Industry minister Koichi Hagiuda said in the United States on Wednesday that Japan plans to encourage startups by sending 1,000 people to Silicon Valley over five years, to provide them with valuable entrepreneurial experience in the California tech hub.
The government aims to draw up a five-year plan by year-end to target a tenfold increase in the number of startups, as part of its push to drive economic growth through innovation and the cultivation of human talent.
Hagiuda told reporters after his visit to the headquarters of technology giant Google that he was very impressed by the mentality there, in which people are not afraid of failures, and that it is something Japan can learn.
"Struck out swinging is considered (an experience) that can lead (people) to the next stage, here in America," Hagiuda said.
The plan envisions sending 200 people from Japan to Silicon Valley annually, starting in the new fiscal year that starts in April. The initiative will expand on a similar yet smaller program under which around 20 people have been sent there annually over the past seven years.
Devoting more resources to startups is one of four pillars in the strategy Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has set out in pursuit of a new form of capitalism that focuses on growth through investment.
Hagiuda visited California before going on to join the first U.S.-Japan economic "two-plus-two" dialogue in Washington on Friday, involving foreign and industry ministers of the two countries. The meeting is expected to focus on improving economic security.
During his California trip, Hagiuda also visited research facilities and spoke to students at Stanford University.