Akihiko Tsukahara, an exporter of Japanese products and export consultant, recalled the time he was struggling to gather hundreds of game boards for the game of go to fill an order. It was an order placed by an overseas operator of go classes, worth ¥8 million (the initial purchase order value was ¥12 million) and Tsukahara had to scour the country to gather so many game boards.
"The order was for high-quality Tung-made go game boards, each of which costs hundreds of thousands of yen," Tsukaraha said. "It took me four months to get my hands on enough quality boards."
Tsukahara, now the president of 10to1, Ltd., a company that operates websites for exporting Japanese products and consulting on such businesses, sees that exporting online is no longer a side job or hobby for Japanese office workers or housewives trying to earn some extra cash. Small to mid-sized Japanese companies are increasingly searching for business opportunities online to reach potential overseas customers beyond the computer screen through so-called cross-border electronic commerce (EC).