Kobe Medical Industry City: Japan's largest biomedical cluster
Launched as a Kobe City project in 1998, Port Island is home to research institutes such as the RIKEN Institute and universities, a group of highly specialized hospitals including Kobe City Medical Center General Hospital, and medical-related companies and organizations.
The formation of the Kobe Biomedical Innovation Cluster began in 2000 with the establishment of the Foundation for Biomedical Innovation (now the Kobe Biomedical Innovation Cluster Promotion Organization) and the RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology. This led to the opening of the Advanced Medical Center, Clinical Research Information Center (now the Medical Innovation Promotion Center), and Cluster Promotion Center, and the establishment of a system to support everything from research to commercialization.
The RIKEN Institute for Computational Science was established in 2010, followed by the supercomputers "K" and "Fugaku" in 2012 and 2022, respectively, strengthening the area's functions as a biomedical cluster.
Furthermore, in 2025, IBM and RIKEN partnered to install the IBM Quantum System Two at the RIKEN Center for Computational Science, which began operating in the same building as Fugaku. In the same year, Kobe University plans to open the Bio-Manufacturing Co-Creation Center on Port Island, and private companies are also building rental lab facilities, with Daiwa House Industry planning to open DP-lab in 2026 and Mitsubishi Corporation Urban Development and iPark Institute planning to open iPark Kobe (tentative name) in 2027.
The establishment of these new bases will further enhance the environment for research, development, and commercialization support in the Kobe Biomedical Innovation Cluster, and is expected to strengthen its functions as one of the largest biomedical clusters in Japan.
