The Yokohama Matching Program, Yokohama’s newest initiative to connect international startups with business opportunities in Japan, attracted strong global interest in its inaugural year. Designed...
Innovation Interview
Connecting with Espoo, Finland, a leading innovation ecosystem city in the Nordic region
The City of Yokohama has been working to build a network and promote collaboration with overseas ecosystem organizations to drive innovation*. As part of these efforts, the director of the Europe...
Germany’s Largest Tech Startup Event “Digital Demoday 2022”
On August 18, "Digital Demoday 2022," Germany's largest tech startup event, was held in Düsseldorf. The main themes of this year's startup event were Hightech, Sustainability, and Metaverse (virtual...
Making Yokohama a city where startups can thrive (Innovation Interviews, Ep. 9)
Shigeo Murata of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu’s Yokohama office has been working as a startup supporter since 2017, and is currently involved in the managing of YOXO BOX, Yokohama city’s very own...
Award-winning designer Eisuke Tachikawa goes behind the scenes on Yokohama’s YOXO brand initiative (Innovation Interviews, Ep. 8)
Eisuke Tachikawa, NOSIGNER, Founder and Director When Yokohama announced its “Innovation City” initiative, that declaration came with the expectation that innovation would be created in networks...
How to use IT to facilitate public-private partnerships (Innovation Interviews, Ep. 7)
Iwao Kobayashi, Code for YOKOHAMA, Joint Representative Iwao Kobayashi works with Code for YOKOHAMA, a local volunteer organization that promotes public IT initiatives. Kobayashi also provides...
The “Far Shore” Concept – Using Proximity to your Advantage (Innovation Interviews, Ep. 6)
Shingo Potier is an expert on worldwide innovation and has been involved in creating a community in Japan based on “value”, and Tsuyoshi Aizawa is a former Yokohama real estate agent who is now...
Open Innovation is the Key to Survival (Innovation Interviews, Ep. 5)
(Right) Shingo Nagai, Executive Manager and Head of Area Management, Sotetsu Building Management Co., Ltd.(Left) Yuta Hashimoto, Assistant Section Chief, Keikyu Corporation Business Creation...
How Location is Shaping the Future of (Open) Innovation in Japan (Innovation Interviews, Ep. 4)
The Minato Mirai (MM) area of Yokohama is currently transforming into a central hub for the headquarters of Japan’s large companies and R&D centers. It is the home of businesses such as Fuji...
How “Real Local Issues” Create Business (Innovation Interviews, Ep. 3)
(Left) Ms. Ayako Amari, Business Strategy Section Engineer at the Application Management System Headquarters of Hitachi Solutions. (Center) Ms. Tanabe Keiko, Senior Staff of the Corporate Planning...
Initiatives to Educate Entrepreneurs (Innovation Interviews, Ep. 2)
Interview with Dr. Emi Tamechika, Professor at Yokohama National University’s Center for Economic Growth Strategy Becoming a launchpad for innovation, and establishing initiatives to educate...
“Creating the best products by utilizing the talent and technology that Yokohama has to offer” (Innovation Interviews, Ep. 1)
Interview with Mr. Hideyuki Fujisawa, Representative Director, NITTO CO.,LTD. NITTO is a global pioneer of state of the art technology. Founded in 1918 to produce electrical insulation...