Entrepreneur Stories Japan

Jae-Yong Lee, a Korean 3D fashion specialist who studied fashion in Japan, taught at his alma mater, and then launched VGlab, a company that uses 3DCG to support apparel brands in improving DX and creating digital content, talked about how he started his business and the differences between Japan and Korea.

October 30, 2023

DCENTRAL is the largest web3 conference in the United States, held regularly in Miami, Florida. The inaugural Japanese version of the event, DCENTRAL Tokyo, was held at Shibuya Stream in Shibuya over September 19th and 20th.

October 19, 2023

Steve Bidinger is the co-founder and CEO of Skai Beauty. He has worked in the cosmetics industry and lived in Japan for 30 years; and has a passion for clean and sustainable beauty.

October 16, 2023

Lauren Rose Kocher is the founder and director of the Vegas PR Group, an international PR and marketing agency based in Tokyo. We discussed her career and current company, as well as the current status of Japanese startup scene.

October 3, 2023

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. 

August 29, 2023

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.

August 15, 2023

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.

August 15, 2023

"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.

July 14, 2023

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.

June 28, 2023

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.

May 31, 2023

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

May 30, 2023

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. 

May 25, 2023