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Japanese Explores Start-ups in SEA, Gives Singapore and Malaysia a +1

Yuki Naruse (above) is an adventuresome young man from Japan who set aside one year to travel and meet start-up founders across the world.

I first met him in person in Singapore, where we got to know each other a little. I decided to invite him along with me to Bangalore, India last week. I’m glad he took the bait. India was more colorful with him around, as he was frequently tweeting updates or jotting down memos in his black notebook. His presence in Bangalore kinda made the TechSpark event feel a little more international too — a good mix of Westerners, Japanese, Chinese, and friendly local Indians. Prior to India, Yuki also had the chance to travel to several other countries in Southeast Asia, including Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore.

While we were exploring India together, I didn’t have much time to pick his brain as my schedule was maxed out with meetings. It was only in the cab, while on the long journey to the Bengaluru airport, that I finally got a chance to really speak to Yuki. It was interesting to learn how Yuki sees and interprets things through the Japanese lens. Singapore

From what I have gathered, Yuki is enjoying Southeast Asian culture, especially Singapore. He told me that Singapore (yes – my country!) is orderly, safe, and connected — a good place to start a business. He says the tech start-up community is very connected, as a family might be. “Everyone I meet seems to know everyone who I’m about to meet or have met,” he remarked. During his stay in Singapore, Yuki met up with Chalkboard’s Bernard Leong, Plug & Play’s Wayne Soh, and also took a tour of the Singapore Management University (SMU) start-up incubator. Yuki also likes how the Singapore government is fostering entrepreneurship in the country by giving grants to help shoulder part of the risk for budding entrepreneurs. “You will not get such privilege in Japan. Singaporeans are very lucky,” he said. Malaysia

So, Singapore gets a +1 from Yuki, and Malaysia gets one too. He visited for the recent Barcamp at Kuala Lumpur and was very impressed by the geeky enthusiasm he received from locals. He explained that this particular Barcamp saw different folks across Southeast Asia get together to exchange ideas. Besides tech, Yuki also noted that there are other simple but interesting money-making opportunities in the country. For example, he met a fellow Japanese who is selling second-hand factory-line machinery in Malaysia. Such used-and-abused machines are treated as junk in Japan, but Yuki found that they are worth a lot in Malaysia. “Besides the boom in tech start-ups, I see many opportunities in which entrepreneurs can make money in the region. Second hand machinery is one but I’m sure there are more of such opportunities,” he said. Yuki didn’t want to comment much on India and Indonesia yet as he felt he hasn’t spent enough time in both countries. But trust me, his first impression on both countries was definitely positive. Yuki will be traveling back to Bangalore (for two months) and then on to Indonesia to catch up with what he had missed in these countries. As our cab approached the airport, Yuki quickly wrapped up his thoughts: "Once I’m back [in Japan] I plan to share my experience with students in Tokyo. With my experience, I also wish to help Japanese companies to expand their operations beyond Japan. On top of that, I have a dream to establish a global start-up, focusing either on tech, commodities trading, or both."

I really admire his drive and vision. Good luck, Yukimaru (his nickname, inspired by the popular manga Naruto).