Building a regional startup ecosystem based in Takanawa Gateway City
A place for experiments to draw a picture of a prosperous life 100 years from now
JR East (East Japan Railway Company) officially announced the opening of Takanawa Gateway City on March 2025, 3. Takanawa Gateway City is located in Minato Ward, the economic center of Tokyo, and is a place with deep historical significance. During the Edo period, it served as a gateway to Edo, the de facto capital of the time, and when railways were first introduced to Japan in the Meiji period, it was used as a railway vehicle depot, establishing itself as a center of innovation where unique Japanese and Western technologies were fused. As the times changed, the approximately 27 hectares of land that had been used as a vehicle depot gradually became idle land, and the Takanawa Gateway City development project to newly utilize this space began in earnest with construction starting in 13.
Takanawa Gateway City is Japan's largest urban development project, spanning a total area of approximately 84 m5000. Centered around Takanawa Gateway Station, Shinagawa Station and Sengakuji will be organically linked to create an integrated space where the station and the city become one, and it is expected to develop into a center for international exchange where human and material resources from all over Japan and the world will gather. It plans to create innovative solutions to contribute to solving social issues facing the world, and presents a vision of a sustainable future city based on three core themes: environment, mobility, and healthcare.
On March 2025, 3, Takanawa Gateway City opened, Takanawa Gateway Station fully opened, and THE LINKPILLAR 27 officially opened. THE LINKPILLAR 1 will house various functions such as offices and commercial facilities, 1 MICE facilities including a convention hall of approximately 1640 m15, and a startup hub. Future developments will include THE LINKPILLAR 2, an office and commercial facility, an art museum (MoN Takanawa: The museum of Narratives), and Takanawa Gateway City Residence, a residential facility, all of which are scheduled to open sequentially from the spring of 2026. Meanwhile, the name "THE LINKPILLAR" was named with the meaning of a space that connects everything (Link), grows toward the future, and serves as the center (Pillar) as an experimental site for a prosperous life 100 years from now.
[Source: JR East website]
Achieving healthy recovery and sustainability of the Earth's environment
Takanawa Gateway City aims to be an environmentally-leading city with a goal of achieving net zero carbon dioxide emissions. By introducing the concept of a circular economy that reuses waste as a resource, the city is taking on the challenge of creating a sustainable future living space that benefits both people and the planet. In addition, it is introducing a next-generation logistics system that uses hydrogen fuel cell trucks to deliver cargo concentrated in logistics hubs to the city center, and is realizing a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by achieving energy self-sufficiency through biogas facilities in the building.
Smart daily life where humans and robots coexist
In modern society where technology is rapidly developing, a verification experiment stage where new technologies are applied to real life or business is essential to effectively introduce them into life. Takanawa Gateway City aims for a new way of life centered on people through the coexistence of robots and mobility, and is promoting various verification experiments with the goal of making technology part of everyday life. Specific attempts include providing a food delivery service using robots, linking the city operation system with a robot platform to introduce robots in various fields such as cleaning and security, and implementing next-generation mobility that can move freely on sidewalks without interfering with pedestrians. The models established through these verification experiments are planned to be expanded throughout Japan and around the world in the future.
Building a foundation for a life where anyone can live comfortably for 100 years
With Takanawa Gateway City as its central hub, we aim to expand the services of the next-generation healthcare platform, “Smart Health Station,” which provides personalized healthcare services based on digital technology and data. To this end, we are collaborating with academia and startups, including the University of Tokyo Gateway Campus, to verify various knowledge and technologies in order to create healthcare services for optimal sleep, new food culture, and improved exercise functions. Major verification projects include a sleep concierge service that utilizes cutting-edge sleep algorithms, a testing service that can easily detect viruses and infectious diseases, and a smart delivery service that automatically delivers food at the optimal time based on the user’s location based on transportation card (Suica) movement data. In the future, we plan to develop an integrated healthcare model that combines the various services verified at Takanawa Gateway City and expands throughout Japan.
A regional startup ecosystem based in Takanawa Gateway City
Takanawa Gateway City's core strategy is to provide opportunities for industry-academia collaboration to solve social issues around the world, and to support the creation, cultivation, and demonstration of solutions by analyzing urban operation systems including railway data. At the center of this role is the knowledge creation hub, the "TAKANAWA GATEWAY Link Scholars' Hub." As a place for joint creation where industry, academia, and the startup ecosystem converge, the University of Tokyo, the National University of Singapore (NUS), Japanese advertising agency HAKUHODO, the scientist association (Leave a Nest), and JR East Planning are participating as operating partners, and more than 100 domestic and international startups, academia, accelerators, and venture capitalists are organically collaborating. The Hub is composed of a Studio for collaboration and demonstration experiments and a Lab for basic research and experiments, depending on its function. Startups wishing to participate in Takanawa Gateway City's innovation ecosystem can utilize these facilities and various infrastructures after registering as members and going through the screening process.
△ TAKANAWA GATEWAY Link Scholar’s Hub Studio
Studio is a collaborative and empirical co-working space, and a total of three will be built within Takanawa Gateway City. Studio 3 and 1 are located in THE LINKPILLAR 2, and Studio 1 is scheduled to be located in THE LINKPILLAR 3, and is scheduled to open in the spring of 2. In this space, joint research and empirical experiments with the University of Tokyo and the National University of Singapore will be possible, and mentoring and consulting from experts in law, taxation, and intellectual property rights will be available. In particular, Studio 2026 has a dedicated experimental zone where you can experience the latest technologies and services firsthand, and on-site feedback and business advancement through empirical experiments will also be supported.
△ TAKANAWA GATEWAY Link Scholar's Hub Lab
The Lab space located in THE LINKPILLAR 1 is equipped with specialized experimental equipment necessary for basic research on the environment, healthcare, etc., providing an optimal environment for startups in the deep tech field to reduce the initial investment burden and conduct faster and more efficient research and verification activities.
A wide-ranging startup ecosystem with financial capabilities
In December 2024, JR East, in collaboration with venture capital firm Global Brain Co., Ltd., established the "TAKANAWA GATEWAY Global Co-Benefits Fund LP" to effectively support startups' verification experiments and business advancements from a financial perspective. The fund aims to strengthen the regional startup ecosystem centered around Takanawa Gateway City and create an environment in which technology-based startups can realize social value and grow sustainably. In particular, the Takanawa District Benefit Fund plans to intensively support the growth of promising business items selected at the open innovation event "GATEWAY Tech TAKANAWA" scheduled to be held in May 2025, and plans to build a comprehensive startup support system that spans verification experiments, investment linkages, and social implementation.
| 목적 | Discovering and nurturing startups that can contribute to the realization of global interests |
| Fund size | Up to 50 billion yen |
| Operating period | 10 |
| Investment target | Startups in the fields of environment, mobility, robots, and healthcare at home and abroad |
| Investment Stage | Early~Middle Stage |
[Source: JR East website]
implication
Although not yet completed, the Takanawa Gateway City project shows the potential to go beyond simple urban redevelopment and become a microcosm of the future society and a testbed for verification experiments. The attempt to structurally verify the everyday applicability of innovative technologies through organic connections between urban infrastructure, startup ecosystems, and financial systems is expected to become a meaningful reference case for future global smart city development. In particular, Korean startups with competitiveness in cutting-edge fields such as healthcare, smart mobility, eco-friendly energy, and robotics should pay attention to Takanawa Gateway City as a strategic base where they can secure verification experiments in Japan and seek joint commercialization with global partners.