Market Entry to Japan : Case: Merkityskirjat Oy

The purpose of the study is to explore the potential of an independent children’s book publishing company to internationalize in the Japanese market. The aim of the study is to answer the question: What opportunities does an independent small publishing company have for internationalization? The study was carried out in cooperation with the case company Merkityskirjat Oy. \nThe study consists of two main parts: a theoretical and empirical part. The theoretical basis is formed by the foreign market entry theories, methods, introduction of the Japanese market and introduction of the case company Merkityskirjat Oy. The geographical focus has been limited to the Japanese market, because there is already successful Finnish children’s literature there. \nIn the empirical section of the study, the author utilized the qualitative approach. The empirical part is formed by data analysis, analysis of the entry strategy and discussion of the results. In this thesis the data was collected through an email survey. The empirical part ends with a conclusion including the answers to the research questions, discussion of the validity and reliability of the thesis and finally the suggestions on further studies. \nThe study indicates that an opportunity for internationalization would be a partnership or joint venture with a local company. This would allow Merkityskirjat Oy to integrate better with the target country, to know its market and to accumulate more relationships. Internationalization is not dependent on the size of the company and there are opportunities as long as a suitable market is found.