Tokyo's SME promotion foundation is taking applications until 17:00 on 30 November for the second round of its trade-show and sales-promotion grant. The programme covers up to two-thirds of eligible costs, capped at ¥1.5mn per applicant, and the window opened on 10 November.
Successful applicants can spend within a period running from 1 February 2027 to 29 February 2028, a maximum of one year and one month.
What the money covers
The mandatory category is market-development spending: trade-show booth fees, display materials and transport, plus an initial registration fee for an online marketplace shop and the cost of building or revamping a product website. Booth, materials and transport carry no separate cap. The online-shop and website items are each limited to ¥200,000.
A second category, sales promotion, covers printed material (up to ¥500,000), video (¥200,000) and advertising (¥200,000). An application for promotion costs alone is not accepted. The two-thirds subsidy is rounded down to the nearest ¥1,000.
| Cost item | Category | Item cap |
|---|---|---|
| Booth fee, materials, transport | Market development (required) | No separate cap |
| Online marketplace shop registration | Market development (required) | ¥200,000 |
| Website creation or revamp | Market development (required) | ¥200,000 |
| Printed material | Sales promotion (optional) | ¥500,000 |
| Video production | Sales promotion (optional) | ¥200,000 |
| Advertising | Sales promotion (optional) | ¥200,000 |
Who can apply
The product must fall into one of four fields: safety and security, elderly care and disability, digital transformation, or heat countermeasures. The applicant must design and make it and hold the right to sell it on its own, so distributors are excluded. Only one product may be named. For the second round, development must be finished and the product ready to sell by 31 October 2026.
Eligible applicants include small or medium-sized businesses, SME associations, specified nonprofit corporations, and general incorporated foundations and associations, all of which must actually operate in Tokyo. A small or medium-sized business is excluded if a large company takes part in running it in substance. Each applicant may apply once a year, and the same trade show or cost cannot be funded by another public body. Reviewers will score the product's relevance to the Tokyo 2050 Strategy, business suitability, distinctiveness and marketability.
Conditions that bite
Contracting, delivery and payment must all fall inside the grant period. The exceptions are the booth reservation and display materials ordered together with the booth application, which may be contracted earlier, provided the show and payment fall within the period. Payment by bill, cheque or electronic receivable is excluded. Cash is allowed only below ¥100,000 and only where bank transfer is impractical. Card payments must be on the grant recipient's own card (a company-named card for a corporation), drawn from the recipient's bank account and not paid in instalments or revolving credit.
The approved amount can be cut after review, and the final amount is set only after a completion check; payment follows about a month later. If an application is approved, the foundation will publish the company name, representative's name and product.
Applications go through the national jGrants portal only, and filers need a gBizID Prime account, which the guidelines say takes time to obtain. Screening is scheduled for December 2026 to January 2027, with decisions due at the end of January 2027. The guidelines say the schedule may change.