How a New Breed of Gaijin Executives is Shaking up Corporate Japan
Foreign managers are finally breaking through the glass ceiling into the boards of Japan’s corporate giants
Welcome to the first weekend edition of Japan Business Secrets!
Japan is changing — faster than most people think. And yet, most of the advice out there? Stuck in the 1990’s post-bubble malaise.
We launched Japan Business Secrets because we think foreign executives in Japan need a real edge — not the same old clichés. Whether it’s leadership shake-ups, changing business practices, or corporate power plays with foreign investors, we cut through the noise to show you what really matters in Japan’s business world in 2025 and beyond.
What’s Inside the Weekend Edition?
📌 This Week in Japan – A quick recap of the biggest business stories you need to know.
📌 Beyond the Headlines – A deep dive into one key topic. Today’s question: Are we witnessing a new era for foreign executives as they step into top leadership roles in corporate Japan?
Right now, we’re keeping this edition completely open — but in the future, this will be a premium service for our paying subscribers.
For now? Enjoy 🚀
This Week in Japan: What you might have missed
🔹 7-Eleven Parent Gets a New Boss
Seven & i Holdings appointed Stephen Dacus as CEO, replacing Ryuichi Isaka at the helm. The first foreign CEO in the company’s history will oversea radical changes, such as the spin-off and listing of 7-Eleven’s US operations on the New York Stock Exchange. The move is part of a plan to instill shareholder confidence and fend off a takeover from Canada’s Couche-Tard Alimentation.
🔹 Nissan Eyes Foreign CEO Amid Strategy Reset
Jeremie Papin, Nissan’s COO and former North America chief, is rumored to take over as interim CEO, replacing Makoto Uchida. Nissan needs a reboot, and Papin’s appointment could be a major shift. But in a company still haunted by the Carlos Ghosn saga, can a foreign exec once again turn the ship around?
🔹 Markets under Growth Scare
The Nikkei closed the week with one of its worst sessions this year. Closing at 36,887, Japan’s lead index is down 6.2% YTD after hitting 34-year highs in January. Auto makers got a temporary reprieve during the week as Trump postponed car tariffs for one month, but the US growth scare has caught Japanese equities as well.
🔹 Japan’s Biggest IPO in Years Scales Down
JX Advanced Metals, a spinoff of energy giant Eneos, is set for Japan’s biggest IPO since SoftBank. Ahead of the April 26 listing, JXAM had to cut their offering by 6%, down to ¥439 billion ($2.9B). After a record year for Japanese stocks, this could be a sign that investor appetite is cooling off.
🔹Japan Stays Home
Only 17.5% of Japanese citizens own a passport, down from 27% two decades ago. While Japan is enjoying a boom in inbound tourism, four out of five Japanese have no intention to travel abroad. The effects of a more inward-looking Japan can already be seen: English proficiency of adults is at its lowest ever, according to EF.
Beyond the Headlines: This Week’s Deep Dive
Birth of a New Breed of Gaijin CEO
Japan is cautiously opening the door to foreign leadership.
For years, foreign CEOs in Japan have mostly come in two forms. The first: outsiders with impressive global reputations — Carlos Ghosn at Nissan (from Michelin and Renault), Craig Naylor at Nippon Sheet Glass (from DuPont), and Christophe Weber at Takeda Pharmaceutical (from GSK). These top executives were brought in for their leadership skills and industry insights but didn’t have a background in Japanese business culture.
The second type: career professionals who worked their way up in overseas divisions of Japanese companies before being called to higher duty at the Tokyo headquarters — like former Olympus CEOs Michael Woodford and Stefan Kaufmann, both in charge of European operations. These executives had climbed the corporate ladder overseas, but lacked access to Tokyo’s inner power structures.
Now, a new kind of foreign leader is emerging — one who understands Japan’s corporate culture from the inside while bringing a global perspective. Stephen Hayes Dacus, the newly appointed CEO of Seven & i Holdings, embodies this shift. An American fluent in Japanese, Dacus has spent years navigating Japan’s business landscape, first at Fast Retailing, then leading Walmart Japan and sushi chain Sushiro.
More than just a strategist, Dacus has been at the center of Seven & i’s major corporate battle, chairing its committee to fend off a $47 billion takeover bid from Canadian rival Couche-Tard. Yet, despite his boardroom credentials, he remains remarkably down-to-earth.
When asked by reporters about his future focus, Dacus didn’t forget to mention 7-Eleven’s real backbone — its thousands of franchise owners who keep the business running 24/7. Drawing from his own experience, he recalled working the midnight shift at his father’s convenience store as a teenager. Today, he’s leading Japan’s retail giant.
Does this mark the start of a new era for foreign executives in Japan?
It’s possible, but with just 1-2% of all board seats at Japan’s listed firms held by foreigners the road ahead is challenging. Let’s see why.
The Outsider Solution: When Under Pressure, Foreign CEOs Come in
Foreign leaders usually don’t get the call from Tokyo when everything is going smoothly.
But when Japanese companies face a crisis, the solution often comes from outside the corporate structure. The most notorious example is Carlos Ghosn, the cost-cutting, turnaround mastermind who revived Nissan in the early 2000s — before his dramatic fall from grace. Ghosn’s success – driving Nissan back to profitability and forging an alliance with Renault – showed how an outsider could shake up a stagnant corporate culture.
Then there’s Mitsubishi Chemical, which appointed Jean-Marc Gilson, a Belgian executive, as its first-ever foreign CEO during the pandemic. In 2021, Gilson came in with a mandate to restructure the company and improve efficiency. While he made significant changes, his time in the role was short — he stepped down in 2024, leaving the company still in the midst of its transformation.
When Going Global, Japanese Companies Turn to Foreign Execs
As Japan’s domestic market hits its growth ceiling, a few bold companies are betting on foreign executives to lead their global expansion. These outsiders bring the strategic vision required to compete effectively on the world stage.
One prime example here is Christophe Weber at Takeda Pharmaceutical. The French executive came from Glaxo-Smith Kline with a clear mandate to steer Takeda into the ranks of global giants. Under his leadership, Takeda closed the gap with US and European pharma titans, acquiring Shire and expanding its reach beyond Japan’s borders.
Hitachi Rail, headquartered in the UK, provides another compelling example. Hitachi Ltd.’s group headquarters made a strategic decision to enhance the independence of its rail division from the Japanese parent, even relocating its global headquarters outside Japan. Over the years, Hitachi Rail has seen multiple foreign CEOs take charge. Alistair Dormer, former global CEO of Hitachi Rail and now EVP at Hitachi Ltd., was instrumental in driving this transformation. Now led by Giuseppe Marino, the company has firmly established itself as a global leader in the railway sector, catering to the international market.
Foreign Execs’ Legacy in Japan is Mixed
Japan’s experience with foreign leadership has had its share of highs and lows.
A notable example is Sony’s experience with Howard Stringer. Appointed CEO in 2005, Stringer, a former CBS executive from Wales, was tasked with steering Sony as it shifted focus towards music and entertainment. While Stringer brought a global vision to the company, Sony lost sight of its core electronics and struggled to adapt to rising competition, particularly Apple’s iPod and iPhone, and Samsung’s dominance in HDTV. His tenure, though transformative in some areas, ended poorly in 2012, and Sony’s leadership returned to Japanese hands.
From 2008 to 2012, Nippon Sheet Glass (NSG) experimented with two consecutive foreign executives following its acquisition of Pilkington. Stuart Chambers, the former head of Pilkington, led NSG from 2008 to 2010 before stepping down for family reasons.
His successor, Craig Naylor, took over shortly before the company became entangled in an insider trading investigation—not due to management misconduct, but because a broker had leaked confidential information. While the leadership itself was not at fault, the case cast a shadow over Naylor’s tenure and intensified scrutiny on corporate governance. After just two years, Naylor resigned, citing “strategic disagreements and differing visions” with the company.
The Olympus Scandal: Sometimes It Takes an Outsider to Drain the Swamp
Even more controversial was Michael Woodford’s short-lived tenure at Olympus.
A lifelong Olympus executive in the UK and Europe, he was instrumental in shifting the company’s focus from cameras to medical devices. In April 2011, he became the first non-Japanese President and COO, taking the helm in Tokyo. Within months, he uncovered massive financial irregularities — hundreds of millions of dollars in unexplained payments for acquisitions of dubious companies. When he pushed the board for answers, he was abruptly fired.
Rather than backing down, Woodford went public. His whistleblowing unraveled one of Japan’s biggest corporate scandals, exposing ¥117.7 billion ($1.5 billion) in concealed investment losses dating back to the 1980s. The fallout led to the resignation of Olympus’s top executives, arrests, and a global reckoning on corporate governance in Japan.
Though forced out, Woodford’s case underscored the difficulty of rooting out corporate misconduct in Japan—and why, at times, it takes an outsider to drain the swamp.
The Next Test for Foreign Leaders in Japan
From Ghosn to Weber to Woodford, Japan’s relationship with foreign executives has been anything but smooth. Yet, as Dacus takes charge at Seven & i and Nissan looks to new leadership, one thing is clear: foreign CEOs are no longer just an experiment — they may be essential.
Dacus has the industry experience, the network and the understanding of Japanese corporate culture. But will that be enough to steer one of Japan’s biggest retail empires through boardroom battles and shareholder tensions?
If Nissan appoints Thierry Papin, can a French executive succeed where even Ghosn’s legacy is still casting a shadow?
Foreign CEOs in Japan often arrive as outsiders, but those who succeed don’t just navigate the system—they change it from within. Whether Dacus and Papin can do the same remains to be seen.
One fun fact to round off this post: Takeda Pharma will be the first listed company in Japan to be run by a non-Japanese woman. Current CEO Christophe Weber has handpicked Julie Kim to become his successor in 2026. She’s heading US operations, so Takeda’s most important market. She hails from Shire, the company Takeda acquired in 2019.
Japanese business is some of the most untrustworthy anywhere - the Ghosn case showed the world this. There's no there, there - it's self interest and paranoia from an island people whose very modern existence was borrowed and stolen directly from westerners.