The Startup Ecosystem of Japan

Japan has 11 cities in the top 1000 and has a vibrant startup scene that ranks 18th within the competitive global top 20.

COUNTRY RANKING

Japan’s startup scene saw an increase in 2023 and jumped 2 spots from the previous year, outranking Denmark.

Population

125
Million

Regional Ranking

2nd
0
In East Asia

Global Ranking

18th
+
2
Worldwide

Ecosystem

Startup Ecosystem Overview

people walking on street during night time
With a proven record of innovation, Japan is a tech pioneer. Apart from its historic success in building global companies such as Sony and Panasonic, the country also recognizes the importance of startups. However, the shift from building massive industrial consumer electronics and automobile companies towards startups is a difficult one. Like other economies in the region, a risk averse mindset is a challenge for the growth of Japan’s startup economy, in addition to a need for improved English skills to allow entrepreneurs to target international markets. The abundance of high-quality corporate jobs and a tight job market are creating a scarcity of talented and motivated entrepreneurs. With an aging population, Japan could benefit from attracting more foreign talent.
The low number of unicorns could signal a lack of investment in the startup ecosystem. Yet interestingly, a daring and revolutionary VC venture is based in Japan. Softbank, led by Masayoshi Son, has had its ups and downs but made a massive impact on the landscape of global investment. Japan is gradually advancing its startup ecosystem with more investment and a mindset change of encouraging entrepreneurship, mainly boosted by a government that understands the importance of successful and innovative entrepreneurs. Japan also needs to develop structures that would allow businesses the flexibility to compete in the global economy among rapidly changing industries. The Integrated Innovation Strategy 2022: Making Great Strides Toward Society 5.0 includes focus areas on the promotion of advanced and emerging technology, and offers 120 trillion yen in R&D investment to create Society 5.0.
With support from the government, the J-Startup Program has set out to promote Japanese startups to the global market and help create 20 unicorns by 2023, which will be difficult considering current market conditions. Japan boasts a rich network of support organizations in multiple hubs in the country. One of them is the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), which helps startups go global through the Startup City Acceleration Program. In addition, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Startup Fukuoka City, Startup City Sapporo, and Shibuya Startup Support are all committed to boosting their startup ecosystems. Japan’s clear strategy of creating competitive startup ecosystems shows that the country is moving in the right direction. Japan’s Startup Visa is already being implemented in a number of locations, such as Fukuoka City and Kobe City.
The Japanese government has been active in Japan’s startup economy development with the promotion of Tokyo, Yokohama, Fukuoka, Kyoto, and Kansai as leading startup cities, in addition to state-sponsored funding and accelerator programs for startups. Moreover, the country’s strong relations with the US has produced a partnership that could boost Japan’s startup scene through initiatives such as the U.S.-Japan Competitiveness and Resilience (CoRe) Partnership. With fintech and healthtech showing a lot of promise in Japan, we hope to see the country’s startup ecosystems attract more global recognition.

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ECOSYSTEM

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Ecosystem

The Startup Ecosystem in Japan

Our startup ecosystem map for Japan includes a sample of 1991 tech companies. We have identified as unicorns 5 startups that have passed the USD 1 billion valuations. Contributing to the vitality of this startup ecosystem are the 9 pantheon member entities.

Global Rank

Japan is ranked within the top 20 startup ecosystems globally.

Top Industries

Japan’s startup scene is best represented in Marketing & Sales, Hardware & IoT, and in and Education.

Top Cities for Startups in Japan - Ranked by StartupBlink
StartupBlink ranks the startup ecosystems of 100 countries and 1,000 cities. Download our latest Global Startup Ecosystem Report.
Rows:
2023 National Rank & Change ▲
Access subscores for 1000 cities and 100 countries
2023 National Rank & Change City
search leaderboards icon
Global Rank & ChangeTotal ScoreQuantity ScoreQuality ScoreBusiness Score
1st
0
14th
+
1
44.067
00.00
00.00
00.00
2nd
0
128th
-
9
5.535
00.00
00.00
00.00
3rd
0
172nd
+
10
3.627
00.00
00.00
00.00
4th
0
214th
+
6
2.445
00.00
00.00
00.00
5th
0
320th
-
41
1.181
00.00
00.00
00.00
6th
+
1
476th
+
95
0.547
00.00
00.00
00.00
7th
-
1
490th
-
96
0.518
00.00
00.00
00.00
8th
+
1
694th
+
152
0.259
00.00
00.00
00.00
9th
-
1
729th
-
35
0.239
00.00
00.00
00.00
10th
+
1
847th
+
64
0.174
00.00
00.00
00.00
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Startups

Notable Startups in Japan
PayPay startup icon
PayPay
LINE Securities startup icon
LINE Securities
freee startup icon
freee

Startups

Successful Marketing & Sales startups in Japan
Locoguide startup icon
Locoguide
Voicy startup icon
Voicy
Hacomono startup icon
Hacomono

Startups

Startups Ranking by Industry

Marketing & Sales icon
Marketing & Sales
#9 worldwide

On our map, you can explore a total of 613 startups for Marketing & Sales.

Hardware & IoT icon
Hardware & IoT
#11 worldwide

In East Asia, Japan's Hardware & IoT is in top 11. Japan has a concentration of about 304 of the region's total Hardware & IoT startups that are represented on our map.

Education icon
Education
#14 worldwide

Japan's Education is ranked 14th in the world. Our database contains 208 for this industry.

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