# J-STAR

J-STAR is a Private Equity based in Tokyo, Japan.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Private Equity
- **Headquarters:** Tokyo, Japan
- **Region:** Asia
- **Address:** Tokyo, Japan
- **Founded:** 2006
- **Assets under management:** Undisclosed
- **Website:** www.j-star.co.jp
- **LinkedIn:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/j-star

## About

J-STAR is an SEC-registered investment adviser in Mount Laurel, NJ, registered since 2016. The firm manages approximately $4.8 billion in regulatory assets. It has 4 employees and 2 investment advisers.

## Sectors

- Industrial Tech
- Healthcare Services
- Enterprise Software
- Consumer

## People

- Akira Udagawa — CEO & Founding Partner
- Hiromu Fukada — Partner

## Questions

### Who runs investment decisions at J-STAR?

CEO and founding partner Akira Udagawa leads the investment team and chairs the investment committee. Udagawa co-founded J-STAR in 2006 after a career at a global private equity firm. All investment decisions are made by the partnership, with senior partners carrying voting rights on the committee.

### What size companies does J-STAR target?

J-STAR focuses on Japanese mid-market businesses with enterprise values between JPY 1 billion and JPY 10 billion. This is a deliberate positioning below the radar of global mega-funds and above the micro-cap space. The firm views this segment as the deepest pool of founder-succession opportunities in Japan.

### How does J-STAR source proprietary deal flow?

The firm relies on a network of regional Japanese banks, accounting firms, and M&A advisory boutiques that refer succession-driven deals before they reach broad auction processes. Japan has a structural supply of these opportunities: millions of profitable SMEs are owned by founders over age 70 with no family successor, creating a pipeline that J-STAR has cultivated for nearly two decades.

### Which sectors does J-STAR focus on?

The firm invests across manufacturing, distribution and logistics, business services, healthcare, and consumer products. Healthcare services and medical devices have been a particularly active area, with public-record investments including Japan Medical Dynamic Marketing and Tsukui Corporation. J-STAR tends to avoid pure technology and real estate.

### How is J-STAR's fund structure organized?

J-STAR raises blind-pool, closed-end private equity funds with institutional LP bases that include Japanese regional banks, domestic pension funds, and global fund-of-funds. The firm's most recent flagship, J-STAR Fund IV, closed at approximately JPY 65 billion in 2019. Investors commit to the fund, and the GP draws capital as deals are executed.

### What is J-STAR's known posture on co-investments?

J-STAR offers co-investment opportunities to its limited partners on a deal-by-deal basis, particularly for larger transactions that approach or exceed the fund's concentration limits. The firm does not operate a separate co-investment fund, but co-investment is a standard feature of its LP relationships and serves as an alignment mechanism alongside the GP commitment.

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Last updated: 2026-06-03T20:00:00.000Z

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