Mirai Tech PopUp City 🇯🇵 A month accelerating Biotech in 🏯 Kobe, Japan ⛩️
31 days building, in the middle of Japan's biggest biomedical cluster, with 300 of you. That is Mirai Tech City.
31 days working together, share breakfast from local producers, tours of in the cluster, co-working spaces in Port Island as our base [View the Venues]
Get to know whats happening in Japan, the researchers and builders in a month designed to get you connected to the ecosystem
Applications are open. Early bird $399 until [20 August].
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🇯🇵 Why Japan
💊The world's third-largest pharmaceutical market, with decades of real-world experience in age-related deseases
⚡ Fast approval paths since 2014 get new regenerative treatments to patients years ahead of other places.
💰The government doubles venture capital money, and AMED grants give up to ¥6.7B per pipeline.
🧬World-class institutions, labs and the manufacturing. iPS cells, Klotho, and the translational infrastructure
💴 The weak yen makes living and working here cheaper than before.
🍱 Food and rent cost very little, with meals around ¥500 to ¥1,200 and beds near ¥5,500.
🧓 Nearly 30% of Japan is 65 or older, making it the oldest population on earth.
🇯🇵 Japan has led the world in life expectancy for 55 years and has nearly 100,000 centenarians.
🧘 longevity core culture, millennia of ancient lifestyle, rituals, and knowledge
⚡ TL;DR
Where: Kobe, Japan 🇯🇵 · Port Island [Kobe Guide]
When: 1–31 October 2026
Scale: 300+ builders · 100+ speakers · 30 resident companies · 20+ supporting organisations · 4 summit days · Demo Day + Enhanced Fashion Show
Why: Build the bridge between East and West and accelerate the curing of age-related disease.
Tickets: $399 early bird, $799 standard. $199 pay-what-you-can for Japan residents. Free for KBIC and Kobe University teams.
What the ticket includes: All summits · Mirai Community activations · Co-working Space · Community Space · [Residency: + Access to lab space · commercialisation consultations · partner support ]
Getting there: Fly straight into Kobe (UKB) on Port Island itself. Otherwise Kansai (KIX), then a 31-minute ferry across the bay.
Sleeping: info@inspiretraveldesigners.com for booking support. Group houses from around $35 a night, Portopia Hotel [twin rooms $132.54 per day], ZuJapan, or your own Airbnb.
Budget: Roughly $1,600–2,000 for the month on top of your ticket and flights.
Mirai Tech Map: Japan only therapies, event, activities.
Next: Apply, then join the Telegram.🌐 miraitech.city · 💬 Telegram · 📖 Community guide · ✉️ team@miraitech.city
The Venues:
Breakfast and Cellhaus residency in the Medtech Innovation Center with the co-work next to it
Demo day and Frontier Humans Fashion Show in the Orbis Hall
Summits in Portopia Hotel
More. Kobe guide · photos · about KBI
What you leave with
Founders who want a faster clinical path than the US or EU. AMED grants add ¥2 of government money for every ¥1 your investors put in [ grant is Therapeutics only]
Anyone hunting cutting-edge Japanese therapies to license into their own market. 370+ biomedical organisations on Port Island, Kyoto and CiRA 90 minutes away, Osaka and Nakanoshima Qross 40.
Researchers who need collaborators. Kobe University Hospital, RIKEN and the MedTech Innovation Center, all within a walk of where you sleep.
Investors looking where the science is world-class and the valuations are not yet. Register as an AMED VC and every ¥1 you put in unlocks ¥2 into the company.
People building devices and augmentation hardware.
Policy people who want to help write the rules while they are still being written.
Anyone looking for a cofounder, a partner, or a job in the field. 300 people you would otherwise spend a year trying to meet, for two weeks on average, which is long enough to build something real.
Or you want to spend a month among sharp people in a country worth knowing, and learn a great deal. Reason enough.
You are in the same place as the institutions, the companies and the regulators for 31 days. What you make of it is yours.
The month
🛬 1–4 Oct · Arrival. Land in Kobe, settle on Port Island, and the opening event on the 4th.
🇯🇵 5–11 Oct · Japan Landing Week. KBIC and Kansai integration. Biomedical cluster exploration and tours of the facilities. Akiya hunting. The weekend goes to the onsens and the Rokko mountains.
🧬 12–18 Oct · Longevity + Bio Week. The Longevity Bio × AI hackathon and the Japan partner connection sprint, building to Summit I · The Science & Tech Augmenting Life on 17–18. AI×Bio · Bioengineering · Biostasis and replacement · MedTech · Women's health.
🦾 19–25 Oct · Escape Velocity · Go-to-Market Week. The fast-track go-to-market sprint and the open-source Sandbox / NSSZ sprint, building to Summit II · From East to West: Bridging the Longevity Gap on 24–25. Regulation · Investment · The future of longevity.
🪩 26 Oct · Frontier Humans Enhanced Fashion Show & Demo Day. Demo day as a runway. Device residents show prototypes where science becomes couture. CES meets Tokyo Fashion Week.
🍶 27–31 Oct · Wrap up. Closing dinners, last meetings, departures.
🔬 Alongside · Cellhaus, the residency. Three months across Kobe and Tokyo with Biopunk House and Kobe University. Application only.
🏛️ Invite only · The Longevity Blueprint. Experts, policymakers and public and private sector leaders drafting the blueprint for a zone built to accelerate biomedical progress.
Throughout the month: workshops, mini-summits, labs, hackathons and community meals, including confirmed sessions with Minicircle, Vibe Coding Nights and Shojin Meat.
Outside the summit weekends the month is yours, and builders self-organise side events and hacker houses. Come co-create it.
Outside the summit weekends, the month is yours. Builders self-organise side events, hacker houses and cultural programmes. Come co-create it.
🎤 Speaking
33 confirmed, 100+ expected across the month [ more TBA]
Aubrey de Grey (LEV Foundation) · Prof. Brian Kennedy (NUS, former CEO of the Buck Institute) · Yuri Deigin (YouthBio) · Mac Davis (Minicircle) · Sebastian Brunemeier (Healthspan Capital · Cambrian) · Eleanor Sheekey (RIKEN Kobe) · Rob Claar (HekaBio) · Adam Gries (Vitalist Bay) · Nathan Cheng (Longevity Biotech Fellowship) · José Cordeiro (Millennium Project · IDE-JETRO) · Natalie Coles (Human Longevity Inc.) · Yuki Hanyu (IntegriCulture · Shojin Meat) · Laurence Ion (VitaDAO) · Sumit Jamuar (XPRIZE Brain Trust) · Irit Rappley, PhD (NNP Laboratories) · Prof. Stuart Reid (Strathclyde) · Juliette Humer (Muse Bio) · Alice Gilman (R3 Bio) · Felix Oens (NeoTILa) · Keita Masui (ASAGI Labs) · Rodney Kelly (MEDISO) · Daniel Burger (Eightsix Science) · Jeffrey Tibbetts (Symbiont Labs) · Bilal Kharouni (Ekei Labs) · Devinder Sodhi (Learning Layer Labs) · Brandon Possin (ZōVillage) · Julie Ying Baron (Livebeyond) · Muneaki Goto · Ada Cyborg · Elen Capri · Jordan Lasker
Supporting organisations. KBIC · Kobe University and the MedTech Innovation Center · ASAGI Labs Ventures · HekaBio · Aeras Bio · ZuCity Japan · Longevity Biotech Fellowship · LEV Foundation · Vitalist Bay · Viva City · The Mu · Biopunk House · Learning Layer Labs · Augmentation Lab · Vibe Coding Nights · Frontier Tower · Aevitas House · CHANGE · Broken Symmetry Capital · Minicircle
Twenty and growing.
Coming a long way?
Japan is easier than it sounds, and we have taken the friction out of it.
Flights.
Kobe (UKB) is on Port Island itself - Perfect if you are flying from within Japan or from Seoul, Taipei or Taichung. The Port Liner runs the length of the island to Sannomiya in ~20 minutes.
Kansai (KIX) for everything long-haul, then a 31 min ferry.
Book early, October is 紅葉 kōyō and one of the busiest months in Japan.
VISA. Most nationalities enter visa-free for up to 90 days. Fill in Visit Japan Web before you fly. Need a visa letter for the residency? Ask us.
Language. Kobe infrastructure is bilingual and easy to navigate alone. When in need, Google translate works wonders for conversations.
You will not arrive alone. People coordinate flights, houses and airport runs in the Telegram. Airlines do group discounts from ten passengers.
What a month costs. Less than people assume. The yen is down about 8% against the dollar this year, and Kobe is not Tokyo. Estimates, on top of your ticket and flights:
Per month
Bed in a community group house ~¥170,000 / $1,050
Or your own room, hotel or Airbnb ~¥230,000 / $1,400
Food, mostly eating out ~¥90,000 / $550
Local transport pass ~¥8,800 / $54
Total ~¥270,000 / $1,650
Set lunch is about ¥1,200 ($7.50) Book early: October is peak season.
Indicative only, at roughly ¥163 to the dollar (July 2026), based on Kobe averages.
📍 Practicalities
"Kobe has welcomed the world's builders since 1868. When its port opened, foreign engineers and innovators came to help shape modern Japan. Mirai Tech City continues that tradition."
Where to stay. There are a vast array of options to stay in Kobe. We recommend Port Island and Sannomiya.
Inspire Travel Designers can organise the whole trip. Mention Mirai.
Summit hotel: Portopia Hotel · book our rate
ZuJapan network: Zucity.org/en/all
Airbnb: near Sannomiya, sleeps 20 · Port Island, smaller groups
Japan Longevity Culture
🌾 Washoku: Traditional nutrition features unrefined ingredients, seasonal fish, seaweed, and fermented foods.
🥣 Hara Hachi Bu: This ancient rule teaches people to stop eating when they are 80% full, preventing overeating.
🍵 Antioxidants: Regular consumption of high-quality green tea protects cells and improves daily metabolism.
🧘 Radio Taisō: Calisthenics routines maintain joint health and mobility across all generations.
🚶 Natural Mobility: Daily habits rely on functional activity like walking to transit, climbing stairs, and active gardening.
✨ Ikigai: Having a specific reason to wake up each morning provides psychological resilience.
🤝 Moai: Lifelong networks of friends offer steady emotional support and financial safety nets.
👴 Intergenerational Respect: Society values elders for their deep wisdom and keeps them active in family matters.
🛀 Onsen Rituals: Regular hot spring bathing lowers everyday mental stress and enhances blood circulation.
七転び八起き
Fall seven times, rise eight.
Japan has been part of humanity's story about longevity for two thousand years. The old legends have explorers sailing east in search of immortality and landing on these shores. The search never stopped.
See you in October. See you in Kobe.
Victoria
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