Governor Koike Speaks at the SusHi Tech Tokyo 2025 Opening Session

Governor Koike called on startup players from around the world to work together in driving innovation and creating new value as she spoke at the opening ceremony of SusHi Tech Tokyo 2025 on May 8.

In the speech at the major international startup conference held at the Tokyo Big Sight convention hall, Ms. Koike said, “The global political and economic landscape is drastically changing, with turmoil and division spreading as uncertainty over the future grows.”

“It is more crucial now than ever for aspiring individuals to come together, exchange ideas, share their knowledge, and with everyone’s cooperation, drive innovation and create new value,” she added.

Ms. Koike noted that the number of pavilions set up by countries, cities and regions at the third annual SusHi Tech event grew three times to 16 from last year’s five while the number of participating corporate partners also increased from 29 to 47.

In an unprecedented move, SusHi Tech’s third day was set aside as a “Public Day.” “On this day, small children and even students and adults can enjoy building together the city of the future,” the governor said.

She also explained the Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s “Startup Strategy.”
“We established the ‘10 by 10 by 10’ innovation vision to achieve a tenfold increase in startups, unicorns, and public-private collaborative practices in five years.”

In November 2023, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government launched Tokyo Innovation Base (TIB), which holds various programs “on a daily basis to broaden entrepreneurial horizons and to nurture the growth of startups.”

TIB, which aims to “become the ‘node’ for global innovation,” has welcomed over 180,000 visitors from around the world, Ms. Koike said.

“Meeting with stakeholders from around the world, I strongly felt the need for Tokyo to advance to the next stage,” the governor went on. “Tokyo will launch ‘SusHi Tech Global’ to form a group of top level startups with sustainable tech and provide firm support in areas such as personnel and funding.”

“With these efforts as the foundation, we will continue working to swiftly put startups on an upward growth trajectory to nurture large unicorns capable of excelling on the global stage,” the governor said. In conclusion, Ms. Koike told the audience: “I look forward to meeting as many of you as possible.”