{"id":813634,"date":"2026-07-21T04:41:26","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T04:41:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/813634\/"},"modified":"2026-07-21T04:41:26","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T04:41:26","slug":"weak-yen-gives-tokyo-edge-in-global-startup-race-koike-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/813634\/","title":{"rendered":"Weak yen gives Tokyo edge in global startup race, Koike says"},"content":{"rendered":"

The weak yen is an advantage for for foreign startups and investors in Tokyo, because it enables them to hire skilled personnel at a relatively low cost, Gov. Yuriko Koike said.<\/p>\n

\u201cTokyo has a large number of excellent, highly skilled people, both men and women,\u201d Koike said in an interview in New York on Friday, as the Japanese currency hovered close to a 40-year low. \u201cI believe the weak yen has merits,\u201d in terms of securing the human resources to run a business, she said.<\/p>\n

Koike added she hadn\u2019t heard complaints about the disadvantages of the exchange rate. The weakening currency erodes purchasing power for Japan-based entrepreneurs who want to spend their earnings overseas.<\/p>\n

Koike was in New York to attend the FinCity.Tokyo forum, aimed at promoting Tokyo as a global financial hub, as well as to take part in a conference at the United Nations.<\/p>\n

Under Koike\u2019s leadership, Tokyo has launched initiatives to establish itself as a global financial center and startup hub as part of an effort to boost economic growth and innovation.<\/p>\n

Key elements of its startup strategy include Tokyo Innovation Base, a hub that supports entrepreneurs, and SusHi Tech Tokyo<\/a>, an annual conference that gathers startups, investors and policymakers from around the world. Tokyo has said it aims to be \u201cthe world\u2019s most startup friendly city.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tokyo ranks 12th in research organization Startup Genome\u2019s 2026 Global Startup Ecosystem report, lagging behind rival Asian cities Beijing, Singapore, Seoul and Shanghai.<\/p>\n

Koike said it was important to highlight the stability and openness that Japan offers as it competes for talent and companies from overseas.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is important about Tokyo, and Japan, is first, it\u2019s a democracy. Second, it\u2019s governed by the rule of law. And third, freedom of speech. I believe those three qualities are what make Tokyo stand out compared with other countries in Asia,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Tokyo has also been promoting an environment to make it easier for professionals from overseas to work, including encouraging companies to provide investor relations materials in other languages, offering support for those establishing businesses and increasing the number of international schools, she said.<\/p>\n

The central government, however, has recently tightened requirements for business management visas<\/a>, sparking worries that some owners of small businesses will be forced to give up on Japan.<\/p>\n

Koike said she doesn\u2019t think the new regulations will pose a problem for those in finance who have technical expertise. Tokyo holds talks with the national government on supporting the country\u2019s growth strategy and has channels through which it can convey concerns when startups are encountering obstacles, she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The weak yen is an advantage for for foreign startups and investors in Tokyo, because it enables them…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":813635,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[64,63,99,164,28586,1483,11804,175911,145001],"class_list":["post-813634","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-business","tag-economy","tag-japanese-economy","tag-startups","tag-tokyo","tag-yen","tag-yuriko-koike"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/813634","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=813634"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/813634\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/813635"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=813634"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=813634"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=813634"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}