Japan – AKQA, the design and innovation company under WPP, has expanded its partnership with ITOCHU Corporation, a major Japanese sogo shosha (general trading company), consolidating its existing Japan operations into a single, integrated AKQA-branded organisation.
The move follows five years of collaboration between the two companies, bringing together AKQA’s global creative and design capabilities with ITOCHU’s local market presence as they work on innovation and digital transformation initiatives across Japan.
According to AKQA, the expanded partnership reflects its continued investment in the Japanese market and is intended to increase the scale and breadth of services available to clients in the region. The unified organisation will operate an end-to-end model covering creativity, design, intelligent production, and emerging technologies.
As part of the consolidation, AKQA Tokyo—AKQA’s original Japan subsidiary—and AKQA uka, the joint venture formed with ITOCHU in 2022, have been combined into a single entity. The integrated operation is supported by WPP Open, WPP’s AI-driven marketing platform, and will serve both domestic companies and global brands entering the Japanese market.
Baiju Shah, global CEO at AKQA, said, “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.
Shah continued, “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.”
AKQA and ITOCHU first began working together in 2020, supporting Japanese organisations on transformation projects by combining AKQA’s global design and innovation expertise with ITOCHU’s market knowledge and corporate network.
Masato Horiuchi, executive officer and chief operating officer of the ICT Division, said, “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,” he added.
