Why Foreign Contractors Cannot Penetrate into the Japanese Construction Market?

摘要

The construction investment in Japan is much larger than that of western countries (USS 450 billion - 9.4 % of GDP in 2007) and there are 507,528 companies registered as contractors in Japan in 2007.But the foreign contractors registered in Japan are less than 100 and this number has not changed during the last two decades.In order to open the Japanese construction market,various measures have been taken by the Japanese government to minimize constraints of Japanese construction market such as WTO Agreement on Government Procurement and review of the public works bidding system.But the penetration of foreign contractors into the Japanese market has not made much progress.In this paper the author focuses on fundamental difference in business approach between Japan and other countries and illustrates the special characteristics of construction business which includes the importance of mutual respect,collective strength and sense of responsibility and commitment towards construction projects.He proposes the practical guidance for foreign companies to penetrate into the Japanese construction market and also suggests how the Japanese construction industry can be globalized in working in harmony with other countries.