Kyoto Research Park

On Wednesday, May 31st, 18 members of the S&TDC had the pleasure of visiting Kyoto Research Park, a morning outing jointly organized by Consul General of France Jules Irrmann and Consul of Switzerland and S&TDC Chairman Dr. Felix Moesner.

We were welcomed by Mr. Tetsuyuki Fukami, Managing Director of KRP, who represented KRP President Ms. Kadowaki. Thereafter, Mr. Shigekata Mizuno, Executive Adviser, gave an insightful presentation on KRP and Mr. Satoshi Nishino on Kyoto’s Business Attraction Promotion Strategy. We were then given a tour of the impressive facilities, showcasing wet labs, the Biz Next lounge, and (large) conference sites and learnt about HVC Kyoto, Miyako Entrepreneurship Club, Science café program and the Kyoto Startup Ecosystem.

Founded in 1989, the Kyoto Research Park (KRP) is the first privately operated research park in Japan. It hosts no less than 520 tenant companies and institutions in a variety of fields, including ICT, healthcare, biotech, manufacturing, and more. Designed as an innovation hub, it fosters collaboration between the industry, the academic sector, and the government. Strategically implanted in the Kyoto ecosystem, it profits from its rich and diverse business sector, boasting global companies (SHIMADZU CORPORATION, OMRON Group, HORIBA, KYOCERA Global…) as well as SMEs developing unique technologies. The region is also very strong in the academic sector, with 40 universities conducting world leading research – that led to several Nobel decorations! KRP has global partnerships with Maria 01, MIND Milano Innovation District (MIND), Shanghai Development Park Association (SHDPA), Gav-Yam Negev Advanced Technologies Park (ATP), Hsinchu Science Park, Central Taiwan Science Park among others.