How local governments support foreign entrepreneurs? - Panel Discussion

Japan's hard line on immigration makes it challenging for foreign-born entrepreneurs to get started.
Meanwhile, local governments have been making a push to help out foreign founders with soft-launching in their cities.

For this talk, we are very excited to welcome three amazing guest speakers, sharing practical tips on how to apply for hands-on support from a government. Topics to be discussed:

• How Japan attracts international talents and promotes a global startup culture

• Practical experiences that international entrepreneurs go through when they launch a company

• Visa policies for foreign startups

This is a rare opportunity to have a casual talk about Japan's governmental initiatives. No paperwork, hanko or language barrier. Don’t miss it!

About Yoshiro Tasaka

As a Special Advisor for the Consul General of Japan, Yoshiro worked in San Francisco for 9 years. After he went back to Japan in 2016, he served as a Vice President leading the international projects in Japanese companies. In January 2020, Yoshiro was appointed by Shibuya Mayor Hasebe to become the Director of Global Strategy Division at Shibuya City Office and make Shibuya a global startup ecosystem city.

About Miho Tanaka

Miho Tanaka is a founder of StartupJapan, one-stop-shop for foreign entrepreneurs starting a business in Japan. The services include legal advice, contract writing, incorporation, bank account opening assistance, tax filing, office location, and more, all in English. Prior to founding StartupJapan, Miho was a former public relations manager at Tokyo One-Stop Business Establishment Center (TOSBEC), a government organization that provides an assistance to business owners in Tokyo.

About Naofumi Makino

After joining Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) in 2003, Naofumi Makino has been involved in research concerning WTO/FTA and EU policies. He is an author of many publications including a book on the EU-Korea FTA. In 2013, he has been transferred to the Warsaw branch as Director General and worked there for 5 years. As DG of JETRO Warsaw, he covered Poland, Ukraine, and Baltic countries including Estonia where innovative startup policy has been introduced such as E-residency. Before coming to the Kyoto branch of JETRO in July 2019, he has been working as Senior Director for Global Strategy Europe at JETRO Tokyo, including innovation strategy for JETRO in Europe.
He graduated from Kyoto University and got LL.M. at Leiden University in the Netherlands. He passed Japanese Bar exam in 2012.

About Le Wagon Tokyo

Le Wagon Tokyo (https://www.lewagon.com/tokyo) is a coding school for startups, creative people and tech entrepreneurs. Our 9-week full-time and 24-week part-time Full-Stack Coding Bootcamps (https://www.lewagon.com/program) are designed for complete beginners or "half-beginners" who really want to dive into programming and, above all, change their mindset. Learn to think like a developer, consider issues with new insight, and become more autonomous thanks to these newly acquired abilities.

The next Tokyo batch will start on June 29th and applications are open. (https://www.lewagon.com/apply/tokyo)

Our part-time bootcamp is now open!
https://www.lewagon.com/tokyo/program/part-time