AKQA and ITOCHU consolidate Japan operations

AKQA and ITOCHU Corporation have expanded their partnership after five years of collaboration, consolidating their Japan operations into a single, integrated organisation operating under the AKQA brand. The move is intended to combine global creative capabilities with strong local market presence to support innovation and digital transformation across Japan.

The unified organisation brings together AKQA Tokyo and AKQA uka, the joint venture established in 2022, creating a single operating model for serving domestic Japanese brands and international companies entering the market. The expansion also signals a continued long-term commitment by AKQA to Japan, with broader scale and a wider range of services available to clients across the region.

Unifying operations to support long-term growth

The integrated structure is built around an end-to-end offering that spans creativity, design, intelligent production and emerging technologies. AKQA and ITOCHU aim to help brands move beyond incremental change by developing future-facing models for growth and brand experience that are grounded in cultural relevance.

Baiju Shah, Global CEO at AKQA: “Japan is home to some of the world’s most inspiring design, craftsmanship and ingenuity. As AI continues to reshape how organisations operate and compete, the real opportunity lies in how it is guided by imagination, craft and cultural understanding. This venture allows us to bring these elements together with precision, helping brands move beyond optimisation and towards the creation of new sources of growth. Our expanded partnership with ITOCHU brings together the full depth of AKQA’s global capabilities with an exceptional local foundation, supporting organisations in shaping what comes next with clarity and purpose.”

Blending local insight with global creative capability

From ITOCHU’s perspective, the partnership reflects changing expectations around brand experiences and the need for closer integration between creativity, technology and strategy. The combined organisation is positioned to support Japanese businesses navigating these shifts while also helping international brands localise effectively.

Masato Horiuchi, Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer ICT Division, ITOCHU Corporation: “Customers today expect experiences that seamlessly blend creativity, utility and emotion. Delivering on this requires a sophisticated integration of design, technology and strategy. This is the driving force behind the evolution of our partnership with AKQA. By merging ITOCHU’s deep market insight with AKQA’s global leadership in creativity and design, the unified AKQA is uniquely positioned to help businesses navigate this change. Together, we will empower our clients to translate ambitious ideas into the tangible, future-ready experiences that will define their brands in the Japanese market and beyond.”

Since the collaboration began in 2020, AKQA and ITOCHU have worked with Japanese organisations on transformation initiatives that combine global design and innovation expertise with local market knowledge and corporate networks. The consolidated AKQA organisation in Japan is intended to deepen this approach, supported by WPP Open, WPP’s AI platform for marketing.

www.akqa.com

www.itochu.co.jp

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