A Country’s Hidden Gems Set to Create Value Nationally ブラック ジャック ディーラー ルール Around the World

October 2022

Japan is in part known for having the world’s third-largest economy, one that is underpinned by global corporations, robust SMEs, modern infrastructure ブラック ジャック ディーラー ルール advanced technology. That being the case, what is generally known abroad about Japan’s economy is centered on large cities ブラック ジャック ディーラー ルール large companies, while the value created in other parts of the country—especially its regions—is less well known. ブラック ジャック ディーラー ルール yet, such value is not enjoyed in Japan alone but around the world, as we will see below ブラック ジャック ディーラー ルール in future articles.

As noted in the prologue of this series, this article falls under one of the themes under our consideration—that is, articles summarizing business opportunities not only in metropolitan areas but also in other parts of Japan. Here, we will share key insights into three main areas: 1) developments within the regional ecosystem; 2) developments in academic research; ブラック ジャック ディーラー ルール, 3) social challenges ブラック ジャック ディーラー ルール related business opportunities in Japan.

All these areas contain some of Japan’s hidden gems, including startup ecosystems, high level research institutes ブラック ジャック ディーラー ルール next-generation smart cities. Such hubs of innovation are rich in opportunities for collaboration, creativity ブラック ジャック ディーラー ルール the production of new value. Importantly, foreign-affiliated entities—companies, institutes, institutions ブラック ジャック ディーラー ルール skilled individuals with collaborative mindsets—can take advantage of these lesser-known resources to create value.

Indeed, stakeholders from abroad not only can realize ブラック ジャック ディーラー ルール expブラック ジャック ディーラー ルール their own business ブラック ジャック ディーラー ルール innovation goals by collaborating with Japanese entities, but also pursue business opportunities by tackling many of Japan’s socio-economic challenges: especially those prevalent in the regions, such as depopulation, aging societies, ブラック ジャック ディーラー ルール climate change-related concerns.

First, let’s consider Japan’s development of its regional ecosystem to promote innovation. Japan was an early mover in leveraging the various strengths of regional resources, which include technologically advanced SMEs ブラック ジャック ディーラー ルール advanced academic institutions ブラック ジャック ディーラー ルール industries—the latter covering sectors like agriculture ブラック ジャック ディーラー ルール tourism, the foundation of regional economies ブラック ジャック ディーラー ルール societies.

One effort aims to attract business concepts, entrepreneurial talent, ブラック ジャック ディーラー ルール capital through the establishment of startup ecosystems, as well as to promote innovation ブラック ジャック ディーラー ルール accelerate the development of the investment environment in various regions. This move is helping to drive innovation in the country as a whole.

Startup ecosystems are ideal platforms for bringing together innovators to develop new technologies ブラック ジャック ディーラー ルール solutions, as well as to establish next-generation companies across the country. Such hubs can become the springboard for launching new opportunities for cross-border, collaborative partnerships between Japanese ブラック ジャック ディーラー ルール international entities—in areas like open innovation, where companies open their innovation strategies to entities outside their own portfolio of companies.

Japan is evolving with such ecosystems. Kawasaki King Skyfront, for example, is located in Kawasaki, a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, which lies near Tokyo. Kawasaki King Skyfront is an R&D center with a focus on life science ブラック ジャック ディーラー ルール environmental fields—ブラック ジャック ディーラー ルール the realization of open innovation projects. Osaka Innovation Hub (OIH), meanwhile, is an ecosystem backed by Osaka City, the capital of Osaka Prefecture. OIH hosts international startups, media ブラック ジャック ディーラー ルール investors, in addition to running incubation ブラック ジャック ディーラー ルール acceleration programs for ventures in a wide range of industries—from healthcare to life science to manufacturing.

Startup Bootcamp Scale Osaka (SBC), moreover, is also located in Osaka. Via its accelerator, SBC helps early-stage tech companies grow their business. Soundpays, for instance, is a company from Canada that was a member of SBC’s accelerator program. During the program, the startup—whose product uses ultrasonic sound waves to deliver information from advertising to a user’s smartphone—entered proof-of-concept (PoC) partnerships with Japanese corporations, in particular The Yomiuri Shimbun, a major media company, ブラック ジャック ディーラー ルール Hankyu Corporation, a large railway operator. Since the PoC’s development in early 2020, the companies began plans for large-scale deployment of the technology.

Next, we will consider developments within academic research, which includes universities, research ブラック ジャック ディーラー ルール development (R&D) centers ブラック ジャック ディーラー ルール academic institutes—many of which are located outside major cities. Here, too, efforts are being made to promote innovation, whether that’s via university spin-offs by researchers themselves, or through open innovation collaboration between researchers, corporations ブラック ジャック ディーラー ルール startups.

CELLINK, for example, is a Swedish 3D bioprinting company. They opened operations in Japan, establishing a representative office at the Kyoto University Venture Incubation Center (KUViC). A life sciences company, CELLINK’s products—which include 3D printers ブラック ジャック ディーラー ルール biomaterials—can be applied in fields such as regenerative medicine, drug discovery, cell biology ブラック ジャック ディーラー ルール dentistry. CELLINK Corporation, the Japanese subsidiary, was established in 2020 in Kansai, a region renowned for high-level life sciences research facilities ブラック ジャック ディーラー ルール corporations.

Tohoku University, meanwhile, has established the Clinical Research, Innovation ブラック ジャック ディーラー ルール Education Center (CRIETO)—a life science hub with a goal of bringing ideas created in the lab to the market. Hosted by Tohoku University Hospital, CRIETO engages in international collaborations with leading universities, research institutes ブラック ジャック ディーラー ルール companies—including foreign-affiliated ones—as part of its innovation strategy.

In 2018, for instance, Tohoku University signed a partnership agreement with Phillips Japan, a subsidiary of Dutch multinational Phillips, to conduct joint research in the field of healthcare. Two years later, in 2021, the university ブラック ジャック ディーラー ルール the Dutch firm extended the collaboration, entering a 7-year strategic research contract to explore remote training of anesthesiologists ブラック ジャック ディーラー ルール to deploy artificial intelligence to analyze chronic heart disease. Indeed, Phillips has a co-creation space at Tohoku University’s CRIETO hub.

The University of Tsukuba, meanwhile, has created an initiative called the Tsukuba International Center for Digital Biotechnology. The center has a goal of promoting international exchange ブラック ジャック ディーラー ルール the creation of advanced solutions in collaborative medicine ブラック ジャック ディーラー ルール food products, among other projects. Supported by the Japan Science ブラック ジャック ディーラー ルール Technology Agency, the center seeks to tackle challenges identified in the sustainable development goals (SDGs) of the United Nations, ブラック ジャック ディーラー ルール in Japan’s national strategy for innovation, including a goal to provide health ブラック ジャック ディーラー ルール wellbeing for all ブラック ジャック ディーラー ルール to create the foundations for industrial ブラック ジャック ディーラー ルール technological innovation.

It’s worth emphasizing that Tsukuba City, where Tsukuba University is located, lies around 65 km northeast of Tokyo, ブラック ジャック ディーラー ルール is known for its high-level universities ブラック ジャック ディーラー ルール research centers, including the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science ブラック ジャック ディーラー ルール Technology (AIST). In mid 2022, for example, AIST announced a joint R&D agreement with the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the world’s biggest semiconductor foundry. Under the agreement, TSMC’s Japan subsidiary, based in the Tsukuba Center of AIST, will conduct research into next-generation semiconductors.

Finally, let’s consider social issues ブラック ジャック ディーラー ルール business opportunities in Japan. In this area, issues range from challenges around mobility for seniors ブラック ジャック ディーラー ルール others, population decline due to low birth rate, aging populations, ブラック ジャック ディーラー ルール severe disasters caused by natural phenomena or climate change—all of which present firms, institutions ブラック ジャック ディーラー ルール skilled individuals worldwide with ample opportunities for collaboration ブラック ジャック ディーラー ルール innovation with Japanese partners.

The Advanced Mobility Demonstration Project in Kitakyushu City, Fukuoka, is an example of an initiative that aims to tackle challenges around mobility at the local level. Under Kitakyushu City’s SDGs Innovation Trial Project, Singapore-based SWAT Mobility Pte. Ltd., a startup in the transit industry, was selected to analyze boarding ブラック ジャック ディーラー ルール alighting data from municipal buses ブラック ジャック ディーラー ルール propose optimized revisions to scheduling challenges; the latter is caused by issues like depopulation in regional areas. SWAT Mobility’s solutions are an example of transit services that can benefit not only local bus operators ブラック ジャック ディーラー ルール customers but transit users anywhere.

But mobility is just one challenge facing local communities. That’s why in 2018, the Ministry of Economy, Trade ブラック ジャック ディーラー ルール Industry (METI) ブラック ジャック ディーラー ルール the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) set in motion the Regional Business Conference (RBC) initiative. The RBC leverages industrial clusters ブラック ジャック ディーラー ルール other strengths of Japan’s regions, invites foreign businesses, arranges business matching with local companies, etc. Projects are publicly solicited from municipalities that are active in attracting foreign companies. Since the Covid-19 pブラック ジャック ディーラー ルールemic, "JETRO Business Connect" was launched in 2021 to provide foreign businesses ブラック ジャック ディーラー ルール local governments with online matching opportunities. It has covered a wide range of fields that impact the local economy, including healthcare/life sciences, disaster prevention tech, travel tech, AI/IoT, etc.

Suffice it to say here that, in future articles, we’d like to convey the attractiveness of business in the regions through detailed examples of solutions by international companies that are being deployed to solve some of Japan’s most-pressing socio-economic challenges.