Everything we thing we know about design is changing. This transformation is further advanced in America, but the seeds have already been planted in Japan and the changes are now starting to take root.

Brandon Hill explains how design, rather than more traditional analytical methods, is the ideal prism from which to view potential solutions to business problems. Not just the best approach to improving products, mind you, but also the best way to improve business processes and even to better engage employees.

We talk about the core differences between the American and Japanese approach to design, and explore some of the reasons behind Japan's famous fondness for cute characters and busy, colorful layout.

Brandon and btrax are also the driving force behind Japan Night, one of the oldest and most successful Japan startup events. Over the last eight years, Japan Night has done a lot to improve improve the level of awareness and collaboration between Japanese and Silicon Valley startups.

Brandon also shares his plans for his latest project to improve the way Japanese and American programmers and designers work together.

Show Notes for Startups

The core differences between modern Japanese and Western design.
What is the reasons behind Japan's unique design style
How the concept of design is changing to be more inclusive
Why Design Thinking is still rare in Japan, and why it will change
The reason Japanese like cute characters in marketing
The most common mistake companies make with their market entry
The birth (and the future) of Japan Night
The internationalization of Japanese startups
The btrax internship program and open innovation space
The most important startup trend in Japan

Links from the Founder

btrax Home Page
btrax Design and marketing blog blog
Follow Brandon on Twitter @brandonkhill
Friend him on Facebook
Japan Night
D.Haus - Co-Design Workplace in SF

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Transcript from Japan
Welcome to Disrupting Japan, straight talk from Japans most successful entrepreneurs. I am Tim Romero and thanks for joining me. Today I’d like to introduce you to my good friend Brandon Hill of Btrax and we’re going to be talking about Design with a capital “D”. So what’s the difference Design with a capital D and design with a lower case “d” well Brandon and I will get into that in just a few minutes.

Now I’ve been wanting to have Brandon on the show for a while now but the two of us just never seem to being the same city at the same time. You see Brandon grew up in Hokkaido and after high school he moved to San Francisco to study music and later design. He started Btrax at the pit of the depression after the .com bubble burst and has spent most of his time and effort since then trying to bridge the gap between Japan, the country in which he was born and America, the country in which he lives.

Now over the years Brandon and Btrax have been a real force for good in getting western and Japanese startups to know about each other and to work together. In fact this year will be the 8th annual Japan night, a great pitch event Brandon started in order to introduce some of the best Japanese startups to US investors and the US market. We also talk about some of the most important trends in Japanese startups today and a few very interesting projects he has up his sleeve, but I will let Brandon tell you all about that himself. So let’s get right to the interview.

[Interview Start]

Tim:                So I am sitting here with Brandon Hill CEO of Btrax,