The city of Fukuoka, which the national government designates as a National Strategic Special Zone to attract global startups, is the perfect location for test marketing in Japan.

"Business costs are low. An airport, major train stations and a seaport, everything is within a 2.5-km radius. This level of convenience is very rare in the world," Fukuoka Mayor Soichiro Takashima, who will attend the mayor's sessions of the Annual Meeting of the New Champions, dubbed "Summer Davos," in Dalian, China told The Japan Times in Tokyo on Aug. 24.

With the global startup designation, Fukuoka will be allowed to ease conditions to issue visas related to foreign startups, Takashima said, adding that he is in negotiation with the state to reduce corporate tax to Singapore's level of 17 percent.