Trade Shows and Industry Expos in Japan

Sushi Tech Tokyo, an annual startup expo held at the Big Sight exhibition center, is regarded by community members as one of the most effective business networking venues in Tokyo, comparing favorably with the Takeoff Tokyo expo. A booth costs roughly 250,000 yen for three days (versus around 200,000 yen at Takeoff Tokyo); Shibuya City provides some booths free for one day to resident partners of its startup hub. Recent editions have focused on robotics/humanoids, autonomous farming and health tech. At the IT Spring expo, community members observe that most products shown in the AI section look like 'castles in the air,' drawing a comparison to the early-2000s dot-com bubble; this view is not independently verified but is worth keeping in mind when evaluating partners or products discovered there. Niche technology and accelerator hubs in Japan are often named by analogy to the word 'tech' (Sushitech, Ramentech and similar) — venues for pitching and networking within specific industry niches; when looking for industry-specific networking, it is worth searching for such specialized hubs rather than only general startup events. Tokyo Game Show has separate 'business days' for networking in addition to its public days; tickets sell out quickly and must be bought in advance (on-site ticket sales were cancelled by organizers in 2025). TGS 2025 saw a revival of cooperation between the Russian and Japanese game industries: distribution deals were signed (notably for the game Crimson Desert in Russia), games were shown with English/Japanese localization, and Japanese games were published on Russian platforms; Russia's trade mission in Japan actively assisted negotiations at the show. Source: https://www.takeoff-tokyo.com/ — site of the competing Takeoff Tokyo expo, mentioned for comparison with Sushi Tech Tokyo. Source: https://tgs.cesa.or.jp/en/ticket?public — official Tokyo Game Show ticket page.