Japanese startup uses AI to cross trade barriers
Why it matters: If it works, it's a potential model for small businesses and creators around the world to access the U.S. market at a time of growing obstacles to international commerce.
Catch up quick: Monoya launched in late 2024 as a wholesaler of the work of Japanese artisans to the international home goods market.
Many of these artisans don't speak English, don't sell internationally and don't have a commercial infrastructure.
Yu Shimada, a former McKinsey consultant born in Japan and raised in New York, launched Monoya to bridge that gap. The company is backed by WAY Equity Partners, which invests in Japanese tech startups.
More than 90% of what it sells, Shimada says, isn't available in the U.S. market otherwise.
Driving the news: On Tuesday Monoya is taking the wraps off Monoya Connect, an AI sourcing platform to more directly connect sellers and buyers.
"The domestic market is shrinking, the one critical strategy we need to do is go outside of the country," Shimada told Axios.
The tool will provide a range of translation and design data services to more directly connect artisans and international vendors.
The intrigue: Shimada acknowledges AI is not perfect for all uses cases yet, — but the goal isn't to promote an AI platform, it's to use the technology as a tool.
"Having them understand this AI concept is not something I'm doing. I'm having them understand that with this tool it's going to solve their problems in a way, and we're using this thing called AI," he said.
Between the lines: Monoya is launching its new platform at a fraught time for global commerce, with the U.S. effectively charging the highest tariff rates in almost a century.
Shimada's argument is that a possible tariff isn't the biggest problem his sellers face — it's shipping, with rates rising around the world.
The bottom line: Even with rising trade pressures, Shimada said Japanese artisans can still be a solution for big U.S. brands.
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Time Business News
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After all, digitization isn't necessarily a major factor in voter turnout in elections. 'Why do I want to become part of the digital world if I don't need to?' was how he summed it up. A hanko is stamped on a banking document in an arranged photograph taken in Tokyo, Japan A global pandemic was ultimately necessary to bring about change. Japan's technological gap became evident as national and local authorities became overwhelmed, without the digital tools to streamline their processes. Japan's health ministry launched an online portal for hospitals to report cases instead of handwritten faxes, phone calls, or emails in May 2020, months after the virus began to spread worldwide. And even then, hiccups persisted. Public broadcaster NHK reported that a contact tracing app had a system error that lasted for months but didn't let people know they might be exposed. 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According to Coopersmith, a 'combination of fear and opportunity' led to the birth of the Digital Agency, a division tasked with bringing Japan up to speed. Created in 2021, it launched a series of initiatives including rolling out a smart version of Japan's social security card and pushing for more cloud-based infrastructure. Last July, the Digital Agency finally declared victory in its 'war on floppy disks,' eliminating the disks across all government systems – a mammoth effort that required scrapping more than 1,000 regulations governing their use. But there were growing pains, too. Local media reported that the government once asked the public for their thoughts on the metaverse through a complicated process that required downloading an Excel spreadsheet, entering your information, and sending the document back to the ministry via email. 'The (ministry) will respond properly using an (online) form from now on,' wrote then-Digital Minister Taro Kono on Twitter following the move's social media backlash. Digitization as 'a way to survive' According to Kawai, businesses rushed to follow the government's lead, hiring consultants and contractors to assist in system overhauls. Consultant Masahiro Goto is one example. He has assisted large Japanese companies in all sectors in adapting to the digital world as part of the digital transformation team at the Nomura Research Institute (NRI), designing new business models and implementing new internal systems. He stated to CNN that these clients frequently 'are eager to move forward, but they're unsure how to go about it.' 'Many are still using old systems that require a lot of maintenance, or systems that are approaching end-of-service life. In many cases, that's when they reach out to us for help.' According to Goto, the number of businesses seeking the services of NRI consultants 'has definitely been rising year by year,' particularly over the past five years. As a result, the NRI consultants are in high demand. And for good reason: for years, Japanese companies outsourced their IT needs, meaning they now lack the in-house skills to fully digitize. A sign for cashless payments outside a shop in the trendy Omotesando district of Tokyo. He stated, 'Fundamentally, they want to improve the efficiency of their operations, and I believe they want to actively adopt digital technologies as a means of survival.' 'In the end, Japan's population will continue to fall, so increasing productivity is essential.' According to local media, the Digital Agency's plan to eliminate fax machines within the government received 400 formal objections from various ministries in 2021. There may be resistance in certain pockets. Things like the hanko seal – which are rooted in tradition and custom, and which some parents gift to their children when they come of age – may be harder to phase out given their cultural significance. According to Kawai, the rate of progress is also influenced by the Digital Agency's willingness to push for regulatory reform and the degree to which lawmakers will give digitization top priority when creating future budgets. Additionally, new technologies are advancing rapidly in other regions of the world, and Japan is playing catch-up with shifting targets. Coopersmith stated, 'This is going to be an ongoing challenge because the digital technologies of 2025 will be different from those of 2030, 2035.' But experts are optimistic. Kawai projects that Japan could catch up to some Western peers in five to ten years at this rate. Finally, there is a public demand for it, as more and more businesses are offering new online services and accepting cashless payments. 'People are generally eager to digitize for sure,' said Kawai. 'I'm sure that young people, or the general public, prefer to digitize as fast as possible.' Blogger Profile: Name: Usama Arshad Website link: TIME BUSINESS NEWS
