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Three-track pay: set grade, allowance and bonus separately

info@nobusato.jp (Nobu Sato) — Sat, 24 Oct 2026 15:52:01 GMT

Take a strong engineer the company wants to lead a team. He doesn't really want to manage. But if he doesn't, his pay won't go up.

Does this person fit? Veto, weakest layer, five levels

info@nobusato.jp (Nobu Sato) — Sat, 24 Oct 2026 15:51:01 GMT

A weighted average is the wrong way to score a candidate.

Four layers: one ruler for people and organizations

info@nobusato.jp (Nobu Sato) — Sat, 24 Oct 2026 15:50:01 GMT

I've seen too many people with great skills leave after six months. I've also seen people with ordinary skills get better and better once they were in the right seat. The difference wasn't in the skills.

The two maps: who competes for your customers and people

info@nobusato.jp (Nobu Sato) — Sat, 24 Oct 2026 15:49:01 GMT

Start a competitor study by drawing how money flows.

Ground rules: where facts come from and who decides

info@nobusato.jp (Nobu Sato) — Sat, 24 Oct 2026 15:48:01 GMT

The places where you're most likely to guess are the ones you feel surest about.

No guessing: how I read markets, people and organizations

info@nobusato.jp (Nobu Sato) — Sat, 24 Oct 2026 15:47:01 GMT

Most companies entering Japan start by hiring someone. I think that's usually the wrong first move.

A joint venture with a Japanese partner: shortcut or detour?

info@nobusato.jp (Nobu Sato) — Sat, 24 Oct 2026 13:36:35 GMT

In 2026 three Chinese companies entered Japan's car and robot markets three different ways. BYD set up its own entity under its own sign, with stores funded and run by local dealers. Chery, Gotion and Yueda invested alongside two Japanese companies, Autobacs Seven and Anest Iwata, to found EMT in Yokohama in 2025. The EMTA brand was announced in May 2026. The first kei EV comes in 2027, designed in Japan, built in China and sold through Autobacs stores. UBTech signed an exclusive distribution agreement in October 2026 with a Tokyo-listed company for six humanoid and service robots, exclusive for 36 months from the moment the first model clears Japanese certification.

Each of these roads has worked for someone. Each has also been a dead end for someone else. I'm not going to grade the three choices. What I want to lay out is what to look at when you make yours.

Why Chinese tea brands crowd into Korea and not Japan

info@nobusato.jp (Nobu Sato) — Sat, 24 Oct 2026 13:35:35 GMT

Chinese companies in Japan · Seven public cases, taken apart for the moves, not to grade the companies.

BYD built a car only for Japan
The subsidy wall: the rules are not written for you
BYD's mini stores: another way to build a sales network in Japan
Xiaomi's Japan stores are catching up with Apple's. Why the first one was in Saitama
Open the repair center before you scale
Chagee isn't in Japan yet. Osaka already has a shop that looks a lot like it
Why Chinese tea brands crowd into Korea and not Japan

Chinese tea brands keep piling into Seoul and keep stumbling in Japan. Demand has little to do with it. In Japan they are up against a different rival and a cost structure that only works at scale. Look at Seoul first. In May 2026 Chagee opened five stores there within a week, all in core commercial districts, and the Gangnam flagship's fit-out reportedly ran to several hundred million won. Before that, Mixue entered Seoul in 2022 and has a dozen-plus stores near universities. Chabaidao came in February 2024 and reached 18 stores in eighteen months. HeyTea arrived in March 2024 and has six in Seoul.

Now Japan over the same period. Naixue opened its first Japanese store in Osaka in 2020 and closed it in 2021. HeyTea opened one in Osaka in 2025 and has already closed it. Mixue entered Tokyo in 2023 aiming for 1,000 stores by 2028. In June 2026 Nikkei's Chinese edition counted four. Chagee has zero stores in Japan, and a CHAGEE JAPAN Instagram account, created in 2024, with 16,000 followers.

Open the repair center before you scale

info@nobusato.jp (Nobu Sato) — Sat, 24 Oct 2026 13:34:35 GMT

Chinese companies in Japan · Seven public cases, taken apart for the moves, not to grade the companies.

On 28 February 2026 Xiaomi opened the Xiaomi Service Center Akihabara. It repairs phones, tablets and wearables, with specially trained staff, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., closed Wednesdays. The ground floor displays and sells products, and the basement is a "smart living" showroom. At that point Xiaomi had five stores in Japan: three in Saitama, one in Chiba, one inside Tokyo's 23 wards.

Five stores, then one repair center. A month later it opened four Kansai stores at once, and four months after that, Nagoya. So the order went like this. Once the stores reached a certain number, Xiaomi added repair first and expanded after.

BYD's mini stores: another way to build a sales network in Japan

info@nobusato.jp (Nobu Sato) — Sat, 24 Oct 2026 13:33:35 GMT

Chinese companies in Japan · Seven public cases, taken apart for the moves, not to grade the companies.

BYD built a car only for Japan
The subsidy wall: the rules are not written for you
BYD's mini stores: another way to build a sales network in Japan
Xiaomi's Japan stores are catching up with Apple's. Why the first one was in Saitama
Open the repair center before you scale
Chagee isn't in Japan yet. Osaka already has a shop that looks a lot like it
Why Chinese tea brands crowd into Korea and not Japan

When BYD announced its Japan entry in 2022, the target was 100 stores by the end of 2025. It didn't get there. April 2024: 51 points, run by 22 dealer companies. November 2025: 68. September 2026, per the company: 77, of which 59 open and 18 in preparation. The 100 target slipped to end-2026, then to end-2027.

Those aren't bad numbers. They do show one thing clearly. Opening a proper car showroom in Japan takes far longer than anyone plans for. So in early 2026 BYD changed the kind of store it opens.