Data Meridian Research is the only company in the world dedicated entirely to helping non-Japanese companies build lasting partnerships with the best possible Japanese distributors, agents, and importers for their products.
Rather than trying to be a “jack of all trades”, we focus only on one thing: finding you the right Japanese sales partners and then helping you build long-term, mutually profitable relationships with these partners so that your products reach their true potential in the Japanese market.
Tom Lister, President of Data Meridian Research, is an expert on the Japanese distribution system and how how foreign products are sold successfully in Japan.
He is fluent in Japanese and has over 35 years of experience in the Japanese market. He has expertise in many areas of international business including market research, competitive intelligence, market selection and entry, management of distribution channels, and product localization.
Previous to establishing Data Meridian, Tom cofounded Dascom, a computer security company headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices in Japan, China, Korea, Taiwan, Australia, the United Kingdom, and France. Tom held a number of senior positions at Dascom prior to the company’s acquisition by IBM.
He also held senior sales and marketing positions in the Tokyo office of AT&T UNIX System Laboratories (USL) Pacific and was founder and president of Kuma Systems, a Tokyo-based company that provided export support services to Japanese businesses.
He holds a BA in Japanese language and business from ICU (Tokyo) and an MBA with Distinction in International Management from the Thunderbird School of Global Management.
Tom and his team has helped hundreds of companies of all sizes selling everything from consumer goods to highly specialized industrial, technical, and scientific products find the right Japanese sales partners.
