Japanese startup uses AI to cross trade barriers
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A traditional Japanese tea set. Photo: Natasha Breen/REDA/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
A Japanese company is using AI to bridge trade, language and culture gaps — one solution for a world where historic bonds are loosening, but consumer demand is as strong as ever.
Why it matters: If it works, it's a potential model for small businesses and creators around the world to access the U.S. market at a time of growing obstacles to international commerce.
Catch up quick: Monoya launched in late 2024 as a wholesaler of the work of Japanese artisans to the international home goods market.
- Many of these artisans don't speak English, don't sell internationally and don't have a commercial infrastructure.
- Yu Shimada, a former McKinsey consultant born in Japan and raised in New York, launched Monoya to bridge that gap. The company is backed by WAY Equity Partners, which invests in Japanese tech startups.
- More than 90% of what it sells, Shimada says, isn't available in the U.S. market otherwise.
Driving the news: On Tuesday Monoya is taking the wraps off Monoya Connect, an AI sourcing platform to more directly connect sellers and buyers.
- "The domestic market is shrinking, the one critical strategy we need to do is go outside of the country," Shimada told Axios.
- The tool will provide a range of translation and design data services to more directly connect artisans and international vendors.
The intrigue: Shimada acknowledges AI is not perfect for all uses cases yet, — but the goal isn't to promote an AI platform, it's to use the technology as a tool.
- "Having them understand this AI concept is not something I'm doing. I'm having them understand that with this tool it's going to solve their problems in a way, and we're using this thing called AI," he said.
Between the lines: Monoya is launching its new platform at a fraught time for global commerce, with the U.S. effectively charging the highest tariff rates in almost a century.
- Shimada's argument is that a possible tariff isn't the biggest problem his sellers face — it's shipping, with rates rising around the world.
The bottom line: Even with rising trade pressures, Shimada said Japanese artisans can still be a solution for big U.S. brands.
- "Their number one issue is that they need to diversify their supply chain. Currently they're only making things in China," he said.
- "Because of the tariff increase and the uncertainty, and no matter what ends up ... in the next two months, there's always going to be this perception of 'hey, this cheap China is ending."
