The founder of Spatial Pleasure, a startup that develops DMRV software with the vision of building a meaningful urban civilization, spoke about the current state of urban development in Japan and the benefits of starting a business in Japan. 

Finding startup communities in Japan might be a bit tricky as lots of them are not bilingual. However, these days, many events and meet-ups are held in English, particularly in Tokyo.

IVS is one of the largest startup events in Japan, with a lifetime total of over 20,000 participants. This year from June 28 to 30 saw IVS2023 KYOTO open the doors of its new location at two venues: the main event in Miyako Messe, and the pitch event in Rohm Theater Kyoto.

"Takeoff Tokyo" Event was held for the first time on June 8-9, 2023, with the aim of fostering a generation of startups that aspire to be the best in the world, not just in Japan. Blackbox was a media partner of the event and reports on the venue and the pitch contest in this article.

Tomohiro Suzuki of REIVER LLC. manages the Tagore Harbor Hostel and conducts community development activities in Heda, located south of Numazu City in Shizuoka Prefecture. The town is rich in nature, surrounded by the clearest ocean in Japan and pristine mountains. We asked him why he moved to Heda from Tokyo, how he came to run the hostel, and how he got involved in community development activities.

The founder and managing partner of Lifetime Ventures, a pre-seeded VC from Yokohama, talks about why he is doing business from Yokohama and the strengths and weaknesses of the Japanese startup scene.

In this article, we will give an overview of 4 Japanese startups that working on wastewater treatments.

Bright Moments, a community that is expanding the potential of NFT by creating galleries around the world to facilitate IRL Minting (IRL = In Real Life) of digital art and NFT art, held events at Shibuya PARCO Building (Shibuya, Tokyo) and Kyu Asakura House (an important cultural asset constructed in 1919) from May 5th to 10th.