The Forefront of Fast-Growing Space Business Gathers in Nihonbashi
Asia’s largest Space Business Event with Approximately 7,000 Participants in 2022
Nihonbashi Space Week 2023
Monday, November 27 to Friday, December 1
November 9, 2023
Mitsui Fudosan Co., Ltd.
Tokyo, Japan, November 9, 2023 – Mitsui Fudosan Co., Ltd., a leading global real estate developer headquartered in Tokyo, and cross U, a general incorporated association also based in Tokyo, will hold Nihonbashi Space Week 2023 from Monday, November 27 to Friday, December 1, 2023. Nihonbashi Space Week is Asia’s largest space business event where all the major players in the space business from Japan and overseas will gather.
Event Overview
- Nihonbashi Space Week is Asia’s largest space business event, which attracted around 7,000 participants in 2022. In 2023, the event will take place in the Nihonbashi area, which is becoming a center for private and public sector and academic organizations driving the space industry.
- In its third year, the event is mainly organized by cross U (established in April 2023) and will be twice as big as the previous year. Ninety-one companies and organizations (including cross U members, companies in non-space business sectors, and startups) and over 150 speakers are scheduled to take part.
- The event features a diverse program of business conferences and other events and Exhibition by 54 companies and organizations over a five-day period - a gathering of the forefront of the space business. Twenty space-related and social events around the Nihonbashi area will take place during the event period.
Overview of Nihonbashi Space Week 2023
| Period | Monday, November 27 to Friday, December 1, 2023 |
|---|---|
| Venues | Nihonbashi Mitsui Hall Muromachi Mitsui Hall & Conference X-NIHIONBASHI TOWER X-NIHIONBASHI BASE, others (Nearest metro station: Mitsukoshimae Station on the Tokyo Metro Ginza and Hanzomon lines) |
| Main organizer: | cross U |
| Co-organizer: | Mitsui Fudosan Co., Ltd. Sponsors: Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO); sponsorship applications filed with the Cabinet Office, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, and Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry |
| Official website | https://www.crossu.org/spaceweek/ |
Venue area map Events held at various venues in Nihonbashi area
* Details such as program content and information on exhibiting companies are as of the time of writing and subject to change.
The space business has been buzzing in recent years. The global space market is forecast to top $1 trillion in 2040*1 as expectations grow for technologies originating in the space business to help solve social issues on a global scale. In Japan too, initiatives by industry, academia, and the government are ramping up even more to accelerate growth of the space business.
Developments in the space business in Japan in 2023
| June 2023 | Government’s basic policy on space Basic Plan on Space Policy*2 revised for first time in three years Announced target of doubling domestic market from 2020 to ¥8.0 trillion |
|---|---|
| September and October 2023 | Many companies in space business selected for Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Project*3 |
| November 2023 | Cabinet Office approves strategic JAXA fund totaling ¥1 trillion over 10 years |
Mitsui Fudosan has been promoting the Nihonbashi Revitalization Plan since the second half of the 1990s in a collaboration between the public and private sectors and academia. A key strategy of the plan is “industry creation,” which supports the development and success of industries through neighborhood creation. We began focusing on the space business in 2019, and cross U began activities in April 2023.
Six months after starting operations in earnest, as of November 9, 2023, cross U has attracted 218 members of which 70% are companies and organizations in outside the space business. More than 300 diverse space business events by members are scheduled for its first year, and many co-creations have already emerged. Mitsui Fudosan and cross U will continue to help grow space-related businesses in the Nihonbashi area by promoting open innovation in the space business.
- Source: Morgan Stanley website https://www.morganstanley.com/ideas/investing-in-space
- Source: Basic Plan on Space Policy, Cabinet Office website https://www8.cao.go.jp/space/plan/keikaku.html
- Source: Cabinet Office website. The SBIR Project is a program for promoting R&D by startups and others, and smoothly implementing the results to create innovation in Japan. https://sbir.csti-startup-policy.go.jp/about/develop.html