Tokyo
Overall Score: 36.1 out of 100 | Overall Rank: 45 out of 55

Momentum Rank

Tokyo55 City medianOverall Cityscore
60
Technology 40Markets
20041

CultureTalentCapitalBasic Facts:• Population: 37.39 million• Gross Metro Production (GMP): $2.01 trillion (2022)• Top Sectors by Employment:
1) Wholesale and retail trade
2) Information and communication
3) Medical, healthcare, and welfare

Overall Rank

Notable Strengths:
Despite slower economic and population growth at thenational level even before the COVID-19 pandemic, Tokyo
continues to be one of the world’s leading cities and driversof global economic activity. With modest growth in themetropolitan area over the last decade, Tokyo continues toretain its status as both the most populated and largest
economically (in GDP) city in the world containing over 37
million inhabitants in the Greater Tokyo Area and generatingover $2 trillion in annual GDP, asserting itself again as 1st in
the Market Size sub-pillar. As a global city with the most topranked universities in the world as well as one of the highest
rates of tertiary educational attainment among both men andwomen, businesses in Tokyo have among the largest pool ofhighly educated workers. Along with a highly educated poolof women in the workforce.
Generally known for its many large corporations and perhaps
less so for entrepreneurship and producing startups, Tokyo(and the broader Japan) have been applying efforts tocultivate a stronger startup ecosystem to rival other global
cities. Along with a dramatic increase in the capital raised forstartups to $4.8 billion in 20191, Tokyo was ranked 15th inStartup Genome’s 2020 Global Startup Ecosystem Report,
beating Singapore, Seoul, and Hong Kong among other large
cities in Asia. Although the burgeoning capital and startup

1 According to INITIAL (https://initial.inc/articles/japan-startup-funding-2020-en)

45

Operating Environment

45

Markets

45

Size

1

Cost

39

Access55

Policy45

Talent41

Women's Skill & Experience

51

Access to Qualified Personnel

13

Capital42

Number/Value

13

Gender Proportion

54

Women's Capital Base

3

Enabling Environment

45

Culture41

Access to Mentors & Role Models

52

Attitudes & Expectations

17

Policy43

Technology

44

Connected

33

Cost

4

Policy46

Equality54

scene in Tokyo may not yet have translated into breaking the historical trends of a dearth of women entrepreneursin the city (as discussed below), there are clear efforts seeking to support and encourage women leadership andwomen entrepreneurship. At the government level, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s Acceleration Program inTokyo for Women is now in its 7th cohort in which women entrepreneurs receive dedicated mentorship and support
for global expansion.
Areas for Improvement:
Historically, Tokyo has been weak in its representation of females at both the top level of corporate leadership (suchas corporate boards) as well as in the startup environment. Numerous points along Tokyo’s startup and businessownership ecosystem as well as its extended pipeline reflect a lack of support and encouragement for women toposition themselves as potential entrepreneurs, to form businesses, and to become experienced management
executives, despite the large pool of highly educated women in the city. While Tokyo is in line with other major cities
in having policies directed at equal pay, nondiscrimination, as well as both paid maternity and paternity leave, in ourcompetitive WE Cities Index, these policies are quickly becoming table stakes.
At one end of the ecosystem, although Tokyo boasts some of the best universities in the world along with a largepool of university-educated women, female enrollment at top universities is well below average, a data point that hasfeatured in articles suggesting a need for a change in culture surrounding how people in Japan view women andcareer ambition2. In the area of capital support for women entrepreneurs, the city has significant room for upward
improvement in both encouraging women into entrepreneurship but especially backing women-owned businesses
with the necessary capital. Further down the pipeline, Tokyo’s low women-to-men ratio in terms of executive
experience is also reflected in its lack of Access to Mentors & Role Models (ranked 52nd), another important aspect
in encouraging women to become entrepreneurs and future business leaders. Tokyo will need to leverage its
relative strength in capital and markets to help elevate the role of women to start fostering a culture that provides avirtuous cycle of women having attitudes and expectations that help them dream big, which provides more rolemodels and mentors and helps change attitudes and expectations of society.
Although the areas for improvement note reflect different points along the startup and business leadershipecosystem for women, they are interconnected. Tokyo would do well in continuing or reinforcing its efforts inimproving along all these fronts. If it does so, it can move along the runway and get on the radar for take-off. Since
2017 its momentum in the index ranks it near the bottom. With an aging population, women entrepreneurship offersa path to sustainable growth that can keep Tokyo’s market on the top.

2 See New York Times article from 2019 titled “At Japan’s Most Elite University, Just 1 in 5 Students is a Woman”.