Investing in Japan
Regional Information
Yokohama city
The Future is Here
- Your Regional Guide: Haruko Kato
Inquiry form
Business Development Division, Economic & Tourism Bureau, City of Yokohama
1-1, Minato-cho, Naka-ku, Yokohama-city, Kanagawa Prefecture 231-0017
TEL: +81-45-671-2595 FAX: +81-45-661-0692
- Basic Information
- Regional Profile
- Services for investment in Japan
- Available incentives
- Living environment for foreigners
- Links to Related Websites
Basic Information
| Population | 3.64 million (May 2008) |
|---|---|
| Labor force | 1.34 million (October 2006) |
| Area | 434.98km² (2008) |
| GDP | 12,938 billion yen (2004) |
| Major industries | Service, wholesaling/retailing, construction, electric machinery, general machinery |
| Developing industries | IT, biotechnology, video, environment, welfare |
| Offices overseas | Frankfurt/Shanghai (Operated by Yokohama Industrial Development Corporation (IDEC))/Los Angeles |
| Offices in Japan | Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo |
| JETRO office | JETRO Yokohama |
Regional Profile
Strength of the region's industries and economy
Since its port was opened in 1859, Yokohama has contributed greatly to Japan’s modernization and internationalization as a bridge between Japan and the rest of the world, and has continued to grow, its population of 3.64 million making it Japan’s second largest city. In addition to having one of the nation’s busiest international trade ports, Yokohama has a very convenient transport network of railways and roadways and excellent access to Haneda Airport. The verdant living environment, skilled personnel, and the expansive Greater Tokyo market provide the urban conditions needed by business. Yokohama is also a popular tourist destination and convention site where many people from Japan and overseas visit and interact. The city offers some of the most attractive incentives in Japan and a full menu of support to attract companies. By encouraging the expansion of domestic and foreign companies, upgrading existing industries, and creating new industries, the city is building up a concentration of operational functions and cutting-edge technology companies well-matched to the Tokyo Metropolitan Area.
Strength of the region's education/research institutes
More than 340,000 researchers and engineers work in Yokohama and elsewhere in Kanagawa Prefecture, the largest number of any prefecture in Japan, and Yokohama also has more than 1,000 corporate and public research organizations. The city’s 10 science/engineering universities and graduate schools offer a number of opportunities for industrial-academic exchange and collaboration.
Industry-government-academia collaboration
Yokohama is working to foster and bring together companies in leading-edge industries such as IT and biotechnology. In the area of IT, many world-famous electronics manufacturers and R&D laboratories can be found in Yokohama and environs, and the small and medium-sized technology companies supporting them have set up local operations in a multilayered fashion. In biotechnology, the Yokohama Science Frontier is being established in the Keihin Waterfront District and, centered on RIKEN, it is drawing in biotechnology and life science research facilities.
Industrial-academic-governmental collaboration has led to an agglomeration of R&D companies in the Keihin Waterfront District and elsewhere in Yokohama, which also boasts numerous science/engineering universities and research organizations that have produced outstanding research results. They possess a wealth of development seeds and research seeds for creating next-generation industrial technology, and offer great potential for industrial-academic collaboration. To actively employ these resources in developing existing industries and creating new ones, Yokohama supports the development of new technology and new products through industrial-
academic collaboration with small and medium-sized enterprises and venture companies in the city.
Strength of the region's infrastructure
- Exclusive trains and limousine buses operate between Yokohama and Narita Airport, an about 90-minute trip.
- Scheduled buses depart frequently for Haneda Airport, which is about 25 minutes from Yokohama Station via the Bayshore Route and about 40 minutes from Shin-yokohama Station, significantly more convenient than many of the principal business areas in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area. In 2010 Haneda Airport is scheduled to begin operating some international flights.
- Railway travel on the Shinkansen makes it possible to reach destinations around the country, including Nagoya and Osaka, rapidly. All trains on the Tokaido Shinkansen Line currently stop at Shin-yokohama Station, enhancing convenience.
- Although Yokohama has such high-developed infrastructure, land prices and office rents are about 60% to 70% those of Tokyo. Many office buildings are equipped with the latest in information infrastructure, enabling companies to operate in comfortable business environment at low cost.
Foreign company(s) operating in the industry
193 foreign companies have set up their head offices in Yokohama (source: Comprehensive List of Foreign Companies 2008, Toyo Keizai Inc.), second only to Tokyo nationwide.Five locations have been set up in the city specifically to attract foreign companies, and these locations help foreign companies lower their location costs when moving into Japan and smooth their entry into the Japanese market. Tenants in these facilities are eligible for rent subsidies.
(Details: Foreign company agglomeration sites)
- German Center for Industry and Trade (GCIT)
- Technology Village Partnership (TVP)
- British Industry Center (BIC)
- Canadian Industry & Trade Center (CITC)
- FEMAC Business Center
| Company name | ikv technologies japan k.k. |
|---|---|
| Industry sector | Providing optimization/automation solutions for system development processes |
| Date of entry | June 2007 |
| Motivation for selecting region |
|
| Support provided by local government or JETRO |
|
| Comments | ikv++ technologies in the past several years has increased its business dealings with Japan, giving rise to greater needs for more rapid support and consulting by Japanese engineers. ikv++ technologies has future plans to further expand its activities in the Japanese market, in which context we recently established a Japanese corporation. We opted to base our Japanese corporation in Yokohama, which has easy access to Tokyo, Nagoya and other major cities nationwide and which is very attractive and beautiful as a city. We studied Yokohama as a candidate site with these facts in mind, and the generous and helpful support we received from Yokohama and the staff at JETRO while making preparations for the new corporation was decisive in finally selecting the city. Yokohama has traditionally and culturally been open to foreigners and foreign companies, and we benefited from assistance and advice in many facets, including advice on office selection, on leasing of a temporary office space during the preparation period, and on legal matters. |
Services for investment in Japan
| Menu of services | Fees charged? | Content of services |
|---|---|---|
| Providing market information | ||
| Advice on market participation | No | Advisors from the Yokohama World Business Support Center (WBC) provide advice and information. |
| Consulting by external experts and advisers | No | Offering support through meetings with experts on sales channel expansion and marketing at the Yokohama Industrial Development Corporation (IDEC), a business expert consultation project. Up to three meetings are available at no charge, and simple consultations not requiring face-to-face meetings can also be handled online. |
| Arranging appointments with potential customers and partners | No | Providing introductions to experts as appropriate |
| Support for establishing a base | ||
| Monitoring surveys (evaluation of products and services) | No | Providing introductions to experts as appropriate |
| Listing of potential customers and partners | No | Can be arranged upon request |
| Listing of potential customers and partners | No | Providing introductions to experts as appropriate |
| Support for establishing a base | ||
| Providing incubation facilities or other facilities | Yes | 9 incubation offices for foreign companies opened in the Yokohama World Business Support Center (WBC) |
| Providing incubation facilities or other facilities | No | Providing information in cooperation with IBSC Kanagawa |
| Providing information on procedures for investing in Japan | No | Providing information in cooperation with IBSC Kanagawa |
| Arranging the meetings needed to establish a base (real estate, manpower services) | No | Arranging meetings with specialists through the Economic and Tourism Bureau’s network |
| Introduction of available properties and advice on hiring personnel | No | Utilizing the Economic and Tourism Bureau’s database and its network with realtors to introduce properties that meet companies’ requirements. Coordinating with universities in the city on hiring is possible. |
| Providing information on permits and licensing procedures | No | Providing introductions to experts as appropriate |
| Providing information on subsidy programs | No | Providing information on the company incentive subsidies offered by Yokohama. The Economic and Tourism Bureau’s Business Development Division serves as liaison, providing support from application receipt to subsidy payments. |
Support service
The city has start-up offices and incubation offices available to foreign companies until they set up their own offices.
<Start-up offices>
Name: IBSC Kanagawa (in the JETRO Yokohama Trade Information Center)
Space: approximately 20m²(4 offices)
Tenancy period: 50 business days
<Incubation offices>
Name: Yokohama World Business Support Center (WBC) Incubation Office
Space: 10 – 33m² (9 offices)
Tenancy period: up to 3 years
- Both of these facilities offer full support for start-ups by foreign companies, including consultations on launching businesses in Yokohama and the provision of business information.
Database of candidate partners
- Yokohama City & Kanagawa Prefecture Database of Companies
Searches can be made using keywords pertaining to fundamental conditions (products traded, transaction format, trading partner countries, etc.), company name, or the name of product, or by the name of the corporation.
Available incentives
- Subsidies suited to a diversity of start-up approaches are available, from programs offering some of Japan’s highest subsidies (up to 5 billion yen) for large-scale investments to small rent subsidy programs.
- Providing comprehensive support to companies expanding into the city by assisting in office searches, arranging expert consultations, providing start-up facilities, matching up companies with potential partners/customers, etc.
<Principal subsidies and tax breaks>
- Yokohama Specially-designated Area Company Location Promotion Program: Municipal tax breaks and subsidies provided to companies with business plans satisfying certain conditions (nature of business, amount of invested capital, etc.) in nine specially-designated areas within the city
- Yokohama Priority Industry Location Promotion Subsidy Program
- Yokohama Priority Facility Location Promotion Subsidy Program
- Yokohama Company Inducement Subsidy Program for Priority Exchange Countries/Regions in Asia: Subsidies to partly cover costs associated with expansion for companies setting up initial operations in Yokohama and meeting certain conditions
<Financing program>
- Yokohama City Corporate Value Improvement Funds (Industry Location Promotion): Financing of up to 80% of equipment/operating funds (maximum of 300 million yen; annual interest rate 1.5% or lower) available to companies outside the city expanding into designated industry location promotion sites in Yokohama that have functions suited to those sites.
Living environment for foreigners
| Living environment | Yokohama has a long history of receiving foreign visitors and residents since the port opened in 1859, and thus has on hand all the amenities that persons from abroad might need for a comfortable lifestyle.
|
|---|---|
| International schools | ・10 foreign schools, including 3 international schools |
| Health services catering to foreigners | Yokohama Municipal Citizen’s Hospital, Yokohama Stroke & Brain Center, Yokohama Rosai Hospital, Yokohama City Minato Red Cross Hospital, etc. |
Links to Related Websites
- City of Yokohama
- Investing in Yokohama
- City of Yokohama Frankfurt Representative Office
- City of Yokohama Los Angeles Representative Office
- Yokohama World Business Support Center
- Yokohama Association for International Communications and Exchanges (YOKE)
- Yokohama Convention & Visitors Bureau
- Yokohama Living Guide
