Japan has endeavored to develop its capital, Tokyo, as one of the major global financial centers — circulating domestic capital and capital from abroad and invite foreign financial institutions and firms to establish businesses in Tokyo — for many decades.

To realize this vision, the government took various measures in recent years under the Abenomics program launched in December 2012 after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe came to power. First, the effective corporate tax (including central and local government taxes) was lowered gradually from around 35 percent in fiscal 2012 to about 30 percent in fiscal 2016. Second, the basic portfolio of public pension reserve assets (¥145 trillion) managed by the Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) was reformed in 2014 by increasing investment in domestic equity and foreign equity. Third, the Nippon Individual Savings Account (NISA) and Junior NISA were adopted in 2014 and 2016 respectively to foster individual equity investors age 20 or older and under 20 with the provision of tax-free treatment on dividends and capital gains up to certain amount of investment per year.

Since 2014, moreover, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government has also taken its own initiatives to achieve the above-mentioned vision. The move was inspired by the September 2013 decision by the International Olympic Committee to select Tokyo to host the 2020 Olympic Games since it was seen as a rare opportunity for Tokyo to take advantage of the global attention that will focus on it over this period. A task force was formed and came up with a report with detailed proposals including tax incentives and measures to improve the living environment for foreigners with a more business-friendly environment.