On January 31st, Sapporo City signed a partnership agreement with Tokyo's Shibuya City to collaborate in fostering entrepreneurs by providing trial sites that take advantage of regional characteristics and exchanging human resources. This is the first time for Sapporo to enter into a partnership agreement with another city in the startup field, and the two cities will begin providing each other with access to their resources from FY2024.

Shibuya has about 1,600 startup companies, while Sapporo has only about 40. Sapporo Mayor Katsuhiro Akimoto said in a press conference, "Sapporo and Hokkaido can provide vast areas for agricultural trials and abundant renewable energy. We are looking forward to collaborating with Shibuya Ward and sharing our know-how.”

‍