WIPO Director General Daren Tang concluded a four-day visit to Japan on February 3, 2026, focusing on innovation-driven growth and the role of IP in strengthening startup ecosystems including at regional level. Discussions also addressed how intellectual property (IP) frameworks are adapting to artificial intelligence (AI) and its impact on creative industries.
During a keynote address at the JIPA IP Symposium, the Director General reflected on Japan’s evolution as a global innovation powerhouse, the growing importance of intangible assets in a rapidly changing geo-economic landscape and the role of IP in helping Japan navigate demographic challenges and unlock new opportunities through global engagement.
Other Tokyo engagements:
- Highlighted WIPO’s initiatives to support policy dialogue on IP and AI in a meeting with Minister of State for Intellectual Property Strategy Kimi Onoda. They also discussed the promotion and future potential of Japan’s content industries.
- Engaged with Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Norikazu Suzuki on Japan’s long-standing contributions to UPOV, expressing appreciation for the signing of Fund in Trust agreement between the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and UPOV.
- Met with State Minister for Foreign Affairs Iwao Horii to express appreciation for Japan’s continued support to WIPO, including through FIT/Japan IP Global, which supports developing and least developed countries to improve their knowledge of IP systems and enhance their IP capabilities to facilitate innovation and technology transfer worldwide.
- Spoke about Japan’s strong engagement with WIPO’s global IP services with Parliamentary Vice-Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Toshiyuki Ochi.
- Engaged with the Commissioner of the Japan Patent Office Yasuyuki Kasai on ways to strengthen cooperation between WIPO and Japan for global IP services and activities under FIT/Japan IP Global, including advancing WIPO GREEN to promote international collaboration and reinforce the role of IP in sustainable innovation.
- Exchanged views with Parliamentary Vice-Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Masato Shimizu and Commissioner for Cultural Affairs Shunichi Tokura on international efforts to combat piracy affecting major export content such as anime, manga and music, and the importance of protecting creators in the era of AI.
- Discussed the role of IP in enhancing Japan’s global competitiveness and supporting inventors and innovation ecosystems with Chairman of the Japan Institute of Invention and Innovation (JIII) and Executive Chairman of Hitachi, Ltd. Toshiaki Higashihara.
Kanazawa engagements:
- Met with the President of Kanazawa University Dr. Takashi Wada to discuss the importance of IP awareness and education, and how IP can help take research from the lab to the marketplace.
- Met with the CEO of Vision Incubate Dr. Kunio Matsumoto, the CEO of MoveEz Eric Wei, and the CEO of Spine Chronicle Japan Dr. Noritaka Yonezawa to discuss the role of venture investment, entrepreneurship support and IP in enabling innovation to scale up from the regional level to global markets.
- Engaged with the Managing Director of Ishino Seisakusho Hatsuyoshi Oda on how SMEs can leverage IP to drive regional growth, strengthen competitiveness and support sustainable, people-centered innovation.
