Since its launch 4 years in the past, SusHi Tech Tokyo has expanded in scale and worldwide attain. The 2026 occasion is anticipated to be its largest but, positioning Tokyo as a world platform the place innovators from all over the world can join, collaborate, and showcase applied sciences shaping the cities of the longer term.
Throughout the convention’s “Gathering Day” curtain-raiser occasion on Feb. 16, Deputy Governor Manabu Miyasaki instructed reporters that the occasion has already had a measurable impression on Tokyo’s startup panorama.
“Since launching SusHi Tech, I’ve seen a dramatic improve within the variety of individuals beginning companies,” Miyasaka mentioned. “Authorities procurement has additionally modified — it is now utterly regular for the Tokyo Metropolitan Authorities to supply merchandise from startups. What we have to deal with subsequent is intensively supporting startups and mid-sized corporations aiming to scale up. I consider this will probably be critically necessary going ahead.”
The three-day convention will mix keynote classes, exhibitions, pitch contests, and associate occasions throughout the town. Guests can even have alternatives each inside and outdoors the venue to expertise firsthand Tokyo’s technological, financial, and cultural strengths.
4 key areas: AI, robotics, resilience, and leisure
This 12 months’s program facilities on 4 themes: synthetic intelligence, robotics, resilience, and leisure.
Underneath the AI theme, executives from main corporations and distinguished researchers will talk about how societies can combine synthetic intelligence into day by day life, and the way people and AI can collaborate. The convention will characteristic an AI-focused pitch contest and exhibitions from startups originating in Japanese universities and analysis establishments. Classes and associate occasions can even showcase award-winning movies from a global AI movie pageant.
Robotics demonstrations will spotlight the fast evolution of “bodily AI” and its rising integration into society. Reveals will showcase robots performing a spread of duties aimed toward making day by day life extra handy and productive.
Within the resilience class, applied sciences designed to assist city life and allow swift restoration from pure disasters — together with earthquakes, storms, and floods linked to local weather change — will probably be on show. Website excursions are deliberate to showcase crucial infrastructure that protects Tokyo’s city features, together with underground regulating reservoirs constructed to forestall river flooding.
The leisure observe will discover how know-how is remodeling inventive industries akin to anime, manga, music, and sports activities. The exhibitions will display improvements reshaping each content material creation and viewers experiences. Associate occasions throughout the town will embrace a strolling occasion on the KK Line, an elevated expressway in central Tokyo being redeveloped right into a pedestrian area.
Tokyo’s aggressive benefit
Miyasaka emphasised that Tokyo’s financial and educational strengths underpin the occasion’s international ambitions.
“Why Tokyo? As a result of inside Asia, it has a comparatively well-developed monetary market and a focus of enormous companies,” he mentioned. “Based on Fortune 500, Tokyo is the town with the second-highest focus of world headquarters worldwide. I consider that coming right here makes it simpler for startups to entry innovation alternatives in a one-stop method.”
He added that Tokyo’s scale and analysis base additional distinguish it from different international ecosystems.
“Moreover, it has a inhabitants of over 100 million and a comparatively giant home market with a excessive GDP. Lastly, Tokyo is definitely one of many world’s main cities for the focus of top-tier universities and analysis establishments. This facet might be what makes Tokyo’s ecosystem distinctive in comparison with others globally, and we goal to additional refine and improve this power.”
International leaders and startup participation
Classes will characteristic executives from main home and worldwide companies, fast-growing scale-ups, and main researchers. Discussions are anticipated to cowl sustainable cities, superior applied sciences, and the evolution of startup ecosystems.
Greater than 700 startups from all over the world are scheduled to exhibit, up from 607 on the earlier occasion. Exhibitors will take part alongside giant companies and startups hosted by areas and municipalities throughout Japan.
On the international pitch competitors “SusHi Tech Problem 2026,” 20 startups will probably be chosen from 820 candidates spanning 60 international locations and areas to compete within the semifinals and finals, a rise from 657 candidates from 46 international locations beforehand.
The 2026 version can even debut “SusHi Tech International Startups,” a brand new initiative supporting growth-stage corporations via collaboration between the Tokyo Metropolitan Authorities and its companions — an effort aligned with Miyasaka’s name to strengthen scale-up assist.
College-born startups will play a distinguished function. In collaboration with the Nationwide Innovation Community for Entrepreneur Japan (NINEJP), a community of greater than 160 universities and analysis establishments, chosen startups from throughout Japan will exhibit and take part in an AI-themed pitch contest.
Past startups, enterprises will take part in partnership with the Japan Small and Medium Enterprise Company and the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce & Business. Exhibitors will embrace finalists from “Ato-tsugi Koshien,” a nationwide competitors for successors of small companies presenting new enterprise concepts.
Giant companies can even showcase open innovation initiatives, exhibiting alongside the startups with which they collaborate.
Pavilions representing greater than 20 international locations, areas, and cities — up from 16 beforehand — are anticipated to take part, aiming to advertise cross-border market entry and worldwide collaboration.
Greater than 40 Japanese municipalities, together with designated startup ecosystem hub cities, will take part what organizers name an “All-Japan” effort to advertise the nation’s innovation panorama. A devoted stage will host classes introducing regional initiatives.
Youth engagement and public day
College students will play an lively function within the undertaking “ITAMAE” — quick for Progressive Expertise Educational Maestro — through which they independently plan and function classes and pitch occasions. Pupil volunteers will help with venue operations and assist abroad startups via internships.
The ultimate day will probably be designated as “Public Day”, with interactive reveals and workshops designed to spark curiosity and encourage younger individuals to have interaction with rising applied sciences.
Common admission is ¥20,000, pupil tickets are ¥2,000, and VIP tickets are ¥100,000. Common tickets can be found at a 50% early-bird low cost via Feb. 28.
Organizers say SusHi Tech Tokyo 2026 goals to strengthen Tokyo’s function as a world hub the place excessive know-how and various stakeholders converge to handle city challenges and construct sustainable cities for the longer term.
JStories, Japan’s solutions-focused multilingual information service, is an official media associate for SusHi Tech Tokyo 2026, Asia’s largest startup convention. This collaboration goals to amplify the occasion’s mission of fostering open innovation and addressing international city challenges via cutting-edge know-how and various concepts.
Written by Toshi Maeda | JStories
Edited by Takanori Isshiki, Lucas Maltzman | JStories
Prime picture: Masaru Ikeda | JStories
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