For Japan to achieve high levels of economic growth and well-being by 2030—and beyond—it is essential for its domestic companies to enhance their global competitiveness. In a two-part series, we will explore the model that Japanese companies should adopt. In part one, we analyze the decline in competitiveness of Japanese companies, with a focus on the last decade. After highlighting the situations where Japanese businesses are lagging behind their Western counterparts in terms of key metrics such as Total Shareholder Return (TSR), we consider the current state of Japanese corporations using unique data sources from BCG and BCG Henderson Institute (BHI). Building on this, we identify the Five Global Standard Success Factors necessary for Japanese companies to triumph in the global market.