Latest News
Springboard Program in Yokohama 2019 Demo Day
The City of Yokohama and Kihara Memorial Yokohama Foundation are collaborating with CONNECT with San Diego Venture Group to promote rising life science companies through the Springboard Program in...
Former Yokohama City Hall to be transformed into Innovation Center
Yokohama City Hall is scheduled to relocate to Minato-Mirai district from Kannai district in 2020, and the city recently announced that it would be redeveloping the former building and surrounding...
The City of Yokohama participates in BIOCOM’s Devicefest & Digital Health Conference
On August 28, the City of Yokohama participated in the BIOCOM Devicefest & Digital Health Conference, a one-day event which took place within the conference area of the beautiful Westin Carlsbad...
Company Spotlight: Rising Startups
We spoke with Masa Okunishi, representative of Rising Startups. In 2015, Mr. Okunishi established Japan NYC Startups, a community for Japanese startups located in New York. The community grew...
Yokohama City and WeWork Japan commit to jointly promote innovative culture in Yokohama
The City of Yokohama signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on August 14th, 2019 with WeWork Japan, the Japanese division of a leading office space-sharing company headquartered in NYC, pledging...
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...
New Support Base for Startups Opens in Yokohama
[Update: The new support base for startups has opened! Learn more about YOXO BOX here!] Yokohama city announced the “Innovation City Yokohama” initiative in January this year, in which researchers,...
Global Festival of Action 2019 in Bonn – SDG best practice example of a company in Yokohama
From 02 to 04 May 2019 the third international conference 'The Global Festival of Action for Sustainable Development 2019' took place in Bonn. Since 2017, the Global Festival of Action has provided...
Company Spotlight: Airbuy Inc.
We interviewed Mr. Kentaro Ikemoto of Airbuy Inc., a startup that began at MIT and is now promoting sales in Yokohama, Japan. Please tell us about Airbuy. Airbuy is a B2B startup offering...
World-Class Mentoring Program kicks off in Yokohama
Four startups/companies have been officially selected for ”The Springboard™ Program in Yokohama,” a partnership between Yokohama City and San Diego accelerator “CONNECT with San Diego Venture Group”...
Yokohama City participates in SDGs Leadership Cities Gathering hosted by Brookings Institution
The first SDGs Leadership Cities Gathering was a convening of senior government officials from 14 vanguard cities in the field of ocalizing the SDGs, and it was held from April 3-6 at the...
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...
Increasing entry of foreign companies into Yokohama
Since the beginning of this year, the City of Yokohama’s partnership with Kanagawa prefecture and JETRO has successfully helped three foreign companies to establish new bases in Yokohama. Two out of...
Yokohama life-science companies at 2019 BIO International Convention
Today marks the last day of the 2019 BIO International Convention, closing out a nearly weeklong event filled with partnering and networking opportunities for life science companies of all sizes and...
Regional Business Conference with JETRO and METI to invite foreign companies to Yokohama
In October 2019, Yokohama will host a Regional Business Conference to collaborate with foreign companies interested in global expansion. After proposing a new strategy for attracting new foreign...
LIP. YOKOHAMA BIBLIO – New support center for life-science SMEs and startups opened within Yokohama City’s WeWork
SMEs and startups in the life-science field often have a need to search through theses, perform reviews of R&D information and results, and receive advice from specialists and experts, yet for...
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...