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Startup Cities | Kansai -01

Entrepreneurship has always been an important part of the history of Osaka, and its open and friendly culture is favorable to startups.
Also known as the city to host the 2025 World Expo, Osaka has wide variety of big established enterprises and universities/research institutes, particularly in the field of life science. It has a significant market size as well.
Osaka and its ecosystem can provide worldwide entrepreneurs with the opportunities to be successful in Japan.

Osaka

Population

8.8 mil

Economy

  • KEYENCE Corporation

  • Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited

  • Daikin Industries, Ltd.

University

  • Osaka University

  • Osaka Pref. University

  • Osaka City University

and more…

Support

Osaka Startup Ecosystem Consortium
(Osaka Business Development Agency)
e-mail : s-upeco-info[_at_]obda.or.jp
(replate [_at_] to atmark)
TEL:+81-6-7657-4260

Access

Kansai International Airport

40 min by train from Osaka station.
60 min by bus from Osaka station.

Startup Cities | Kansai-02

Kyoto is a city of innovation, fusing tradition, culture and technology into hardworking harmony.

Kyoto

  • Startups in Kyoto

    • Main Active Fields
      Bio healthcare / Deep-tech / Advanced Manufacturing

    • Access to “Startup Visa System”

  • City of Students

    • 34 universities, and nearly 10% of the population is students in the city.

  • High-Tech

    • 480 enterprises and private organizations (apx. 5,000 employees) are active within Kyoto Research Park.

    • Research institutions for universities/ large enterprises are accumulated in Keihanna Science City.

    • Universities and enterprises in Kyoto have produced 11 Nobel Prize-winning researchers

Population

2.6 mil

Economy

  • KYOCERA Corporation

  • SHIMADZU Corporation

  • SCREEN Holdings Co., Ltd.

University

  • Kyoto University

  • Kyoto Institute of Technology

and more…

Support

Kyoto Overseas Business Center
Contact Personnel : Joseph Kyoda
e-mail:KYO-startup[_at_]jetro.go.jp
(replate [_at_] to atmark)

Access

Kansai International Airport

1.5 hours by JR Line super-express HARUKA (directly link to Kyoto station).
1.5 hours by Limousin bus (directly link to Kyoto station).

Startup Cities | Kansai -03

Hyogo Kobe has been working on various cutting-edge initiatives to become an innovative city who transcend the boundaries of local government. For instance, we have carried out initiatives, such as to accelerate the business growth of startups in Japan and overseas, to collaborate between the governmental sector and startups to solve administrative issues, and financial support by Investment fund. In addition, UNOPS Global Innovation Center, which aims to solve the SDG’s issues with innovative technologies, was launched and is expected to be a gateway to the global market of SDGs issues.

Kobe

Population

5.4 mil

Economy

  • Sysmex Corporation

  • Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd.

  • ASICS Corporation

University

  • Kobe University

  • University of Hyogo

  • Kwansei Gakuin University

and more…

Support

Hyogo Kobe Startup Ecosystem Consortium
e-mail:hyogo.kobe.consortium[_at_]gmail.com
(replate [_at_] to atmark)

Access

Kansai International Airport

65 min by Limousine bus from Sannomiya station to Kansai Internationl Airport.
30 min by Bay Shuttle from Sannomiya station to Kobe Airport.

Ecosystem Builder

How Osaka became an innovation hub for startups in Japan

Key Persons

Nota, Inc.

Hailing from Oita Prefecture in southern Japan, Isshu Rakusai discovered his love for programming when he was twelve years old. At the age of eighteen, he coded his first commercial application, and his fate as a tech entrepreneur was sealed. Now,

kyoto

Isshu Rakusai

Founder and CEO

Synergy Marketing

Osaka-born Hitoshi Tanii is a serial entrepreneur with a passion for business and an impressive success record, especially considering he is only 48. After graduating from Kobe University,

Osaka

Hitoshi Tanii

Founder / Chairperson

Beautiful Smile Co., Ltd.

Mitsuki Bun is tackling one of Japan’s greatest social problems: food waste. A native of the tranquil city of Nara, Mitsuki earned an economics degree

Osaka

Mitsuki Bun

Founder, CEO

Startups

Microwave Chemical Co.,Ltd.

Microwave Chemical Co.,Ltd.

Materials

Our core value is our microwave platform technology that we design according to the characteristics of the product.

Megakaryon Corporation

Megakaryon Corporation

HealthcareTech

The second revolution in transfusion medicine, made possible by iPS cells.

akippa Inc.

akippa Inc.

Sharing economy

"akippa" is a parking service that allows you to easily share vacant monthly and private parking lots across the country.

Interviews

T-ICU

T-ICU provide consultation services and systems related to remote intensive care, hospital consultation, etc.

Kobe

Tomoyuki Nakanishi

CEO & Founder, Certified Intensivist

SIRC Co., Ltd.

SIRC provides new functions with multi-functional chips that can output power, power factor, harmonics, and frequency, in real time.

Osaka

Hiroaki Tsujimoto

Founder / Chief Technical Advisor

PaylessGate Corporation

PaylessGate provides seamless experience through authentication and payment with a smartphone in your pocket.

Osaka

Yasuhiko Adachi

CEO

mui Lab

mui Lab strives to create a new relationship between humans and technology, by offering services by hardware and software.

Kyoto

Kaz Oki

Co-Founder, CEO

Integral Technology Co., Ltd.

Integral Technology, automates CAE process with their software, to contribute to more faster and efficient manufacturing process.

Osaka

Hirokazu Nishiura

Founder, CEO

Atomis Inc.

Atomis provides innovative global solutions to control gases by using their expertise in a new class of porous materials.

kyoto

Daisuke Asari

CEO, Chief Executive Officer

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