A Reason to Be → A Reason to Come - By Akina, Co-founder of Colive Fukuoka

For years, I had the same conversation in different airports.

Every time I travelled and told people I was from Japan, their faces changed. "Japan has always been my number one dream destination." I heard it in hostels in Latin America, at coliving houses in Spain and Portugal, on my third time around the world. And every time, a small frustration grew in me: if so many people dream of Japan, why is it still so hard for them to actually arrive and to feel like they belong once they do?

That question became Colive Fukuoka.

From fewer than 50 people to a movement

It started small. In 2023, fewer than 50 nomads from 23 countries came to Fukuoka. I wasn't trying to build a festival. I was trying to build the kind of community I'd felt coliving across Spain and Portugal and to bring it home, to Japan. Not only for the nomads who'd always wanted to come, but for people in Japan to see that there are so many ways to live a life.

By 2025, Colive Fukuoka welcomed nearly 500 people from 55 countries and was named Best Global Nomad Fest. Our third-year theme, "A Reason to Be," became a short film I wanted to preserve beyond the moment. Every single "arigato" from a participant still reminds me why this exists.

Three quotes from that year have stayed with me:

"Japan has been on my list forever." "I already want to come back to Japan." "I'd love to make friends I'll have for life."

That's what this is for.

What "year four" means

This year, I stopped asking what Colive Fukuoka could be and started building what it should be.

Year four goes deeper. That means fewer generic sessions and more experiences only Japan can offer, mornings that begin inside a hundred-year-old building and end somewhere you'd never have found alone; the kind of access you simply can't book as a tourist.

It also means the doors open wider. For the first time, Colive Fukuoka isn't only for digital nomads. It's for global talents, the founders, builders and creatives who have been waiting for a real reason to be in Japan, not just to visit it.

Because that's the whole idea: go beyond tourism in Japan, and invest in your growth. Come to Fukuoka, a city quietly becoming one of Asia's fastest-growing startup hubs — not to pass through Japan, but to build, connect and grow inside it. This October, we run alongside the global startup conference RAMEN TECH, so the timing is deliberate.

If you've been waiting for a reason

Last year, our film was called "A Reason to Be." This year, I want it to become a reason to come.

If any part of you has been waiting for the moment to finally live in Japan even for one season, this is it.

And here's the practical part I don't want you to miss: Early Bird tickets are 30% off, but only until July 15. After that, the price rises and the window closes.

→ Claim your Early Bird ticket — 30% off until July 15

I'd love to welcome you to Fukuoka this October and to finally meet you in person.

Akina,
Co-founder, Colive Fukuoka