Sponsored content City of Yokohama

Comfortable lifestyle and living environment meet global business and innovation in Yokohama, a glimmering seaside city a train ride from Tokyo. Yokohama is full of exciting opportunities and growth, with a history of welcoming foreigners to live and work.

Yokohama as a Global Business Hub

Yokohama is a hub for global business headquarters and R&D centers close to the Tokyo market. Many industries and companies have facilities in Yokohama’s Minato Mirai 21 district in the bay area, including Bosch, Nissan, and Shiseido.

The IT sector is particularly vibrant, with its concentration of highly skilled workers and high-tech manufacturing contributing to many startups and new firms.

Sponsored content City of Yokohama

Yokohama at the Crossroads of Innovation and Creativity

Yokohama’s “Innovation City, Yokohama” initiative was announced in 2019, showcasing the government, industries, and universities’ commitment to cultivating innovation and creativity through cooperation and exchange.

The City of Yokohama is a membership-based organization that creates innovations that contribute to the world, developing activities to accelerate the creation of innovation from all perspectives, from matching seeds and needs for new business creation and supporting demonstration experiments to start-up support and support for the growth of innovative human resources.

There is also support for overseas startups. Yokohama collaborates closely with partners to provide support for overseas companies. Additionally, the government can help companies with specialties ranging from visa paperwork and finding office space.

The city’s various initiatives to lead innovation and economic growth have helped it rank highly on the 2020 Global Cities of the Future ranking and the “2022 Global Startup Ecosystem Index Report.”

Why Yokohama?

Yokohama is one of the 20 Japanese cities designated by the government as critical large metropolises. Not only that, but Yokohama can also serve as a key business hub in Asia. The port city has historically welcomed foreigners and diverse global perspectives.

Yokohama is also active globally. It has hosted the finals of major global sporting events such as The Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the 2002 FIFA World Cup, and the Rugby World Cup in 2019. Yokohama also hosted the Tokyo International Conference on African Development three times, which showcased its progressive global mindset.

Yokohama is also about a 30-minute train ride from central Tokyo and has easy access to other major cities, such as Nagoya, Kyoto, and Osaka. Shin-Yokohama Station services Shinkansen bullet trains and local trains, making travel convenient.

Sponsored content City of Yokohama

International Outreach and Urban Development

Yokohama is currently home to 3.77 million residents. This population and economic growth didn’t happen overnight, but it did outpace infrastructure development and caused social and environmental problems, which were solved through collaboration between residents and businesses. Now, it balances sustainable urban development and high economic growth.

Now, the City of Yokohama is working to help other countries solve urban development problems, such as the “Y-PORT Project,” which tackles environment and infrastructure-related projects in emerging countries, etc. The Y-PORT Project connects Japanese firms, international organizations, and partner cities in Southeast Asia.

Yokohama has also hosted the Asia Smart City Conference since 2012. Representatives from partner cities, international organizations, academia, and private firms gather to discuss sustainable solutions that support development and economic growth. Sustainable initiatives are at the center of Yokohama and Y-PORT’s activities.

Living in an Urban Oasis

The tall office buildings lining the streets of Yokohama are reflections of the city’s economic invigoration and pristine urban environment. Yet, between these buildings are pockets of nature, culture, and history.

Yamashita Park is a great location to walk along the bayside and past carefully planted flower beds and sprawling lawns. You’ll see many people lounging in the grass during the spring and summer months. Autumn leaves in the fall, and illuminations in the winter also draw sightseers.

Yokohama is a city rich in history and diverse cultural backgrounds — examples of cultural fusion line the streets as Western-style buildings and the largest Chinatown in East Asia. At the same time, the Noge area feels distinctly Japanese, with izakaya lining the streets.

As a global cosmopolitan city, Yokohama is home to a diverse, multicultural crowd. Over 100,000 foreign residents are living in Yokohama as of 2022. While civil services, international schools, and hospitals can accommodate foreign languages, the city has even more projects underway to continue making the city more accessible to foreigners.

Sponsored content City of Yokohama

Enjoy Japanese Sports Culture

Yokohama is home to 13 professional sports teams across seven sports. Yokohama Stadium, home to the Japanese professional baseball team “Yokohama DeNA BayStars”, can hold over 30,000 people, and the city is even more lively than usual on game day as fans head out to support their teams.

Yokohama City’s Holistic Spa and Sauna Culture

After a long day of work or travel, a spa visit can feel heavenly. In Japan, Zen meditation is deeply rooted in Buddhist practices. Nowadays, Zen ideas have found a place in spa and sauna culture. Sky Spa is the perfect place in terms of convenience. Located next to Yokohama Station, it is open 24 hours a day and has various facilities, including a sports gym, a restaurant, and a coworking space.

Interviews with Yokohama Residents

Robert Heldt, a Yokohama resident originally from India spoke about his reasons for choosing to live in Yokohama: “I wanted to avoid living in a crowded metropolis and wanted to live in a city that is quite accessible to central Tokyo yet spacious and with a lot of nature.”

Aaron Benedek, born and raised in California and CEO of a Yokohama-founded startup spoke about his involvement with YOXO, which “has been key in helping open doors for new business in Japan” and helped connect his company to clients.

As a hub for global business, Yokohama has a lot of professional opportunities on offer and many initiatives that support development in the city and abroad. In addition to that, the abundance of nature, history, and multicultural communities creates an inviting living environment for foreigners.

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