Search Fund Conference 2026: Japan's Boom in 'Buying' SMEs to Solve the Succession CrisisA · FULL TRANSLATION

The Japan Search Fund Conference 2026 is being held with ROLEUP tax firm as sponsor. The search-fund model — an entrepreneur raises capital, acquires a profitable but successor-less SME, then runs and grows it — addresses Japan's thorniest structural problem: aging owners whose children won't take over, facing 'profitable bankruptcies.' For readers eyeing entrepreneurship or investment in Japan, it's a compelling entry: buy a ready-made good business and scale it, with a weak yen making acquisitions cheaper for foreign capital. The test is whether outside operators can inherit local relationships, staff trust and tacit know-how. The conference gauges how mature Japan's succession-M&A ecosystem is.