The Japan Business Federation (Keidanren) held its Startup Committee meeting on March 23 to discuss Japan's startup ecosystem challenges. Despite the government's comprehensive 5-Year Startup Development Plan, the ecosystem remains in a transitional phase facing substantial challenges across talent, capital, networks, and corporate linkages. Startup Genome Japan's executive director Naohiro Nishiguchi highlighted that Tokyo's ecosystem value and unicorn company numbers remain lower than neighboring Asian cities.

Emphasis was placed on Japan pursuing global market-oriented startups and increasing venture capital funding from overseas sources, similar to London's 20-year development journey. Speakers noted that Japanese founders should integrate into Silicon Valley's ecosystem rather than operating exclusively domestically, requiring global networking beyond Japanese-only groups. Japan should learn from Seoul's strategic approach, which explicitly targets global ecosystem top-5 positioning through policies anchored in the K-POP global expansion model.

The committee recommended developing dispersed regional ecosystems beyond Tokyo, mirroring successful US and European models. While Japan's startup exit numbers are high, exit values significantly lag Beijing, Seoul, and Shanghai, indicating the need for larger-scale companies and enhanced international capital attraction.