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About the Report
Japan’s drive to cultivate a domestic startup ecosystem is in large part to help address the demographic challenges posed by the country’s graying and contracting population. Until this time, startups were generally indirect beneficiaries of policy frameworks and funding programs. Along with a shift toward startup-centric policies, funding programs, and support services, regulatory reform is gradually lowering barriers to investment and raising the quality of startups to attract more investment from Japan and abroad.
As part of then Prime Minister Kishida Fumio’s economic vision for a “new form of capitalism,” the Cabinet finalized the Startup Development Five-year Plan in November 2022. The concept is to usher in a second era of innovation and business creation like that which followed World War II, when firms such as Toyota, Panasonic, and Sony rapidly grew into globally competitive companies.
This reports aims to provide an analysis of Japan’s startup policies, funding, government and private support sector, its connection with the U.S., as well as its areas of cooperation and complementarity with the EU.
Publication date: March 2026
To download the report, click on the PDF below.
More policy reports are available here.
Joint venture established in 1987 by the European Commission (DG GROW) and the Japanese Government (METI) for promoting all forms of industrial, trade and investment cooperation between the EU and Japan.
