Japan’s New Appetite for Risk Lures Venture Investors to Tokyo

Just south of the vast Imperial Palace in downtown Tokyo lies the Kasumigaseki district, with blocks of offices constructed mostly during the last century when the country rose as one of the world’s largest economic powers after World War II. Much of the Japanese government does its work here: A walk through this neighborhood of concrete and steel presents a slideshow of the numerous ministries and agencies that comprise the executive branch and occupy many of the buildings.

Kasumigaseki loosely translates as “gateway with a misty view,” an appropriate metaphor for Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s bold plan to dissolve the persistent clouds that hover above Japan’s economy. Even though the country’s stock market has soared to record highs this year, Japan only narrowly avoided falling into a recession at the end of last year. Kishida hopes to achieve an enduring revival, and he has attached part of his ambitions to the scores of U.S. venture capitalists that have been through Tokyo in the last year or so, including executives from Andreessen Horowitz, Khosla Ventures and New Enterprise Associates, among many others.