Or that is what he used to justify a free (likely business class) flight to JP.

No, I don’t work for Rakuten, but the in-person apology from an appropriately senior person is hugely important for large Japanese organizations.

In my current company I have the opportunity to work with several large Japanese banks. Various members of our C-Suite and senior management travel occasionally for this purpose.

A sufficiently sincere apology with the appropriate level of ceremony can be the difference between maintaining and losing a substantial contract.

I don't know a huge amount about Rakuten. Don't they purposefully adopt a pretty flat communication structure, and the CEO travels around a lot, as well as English demanded in senior roles?