The book Unleashing Innovation the East Asian Way. Startup Ecosystems in Japan, South Korea and China (Springer Singapore 2026) provides new perspectives on startup ecosystems in East Asia – a region which has over decades shaped innovation and global competition. Focusing on Japan, South Korea, and Mainland China, the chapters sketch the dynamic and diverse development of East Asian startup ecosystems considering their wider historical and national contexts. The authors Ying Cheng, Adam Cross, Martin Hemmert, Agata Kapturkiewicz, Masahiro Kotosaka, and DIJ director Franz Waldenberger systematically analyze and compare startup ecosystems. In this way, they show commonalities and differences across East Asia. The chapters use both secondary sources and data from the authors’ decade long collaborative work. Published open access, this book aims to make these findings, which have so far only been presented in academic journals, accessible to a wider readership.