/category/health/view/generic‐drugs‐the‐best‐medicine‐for‐japans‐economy Japan/11/Action_Plan_for_Promoting_Generic_Substitution.html 12 “New Scheme Switch OTC Gets Underway,” Pharma Japan, 18 April 2016, via Factiva, © 2016 Jiho, Inc.


The following map shows the organization structure of S&T related public bodies dealing with

biopharmaceutical and healthcare topics:

One of the main objectives of the 5th S&T Basic Plan is the implementation of “smart life" in Japan

and steering its impact on society. The government identified multiple ways of meeting the

various needs of smart life including novel approaches in the healthcare sector such as

personalized medicine and Health‐IT:


METI, April 2016: http://www.meti.go.jp/english/policy/economy/industrial_council/pdf/innovation160427a.pdf

AMED was only recently launched in April 2015 and before, Japanese systems of medical research

funding were a complicated mixture of different ministries (MEXT, MHLW, METI). Under the

initiative of the Cabinet, AMED reformed previously inflexible funding rules and combined the

biomedical data collected by public funding to facilitate several different programs of medical

research and development, including the Initiative on Rare and Undiagnosed Diseases (IRUD),

SCRUM‐Japan which aims for social implementation of genome‐based optimization of cancer

therapy, and Japan Nosocomial Infections Surveillance (JANIS) for monitoring superbugs in

hospitals and communities. Implementation of centralised IRB is another important change that

began in 2017. In collaboration with three major societies for clinical imaging and pathology,

AMED attempts to establish a nationwide database for endoscopy, clinical pathology and CT.

AMED has also started a clinical genomic database projects for cancer, rare and undiagnosed

diseases and infectious diseases.

In an attempt to tackle rare and intractable diseases, AMED started IRUD, the Initiative on Rare

and Undiagnosed Diseases. IRUD is a nationwide medical research consortium dedicated to

helping these patients in treatment and diagnosis. The network enables primary healthcare clinics

to collaborate with more than 400 hospitals including 34 IRUD Clinical Centers, where complex

cases can be reviewed by multi‐disciplinary IRUD Diagnosis Committees made up of medical


specialists and clinical geneticists. This process is supported by four IRUD Analysis Centers which

administer genetic tests, including whole‐exome or whole‐genome sequencing. Their findings are

fed back to the committees in order to support ongoing diagnosis discussions.

For more information see http://www.amed.go.jp/en/program/IRUD/.

4. The health industry in Japan

With a turnover of around $ 115 billion per year in 2013, Japan is the second largest medical and

health care market worldwide and represents approximately 10 % of the global pharma industry,

compared with 38.4 % for the USA and 20.7 % for Western Europe13. Based on Japan’s ageing

society and the increase in health awareness, economic growth is expected to raise significantly.

By 2050, around 42 % of the total population are expected to reach an age above 60 years, and

already today 50 % of health spending is assigned to this social group14. The Japanese Government

already strongly supports the development of prevention measures and treatments for age‐

related diseases. Due to the high Japanese standard of living, which is on a similar level to that in

Germany, Scandinavia, and the USA15, health expenditure in Japan is also increasing rapidly.

According to the Ministry of Health (MHLW), Japan spent approximately ¥ 36.6 billion in 2010 for

the health of its citizens. In the same year, the Japanese drug market, including diagnostics, had

a volume of ¥ 8.951 billion, with imports being ¥ 2.316 billion and representing a share of nearly

26 %. In the last decade, these import figures increased moderately but continuously16. Japan is

currently on a similar level as Germany with regards to economic strength and technological

development17.

In Japan, around 500 companies produce drugs regarded as reimbursable by the national health

insurance18. The most successful therapeutics on the Japanese market are cardiovascular drugs,

but also new cancer treatments are currently in the approval process. A large increase can be

observed in biotechnologically produced antibodies and in low‐molecular target molecules. The

entire expanding health sector offers many opportunities, for example the highly competitive

market for diagnostic imaging, but also the generics sector, OTC drugs and health management

are areas with promising opportunities. Innovative drugs and medical products such as

biopharmaceuticals and nanomedicine are also in the focus of Japanese R&D activities. The

Japanese government defined their commitment to support biotechnology in form of a national

13 Deloitte, 2015 life sciences outlook Japan 14 World Population Prospects: the 2015 Revision, United Nations, Economic & Social Affairs 15 The Boston Consulting Group, Wohlstand und Lebensqualität – Deutschland im internationalen Vergleich, 2013 16 Chancen für innovative deutsche Unternehmen – der japanische Markt für In‐vitro‐Diagnostika, JETRO Berlin und DMB‐Consult, JETRO

Informationen Juli/August 2012 17 The Boston Consulting Group, Wohlstand und Lebensqualität – Deutschland im internationalen Vergleich, 2013 18 Biotechnologie in Japan, Dechema 2010


strategy19 and assigns the highest priority to this sector, along with information technology. The

Japanese market is meant to turn into an attractive place for global companies to compete, do

research, produce and sell, irrespective of whether being funded by foreign or national capital.

Top Pharma Japan (www.pmlive.com)

1 Takeda 6 Teijin 11 Taisho

2 Otsuka 7 Eisai 12 Shionogi

3 Meiji 8 Chugai 13 Hisamitsu

4 Astellas 9 Mitsubishi Tanabe 14 Santen

5 Daiichi Sankyo 10 Kyowa Hakko Kirin 15 Ono

Based on the fact that more and more patents of blockbuster drugs expire in the coming years

and the government provides R&D grants, the Japanese pharma industry strengthens its R&D

activities cooperating with innovative foreign companies and they show an active interest in joint

projects and licensing deals. The strong Japanese life science market generally opens up more

and more and is becoming increasingly attractive for European biopharmaceutical companies. In

addition, Japan offers foreign R&D partners support in the drug approval process of therapeutics.

Central European life science SMEs with their innovative products and technical services are

regarded highly in Japan and they have a high chance of entering the Japanese market successfully.

In 2009, the Japan Pharmacogenomics (PGx) Data Science Consortium (JPDSC) was launched by

six Japanese pharmaceutical corporations: Astellas Pharma, Otsuka Pharmaceutical, Daiichi

Sankyo, Taisho Pharmaceutical, Takeda Pharmaceutical, and Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma. The

consortium aims to ensure drug safety for the Japanese population by using a genomics approach.

They work on efficiently exploring the causal genes of adverse reactions and linking them to

medical treatments targeting an individual’s genetic composition. In 2012, the JPDSC completed

a standard DNA database for the Japanese population for use during drug R&D and post‐

marketing safety assessments.

With FIRM, the Forum for Innovative Regenerative Medicine, Japan has a large network dedicated

to this important field of healthcare. FIRM reaches out to around 200 member companies and its

19 New vision for the pharmaceutical industry, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Japan, 2007


activities include projects and advice on commercialization strategies for regenerative medicine,

also in an international context. The forum carries out exchanges and cooperations with players

in its field, both in Japan and oversees. FIRM also conducts surveys and produces reports, they

organize workshops and give lectures.

Japan’s largest health‐related industry alliance is JBA, Japan Bioindustry Association. The non‐

profit organization established in 1987 and has a membership of 200 corporations, 100 public

organizations and 800 individuals from universities, making JBA a unique forum for exchanges

related to bioscience and industry. JBA reaches into various sectors, including pharmaceutical and

medical supplies, food and cosmetics, as well as chemicals, information, machinery, construction

and energy and natural resources.

5. Life science research and clinical development in Japan

Also on the scientific level, Japan can keep up with the USA and Europe. In the pharmaceutical

science sector, Japan is the most advanced and lively center of iPS research worldwide. Stem cell

researcher Prof. Shinya Yamanaka, Director of the Center for iPS Cell Research (CiRA) at Kyoto

University, received 2012 the Nobel Prize in Medicine for his discovery that mature cells can be

transformed into stem cells, i.e. iPS. Also, the first clinical study with iPS‐based cell cultures were

carried out 2014 at the RIKEN institute in Kobe. RIKEN is Japan’s largest scientific institution,

globally renowned for its high‐quality research in a large variety of disciplines. Two nobel prizes

of physics came out of this institution, and the RIKEN Genomic Sciences Center in Yokohama was


one of 16 institutes, which founded the Human Genome Sequencing Consortium. With 192

persons, the largest number of international scientists at RIKEN are coming from Europe20.

Japanese clinical institutions and scientific organizations possess a strong innovation power,

unique know‐how and a significant proportion of the global IP in the iPS sector. As a leading

innovation region (measured by its number of filed patents), Japan has a very good position

compared to other countries, being worldwide number two, behind the USA and ahead of

Europe21. As an example, 46 % of all patents in sugar chain technologies come from Japan.

Japan’s universities, esp. Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto, play an important international role in the life

science sector. With the National University Corporation Law 2004, Japanese national universities

started a crucial reformation. Aim was to transform universities into self‐administering national

university corporations (NUCs) and to strengthen their independence and administration‐

autonomy. This was followed by a strong financial support through MEXT and other (semi‐)public

ministries and organizations to further patent filing and the transfer of technologies from

universities into industry. Also in 2004, the Association of University Intellectual Property and

Technology Management (UNITT) was founded to bundle all national technology transfer offices.

Based on their similar solid scientific values and generally very high‐quality standards, Japan

offers Europe opportunities to learn from each other and to cooperate on eye‐level, especially in

the fields of cell and immune therapies, hematologic diseases and oncology. In addition, entering

the challenging Japanese market can only be successful if carried out with the help of Japanese

partners and if based on joint R&D, focusing on the specific national needs and regulations. The

mutual interest is also driven by the already mentioned strong incentive of Japanese pharma

companies to accelerate their biomedical R&D with the help of innovative small and medium sized

European companies. Supportively, a reformation and simplification of licensing drugs could be

20 www.riken.jp 21 JETRO/espicom: The World Pharmaceutical Markets Fact Book 2012


observed in recent years, especially concerning approval procedures for pharmaceuticals and

filing of patents. A „First‐Application‐System“, like the one in Europe, is now being used.

Opportunities for European companies might be provided by the Japanese sequencing database22,

a national initiative, which collects nucleotide sequence data and makes this freely available on a

“supercomputer system” to support research activities in life science. Also worth mentioning is

the „National BioResource Project (NBRT)“23 as a governmental research support program started

in 2002. It aims at the systematic generation, conservation and provision of strategically valuable

bio‐resources, including laboratory animals, embryonic human stem cells and genetic material. It

strives to become the largest bank of biogenetic resources worldwide.

In the context of personalized medicine, the BioBank Japan (BBJ) Project was launched in 2003

with the aim of providing evidence for the implementation of personalized medicine by

constructing a large, patient‐based biobank. The BBJ is a registry of patients diagnosed with any

of approximately 50 common diseases. Patients are enrolled at cooperative medical institutes all

over Japan and clinical information is collected annually. During the first 5‐year period, 200,000

participants were registered in the study (average age at entry was 62 years). The BBJ Project has

constructed the infrastructure for genomic research for various common diseases. This clinical

information, coupled with genomic data, can provide important clues for the implementation of

personalized medicine.

The most recent biobank project was started in 2011 at Tohoku University. The Tohoku Medical

Megabank Organization will develop a biobank that combines medical and genome information

during the process of rebuilding the community medical system after the great eastern Japan

earthquake and supporting health and welfare in the affected Tohoku area. The information from

the biobank will create a new medical system and aims to promote industry‐academic

partnerships with Tohoku.

Japanese hospitals generally have very modern technical equipment, but only few keep their own

laboratories. This is why diagnostics are usually outsourced to large commercial laboratories,

offering attractive business options also to international service providers. As an example, with

9 % in 2013, the Japanese IVD‐market was the third largest globally, closely following the USA and

Europe24, attracting numerous global companies.

22 http://www.ddbj.nig.ac.jp/intro‐e.html 23 http://www.nbrp.jp/ 24 The Worldwide Market for In Vitro Diagnostic (IVD) Tests, 9th Edition, Kalorama Information, 2014


6. Life Science Clusters in Japan

According to the Industrial Cluster Program from 2010, the Japanese Government defined 18

industry and science clusters (map: http://www.dbj.go.jp/english/index.html):

Several Japanese regions focus on life sciences. JETRO recently published a comprehensive map

listing regional cluster information in this sector

(https://www.jetro.go.jp/ext_images/en/invest/region/icinfo/pdf/cluster_life_en_2017.pdf):


Although a large number of Japanese regions are dedicated to life sciences, only a few cluster

organizations are open for international cooperations and act as a link to their networks. In the

following, a selection of globally acting Japanese clusters is outlined in more detail.

Most pharma companies have their headquarters In Tokyo, the political center of Japan. However,

there is no regional cluster organization serving as a contact point for international business

partners in the Tokyo area. The Japan Bioindustry Association (JBA; http://www.jba.or.jp/pc/en/)

is based in Tokyo, however, it is not serving as a cluster but as a membership industry organization,

focusing on connecting Japanese life science companies and making them visible worldwide, e.g.

through organizing the Bio Japan international convention in Yokohama every year.

A new cluster is emerging in the Tonomachi area of the Keihin Industrial Region, which spans

Tokyo and Kanagawa Prefecture and Tokyo International Airport (often referred to as Haneda

Airport): KING SKYFRONT (http://inewsletter‐king‐skyfront.jp/en/about). This regional network

organization covers a 40 hectare industrial area in Kawasaki and launched in 2013 as a base for

scholars, industrialists and government administrators to work together to devise real life

solutions to global issues in the life sciences and environment. Kawasaki City created this flagship

science and technology innovation hub with the aim to attract the world’s leading corporations

and laboratories in the areas of health, medicine, welfare and environment, offering various

privileges to those (co)operating at Kawasaki KING SKYFRONT.

The second most important life science hot spot after Tokyo is Kansai, located in the southern

center of Japan, which encompasses the urban regions of Osaka, Kobe and Kyoto.

Established in 1998, Kobe Biomedical Innovation Cluster (KBIC; https://www.kobe‐lsc.jp/en/) is

the largest biomedical cluster in Japan. The cluster forms an integrated system for everything

from basic research to clinical applications (translational research) and industrialization. Since the

heavy earthquake in 1995, which destroyed nearly all of the traditional industry (steel,

shipbuilding), large sums of reconstruction aid went to Kobe, coming mainly from the government.

The original industry did not get rebuilt, instead, a life science center was created. Thus, a variety

of mainly public research institutes can be found there. Today, more than 130 organizations exist

in Kobe, including research institutes, pharma companies and biotech start‐ups, supported by

substantial governmental grants. The thematic foci of the region are cell therapy, regenerative

medicine and tissue/cell research. Kobe is not only an industry cluster, but rather a scientific hub

with strong governmental support.

Osaka is also part of the Kansai region with a long pharmaceutical history and many large pharma

companies have a branch or science centre in Osaka. It is a hub also for medical device

manufacturers and renowned research institutes. Osaka Bio Headquarters, financed by Osaka

Prefecture, act as the regional cluster organization. They have established a partnering event in


Osaka in October, where international biotech, pharma and related companies have the

opportunity to meet key players in the center of Japan before attending the national conference

in Yokohama. Established in May 2009, the Protein Mall Kansai (PMK) (http://protein‐mall.osaka‐

bio.jp/) is Japan's largest assembly of protein‐related research institutes and companies,

organized by Osaka Bio Headquarters (http://www.osaka‐bio.jp/en/) and the Senri Life Science

Foundation (http://www.senri‐life.or.jp/).

Another Kansai region, Kyoto, focusses on the industrialization of regenerative medicine with a

strong interest in translating research findings into clinical applications. The universities of Osaka

and Kyoto play an important international role, lately also due to the groundbreaking stem cell

research driven by nobel prize winner Prof. Yamanaka, Director of the Center for iPS Cell Research

(CiRA) at Kyoto University.

There are further interesting life science hubs in Japan, such as Fukuoka and Kanagawa. They are

of smaller size, not as well connected to the national and global large industry, and they have less

access to governmental subsidies.

7. Market entry, sales and cooperation support

There are several programs, organizations and support tools that help European companies

(mainly SMEs) to enter the Japanese market and to find a suitable cooperation partner.

‐ Trade & Invest Agencies (based in the European home country): joint booths at Japanese trade

shows including access to online partnering systems (e.g. BioJapan, BioPh Japan, Osaka

Partnering Event); trade missions and political delegations to Japan

‐ National Chambers of Commerce (based in the European home country): market entry support,

e.g. soft landing, market studies, comprehensive services for trade shows or individual road

shows; initiating business contacts and matchmaking services

‐ Representation offices of the European home country based in Japan: mother‐language

speaking point of contact embedded in the target country Japan; market entry and sales

support; legal, regulatory and financial support information; initiating business contacts and

matchmaking services

‐ Life Science Cluster Organizations (based in the European home region): trade missions and

partnering events in Japan in cooperation with Japanese clusters or industry partners;

internationalization training and support tools e.g. through European‐funded projects

‐ National biotech or pharma associations (based in the European home country): trade

missions and delegation visits to Japan; webinars; market information

‐ International conferences outside Japan: B2B partnering, e.g. at BIO International Convention,

BIO‐Europe, BIO‐Europe Spring, Medica, where many Japanese companies are present


‐ JETRO (Japan External Trade Organization) / Invest in Japan: initiating business contacts and

matchmaking services; market information; training; support to set up a business in Japan;

soft landing services

‐ EU‐Japan Centre (partner of EEN, Enterprise Europe Network): CEO training; HR support; trade

missions and conference support; partnering events; soft landing services; market entry and

matchmaking support

‐ National Europe‐Japan industry associations (based in the European home country):

information platform; networking; market studies; individual contacts; seminars; visits

‐ Steinbeis Japan: network of consultants for business matchmaking, R&D partner identification

and market entry; training; market reports; product evaluation

‐ National consultants (based in the European home country): market studies; matchmaking

and identification of business partners; support at conferences and road shows; various

services

‐ Large Japanese Intermediaries: large cooperations with a dense network in the Japanese

pharmaceutical industry offering various marketing, licensing and drug discovery research

collaboration support services (e.g. Summit Pharmaceuticals International, CMIC Holdings)

‐ Japanese import trading companies and distributors: storage facilities; sales agents, market

entry services; marketing (e.g. BiZCoM, CosmoBio, Nippon Genetics; Funakoshi)

8. Language and business culture tips for Japan

A comprehensive database of business culture facts focusing on the life science sector was

produced within the eLSi project (www.eLSi‐project.eu). eLSi was a European "Transfer of

Innovation" project, financially supported by the European Commission within the Leonardo da

Vinci programme, and results were transferred to the bioXclusters plus project.

eLSi provides free materials and learning units concerning the health life science industry and

business culture in eight non‐European target regions including Japan.

The following topics are covered:

1.) Current status of the life science industry

a) The pharma, biotech, medtech and healthcare industry (overview, opportunities and

regulatory affairs

b) Intellectual Property and Patent Protection

2.) Life Science business culture and negotiation process

3.) Business etiquette ‐ Do's & Dont's


4.) Starting your business in the target region

5.) Language: useful words and phrases

Materials provided are interviews and presentations from industry experts, insight reports,

weblinks, life science cluster maps, legal guidelines and information about further reading.

Language tips for Japan:

‐ Main language spoken: Japanese

‐ Regional languages: various dialects

‐ General usage of English in business: Limited

‐ Ability to interact in English only ‐ Capital city: Limited

‐ Ability to interact in English only – Provinces: None

‐ Currency: JPY = Japanese Yen (primary unit = Yen)

‐ Local Officials speak English: Limited

‐ Interpreters: Yes ‐ or bilingual staff

‐ Business card in local language: Yes

‐ Company information in local language: Yes

‐ Co website with a local language page: Yes

‐ Links to website in local language: Yes

Basic language skills can be acquired through the materials provided by Easyspeak (http://rln‐

uk.com/wp/index.php/experience/easy‐speak/). This EU‐funded project offers a simple way of

starting to learn core words and phrases of a language for business use in the biotech sector. The

site is totally free to use, available to everyone and allows to learn basic words and phrases in

many European and non‐European languages, including Japanese.

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