Innovative Culture
Quick Facts
Ranking of cities with the most international patents (2016 & 2017)
#1
(Tokyo & Yokohama)
WIPO
Researchers and Engineers (2015)
140K+
researchers & engineers
MIAC
Ranking of international conferences held per year (2018)
#1
(Pacific Yokohama)
Pacifico Yokohama
Economic Potential Ranking (2019/20)
#1
(Mid-sized cities)
fDi ASIA-PACIFIC CITIES OF THE FUTURE
- Yokohama enjoys a flourishing hub of companies, universities and research institutes.
- Yokohama has platforms for industry-government-academia collaboration; it has an environment that nurtures innovation.
- Yokohama is a great MICE destination, offering a variety of unique venues and spaces suitable for collaboration and innovation.
Since the opening of its port in 1859, Yokohama has developed its identity as a diverse and vibrant city open to new peoples, cultures and ideas. Now, Yokohama is a flourishing hub of companies, universities and research institutes specialized in life science, IT, mobility and manufacturing technologies. Recently, Apple, LG and other major companies have chosen to open their R&D centers in Yokohama.
Yokohama has platforms for industry-government-academia collaboration such as the LIP. Yokohama (life science) and the ITOP Yokohama (IT). These platforms offer collaborative opportunities to promote the development of ground-breaking technologies and products. Match-up events, seminars and exchange meetings are just a few of the ways the platforms facilitate networking and support startups’ R&D and commercialization efforts. LIP Yokohama is an international partner of BIOCOM, an advocacy organization for California’s life science sector.
Yokohama offers a great variety of venues for meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) and co-working spaces. There is no shortage of networking events, exhibits, workshops and seminars held in Yokohama. Most notably, Pacifico Yokohama, a large-scale convention center in the Minato Mirai district, hosts the largest number of international conferences and MICE participants in the nation. WeWork has opened a location in Ocean Gate Minato Mirai and many newly developed office buildings have incorporated open-concept floor plans.
Yokohama has been long recognized as a leading city in public-private collaboration. Since 2008, it has conducted over 310 public-private pilot projects. In light of this success, Yokohama hopes to become a leading city in achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in a similar fashion.
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Articles from NEWS & EVENTS
Yokohama ranked top 3 “Global Cities of the Future” in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Strategy in Large City ranking

Yokohama City University to open new satellite campus within Yokohama Landmark Tower in Minato Mirai 21
