For decades, Japan’s corporate giants relied on in-house R&D to drive innovation, while startups exited primarily via IPOs. But with domestic market stagnation, an aging workforce, and intensifying global competition, “Japan Inc.” is pivoting toward acquiring startups to drive growth.  Jesper Koll, a board director of the Okinawa Institute for Science and Technology, wrote in his newsletter, “The Japan Optimist,” that new CEOs, unlike their predecessors, are embracing external innovation.