TOKYO, May 24, 2026 – Japan’s small and medium enterprise (SME) sector, long regarded as the backbone of the country’s economy, is facing an unprecedented succession crisis as ageing business owners retire without clear successors, creating both economic risks and emerging opportunities for global investors.
According to Mika Fukutomi, founder and CEO of Akamira Inc., the challenge is no longer theoretical. It is already reshaping Japan’s private markets and business landscape.
Speaking to Asia Insights, the video interview series by AsiaBizToday.com, Fukutomi said that while SMEs account for approximately 99 per cent of Japanese companies, many viable businesses are now closing simply because owners are ageing and lack succession pathways.
“Some statistics say around 1.27 million SMEs have owners who are over 70 years of age and they don’t have successors yet,” she said. “Every day we have viable businesses closing because of lack of successors.”
Building Infrastructure for Japan’s Private SME Market
Fukutomi, who has a background in international finance and law, launched Akamira to bridge the gap between Japanese SMEs seeking succession solutions and global capital looking for access to Japan’s private markets.
She argues that contrary to common assumptions, Japan’s SME succession issue is not fundamentally a capital shortage problem.
“It’s not really a capital problem, but more of an access and infrastructure problem,” she said.
“There’s plenty of capital and interest in Japan, but from the global investor’s perspective, it is still difficult to identify Japanese SMEs that are looking for successors.”
Japan’s private SME market remains significantly less transparent than its listed corporate sector, particularly for overseas investors navigating language barriers, fragmented information and limited discoverability.
To address this, Akamira has developed a searchable database platform, Akamira.ai, designed to make Japanese SMEs more visible and accessible to global investors through filtering tools, sector searches, financial metrics and geographic categorisation.
Fukutomi said the platform allows investors to filter companies by revenue, EBITDA, asking price, employee size, sector and business age, helping streamline discovery and due diligence processes.
“Through search boxes and filtering, one can look for certain sectors, certain geographic areas, and also filter by financial metrics,” she explained.
Beyond technology and discovery, however, she noted that operational continuity and cultural alignment remain critical considerations for cross-border acquisitions involving Japanese SMEs.
“In many cases, SMEs have very solid senior management and it’s just the owner who wants to retire,” she said.
“But cultural fit is very important. Is the new buyer interested in preserving what’s good within the SME, or are they just trying to dismantle it?”
Changing Mindsets Around Entrepreneurship in Japan
Alongside Akamira, Fukutomi also runs INV Japan, an education-focused initiative aimed at helping international investors better understand Japan’s private markets and avoid superficial investment narratives.
She pointed to the “Akiya” phenomenon, abandoned homes in Japan often marketed aggressively to foreign buyers, as an example of how incomplete narratives can distort investor expectations.
“People tend to jump on the bandwagon without really considering all the factors,” she said, noting that many such properties are located in unsuitable areas or require extensive demolition and rebuilding.
Fukutomi believes Japan is now entering a broader generational and entrepreneurial transition, where younger professionals are beginning to look beyond traditional corporate career paths.
“Traditionally, Japanese people wanted to join large corporations and climb the corporate ladder,” she said. “But now light is being shed on the startup world and people recognise there are multiple paths.”
Despite structural barriers, she remains optimistic about the future of Japan’s innovation and investment ecosystem. “There are structural barriers, but with many like-minded people, you can chip away at these barriers,” she said.
As Japan grapples with demographic shifts, succession gaps and changing investment dynamics, platforms such as Akamira could increasingly play a role in connecting global capital with one of the world’s largest untapped private business ecosystems.