PLAY PODCASTS
The father of Japanese capitalism warned us this would happen

The father of Japanese capitalism warned us this would happen

Unpacking Japan · Produced by ZenStudio

February 24, 20261h 11m

Audio is streamed directly from the publisher (anchor.fm) as published in their RSS feed. Play Podcasts does not host this file. Rights-holders can request removal through the copyright & takedown page.

Show Notes

Meet Ken Shibusawa, an economist and great-grandson of Eiichi Shibusawa, the father of Japanese capitalism. He sits down to talk to us about moving to Japan to rediscover his roots, discovering his great-grandfather's writings, and his own finance career in social entrepreneurship and connecting Japan to Africa.


--

0:00 Intro

0:46 Meet Ken

3:30 Moving to Japan

9:06 Starting a finance career in the bubble era

14:35 Finance philosophy in Japan vs. the US

19:17 Discovering Eiichi Shibusawa's writings

25:36 Starting an investment advisory firm

35:51 Focus on social entrepreneurship

38:56 Funding African startups

45:08 Connecting Japan and Africa

51:41 Challenges seeking investment for Africa

55:18 Change in industry over time

58:52 Hope for the younger generation

1:03:30 What Ken wants to leave behind

1:04:51 Japan is in a new era

1:07:24 Japan needs another Meiji Restoration


--

Follow Ken:

https://www.shibusawa-co.jp/

https://x.com/shib30

https://www.instagram.com/kenshibusawa/


Follow us:

https://unpacking.jp/

https://www.instagram.com/unpacking_japan

https://www.tiktok.com/@unpackingjapan

https://www.facebook.com/unpackingjapan

https://www.youtube.com/@unpackingjapanshorts

https://www.x.com/unpacking_japan

https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/unpackingjapan


Subscribe for more in-depth discussions about life in Japan!

Interested in working at a global e-commerce company in Osaka? Our parent company ZenGroup is hiring! To learn more, check out https://careers.zen.group/en/