Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi used a video address at WebX 2026 in Tokyo to position Japan Web3 startup funding as one strand of the country’s wider innovation agenda, stopping short of announcing a dedicated crypto fund or immediate regulatory changes.
The speech drew roughly 15,000 attendees, placing WebX among Asia’s larger blockchain gatherings. Takaichi described the conference as a venue for founders, investors and established companies to identify practical uses for blockchain, and said public policy and industry events could help generate new business partnerships.
The Startup Package Behind the Speech
Takaichi’s address leaned on Japan’s Comprehensive Startup Support Package, prepared in May 2025, which strengthens the Five-Year Startup Development Plan first formulated in November 2022. The plan’s headline target: lift annual startup investment to 10 trillion yen (approximately $65 billion) by FY2027, according to Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Longer-term official targets include 100 unicorn companies and 100,000 startups. The package covers capital from government-backed funds and financial institutions, regulatory changes to help young companies hire and scale, and structured networks between startups and incumbents. Takaichi offered no timetable for individual measures.
Japan’s J-Startup programme, launched by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in 2018, already gives selected startups preferential access to government subsidies, procurement and a network of large-company and VC supporters. The new package layers further capital commitments on top of that infrastructure.
Japan Web3 Startup Funding Gets Private Backing Too
Separate from government policy, Ripple and Web3 Salon announced on 9 June 2025 a grant programme offering up to $200,000 per project for early-stage Japanese teams building on the XRP Ledger (XRPL). The programme targets DeFi, tokenised real-world assets and digital payments.
According to the Ripple official newsroom, the grants sit within the XRPL Japan and Korea Fund and Ripple’s broader commitment of 1 billion XRP to support developers and startups building on the network. Web3 Salon is backed by the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) and powered by the Asia Web3 Alliance Japan.
Hinza Asif, President of Asia Web3 Alliance Japan, said: ‘Japan is one of the most exciting and challenging markets for Web3 and blockchain adoption. Through this partnership with Ripple, we aim to support visionary founders and strengthen the bridge between global innovation and Japan’s tech landscape.’
The programme operates independently of Takaichi’s package, but the overlap between JETRO involvement and government startup policy illustrates how public agencies and private capital are converging around the same founder base.
Crypto Tax Reform Moves on a Separate Track
Japan’s crypto regulatory revision is advancing in parallel. As reported by crypto.news in June, lawmakers were progressing a bill that would apply a flat 20% tax rate to crypto gains and create a pathway for domestic crypto exchange-traded funds, bringing digital asset treatment closer to stocks and bonds. The tax provisions are not yet fully enacted and could take effect as late as 2028.
Neither that legislation nor the Ripple grant programme was mentioned explicitly in Takaichi’s speech, which kept to broad policy framing. ‘The conference provides a platform to create business collaboration,’ she said, according to CoinPost. ‘Japan’s innovation ecosystem will develop further,’ she added.
Continuity, Not a New Commitment
Takaichi’s appearance follows a pattern. Fumio Kishida addressed WebX by video in 2024, linking blockchain to social and economic policy. Shigeru Ishiba appeared in person in 2025 and backed investment support and rule changes for Web3 and AI. Three consecutive prime ministers have now spoken at the same conference, which gives the sector consistent access to senior officials without committing any one administration to specific legislation.
The practical tests arrive over the next 12 to 18 months: whether startup investment flows actually accelerate toward the ¥10 trillion target, whether the crypto tax bill clears its remaining legislative hurdles before 2028, and whether XRPL grant recipients produce deployable products. Speeches set direction; the FY2027 investment figures will measure whether the direction held.
