Every Wednesday, a bar in central Tokyo hosts an unusual speed-dating event. There are drinks and plenty of coy looks. But the young people at the bar aren’t here for romance. “I want to meet like-minded people — basically, people who get the Internet,” said Shingo Hiranuma, 29, a former smartphone engineer at Toshiba who recently introduced a new map application, Sanpo. “And I won’t settle for just anyone.” As Japan’s aging tech giants like Sony and Panasonic continue to falter, a new generation of Japanese technology entrepreneurs is stepping up. While their numbers are small compared to those in the United States, they are turning to a bevy of start-up incubators and even to financing from Silicon Valley. And so-called start-up dating salons, like the bar in central Tokyo, are helping to match would-be collaborators. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/04/technology/a-new-tech-generation-defies-the-odds-in-japan.html?pagewanted=all Thursday, October 4, 2012
Japan’s New Tech Generation
Every Wednesday, a bar in central Tokyo hosts an unusual speed-dating event. There are drinks and plenty of coy looks. But the young people at the bar aren’t here for romance. “I want to meet like-minded people — basically, people who get the Internet,” said Shingo Hiranuma, 29, a former smartphone engineer at Toshiba who recently introduced a new map application, Sanpo. “And I won’t settle for just anyone.” As Japan’s aging tech giants like Sony and Panasonic continue to falter, a new generation of Japanese technology entrepreneurs is stepping up. While their numbers are small compared to those in the United States, they are turning to a bevy of start-up incubators and even to financing from Silicon Valley. And so-called start-up dating salons, like the bar in central Tokyo, are helping to match would-be collaborators. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/04/technology/a-new-tech-generation-defies-the-odds-in-japan.html?pagewanted=all 