Japan: The Road Ahead

InfoSec Advisory leads Asia’s shift from corporate defense to supply chain resilience, building unified security frameworks across interconnected manufacturing economies.

When a system disruption paralyzed Rakuten Group’s order processing systems in 2025, consumers across Japan found themselves unable to complete purchases or track deliveries. Months later, Asahi Group faced a similar disruption—shipping operations ground to a halt, call centers went dark and products stopped flowing to retailers. Shutdowns like these are a nightmare for businesses and consumers alike, with effects that ripple rapidly through the daily lives of millions.

For Tetsuya Fujita, President and CEO of InfoSec Advisory, these incidents mark a fundamental shift in the nature of cyber threats facing Asia’s manufacturing and logistics sectors. “Current cyber threats have qualitatively changed from a problem of stolen information to a problem of business and social infrastructure being shut down,” Fujita explains. “We’ve entered a phase where this should be viewed as systemic risk for the giant economic zone that is Asia.”

As Asian economies grow increasingly interconnected through complex manufacturing supply chains—from automotive and electronics to pharmaceuticals and consumer goods—the vulnerability of a single mid-sized supplier can cascade into production line shutdowns across the region. With artificial intelligence (AI) dramatically lowering the barriers to conducting sophisticated attacks, the threat landscape is evolving faster than most companies can adapt.

The Democratization of Cyberattacks

What makes today’s threat environment particularly alarming is not just the scale of attacks, but who can now execute them. The emergence of generative AI and Ransomware-as-a-Service platforms has fundamentally altered the accessibility of cybercrime.

“Creating targeted emails and malware, which previously required advanced skills, is now becoming feasible even for individuals without technical expertise by combining AI tools,” Fujita notes. “As a result, both the quantity and quality of attacks are simultaneously increasing.”

The Rakuten incident exemplified this new reality—recent phishing cases suggest that even attackers with limited technical backgrounds can leverage AI-powered tools to craft convincing lures. What once required years of specialized training can now be accomplished by determined amateurs.

For Asia’s manufacturing sector, this democratization creates a perfect storm. The region’s automotive assembly plants, electronics manufacturers, pharmaceutical facilities and logistics networks represent high-value targets. Yet many mid-sized suppliers forming the backbone of these supply chains lack resources to defend against increasingly sophisticated threats.

A symbolic case is the NotPetya attack on Mondelēz International, the global confectionery manufacturer. Shipping and billing systems worldwide were paralyzed for weeks, significantly suppressing quarterly sales. “This was not an IT trouble—it was an incident where the business itself stopped,” Fujita says.

The Supply Chain Vulnerability

Large corporations have invested heavily in cybersecurity infrastructure. But their suppliers—the Tier 2 and Tier 3 manufacturers producing components, managing logistics or providing specialized services—often cannot invest at the same level.

“From the attackers’ perspective, it’s more efficient to take down mid-sized enterprises and use them as stepping stones than to directly breach large corporations,” Fujita explains. “The thinking that ‘we’re safe because we’re not a famous company’ no longer holds.”

Consider a typical automotive manufacturing scenario: When a mid-sized parts supplier’s factory in Southeast Asia gets hit by ransomware, production lines at finished-goods manufacturers downstream grind to a halt. The consequences multiply: delivery delays, quality risks from rushed recovery, additional costs for expedited shipping and erosion of customer trust.

“We’ve entered an era where one company’s shutdown leads to the entire chain’s shutdown,” Fujita says. “Third-party security assessments of the entire supply chain and creating improvement roadmaps based on those results are essential.”

The question is no longer “How do we protect our company?” but rather “How much can we withstand as a chain?”—a measure of collective resilience that will increasingly define competitive advantage.

Japan’s Strategic Position

Within Asia’s diverse cybersecurity landscape, significant maturity gaps exist. Singapore, Japan and Australia have advanced regulatory frameworks. Other nations are experiencing rapid digitalization without corresponding institutional foundations.

Japan is uniquely positioned to lead regional standard-setting in supply chain security. “Japan has a deep understanding of manufacturing quality management, supply chain management expertise and international standards such as those set by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST),” Fujita explains.

InfoSec Advisory maintains a three-base structure spanning Japan, Southeast Asia and North America—serving as a hub connecting Japanese-style quality management, international frameworks like ISO/IEC 27001 (jointly developed by ISO and the International Electrotechnical Commission) and the NIST Cybersecurity Framework, and Southeast Asian operational realities.

Southeast Asia offers strategic value beyond geography. “Malaysia is a ‘quiet cyber-advanced nation’ that has been working on cybersecurity as a national strategy from early on,” Fujita notes. “At the same time, it is on the front lines of attacks, making it an excellent base for capturing real threats.”

The Investment Framework: Quantifying Risk

For mid-sized manufacturing enterprises, the challenge is determining how to invest limited resources most effectively. Fujita advocates an approach starting with RTO—Recovery Time Objective, or acceptable downtime.

The process begins with cross-functional collaboration. Management, operations and IT must quantify business impact: How much revenue is lost if order processing stops for six hours? What penalties occur if the factory shuts down for three days?

Using examples like Mondelēz International—where weeks of shutdown impacted quarterly sales—companies can develop realistic loss estimates. “Get a sense of order for your own company like ‘hundreds of millions of yen per day, billions of yen per week,’” Fujita suggests.

With business impact quantified, Fujita recommends prioritizing investments in this order: first, vulnerability assessments for VPN appliances and internet-facing systems. Second, identity and access management—multi-factor authentication, least privilege access and proper account deletion. Third, basic protection for endpoints, email and cloud services. Fourth, focused training on what employees must never do, consistently enforced.

“The most cost-effective approach is to design with the goal of being able to resume business within the determined time even if breached,” Fujita says.

Transparency as a Trust Asset

Fujita advocates security transparency—not exposing weaknesses, but clearly articulating which standards guide the organization, what compliance level has been achieved and what remains in progress.

Leading companies increasingly publish ISO/IEC 27001 certifications, System and Organization Controls (SOC) 2 reports and compliance results on “Security” or “Trust Center” pages, moving from vague claims to objective transparency.

At InfoSec Advisory, supporting clients means comprehensive assistance with international standards including ISO/IEC 27001, NIST Cybersecurity Framework 2.0, SOC 2 Type II and Center for Internet Security (CIS) Controls.

“The goal is designing how to express it on websites and integrated reports, what to present to business partners and financial institutions,” Fujita says. “This is important for converting transparency into trust assets.”

Transparency requires documented evidence—security policies, access logs, configuration records, training histories and incident reports. Companies maintaining such records can explain not only whether an incident occurred, but how they responded—critical for maintaining trust.

Transparent organizations also maintain regular stakeholder dialogue—substantive annual conversations sharing roadmaps of achievements, challenges and planned improvements.

The Vision: A Unified Asian Security Zone

Fujita sees fragmentation where there should be coordination. “Supply chains are connected across borders, yet security approaches and standards are fragmented by borders,” he notes. His vision: designing supply chains as a unified secure zone transcending national borders, cultures and regulatory frameworks.

Japan’s manufacturing heritage—particularly its expertise in quality management and supply chain coordination—positions the country to lead this integration. Through InfoSec Advisory’s three-base structure, Fujita aims to create “an Asian economic zone that doesn’t collapse even when attacked.”

“We want to contribute through supply chain security assessments, support for compliance with international standards and human resource development programs,” Fujita says. “I believe this is our most important mission in doing business in this region.”

As cyber threats evolve and manufacturing supply chains grow more complex, the companies and regions that will thrive are those recognizing cybersecurity not as an individual burden, but as a collective capability. For Asia’s manufacturing sector, the path forward requires moving beyond corporate defense to supply chain resilience—transforming fragmented security efforts into coordinated regional strength.

The question facing Asian manufacturers is no longer whether to invest in cybersecurity, but whether to invest alone or together. The answer will determine not just individual company survival, but the resilience of Asia’s economic future.

Japanese people are known for respecting age, status and wisdom, yet few in the business community are blessed with all three. However, one man checks all the boxes (and then some): Yuzaburo Mogi, Honorary CEO and Chairman of food giant Kikkoman Corporation. He recently published a new book at age 90, and shows no signs of slowing down.

Coming to America

In the mid-1970s Kikkoman did something no Japanese company had done—it built a plant in the United States to produce its main product, soy sauce (shoyu), locally. The driving force behind this extremely risky move was the young Mogi himself. He proudly remembers how that first bold step changed the company forever: “That was a turning point. By 1975 we turned a profit and our business just kept growing.”

After that first plant in Wisconsin, Kikkoman expanded to Asia and Europe, then added a second U.S. plant, in California. Today, international sales account for almost 75% of Kikkoman’s total revenue and close to 85% of its operating profits. This year the company plans to open a third plant in the U.S.

Mogi explains: “America is our biggest market, and it keeps on growing. So we decided to add a third plant there. Since we already knew the merits of Wisconsin—good transportation, access to key raw materials, and a strong labor force—we decided to build the new plant there. Having two reasonably close together maximizes the value and minimizes the risk.”

Growth Brings Challenges

What about other markets? “Europe is still showing double-digit growth,” Mogi notes. “And we think it will continue to grow. At some point we’ll need another plant in Europe.” And after that? “Our next big growth market will be Asia. Incomes are rising, and people are demanding good quality in everything they buy. Beyond East and Southeast Asia, we are actively looking at India and South America, especially Brazil.”

Mogi noted that Brazil has a significant Japanese community and also a meat-friendly food culture. “That means we can use the strategy we developed in the U.S.,” he says. “India is different. It has a huge population, but the food culture is very different. We will need a different approach to convince Indian people to embrace shoyu.”

Kikkoman’s history goes back centuries, yet one thing has not changed: “Soy sauce is still our main product, and it is still growing worldwide,” Mogi states confidently. “North America, Europe and Asia are growing, and in time I expect we will do well in South America, and eventually, India.” Farther down the road, he says, Africa holds enormous long-term potential, but it has a complex variety of food cultures, meaning Kikkoman still has big challenges ahead as it continues to expand.

Advice for Leaders

Mogi’s new book presents advice for businesspeople worldwide. For young people looking for good jobs, he says, “People need knowledge, talent and specialized skills. Also, a cross-cultural perspective is necessary—not just for employees; it’s essential for executives, too.” He also promotes communication and foreign language skills. “English ability is important,” he says. “But just knowing English doesn’t make you a good communicator. People need to learn communication skills.”

Mogi often speaks about the changing qualifications for senior executives. Today, he says, the most important quality is vision: “Leaders must be able to see what lies ahead—not just next year, but two to three, five, even 10 years ahead.”

What else is essential for tomorrow’s top management? His answer is surprising: “I think it’s vitally important to meet people, to get different ideas, opinions and perspectives. Yes, it’s good to read books and read online, but nothing takes the place of actually meeting people to get information and exchange ideas.”

Message to the Future

The theme of his new book is meeting challenges, both personal and professional. Mogi urges young people to meet the challenges of a changing business climate by learning and improving themselves. His advice for senior management is similar: “Challenge is everything. Read, talk to people, be willing to take risks.”

Meet the one-stop real estate solutions company that leverages a multinational team across six countries to guide family offices and institutional investors through complex cross-border transactions.

In 2025, Japan’s real estate market saw a renewed surge of global capital. Tokyo’s legal clarity, economic stability and resilient rental demand have pushed Japan from an emerging option to a core allocation for overseas investors seeking durable, income-generating assets.

For family offices and institutional investors worldwide, Japan has become a destination for stable, high-quality real estate due to a transparent legal system, strongly enforced property rights and equal ownership rights for foreign buyers.

Yet opportunity comes with friction. Investing in Japanese real estate requires navigating bureaucracy, language barriers, cultural expectations and fragmented professional services. Legal, tax, brokerage and asset management roles are often split across firms, forcing investors to manage complexity that can delay or derail otherwise sound deals.

Where International Demand Meets Local Complexity

The process usually begins with asset selection—residential buildings, offices, hotels or portfolios—but identifying a property is only the start. Investors must structure the deal, register ownership, arrange financing and often establish legal entities or partnership structures such as TK (silent partnership) agreements. After acquisition, assets must be stabilized and operated according to Japanese standards.

Cultural misalignment—language gaps, how risk is discussed, how timelines are perceived, how trust is built—adds another layer of difficulty. Investor type also matters.

“Family offices tend to be more personal and preference-driven,” says Tamio Bando, Group CEO of Post Lintel, a uniquely positioned force in the field. “Private funds, on the other hand, are generally much more focused on investment efficiency.” Both groups face the same structural hurdles, but their expectations and decision-making styles differ.

That gap between global demand and local complexity is filled by Post Lintel Group.

The One-Stop Bridge Between Japan and Global Capital

Founded to connect Japanese real estate with overseas capital, Post Lintel positions itself as a fully integrated real estate solutions company. Rather than acting solely as a broker, it manages the full investment lifecycle—from sourcing and acquisition to legal structuring, asset management and building maintenance.

That scale is reflected in Post Lintel’s growth trajectory: group trading volume reached 131.2 billion yen (US$835.0 million) in FY2024 (ended March 2025), up from 23.1 billion yen (US$145.4 million) in FY2023 and 19.2 billion yen (US$120.8 million) in FY2022, underscoring rapidly expanding demand from global investors.

“In cross-border deals, clarity and trust matter more than yield curves,” Bando says. “When, for example, a Singapore investor looks at Japanese real estate, they are buying more than a building; they are buying legal certainty, cultural transparency and operational reliability.” By handling everything from financing to operations to exit planning, Post Lintel reduces friction. “Investors often say it’s rare to have a one-to-one communication with a single point of contact for everything,” Bando adds.

This model is reinforced by the company’s international makeup. Post Lintel employs 55 professionals from seven countries and regions, combining deep local expertise with global fluency across Asia and beyond, enabling seamless operation across languages, cultures and regulatory frameworks. “It’s rare for a Japanese real estate firm to walk a foreign investor from first inquiry all the way to stabilized asset operation,” Bando says.

Inside a Deal: How Post Lintel Handles Complexity

Consider a mid-sized Singapore fund evaluating a rental building in Tokyo. The appeal is stable income, but concerns remain around legal structuring and post-acquisition operations.

“We begin by identifying and presenting suitable properties, walking the investor through expected yields, neighborhood demand, and the risk profile of each option,” Bando explains. “From there, they move into the structural side of the transaction, or organizing the legal framework required for foreign ownership, coordinating the registration process, and—when appropriate—supporting financing arrangements with Japanese banks.”

Post Lintel manages all communication in multiple languages, overseeing translation, due diligence and negotiations while coordinating with sellers, authorities and service providers. After closing, the firm assumes responsibility for asset management, maintenance and tenant relations—effectively a fully outsourced solution.

“The fact that everything can be ‘one-stopped’ to us is a real relief for them,” Bando says. That integration proves critical when issues arise. In one high-value transaction, a last-minute equipment procurement problem threatened to delay closing. Post Lintel intervened, resolved the issue and kept the deal on schedule.

Becoming Asia’s #1 Real Estate Solutions Company

Post Lintel’s ambition extends beyond deal volume. Bando aims to build Asia’s preferred real estate solutions platform, driven by repeat clients and referrals. “Our goal is not just to close deals, but to build relationships where investors come back and even introduce their peers,” he says. “That’s how we build a trusted network across Asia.”

This philosophy also shapes how the company builds its team. Instead of a seniority-based hierarchy common in traditional Japanese firms, Post Lintel operates on a merit-first model. Younger professionals work directly on live cross-border transactions, gaining exposure and responsibility early. The result is a globally minded organization aligned with international standards rather than legacy norms.

“Our culture is always about the client,” Bando says. “We constantly discuss what’s best for the customer, and that’s why things ultimately succeed.”

Why Now Is the Time to Act

Japan’s real estate market stands at an inflection point. Global capital is flowing in, supported by legal clarity, stable ownership rights and sustained rental demand.

In such a market, capital alone is not enough. Success depends on having a partner who understands both Japanese systems and global investor expectations, and who can manage everything from acquisition to long-term operation.

Post Lintel is built to be that partner—offering foreign investors not just access to Japan, but clarity, continuity and peace of mind in one of the world’s most complex real estate environments.

While the world’s legacy consulting firms have struggled to integrate artificial intelligence (AI) into organizational structures designed decades ago, Soichiro Muto envisioned a different path. Rather than retrofitting the past, he chose to build from the ground up—creating a global consulting firm engineered entirely for the age of AI.

Today, less than two years later, SYNTHESIS stands as one of the consulting industry’s most provocative experiments: a firm of around 80 professionals spanning Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore and New York representing 14 nationalities, delivering transformations in weeks rather than months, and deliberately choosing client empowerment over dependency.

“We are here to reinvent the entire consulting industry,” says Muto, Founder and CEO of SYNTHESIS, who previously led the Capital Markets practice for Growth Markets at Accenture. “Our vision is to bring that value to clients around the globe.”

But SYNTHESIS’ most distinctive characteristic isn’t where it operates—it’s how it operates.

A Global Footprint From Day One

SYNTHESIS was designed as a global firm from inception, with strategic presence across key financial centers in Asia and North America, and plans to expand to Europe and India.

“APAC is the fastest growing economic region, and clients there are eager to embrace innovations,” Muto explains. “But we’re also building in the United States—the center of the consulting business—and see momentum everywhere.”

Executive Advisor Paul McInerney—who spent 18 years at McKinsey & Company and founded the Japan business of its AI subsidiary, Quantum Black, before joining Incubate Fund as a General Partner—emphasizes the advantage: “If you have exposure to five, 10, 15 markets, your ability to provide insights to clients expands immensely.”

Jason Morrissey, SVP and Head of APAC, brings 35 years of wealth and asset management experience, having previously served as CIO of Colonial First State in Australia, SVP of Operations and Technology for Ping An Asset Management and Managing Director of Capital Markets at Accenture. Based in Hong Kong, he works closely with Muto on the firm’s regional strategy.

The SYNTHESIS Model: “Delivering Outcomes in Weeks”

What makes SYNTHESIS fundamentally different goes beyond technology—it’s embedded in the firm’s structural DNA.

“The key divergence is that major global strategic and IT consulting firms carry historical baggage,” McInerney says. “Their organizational structures date back 30 to 100 years. Everything is based on a pre-AI world, and it is exceptionally difficult to restructure an organizational model on the fly.”

SYNTHESIS was built with what McInerney calls a “clean sheet of paper”—organized around pods rather than pyramids. Traditional consulting relies on hierarchical teams with senior partners atop managers and multiple junior consultants. SYNTHESIS inverts this. Senior experts like Muto and Morrissey work directly with clients daily, supported by specialists with distinctive expertise—designers, system architects and engineers who leverage AI tools—rather than armies of junior staff.

“We have senior experienced professionals who help clients navigate in the right direction,” Muto explains. “We have fewer junior staff because we’re leveraging AI. What’s most valuable to the client is the outcome, not our team structure.”

This structure enables delivering tangible results in weeks. The firm demonstrated this with one of the largest banks in APAC, developing a client engagement portal from hypothesis to working prototype in weeks using live prototyping and two-week sprints.

In cross-border engagements, SYNTHESIS created reusable AI solutions for digital assets. When nine out of 10 financial services clients expressed urgent needs in tokenization and blockchain infrastructure but couldn’t attract expertise, SYNTHESIS built a specialized practice in months.

“We start engagements with a hypothesis from day one,” Muto explains. “AI makes developing solutions much more efficient.”

The AI Solution Platform

SYNTHESIS’ relationship with AI deserves particular attention. “Platform providers need to sell their solutions,” Muto notes. “We focus on the client’s business transformation—opportunities for growth or pain points to resolve. Then we think about the technology we can leverage.”

This technology-agnostic stance differentiates SYNTHESIS from both legacy firms tied to specific platforms and AI companies prioritizing their product sales.

The firm’s AI capabilities are led by John Larson, Chief AI Officer based in Los Angeles, who was formerly a leader of McKinsey & Company’s North America AI service line. He maintains deep connections to cutting-edge AI innovation and oversees weekly updates of SYNTHESIS’ AI Solution Platform.

“We need a leader like Larson who’s deeply embedded in the inner circle of the West Coast AI ecosystem,” Muto explains. “By integrating the latest AI knowledge with our consulting skills and industry expertise, we are able to develop solutions that deliver substantial value.”

Morrissey emphasizes that AI amplifies rather than replaces human expertise. “The key is hiring people with deep functional expertise who understand end-to-end business processes. When Muto and McInerney refer to reducing timelines from months to weeks, it comes down to the people we hire—individuals with real, hands-on experience and deep understanding of the business.”

Global Team: The People Power

SYNTHESIS’ ability to attract senior talent to a firm less than two years old reflects both Muto’s leadership and the company’s strategic positioning.

McInerney has focused on building robust people foundations that ensure a consistent experience across geographies. To lead this effort, SYNTHESIS appointed Corinne Johnson as Chief People Officer; she previously served as APAC Head of People for McKinsey & Company.

With a team of around 80 professionals globally, SYNTHESIS plans to expand aggressively in the coming years. But Muto emphasizes that headcount remains secondary to client value.

“Traditional firms grow by consultant numbers. We always start from the client: What do they need to transform? Then we adapt our company to support that.”

Traditional consulting models often limit direct senior involvement to very large engagements. SYNTHESIS takes a different approach. Morrissey explains, “It’s about how we’re structured. At SYNTHESIS, senior leaders work directly with clients while building the business.”

When asked about Muto’s ability to attract talent, Morrissey says: “He’s transparent, clear on his vision, and empowers people to deliver real impact. From the outset, he’s been explicit that we are one global firm—not a Japanese firm going global. It’s a combination of charisma and strategy—but above all, Muto acts as a true partner.”

Vision: The Future

Looking ahead seven to 10 years, SYNTHESIS’ leadership sees consulting bifurcating into areas where value persists and automation dominates.

McInerney articulates a “dumbbell” model: “On the front end, strategic consulting—understanding desires, fears and aspirations of business leaders, and importantly, the levers for achieving impact—will be in strong demand. Designing experiences and architecting systems will be important, but the cost and timeline of the building phase will radically compress.”

On the back end, empowerment of people and organizations remains valuable: “Getting frontline people to leverage technologies to achieve the last mile of impact will be pivotal.”

Muto agrees: “As AI takes on more of the solution-building, human consultants will focus on framing the right questions and understanding real pain points and opportunities. True empowerment of people and organizations requires humane engagement with leadership and those closest to the work.”

This vision shapes SYNTHESIS’ priorities for the next 12 to 24 months. “There are three core focuses,” explains Muto. “First, embedding AI into every element of consulting to build a
fundamentally new consulting model for the AI era. Second, not simply global expansion, but attracting top talent globally—people committed to reinventing consulting—and creating a global movement to transform the industry. Third, developing true consultants who can create value in the age of AI by strengthening their ability to frame essential questions, identify the real problems, and empower people and organizations.”

Morrissey adds: “I showed a major client how AI could save significant costs in a very short period of time, but they were concerned about the broader social implications of such a rapid change. There is a human dimension to decisions about technology that can impact how regulators, staff, shareholders and the overall population can feel about a company.”

Building the New Standard

In 2026, the firm remains focused on proving its model works across multiple markets, demonstrating that consulting built for the AI era delivers fundamentally different outcomes.

“People want to step out of their comfort zones and do the right thing,” Muto says. “At major firms, senior leaders are inherently motivated by a desire to create real value for clients. The reality, however, is that in large organizations, it’s often difficult to fully express or act on that conviction. That tension is what leads some to step out—and to reassert a simple idea: bringing client value back to the core, now amplified by AI-driven methodologies.”

To prospective clients, SYNTHESIS offers a genuine alternative to both legacy consulting dependencies and platform-specific solutions. To potential recruits, McInerney frames it simply: “What attracts people is the unique opportunity to do a clean sheet build of a global firm in a new model.”

For SYNTHESIS, the ultimate measure of success won’t be headcount or revenue as defined by traditional metrics. It will be whether clients transform faster, become self-sufficient sooner, and achieve outcomes in weeks that once took years—while the firm remains lean, global and built entirely for the world that AI is creating.

In an industry where most players are defined by legacy, SYNTHESIS has chosen to be defined by what comes next.