Technology City

The development of centers of some of the world's leading manufacturers in the fields of semiconductors and personal computers (such as HITACHI, TOSHIBA, NEC, FUJITSU, etc.) are located to the southwest - that is, on the Yokohama side - of Tokyo.

Generally speaking, the concentration of IT companies is progressing in three main areas of Yokohama, each of which has its own special characteristics.

Shin-Yokohama Station Vicinity (Hardware)
The vicinity of Shin-Yokohama Station is located in the northern part of Yokohama, so it is nearest to the major semiconductor makers. For this reason, there is a concentration here of companies engaged in hardware-related business, such as semiconductor development and related equipment. This area is also very popular among foreign companies, such as Varian, Asyst, and Ericsson.

Japan's semiconductor industry is going to shift priority to digital household electric appliances, such as next-generation televisions (including plasma display panel and liquid-crystal TVs), digital cameras, and DVDs, and to the development of system LSIs, with an eye on the arrival of the ubiquitous society.

Shin-Yokohama has a dense concentration of electronic equipment companies, such Cadence, Innotech, Zuken, and Rohm, and software development companies. Furthermore, consortiums of private-sector companies are also located in the area, which has become a center for system LSI development.

Examples include the Semiconductor Technology Academic Research Center (STARC), which was established with capital from 11 Japanese semiconductor makers with the aim of strengthening Japan's semiconductor technology base and maintaining its leading competitiveness. There are also moves to improve the efficiency of electronic equipment development and to activate the market.

Yokohama Station Vicinity (Solution)
The vicinity of Yokohama Station, which is an important terminus for various means of public transportation including railways, is the location for a variety of IT-related businesses, such as solution-type companies that engage in system development, such as ERP (enterprise resource planning). In Japan's IT industry, makers of such hardware as semiconductors and PCs have accepted orders for systems.

The solution industry in the vicinity of Yokohama Station has grown through the consignment of system development and other business via these semiconductor makers and so on.

Kannai-Yamashita District (Digital Contents)
Taking advantage of this district's excellent urban environment including its port, modern architecture, and stylish restaurants, there are many creators producing Internet-related digital contents, etc. in the Kannai-Yamashita district, which has been a leading business zone ever since the opening of the port of Yokohama.

There are also many convenient SOHO (small office, home office) facilities with incubator services by the private sector. Businesses that enter these facilities can make use of incentives provided by the city.

Introduction to SOHO
Seeking to utilize the historical and cultural environment of Yokohama, a large number of small IT businesses, such as multimedia contents creators, are beginning to concentrate in the city, rather like Silicon Alley in New York. As a result, new businesses and networks among IT enterprises are developing.