The trend is such that Tokyo’s Hongo district, where the university’s campus is located, has earned the nickname “Hongo Valley.” Japan’s version of Silicon Valley is buzzing with startups that specialize in fields such as wealth management, health care, home sharing and space debris collection.
One of those is WealthNavi, which operates a technology-based asset management service. Founded in 2015 by former Finance Ministry bureaucrat Kazuhisa Shibayama, the startup had more than 60 billion yen ($558 million) in assets under management as of last month.