Simplest possible illustration: Japan's equivalent of an LLC costs +/- $10k in running costs for most HNers and doesn't do pass-through taxation, which might counsel sole proprietorship for longer here than it would in the US.
He used an example of Japan as an illustration of why it is important to know the location of the person asking the question.
You seem to be new here (73 days). Note that 'patio11 has been here for 11 years and is one of HNs top posters. Not that longevity makes someone right, but 'patio11's posts have been high quality for many years, and one should assume that he is probably not pulling a reply out of his ass when he does reply.
While not every poster on HN posts high quality replies, most people here reply with a clear purpose. This is not Reddit -- I encourage you to assume that most replies are actually substantive. If you are not sure, check the poster's history -- this will help you get a feel for the potential quality of their posts.
I didn't know that all countries used the LLC term (or more then one)... specially not Japan which I expected them to use Japanese characters... I guess that they have been successfully Americanized. Sorry for the confusion.
BTW I know that this is not reddit but there is about as much censoring, if not more (there is just more users on reddit).
Also, I see that your account was created in 2013... did you create any throwaway account since then? (this account, for me, is a throwaway account)
Conflict: do you work for the economist.com ? most of your submissions appear to point there
but thanks for the insight as to why I get all the downvotes...
