New Facility to Assist Digital Business Start-ups

Digital Garage Opens New Incubation Center“DG CAMP AKIYA Yokosuka City” | News | Digital Garage, Inc.

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-– Digital Garage, Inc. (DG) opens a new incubation center, DG CAMP AKIYA Yokosuka City, in Kanagawa Prefecture and begins operations in September 2024.

■ Incubation hub connecting startups around the world ..... Since the Open Network Lab launch in 2010, DG has been working to discover and foster talented startups and cutting-edge technologies from around the world and to implement them into the DG Group’s businesses. As part of the process, DG opened the incubation center “DG717” in San Francisco (2013), the conference hall “Dragon Gate” in the Shibuya Parco DG Building (2020), and now, as a replacement for “DG CAMP Kamakura” (2012 – 2024), “DG CAMP AKIYA Yokosuka City” is to be opened as a new incubation center in Akiya, Yokosuka City.

This center takes advantage of its location surrounded by the sea and hills of Yokosuka and is equipped with functions for startup camps, pitch events, and other events, including “Dragon Gate AKIYA,” a conference room with an open ocean view, and five accommodation spaces.

Moreover, an “ Artist-in-Residence Studio,” announced separately, will provide an environment for artists to stay and create artwork. The “Ryuichi Sakamoto Network Studio Project” will be released by the Shibuya City Office and other related parties in February of next year.

As an incubation hub connecting startups around the world, along with “DG717” and “Dragon Gate,” DG will work with its global network, “DG Global Incubation Stream,” to contribute to the emergence of startups that represent the world.

Nepalis an answer to Yokosuka labor shortage?

Discover Yokosuka 横須賀奥旨: Yokosuka's New Connection With Nepal

Six years have passed since Yokosuka City established a sister-city relationship with Bharatpur City in south-central Nepal (reported in the link shown above) .... Mayor Kamiji recently made another trip to Nepal, along with a business and labor-related delegation, to gather information and update efforts & coordination to enable Nepalis to come to Yokosuka and work for local small- and medium-sized businesses .... Yokosuka, like other local governments around Japan, faced with aging & shrinking population, and therefore reaching out directly to foreign countries to help solve the serious labor shortage problem...

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横須賀市長のネパール訪問について｜横須賀市

In order to support the utilization of foreign human resources by small and medium-sized enterprises, our city has concluded a memorandum of understanding with the city of Bharatpur in Nepal regarding mutual support, such as the dispatch of human resources.

As the labor shortage becomes more serious, the mayor will visit Bharatpur once again to confirm the local situation and will be accompanied by a delegation from the city's economic organizations to check the local human resources.

This trip is a rescheduled return to the city after it was canceled last October due to flight cancellations.

1. Period

Wednesday, March 26th to Sunday, March 30th, 2025

2. Visitors

Mayor,

Chairman of Yokosuka Construction Association,

Representative of Yokosuka Industrial Promotion Cooperative and Yokosuka Waterworks Cooperative,

Chairman and Director of NPO Japan-Nepal Mutual Cooperation Volunteers,

Director of Economic Affairs and other accompanying staff

3. Purpose

(1) Confirmation of the status of local human resources, sending organizations, Japanese language schools, etc.

(2) Meeting with Bharatpur city officials and government officials

(3) Inspection of the local situation by representatives of economic organizations in Yokosuka city

Before Nissan's auto factory at Oppama, there was...

Nissan Motor Corporation has been in the news recently with reports about the possible impending closure of its large factory located in the Oppama District of Yokosuka City .... Of interest, the historical roots of Nissan's Oppama facility go back to the early 20th century, when it was an important air base for the Japanese Imperial Navy... 

横須賀海軍航空隊（横須賀海軍航空基地）

The Imperial Navy's first air corps was established on April 1, 1916.  It was originally a seaplane unit.  In addition to providing air defense for Yokosuka Naval District, it was responsible for educating and training air corps personnel, conducting practical tests on new aircraft, and researching the combat techniques of various aircraft models.  However, in February 1944, as the war situation became increasingly tense, it also began to be deployed in actual combat.

Around 1944, facilities began to be moved underground as a measure against air raids, and underground bunkers were dug like a network in the surrounding hills to store ammunition, fuel, supplies, etc.  Anti-aircraft positions were also constructed on the hills, and numerous anti-aircraft machine guns and anti-aircraft guns were installed.  Numerous aircraft bunkers (covered and uncovered) were also built around the runway, and the war ended with them in perfect condition.

According to records, the remaining aircraft at the end of the war were 14 Zero fighters, 12 Shiden, 3 Tenrai, 3 Gekko, 6 Ryusei, 7 Saiun, 1 Type 99 carrier bomber, 11 Ginga, 11 Suisei, 8 Tokai, 3 Type 96 land-based attack aircraft, 9 Type 1 land-based attack aircraft, 1 Zuiun, 3 Zero seaplanes, 1 Type 2 flying boat, 1 Type Zero fighter trainer, 3 Shiragiku, 3 Type 93 land-based training aircraft, 1 Type 90 No. 2 land-based training aircraft, 1 Type Zero transport, 3 Type 97 carrier attack aircraft, and 3 Tenzan, for a total of 108 aircraft.

Although it was only 30 years from its establishment until the end of the war, it was a central presence in the Naval Air Corps throughout, and in cooperation with the Aviation Technical Arsenal, it contributed greatly to the development of naval aviation technology.  In addition, all of the early pilots of the Japanese Naval Air Corps were from the Yokosuka Naval Air Corps, making it a historic and traditional aviation corps that formed the basis of the development of the aviation corps.

Most of the site has become the Nissan Motors Oppama Factory, and it is no longer accessible, and unfortunately very few historical structures remain.  All that remains are the underground bunkers that were constructed towards the end of the Pacific War.  Large horizontal underground bunkers still exist today in the hills surrounding the base - Nojima, Natsujima, Kaiyama, and Natakiriyama.  The super-large tunnel-style hangar for storing aircraft is particularly impressive.  Another notable feature is the number of stone monuments that have been erected to commemorate the historic air force.