* Weak ecosystem - Very few angels available to fund and support early stage startups, although accelerators are popping up that are starting to fill this gap.

* Less exits - Japanese companies tend to be less acquisitive than their western counterparts. IPO seems to be a far more common liquidity event. Even 2-3 years into MakeLeaps, we started getting offers to help us IPO(wtf).

* Less entrepreneurs - A typical "FUCK! THIS SUCKS AND MUST CHANGE!" attitude found in many entrepreneurs is a pretty rare commodity in Japan. The educational system has been designed to generate workers who are effective at carrying out orders rather than taking independent initiative.

* Still not accepted in society - Japanese who set out to do their own companies are still generally looked down upon, and struggle in general. If someone from a western culture starts a company, the typical attitude is "Great! Good luck!" but in Japan it's more "What's wrong? You couldn't get a job at a proper company?" This is however starting to slowly change.

* Less community - There is a much smaller community in Japan, which means less support. We're doing our best to help by organising the Tokyo Hacker News community meetups. Again, this is changing, and there is a marked increase in events now compared to say, 1-2 years ago. (shameless plug - come along if you're in Tokyo - http://hntokyo.doorkeeper.jp - next event is 16th of January)

* Less early adopters/more risk adverse - Until we being reasonably well known, getting initial signups and customers was intensely painful. On the flip side, once a customer signs up with you, they tend to be very loyal and stay with you for a long time.

Having said all that, Japan is working through these issues and we are definitely in a mini startup boom in Japan. Exciting times to be doing a startup here.