According to The Global Competitiveness Report 2019 (published by WEF), Japan ranks 6th among the most competitive economies in the world. With great innovation and technological capabilities, Japan is known as one of the most technology-savvy nations in the world. Together with its large, deep and stable financial sector, Japan’s position as the 4th largest global market brings attractive opportunities for startups, especially in the fields of healthcare combined with IoT (Internet of Things), thanks to Japan’s pioneer digital and physical infrastructures aligned with the growing challenges of an ageing population. Japanese companies are the world’s leaders in automation and manufacturing. Global players like Toyota, Sony and Panasonic excel in prototyping and Design for Manufacturing (DFM) techniques, such as the world-wide famous kaizen - a business philosophy of continuous improvement that helps increase efficiency and improve overall business output. Japan is not only a leading manufacturer and exporter of robots, it is also a leading robot early adopter. The Japanese market ranks 1st globally in number of industrial robots in operation, and 50% of global robot shipments are manufactured in Japan. Japan also ranks globally in terms of innovation capabilities, after the US and Germany. Startups can get the best service from Japanese manufacturers for an affordable cost.