Japanese VC is a little quirky.  Imagine companies with great big piles of money and no effective pipeline to get it to twenty somethings.  I worked at a technology incubator and essentially the only option for startups was friends &#38; family, government microcapital programs, and (for the very lucky) angel funding from local entrepreneurs.  This funding environment turns out very, veeeeeeeeeeeeeeeery different companies than Silicon Valley does.<p>Things are probably different in Tokyo, which is essentially a whole 'nother country which shares a long border and some people with Japan.  (I'm only half joking.)