Graphic: The U.S.-Japan Council
The 2026 Japan-Texas Economic Summit will be held May 11–13 at Live! by Loews in Arlington, with around 400 senior leaders convening “at a pivotal moment” for cross-border investment, AI infrastructure expansion, and energy transition collaboration between Japan and Texas.
The invitation-only, three-day summit is being hosted by the Washington, D.C.-based U.S.-Japan Council. Attendees are slated to include executives, institutional investors, policymakers, and regional leaders aiming to deepen long-term partnerships and investment opportunities “as Texas continues to emerge as a hub for energy, advanced manufacturing, and global capital deployment,” the council said.
First launched in 2018, the summit is returning as an “annual signature event” for strengthening U.S.-Japan economic ties, with Arlington serving as host city for three consecutive years.
“This is more than a conference. It’s a strategic signal,” Sachi Hamai, board chair of the U.S.-Japan Council, said in a statement announcing this year’s conference. “As bilateral trade discussions intensify, the Japan-Texas Economic Summit reflects a shared commitment to partnership through commercial vision, policy alignment, and real investment.”
Japan is Texas’ 5th-largest trading partner
So what’s bringing sushi lovers and BBQ lovers together? For one thing, business ties. Japan is Texas’s fifth-largest trading partner, with over $31.2 billion in total trade in 2023—including $13.1 billion in exports and $18.1 billion in imports, according to the council. Japanese companies have launched 129 investment projects in Texas over the past decade, the council noted, contributing nearly $10.9 billion in capital.
Over 400 Japanese companies currently operate in Texas, including major North American HQs including Toyota Motor North America and Daikin Comfort Technologies North America. Between 2011 and 2021, the council said, employment by Japanese firms grew 2.2 times, reaching over 75,000 jobs as of 2021—”far exceeding the national average of 1.4x.”
Focusing on everything from AI infrastructure to sports & entertainment
Sessions at the Arlington summit will focus on key drivers of Japan-Texas engagement. Topics will include energy transition and resilient supply chains; advanced manufacturing and next-gen mobility; semiconductors, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity; biotech, healthcare innovation, and the longevity economy; cross-border capital formation and the rise of the Texas Stock Exchange; and “cultural diplomacy” in sports, food, entertainment, and education.
Audrey Yamamoto, president and CEO of the U.S.-Japan Council, said her organization is seeing “a meaningful acceleration of cross-border capital formation between Japan and Texas, particularly in energy, advanced manufacturing, and digital infrastructure.”
“At a moment when capital, infrastructure, and innovation are rapidly converging, the summit will leverage the U.S.-Japan Council’s commitment to bringing together the leaders driving this momentum into sustained investment and long-term partnership that strengthens U.S.-Japan relations,” she added in a statement.
The USJC is hosting the summit in partnership with the city of Arlington and the Arlington Economic Development Corporation as title sponsors, and ABeam Consulting as organizing sponsor.
You can learn more about the summit by going here.
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Highlighting Texas’s key role in boosting Japan-U.S. economic ties, Arlington will serve as host city for three consecutive years, anchoring the summit in Dallas-Fort Worth.