San Diego to Japan 2026
Dear EDC investors and partners,
In March, I wrote that San Diego needed to play offense in an uncertain global economy. We committed to leading with data, deepening trusted partnerships, and positioning our region for investment in the industries where we have distinct strengths.
Earlier this month, we brought that commitment to Japan.
Joined by Mayor Todd Gloria, Congressman Scott Peters, and leaders from across San Diego’s business and research community, World Trade Center San Diego (WTCSD) led our most ambitious trade mission yet: three major cities, five days, and more than 25 meetings and programs across Tokyo, Yokohama, and Osaka.
We returned with promising opportunities and partners already preparing to visit San Diego to advance them.
Why Japan matters
Japan has contributed $7.6 billion in foreign direct investment to San Diego since 2015, making it one of our region’s most important investment partners. Companies such as Kyocera have invested here for decades, supporting engineering, advanced manufacturing, and connections to global supply chains. Our universities and research institutions maintain relationships that expand what we can accomplish here at home.
Those ties provide a foundation for the next generation of collaboration. As the United States and Japan seek to strengthen industrial capacity and advance critical technologies, San Diego has much to contribute. We designed this trade mission around areas where those priorities intersect with our strengths, and where Japanese partners bring complementary capabilities.
We began in Yokohama, San Diego’s first and longest-standing Sister City, ahead of our 70th anniversary next year. Mayor Gloria’s address to the Yokohama City Council reaffirmed a relationship that has connected our communities across generations. That history of trust matters when asking partners to build something new together.
Building on our maritime strengths
Some of our most consequential discussions focused on shipbuilding and maritime industrial collaboration.
The United States wants to expand its capacity to build and maintain ships, but longstanding challenges in workforce, infrastructure, and production make that difficult. San Diego brings a substantial maritime economy, major shipbuilding and repair operations, and emerging capabilities in autonomous systems, while Japan brings deep expertise in ship design, manufacturing, and industrial processes.
Our meetings with Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism (MLIT) and the Ministry of Defense’s Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics Agency (ATLA) explored how those strengths could work together.
The enthusiasm of our Japanese counterparts stood out. Partners were eager to understand what San Diego could offer and to bring a substantial contingent of decision-makers here to continue the discussion. A win: MLIT plans to lead a reverse trade mission to San Diego this November.
San Diego State University is an important part of this opportunity. Building on its ship design capabilities and agreement with South Korea’s Samsung Heavy Industries, stronger ties with Japanese industry could help establish new expertise with global reach right here in our region. For a university that recently achieved R1 research status and is developing its Mission Valley Innovation District, the possibilities extend across education, research, and industry.
This is where deliberate economic development can make a difference: Recognizing a national need, organizing our regional strengths, and bringing the right partners to the table.
Opening doors for investment and innovation
Our “Spotlight on San Diego” investment attraction event brought together 220 attendees, including executives from SoftBank, Mitsubishi Electric, Sumitomo Pharma, and dozens of other Japanese companies with the experience and capacity to make substantial investments in our region.
What struck me was the caliber of decision-makers in the room and the opportunity to put San Diego directly in front of companies capable of shaping our region’s next chapter.
We also opened doors for small businesses and startups building their international presence. WTCSD’s MetroConnect companies pitched at Kyocera’s R&D Center, while San Diego life sciences companies shared their breakthroughs in the heart of Osaka’s biomedical cluster.
Meetings at the University of Osaka and Nakanoshima Qross created opportunities to deepen connections among life sciences researchers, entrepreneurs, and industry partners.
In semiconductors, we explored how San Diego’s strengths in chip design and edge AI could complement Japan’s manufacturing and materials expertise. At Kyoto Fusioneering, discussions with General Atomics and UC San Diego focused on the partnerships and infrastructure needed to move fusion toward commercial use.
There were lessons to bring home, too. Our exchange with Mori Building offered a firsthand look at how Tokyo integrates density, green space, mobility, and culture into ambitious urban development. And conversations with Japan Airlines continued the case for expanded connectivity, building on daily service between San Diego and Tokyo.
The work continues in San Diego
The value of this trade mission will grow through sustained engagement. November’s maritime delegation will give Japanese partners a closer look at our assets and an opportunity to refine practical areas of collaboration. In early February, we will invite attendees from the Spotlight on San Diego event to a follow-on event here at home to explore investment opportunities firsthand.
Our goal is to turn these relationships into investment in San Diego, new business for local companies, and capabilities that support good jobs for years to come.
These efforts will also inform our broader direction. On November 17 at BCG, we invite you to join the launch of WTCSD’s updated ‘Go Global: Trade & Investment Strategy.’ The first iteration, released in 2015, helped shape a decade of international economic development for San Diego. This next chapter will help set our course for the decade ahead.
As we do that work, we want to hear from you. Share your ideas, your successes, and the challenges shaping your decisions. Help us understand the economy through your eyes. Great economic development depends on that exchange and on our ability to turn what we learn into action.
Japan reinforced my confidence in what San Diego can accomplish. We have capabilities the world needs and partners eager to work with us. Our responsibility now is to sustain that momentum and turn it into lasting opportunity for the people and businesses who call this region home.
Lucas Coleman
Director, World Trade Center San Diego
