About BNC
BNC is a full-service consulting firm that supports foreign companies entering the Japanese market. BNC also supports companies that are already in Japan, with growth management, project management, and change management support and advice services.
Kelly Slater Wave Co. Japan G.K. (human-made high performance wave systems), Elliptic Ltd. (blockchain analysis company), GLBB Co., Ltd. (fiber optic internet service provider), and many others.
BNC Services
New companies expanding to Japan. We can help.
Foreign companies already in Japan in need of help to grow and expand. We can help.
Foreign companies looking to relaunch their business again in Japan. We can help.
Market entry
Providing information and services to facilitate market entry, such as research & analysis, human resource management, business support, strategy, leadership, trade show support, pre-launch support.
Project management
Supporting projects in Japan with vendor selection, vendor communications and management (including contract review and recommendations), staff hiring, government relations, regular reporting to headquarters.
Market expansion
To start-up firms in Japan as well as established firms in Japan with services of strategy, research, human resource support, project management, business support, and growth planning.
Business process outsourcing
Local project management (LPM), with business process outsourcing (BPO) services such as human resources management as needed.
Business process outsourcing (BPO) means using an external service provider to outsource specific operations. Back office BPO can support a company by providing business operations such as payroll, accounting, or human resources. Front office BPO can provide customer-related services such as social media marketing or customer support.
Market research
Full scale market research for business development in the Japanese market. The service extends to all legitimate customers. BNC has open-ended resources to connect with experts and services in most industries across the Japan market.
BNC team
The BNC team has decades of experience in Japan, including project leadership, project management, market entry, market expansion, corporate leadership, talent management, human resource capital management, and senior-level advice spanning many industries. The team is made up of two Japanese nationals and three long-term residents of Japan. We are all fluent in Japanese and English, and we can support German and Swedish if needed.
Brian Nelson
CEO and project leadership
Brian Nelson is a corporate leader, seasoned entrepreneur, and corporate strategist with over 30 years of professional experience in Japan, Asia, and America.
From 2001 Brian led ValueCommerce Co., Ltd., Japan’s first Internet affiliate marketing company as the CEO until 2011. He negotiated a share ownership deal with Yahoo! Japan in 2005, and then took ValueCommerce public in 2006. He continued to run the the company for another five years after going public.
After retiring from ValueCommerce in 2011, Brian co-founded BNC K.K., which facilitates consulting contracts for work in Japan and overseas. Examples include his role as the principal advisor in Japan to the Kelly Slater Wave Co., and Elliptic Inc. (blockchain analytics). Brian is currently an advisor to Curvegrid, DreamDrive, and previously a board member of FPG.
Hiroshi Tada
Project management and project leadership
Hiroshi Tada has a background in the construction and development field with over 20 years of experience in Japan. He has worked with international and Japanese companies and was as a senior manager for a European company in Japan.
Hiroshi can lead multicultural international teams and Japanese teams. He is used to coordinating with management and project teams in Asian, USA and Europe headquarters. He connects with both global contacts and with Japanese teams to support communication and work projects despite different business styles.
Hiroshi uses Japanese and English for work and German in private. Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering, Nihon University; First-class Civil Engineering Works Execution Managing Engineer Certificate.
Tonia David
Business communications management
Tonia David has professionally supported international companies and organizations operate their business in Japan as well as supported Japanese companies wanting to reach non-Japanese customers. This includes facilitating communications, planning and coordinating work, and reporting.
Tonia started as a writer for multilingual content and then moved into marketing and business communications as a business service in Japan. She has worked with companies entering the Japanese market and with companies expanding their business in Japan.
Language is an important tool for her; she is fluent in English, Japanese, and German and also understands French and Spanish. BA in Business & Intercultural Communication.
Mami Fisher
Bilingual business administration
Having a deep understanding of culture and diversity, Mami Fisher is a creative problem solver who strikes the right balance of understanding business context and international/local needs.
She has supported the growth of multiple early stage companies in Japan, and manages BNC’s back office operations.
Mami is a mother of two daughters, and holds a Bachelor’s degree in English Literature from Sophia University.
Tomas Gistren
Human Resource & Project management services
Tomas has over 15 years experience with companies entering the Japan market. His hands-on experience ranges from managing hiring strategy for market-entry firms to employer brand management, as well as HR management for firms with Japan operations.
In the last 10 years, Tomas has worked as the country head for Japan market-entry firms, and separately worked as a consultant to firms launching operations in Japan.
His fluency in English, Japanese, and Swedish is an additional asset to both Japanese and non-Japanese customers.
BNC’s network & business partners
The BNC team has a network that expands thousands of contacts and industry connections to support our clients.
Currently, BNC has a contract with the Kelly Slater Wave Co. Japan G.K. (Japan), since 2017. Previously BNC customers include consulting and advisory services for getting the Japan business started in Tokyo for Elliptic Inc. (UK), advisory services for Distribute Consulting (U.S.), and other foreign and domestic businesses.
BNC is a member of the Keizai Doyukai (Japan Association of Corporate Executives), as well as a member of the Delphi Network.
Board of directors
Brian Nelson, Co-Founder, CEO, & Representative Director
Kenneth Young, Director
Andrew Little, Director
Our team's experience
Our team members' experience includes work on a variety of projects in Japan, supporting international companies entering Japan and expanding their business overall.
Project leadership & project management
A US organization planning to build a new sports venue in the Tokyo Metropolitan area needed a local team to prepare for business in Japan. Leading the Japan team, coordinating progress with local governments and authorities to obtain development permits. Provided overall project management from land purchase to the selection of a general contractor. Hired and managed vendors providing real estate, design, legal, accounting, and development services in Japan.
Project management & business communication
As project manager for a European automobile manufacturer, the objective was to facilitate the work of the project team at headquarters in Europe and the local project team in Japan to build a new customer experience center. Coordinating with local authorities and contractors in Japan to adapt the plans created by the European team to local needs and regulations. Conduct meetings with Japanese and European team members online, bridging gaps in communication and helping to avoid issues due to different business practices.
Human Resources management
As the HR partner with a global retailer expanding its B2B services to the Japanese market, the first phase was to develop the strategy to hire top management for the company's Japan office. After implementing the HR strategy which led to the success of hiring the top management, the next phase was developed to hire the retail management and staff teams for the stores. The full project was managed within 9 months time.