Catherine O’Connell & Jayne Nakata – Award-Winning Podcasting Team Demystifying Japan

In this pod I talk to an amazing Japan-based duo – businesswomen Catherine O’Connell & Jayne Nakata. Catherine & Jayne, among many other things, co-host the award-winning Jandals in Japan podcast, helping demystify Japan for Kiwi companies interested in breaking in to this amazing country.

Jayne and Catherine share their experiences of arriving separately in Japan over 20 years ago, both thinking they’d only be away for a year or two but finding themselves still hooked to their adopted country over two decades later. We discuss their different but also connected lives. Jayne being rurally-based with her family in Fukushima Prefecture which in 2011 suffered a triple catastrophe of earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster. Jayne dispels some of the prevailing myths about Fukushima and shares why she chose to stay. Tokyo-based Catherine has forged a hugely successful corporate and governance career, including being the first non-Japanese woman to serve on the Boards of Toyota and Fujitsu. She is the founder and principal of the first foreign-female-founded boutique law firm in Japan and is a serial award winner, taking out Entrepreneur of the Year, Foreign Lawyer of the Year, and Boutique Law Firm of the Year.

During the pod we explore themes including resiliency, the importance of story-telling in Japan, Jayne & Catherine’s careers, lessons for Kiwi businesses considering entering this market, some of the more egregious errors they’ve seen businesses make when trying to break into Japan, and how to avoid them. We also touch on misconceptions New Zealanders have of Japan and, conversely, misconceptions Japanese have about New Zealand.

Both Jayne and Catherine see many opportunities for New Zealanders to further strengthen our country’s relationship with Japan, are keen to help, and are generous in sharing invaluable insights for anyone interested in their adopted homeland.

A huge thank you to both Jandals for taking time out to talk with me on Kiwi Flees.

Please also check out the Jandals in Japan pod wherever you get your favourite podcasts or at jandalsinjapan.com.