SusHi Tech Tokyo 2025: Looking to Be Bigger and Better

TOKYO, JAPAN, May 7, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- SusHi Tech Tokyo has grown into one of Asia’s largest global startup conferences since its kick-off two years ago with the motto of creating “sustainable cities” through cutting-edge technology. But you haven’t seen nothing yet!

The event’s host, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government says it is striving for something even bigger and better at the third annual SusHi Tech Tokyo, which is set for May 8-10 mainly at a landmark convention hall in the ever-developing waterfront area of the Japanese capital.
https://sushitech-startup.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/en/

Prepare for an engaging lineup of startup exhibitions and pitches, alongside workshops, sessions and speeches involving innovators and influencers notably Audrey Tang, Taiwan’s cyber ambassador-at-large. Hands-on experiences with future technologies, such as maneuvering a 5-meter robot straight out of the world of anime, will no doubt amuse visitors of all ages.

“Let’s together and make this the ultimate startup conference,” Tokyo Governor Koike Yuriko told a promotional gathering for this year’s edition. “Through significantly enhanced content, SusHi Tech Tokyo 2025 is sure to evolve into an even larger and more productive event.”

The SusHi Tech initiative has been driven by a goal set in 2022 by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG) to make Tokyo “the world’s most startup-friendly city.”

TMG initially expected the 2025 edition to bring together over 500 startup exhibitors and venture capitalists from around the world, up from 434 last year, facilitating more than 5,000 business matching meetings, up from 3,485, and engaging at least 50,000 participants, up from 40,206.

Governor Koike was quick to note, with a smile, the angel number “555” phonetically reads “go, go, go” in Japanese. The actual number of startup exhibitors has reached more than 600. Over 50 people representing global venture capital firms are also booked to speak at 21 sessions on strategic investment trends and other topics.

3D-Printed Sushi on the Plate for a “Future Experience”
The event’s title SusHi Tech Tokyo was coined by stringing the first few letters of “Sustainable High City Tech Tokyo” in an apparent play on the word “sushi,” arguably the most beloved Japanese dish.

“Of course, delicious sushi will be served at the venue. Please enjoy,” quipped Ms. Koike, who was re-elected last July to her third four-year term as Tokyo’s first female governor. At the Future Experience Pavilion set up inside the seaside Tokyo Big Sight convention complex, a 3D food printer will turn out real sushi in edible gel cubes.

For the convenience of SusHi Tech attendees, the organizers have released an official app that brings them up to date on event information as well as help them register for programs and arrange business meetings over a broad choice of time slots.

The three-day event will start with “Business Days” on May 8 and 9 offering a full slate of global startup and innovation activities. Excitement will peak with the signature pitch contest, the SusHi Tech Challenge.

Twenty semi-finalists have been selected for the contest’s final among 657 applicants from 46 countries and regions, and up from 507 last year. The winner will take home the top prize money of 10 million yen (about 70,000 US dollars.)

May 10 will be reserved for “Public Day” when general visitors, from children to senior citizens, have free-of-charge interactive access to future technologies at the Future Experience Pavilion.

In addition to the super-large anime robot ride, they can interact with communication robots, drive EV carts and immerse themselves in digital sword fighting and an eSport bike workout. Workshops including an architectural design experience using an AI-powered image generator stands out as a must-attend.

There will also be a chance to steer a replica of the Japanese lunar micro rover, named TENACIOUS, scheduled to land on the Moon on June 6. In a separate space-related program, Japanese astronaut Onishi Takuya, who assumed command of the International Space Station on April 19, will speak in a real-time interspace communication with visitors to the pavilion on Public Day.

SusHi Tech 2025 will also actively involve young people, including students, in the event’s operations to provide them with invaluable early experiences in entrepreneurship.

AI, Quantum Computing and Food Tech in Focus
Business Days will feature 335 innovators and influencers from around the globe lined up for 135 talk sessions.

Ms. Tang, Taiwan’s cyber ambassador who served as its first digital minister 2022-2024, will speak on how digital public goods created by AI and other technologies can contribute to the world. With other panelists, she will discuss how the realization of digital government can advance democracy and enhance public welfare.

In another session, Indian entrepreneur Sandeep Aggarwal, Chief Executive Officer of Droom Technology, will give insights on India’s startup ecosystem and the transformation of the e-commerce and automotive markets.

Ashley Grosh, Vice President of Breakthrough Energy, a platform established by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates in 2015, will speak on global energy market trends. Her firm provides funding across the climate technology landscape.

Shimada Taro, who heads Japanese consumer electronics giant Toshiba, will speak on the future of cities led by quantum technologies, which enable different computations simultaneously at an exponentially high speed.

An industry-leading expert in quantum computing, Mr. Shimada said human beings face the “biggest problem right now in sustainability.” “And AI is supposed to help but sometimes they’re consuming too much energy. That’s why we are focusing on quantum technologies.”

Governor Koike says, in addition to AI and the “out-of-this-world performance” of quantum computing, SusHi Tech Tokyo will also focus on food technology with discussions on how to feed the world population projected to reach 10 billion in the mid-2080s. The food tech section will feature dishes prepared with sustainable ingredients supplied by startups and an exhibition by domestic and international startups across the entire supply chain.

Ecosystems in 16 overseas countries, regions and cities—three times as many as last year— are installing large “pavilion” exhibits at the Big Sight. They will represent Asia, Europe and the Middle East including Israel and Taiwan. A total of major companies are also setting up similar showcases, up from 29 last year.

Tokyo’s Startup Environment “Much Better” Now: Experts
In parallel to the startup and public programs, senior officials from nearly 60 cities around the world will hold a meeting at a central Tokyo hotel May 7-9 to prepare for a city leaders’ summit to be held during next year’s SusHi Tech Tokyo.

At the 2024 SusHi Tech leaders’ summit, mayors, governors and other executives of 45 cities vowed in a joint communiqué to utilize the “technologies of startups to find solutions to urban challenges.” This global network of cities was launched by Tokyo in 2022.

In the opinions of experts, Tokyo has become one of the world’s most accessible capital markets, having redesigned some business regulations and rules to be tailored to the needs of startups.

“These are things more important to startups than money,” said Laurent Rains, Director of Global Access at Alchemist Accelerator, a Silicon Valley-based firm that supports early-stage tech startups.

The startup sector is expected to grow further in Japan, he told Tokyo Updates, a general-interest online magazine posted by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. “It’s not about more companies competing for the same pie. It’s about creating a larger pie for more startups.”

Manabe Ryoko, Managing Director of Alchemist Japan, the U.S. accelerator’s Tokyo arm, said the Japanese startup environment has improved with the profession becoming an attractive career choice.

“When we tried to establish a startup around 2007, very few VCs existed in Japan. You had to get an individual investor or someone like that,” she said. “Now it is so different, the environment is much better for startups.”

“10x10x10 Vision” Turning Tokyo into a Global “Node for Innovation”
Tokyo’s drive to become the “world’s most startup-friendly” ecosystem has been accelerated by a startup strategy launched in 2022 with a “10x10x10 Innovation Vision.” This plan seeks to increase the numbers of Tokyo-based startups, unicorns (unlisted startups valued at one billion dollars or more each) and collaborative projects between the metropolitan government and startups—all by 10-fold in five years.

The strategy led to the formal opening of Tokyo Innovation Base (TiB) during last year’s SusHi Tech Tokyo. This facility near the glitzy Ginza district has been providing a place for domestic and overseas startups to gather and interact as “a node for innovation around the world.”

A month after the 2024 SusHi Tech event, Tokyo was promoted to the top 10 on the much quoted Global Startup Ecosystem Report, moving up five spots from a year before to No. 10. Other Asian cities Singapore, Beijing and Seoul were ranked higher.

The 10x10x10 plan has evolved in tandem with the national government’s 2022 plan to expand investment in startups to around 10 trillion yen (about 70 billion dollars) in five years.

Ms. Tang, Taiwan’s cyber ambassador-at-large, says she hopes the ideas and values of SusHi Tech Tokyo will grow beyond its annual events. In an interview with Tokyo Updates, she notes the younger generation is aware that “technology does not automatically align with sustainability”—amid various types of pollution, from the environmental pollution to social media platforms amplifying divisions and conflict.

“I think we need to collaborate together, Taiwan and Tokyo, to make (SusHi Tech Tokyo) not just an annual event, but rather a base upon which a movement around reorienting the ideas of capitalistic innovation to serve the people and the planet can flourish.”

If SusHi Tech Tokyo was not on your mind, “sushi” can be an event to match the tastes of innovative and technology enthusiasts around the world. But even if you are not, rest assured that there is something for everyone! Join us in Tokyo to change the landscape of sustainability together.

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