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Testbed City

Testbed City

In June 2020, Shibuya City launched the Testbed City Project. The initiative sources new technologies and ideas from startups, universities, and research institutes to solve local social issues.

Support

Our support network includes access to facilities such as coworking spaces within Shibuya and select locations around Tokyo.

Shibuya City Residents and City Facilities

Shibuya City also offers its local infrastructure for product and concept testing, and operates a pool of local volunteers for product testing with over 2500 residents registered in 2025.

Recent Collaborations

Childcare Robotics

ChiCaRo

One of the identified causes for Japan’s declining birthrate is lack of ready access to childcare after the parents rejoin the workforce. ChiCaRo seeks to address this with robot-assisted daycare programs. Now the whole family can participate in raising children, no matter how far apart they live. ChiCaRo’s prototype childcare robot was given fertile ground in their testing phase, with access to Shibuya City’s own employee daycare! Feedback from real parents proved invaluable for their R&D.

Congestion Control via AI x IoT

Vacan Inc

Vacan’s AirKnock service utilizes IoT technology in conjunction with AI to ensure that limited services and facilities are not overwhelmed by spreading usage over the full infrastructure.
One such use-case was demonstrated right here in the Shibuya City office, with Vacan’s Airknock preventing restroom congestion on the 1st to 4th floors.

Health app and health points for health and commercial activity

bspr Inc.

“Hachi-Sanpo" provided by Shibuya Ward and bspr Inc is a project that aims to promote health and revitalize commerce in the ward by utilizing a health app and health point service. Users can earn points for exercising, managing their diet, and brain training with the app, and the points earned can be converted to "Hachi-Pay". This is a groundbreaking service that boosts both health and the local economy.

Collaborators

In our first year over 70 companies participated in various Testbed City programs. Shibuya City plans is committed to expanding our collaborators further in the future!

SEE THE FULL LIST

Application Outline

Who is eligible to apply?

Businesses, mainly startups, and universities and other research institutions that aim to solve social issues through technology and services.

Application Theme

We are looking for new technologies and solutions to solve social issues. Any genre is welcome. The following is a list of topics in high demand within the Shibuya Ward Office. Please consider these as well. We look forward to hearing from you.

Traffic Policy Division
  • Services that contribute to improved accessibility to the Shibuya Station area
    (eg: services that allow easier access from Shibuya to Sasazuka, Hatagaya, Hatsudai, Shibuya to Ebisu, Hiroo, Roppongi)
  • Services to promote safe and comfortable bicycle use
    (eg: services to reduce the number of abandoned bicycles and promote the use of bicycle parking lots)
  • Services that promote the use of public transportation such as buses and cabs
    (eg: services to promote the use of buses and cabs by those who do not use them, provision of apps to track their use)
  • Services that promote the use of shared bicycles
    (eg: services to promote the use of shared bicycles by people who have never heard of or used bicycle-sharing services)
Elderly Welfare Division
  • Reducing the workload in care facilities
  • Identification of areas to improve in care service infrastructure
  • Creation of new monitoring services (ICT and IoT-based monitoring projects)
Long-Term Care Insurance Division
  • Determining the health of elderly people online and automatically recommending services
  • Promotion of the recruitment, development and retention of caregivers
  • Matching platform for nursing and preventative care
Environmental Policy Division
  • Establishment and operation of a system whereby residents and businesses can instantly and effectively utilize renewable energy stored in batteries
  • Technologies and solutions for realizing a decarbonized society centered on renewable energy
  • Wildlife habitat surveys and survey methods to conserve biodiversity
  • Rooftop greening and renewable energy generation in Shibuya
Environmental Improvement Division
  • Graffiti prevention
  • Graffiti prevention
  • Graffiti prevention
City Planning Division
  • Technologies and services that archive the history of Shibuya
  • Online mechanisms for citizen outreach and information sharing
  • Technologies and services that archive the history of Shibuya
  • Online mechanisms for citizen outreach and information sharing
Housing Policy Division
  • Services to simplify the management of self-managed apartments and old-age homes
Disaster Prevention Division
  • Information dissemination when internet and telephone lines are down during a disaster
  • Modeling human flow during emergencies
  • Disaster awareness for residents and visitors
Safety Division
Special fraud countermeasures (*1)
  • Various measures to prevent damage from special fraud
  • Measures to promote the use of “automatic call recorder,” which is proven to be highly effective in preventing victims of special fraud among elderly persons aged 65 and over
  • Effective damage prevention services against refund fraud, in which criminals call residents on their landlines, tell them false information such as “I have a refund for medical expenses,” and then make them perform fraudulent money transfer procedures
Support for Adopted Companies
  • Coordination with Shibuya Ward departments in charge of service development and cooperation in implementation of demonstration experiments
  • Support for collaboration with partners and early implementation of successful models through the Shibuya Ward network
  • Mentoring by Venture Capital and other investors
  • Resources and financial support from sponsors (planned)
  • Coordination with Shibuya Ward departments in charge of service development and cooperation in implementation of demonstration experiments
  • Support for collaboration with partners and early implementation of successful models through the Shibuya Ward network
How to apply and what to enter

Please use the entry form below to register as a user and submit your entry:

<Required Fields>
  • Corporate Name
  • Name
  • Email address
  • Telephone number
  • Project name
  • Project Summary:
    What is the purpose of the proposed demonstration experiment in 500 words or fewer? Please list current issues and needs, and describe how this project will contribute to them. If you would like to provide an explanation in the attached materials instead of in writing, please indicate "see attached materials" and attach the attached materials in the section on reference materials to supplement your proposal below.
  • Desired start date
  • Stage of development
    At what stage of development is the service or product to be used in the demonstration experiment?
  • Requests to the district:
    What kind of cooperation do you expect from the district in conducting the demonstration experiment? (350 words or fewer)
  • Uniqueness and superiority:
    Please tell us about the uniqueness and superiority of this project in 350 words or fewer. If there are similar products/services, please describe the uniqueness and superiority of this project.
  • Outcome Indicators:
    Please describe the outcome indicators of the demonstration experiment in 350 words or fewer. Please describe what kind of results can be expected from the demonstration experiment, using outcome indicators, etc.
  • Corporate Name
<Optional items>
  • Home Page
  • Department
  • Position

Please attach any reference materials (up to 20 MB) to supplement your proposal, such as a description of your business or services.‍Upload any reference videos to supplement the proposal, including business and service details (maximum 500MB).

Screening Criteria/Project Initiation
  • Screening will be based on the items listed in the “Application Details” section
  • After the application is selected, the demonstration experiment can be started at any time
Precautions
  • Please make sure that the content is not offensive to public order and morals
  • Please note that if a successful application is found to be in violation of the application conditions or precautions, the selection of the applicant may be revoked
  • The outline of the adopted plan may be made available to the general public
  • In principle, intellectual property rights such as patent rights belong to the applicant. Applicants are responsible for taking all necessary procedures to protect their rights upon entry, and Shibuya City will assume no responsibility whatsoever
  • All costs associated with the application process must be borne by the applicant

Would you like to apply?

What opportunities exist in specific sectors? Who to partner up with? Shibuya Startup Support’s team is happy to help. Hop on an online call to speak to one of our staff today!
*Submissions for the demonstration experiment will be closed from 3/21 to 3/31 due to system maintenance.

APPLY NOW