Business Support & Incentives

Yokohama offers an array of incentives to support companies that choose the region as a business location. Incentives include subsidies for the establishment of major HQ/branch offices, factories and R&D facilities, support for growth industries and budding entrepreneurs, and tax incentives for office space leasing. The Yokohama World Business Support Center (WBC) offers one-stop, English-language consulting services to foreign companies, including site selection and networking assistance. The city works closely with the Kanagawa prefectural government and JETRO in order to provide the best possible support, pointing out the best combination of resources to support each company’s success in Japan.

The city hosts a number of startup and incubation offices, some of which provide specialized support for foreign companies setting up office in Yokohama. For example, WBC has an incubation office that can host companies up to 3 years while providing services such as personalized consultation and facilitation of business networking. In addition, companies can make use of incubation facilities operated by JETRO and the Kanagawa prefecture also located within the city.

The rigorous business climate in Yokohama is supported by the leadership and commitment of Mayor Fumiko Hayashi, a well-known former business executive who has won numerous international leadership awards, including WSJ’s “Top 50 Women to Watch” (2004) and Fortune’s “50 Most Powerful Women in Business: The Global 50” (2005 & 2006).