Japan is the third largest economy in the world, after the United States and China. Despite its declining population, Japan is determined to keep growing through innovation.

The Japanese Economic Miracle, referring to the period between the end of the WWII and the end of the Cold War, boomed Japan’s economy. Zaibatsu – family-owned conglomerates- collapsed and were replaced by keiretsu which are large business groups. Japanese companies, such as Nissan, Toyota, Mitsubishi, Canon, Sony and Fujifilm are known globally. Japanese products are considered to be of high quality and technologically advanced.

Since the 2010’s, the government of Japan encourages companies to adopt a “startup culture” and aims to create an innovative startups ecosystem. The government has set a target of creating 20 unicorns by 2023.

Tokyo was named the Most Innovative City (August 2018) as part of the annual Cities Innovation Index by data provider 2thinknow. It shows the Japan’s goal to lead innovation, deploying smart technologies like facial recognition, automations, artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles, etc.

Japan has the world’s highest population of over 65s, representing about 27% of its population. Tokyo, which is Japan’s largest city, accounts for one quarter of its overall population and has focused on developing smart solutions for elderly inclusion. The state estimates the number of patients with dementia to grow to 7 million in 2025 and expects a shortage of caregivers.

As such, Japan has been one of the most innovative countries when it comes to using artificial intelligence and robotics to improve the health and life of its rapidly greying population. 

Senior care facilities are testing out robots that deliver social and physical health care.  A nationwide survey found that 80% of respondents over 40 welcomed or were open to being helped by a care robot.  Japan has also been testing autonomous shuttle and trackers using bluetooth technology to locate people suffering from dementia.