SusHi Tech Tokyo 2026: Your Complete Guide to Tokyo's Biggest Innovation Week

In late April, Tokyo will become the center of gravity for global innovation. SusHi Tech Tokyo 2026 — the Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s flagship initiative for sustainable technology and startups — returns to Tokyo Big Sight from April 27 to 29, bringing together over 700 startups, 60,000 participants, and delegations from more than 20 countries.

For executives and investors navigating the intersection of technology and impact, there is no better week to be in Tokyo.

Here is everything you need to know — and why it matters.

What Is SusHi Tech Tokyo?

SusHi Tech Tokyo — short for Sustainable High City Tech Tokyo — is the Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s flagship platform for sustainable innovation. Launched in 2023 as the centerpiece of TMG’s ambitious “10x10x10 Innovation Vision,” its mission is to multiply Tokyo’s startups, unicorns, and public-private collaborations tenfold within five years.

The results speak for themselves. From 26,000 attendees in its inaugural year, the event grew to over 40,000 in 2024 and 57,000 in 2025 — with participants from 100 countries, 607 startup exhibitors, 6,000 business meetings, and speakers including Audrey Tang and Kathy Matsui.

For 2026, the ambition scales again: 700+ startups, 60,000+ participants, and 10,000+ projected business meetings.

Backed by Keidanren, Keizai Doyukai, and the Japan Association of New Economy, SusHi Tech has rapidly established itself as Asia’s preeminent innovation gathering. If you work in technology, sustainability, or investment and have not yet engaged with Tokyo’s ecosystem, this is the event that changes that.

2026 Dates, Venue, and Format

Dates:

• April 27–28 — Business days (9:00–18:30, registered attendees)
• April 29 — Public day (10:00–18:00, open admission)

Venue: Tokyo Big Sight, West Halls 1–4 (Ariake, Koto-ku, Tokyo)

Key programs:

• Global Startup Program — The main conference and exhibition floor, featuring 700+ startup booths, keynotes, panels, and pitch competitions
• City Leaders Program — International municipal leaders discussing urban solutions across climate, mobility, and digital governance
• SusHi Tech Challenge — A global startup pitch competition that attracted 657 applications from 46 countries this year
• Business Matching — Structured meetings between startups, corporates, and investors via an AI-powered matching platform
• Tokyo Innovation Base — TMG’s permanent physical space for ongoing ecosystem development

Four Themes Defining the 2026 Agenda

This year’s program is organized around four interconnected pillars:

AI: Human-Machine Collaboration at Scale

The headline theme. As AI reshapes every industry, SusHi Tech 2026 examines what human-AI collaboration means in practice — from autonomous systems and generative AI to governance frameworks. Expect sessions featuring senior executives from NVIDIA, NEC, and Fujitsu alongside AI researchers from Japan’s top universities.

Robotics and Autonomous Systems

Japan’s demographic reality — a shrinking, aging population — makes robotics not a luxury but a necessity. From warehouse automation to elder care, this track explores how autonomous systems are moving from prototype to deployment across Japanese industry.

Resilience: Cities Against Crisis

How do cities prepare for climate disasters, cyber threats, and supply chain disruptions? This track brings together urban planners, emergency response leaders, and infrastructure technologists to address resilience as an engineering and governance challenge.

Entertainment: Culture as Innovation Platform

A distinctly Tokyo addition. This track examines how music, gaming, animation, art, and food are being transformed by technology — and how Japan’s creative industries are building new global business models.

The Partner Events Ecosystem

SusHi Tech Tokyo is not a single conference — it is an innovation week. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government actively invites organizations to host partner events in the days surrounding the main program. These satellite gatherings — workshops, dinners, networking sessions, cultural experiences — extend the conversation beyond the exhibition halls and into Tokyo itself.

This is where the format gets interesting for senior leaders. The main floor at Tokyo Big Sight is enormous and startup-focused. The real executive conversations often happen at curated partner events designed for smaller, more senior audiences.

Tech for Impact Summit: The Executive Track

Tech for Impact Summit 2026 takes place on Sunday, April 26 — the day before SusHi Tech opens — at Kioi Conference in Tokyo’s political and business heart of Nagatacho.

Where SusHi Tech casts a wide net with 60,000 participants, Tech for Impact Summit takes the opposite approach: an invitation-only gathering of approximately 200 senior executives, investors, and policy leaders focused on deploying technology against humanity’s most urgent challenges.

The confirmed lineup includes:

• Taro Kono (河野太郎) — Former Digital Minister of Japan
• Charles Hoskinson — Founder of Cardano
• Yoshito Hori (堀義人) — Founder and President of GLOBIS, delivering the keynote
• Kathy Matsui (キャシー松井) — General Partner, MPower Partners
• Ken Suzuki (鈴木健) — Founder and CEO, SmartNews
• Jesper Koll — Expert Director, Monex Group
• Sota Watanabe (渡辺創太) — Founder, Astar Network / Startale
• Ken Shibusawa (渋澤健) — Founding Partner, Commons Asset Management
• Hiroshi Aoi (青井浩) — CEO, Marui Group
• Kiyoshi Seko (世古貴代志) — COO, Kyoto Fusioneering

Sessions span Web3 and digital infrastructure, clean energy and fusion, impact investing, AI governance, and ESG strategy — with closed-door Strategy Dialogues conducted under Chatham House Rules.

Past editions have featured Audrey Tang, Takuya Hirai, and Charles Hoskinson. See the highlight video from 2025.

The format is fundamentally different from SusHi Tech’s main program: smaller rooms, longer conversations, no exhibition floor. Think of it as the executive strategy session that precedes the broader innovation festival.

Why This Week Matters for C-Suite Leaders

Tokyo in late April offers something no other city can match in 2026:

Scale and intimacy in the same week. SusHi Tech provides the breadth — hundreds of startups, thousands of business meetings, delegations from 20+ countries. Tech for Impact Summit provides the depth — a curated room where the conversation moves from “what’s possible” to “what we’re actually going to do.”

Japan’s moment. Between regulatory innovation in Web3, a weakened yen attracting record inbound investment, corporate governance reforms, and the world’s most advanced aging society becoming a testbed for robotics and healthcare technology, Japan is no longer a market to monitor from afar. It is a market to engage with directly.

The right people in one place. SusHi Tech draws the startup ecosystem; Tech for Impact Summit draws the decision-makers who fund, regulate, and deploy technology at scale. Attending both means engaging with the full value chain of innovation.

How to Participate

SusHi Tech Tokyo 2026:

• General admission tickets are available now (early-bird pricing through March 31)
• Business matching registration opens via the official app
• Partner event applications are open through March 31

Tech for Impact Summit 2026:

• Invitation-only — request your invitation or inquire about membership
• Three tiers available for partners: Catalyst, Vanguard, and Principal
• Limited to approximately 200 attendees to maintain the caliber of conversation

The most productive approach: attend Tech for Impact Summit on April 26 for the executive conversations, then SusHi Tech Tokyo April 27–29 for the broader ecosystem. One trip. Maximum leverage.

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Tech for Impact Summit 2026 takes place on April 26 at Kioi Conference, Tokyo. Learn more about membership and partnership opportunities.