Why Tokyo is the most important tech destination of 2026

Each main tech convention has themes. Most are obscure sufficient to imply all the things and nothing on the similar time. SusHi Tech Tokyo 2026 is doing one thing totally different — 4 tightly outlined know-how domains, every backed by dwell demonstrations, devoted exhibit flooring, and periods that includes the folks truly constructing and funding these applied sciences globally.

Trendster is partnering with SusHi Tech Tokyo 2026 as an official media accomplice, and our Startup Battlefield workforce will probably be on the bottom deciding on one standout semifinalist from the SusHi Tech Problem to advance to the Trendster Disrupt Startup Battlefield 200 — some of the prestigious launchpads in tech. Right here’s what’s on the ground.

AI — past the hype, into the infrastructure

Classes that includes Howard Wright (Nvidia), Rob Chu (AWS), and Eric Benhamou (Benhamou International Ventures) reduce by way of the noise to look at the place AI is genuinely deployed at scale and the place the actual dangers lie. On the ground, AI-themed college startups pitch alongside world gamers, and the AI Movie Pageant Japan, a accomplice occasion at Tokyo Innovation Base in Yurakucho, explores how synthetic intelligence is reshaping tradition in actual time.

Robotics — bodily AI has arrived

The robots at SusHi Tech aren’t behind glass — they’re on the ground and interactive. Onstage, Nissan, Isuzu, and Utilized Instinct’s Qasar Younis look at how software-defined automobiles are reshaping transportation. Bodily AI isn’t a future pattern. It’s in Tokyo on April 27.

Resilience — the cities that survive what’s coming

Eva Chen (Pattern Micro) and NEC’s Noboru Nakatani sort out cyber protection, whereas prime local weather tech VCs from Breakthrough Vitality and Cleantech Group look at the place world funding is flowing. A VR catastrophe simulator and site-visit excursions of Tokyo’s underground flood-control infrastructure make the stakes viscerally actual.

Leisure — Japan’s cultural engine meets AI

Classes with the CEOs of Manufacturing I.G, MAPPA, and CoMix Wave Movies sort out what it takes for Tokyo to develop into the Hollywood of animation. On the ground, startups are utilizing AI to translate manga globally, generate music from textual content prompts, and produce Japanese IP to life as anime — delivered worldwide.

Can’t make it to Tokyo? You may nonetheless be there

Lacking SusHi Tech Tokyo doesn’t need to imply lacking out. Distant contributors get greater than a livestream — on-site employees will stroll the ground in your behalf, carrying a tool that shows your face so you’ll be able to work together with attendees and exhibitors in actual time, face-to-face. It’s the closest factor to really being there.

Word: Please word that some periods will not be out there for viewing.

Apply for distant participation with on-site employees assist right here.

Can’t swing that both? Ticket holders can stream periods on-line and faucet into the programming from wherever they’re. Browse the total session record right here.

Along with the startup occasion, the Tokyo Metropolitan Authorities additionally hosts a gathering of leaders from 55 cities throughout 5 continents. They’ll focus on the theme of “A New City Future Constructed on Local weather and Catastrophe Resilience.” The town leaders’ summit is a part of G-NETS (International Metropolis Community for Sustainability), organized by the Tokyo Metropolitan Authorities since 2022 as a multicity discussion board to debate how one can clear up widespread challenges with a spotlight now on resilience to city local weather disasters and the well-being of residents. The summit might be noticed by normal audiences on YouTube in actual time and after the occasion.  

G-NETS official web site

G-NETS YouTube Channel 

SusHi Tech Tokyo 2026 runs April 27–29 at Tokyo Large Sight. Enterprise days are April 27–28; public day (free admission) is April 29. Register right here.