Lucknow, Aug. 22 -- Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday declared Japan was no longer just an investor for Uttar Pradesh but a "co-creator" in building the state's future as a global manufacturing and innovation hub. "UP plus Japan means global manufacturing powerhouse," he said, addressing the valedictory session of the UP-Japan Investment Meet 2026 at Indira Gandhi Pratishthan here. Uttar Pradesh is ready to write a new chapter with Japan, one that moves "beyond cheques to co-creation," he said. "Our objective is clear: convert MoUs into production, production into global exports, and investment into employment," he said. "Industries of India's 2047 are being shaped today. Uttar Pradesh wants to build that future with Japan," he added. In a major announcement, Kotaro Nagasaki, governor of Japan's Yamanashi Prefecture, said a Rs 600-crore fund will be created to support investment by Yamanashi-based MSMEs in Uttar Pradesh. Yamanashi is one of the 47 prefectures in Japan. A prefecture is equivalent to a state in India. Calling it a strong vote of confidence, Adityanath said the partnership will now get institutional teeth. A dedicated 'Yamanashi Desk' will be set up at Invest UP to hand-hold Japanese companies, coordinate with Yamanashi's government and industries, and fast-track approvals. To plug implementation gaps, both sides will do a 90-day review of projects, land, approvals and challenges. "The Yamanashi model will later be replicated with other Japanese prefectures," Adityanath added. Describing youth as UP's biggest strength, Adityanath said, "Our goal is skills as per industry needs, and employment as per those skills." The chief minister said Japan had an exceptional legacy of industrial experience, while Uttar Pradesh had an energetic young generation ready to learn, create and lead. "Our goal is that the youth of Uttar Pradesh learn the skills, precision and work culture that are in demand from Tokyo to any advanced manufacturing hub in the world," he said. UP will expand Japanese language training for healthcare workers, manufacturing professionals, polytechnic and nursing students. Specialised training programmes will be co-designed with Japanese companies so that UP's workforce is "plug-and-play" for advanced manufacturing units. "Japanese precision meets UP's scale and young talent," the chief minister said, citing the Japanese concepts of Kaizen (continuous improvement), Monozukuri (the art, science and craft of making things) and Wa (harmony) as values UP wants to absorb. UP and Yamanashi will develop a pilot green hydrogen project in the state, the chief minister said. Centres of Excellence in green hydrogen were being established through IIT Kanpur and IIT BHU, and similar centres could be developed with Yamanashi to accelerate research and development, adoption of new technologies and innovation in clean energy, he said. A pilot project had also been agreed upon and would be implemented jointly with Yamanashi, he said, adding that Japanese and Indian companies would develop technology and business partnerships for it. A UP delegation will also attend the International Hydrogen Summit in Yamanashi in October 2026. He also pitched the state's Buddhist and spiritual heritage and the shared cultural traditions of India and Japan as a foundation for a deeper, long-term partnership with the Yamanashi Prefecture. The chief minister said UP will aggressively market its Buddhist Circuit in Japan and participate in tourism festivals there. A separate UP-Yamanashi tourism agreement was also signed to boost visitor exchange. Adityanath said Uttar Pradesh had "immense possibilities" in tourism and that Japanese tourists already had a strong presence in India. He said UP would participate in tourism festivals organised in Japan to showcase India's culture, spiritual heritage and hospitality. The chief minister said India and Japan had preserved their heritage and traditions as part of their daily lives and work cultures. Adityanath rolled out the red carpet for Japanese Global Capability Centres, especially in Noida and Greater Noida, calling it an emerging GCC ecosystem. He highlighted UP's new infrastructure - expressways, airports, multimodal logistics hubs and industrial parks - as the backbone for speed, safety and reliability. Greeting the delegation in Japanese with "Konnichiwa Minasan" (hello) and ending with "Arigato Gozaimasu" (thank you very much), the chief minister said: "By 2047, we want Japanese companies in UP to say with pride: We built our global future from Uttar Pradesh." Prominent among those present on the occasion included Yamanashi governor Kotaro Nagasaki, deputy governor Junichi Ishidera, Uttar Pradesh ministers Nand Gopal Gupta 'Nandi', Jaiveer Singh, Anil Rajbhar and Jaswant Saini, IIDC Deepak Kumar, and top Japanese CEOs....