A History of Japanese Venture Businesses

Abstract

In the first quarter century after World War II, small- and medium-sized businesses were discussed in Japan with no relation to discussions about startups in other countries. For some time after the war, a two-tiered structure theory with a pessimistic approach toward small- and medium-sized businesses was at the fore, and later discussions of medium-sized companies never really focused on startups. However, from the 1970s, with the influence of the U.S., the Japanese-English term “venture businesses” began to take off. Venture capital began to be provided to startups, and these businesses came to be discussed with great expectations.