Interview and text: Marina Yamaba (Future Design Shibuya)
SIW2022 NOVUS FUTURE DESIGN AWARD"The club-style online community "Future Creation Department This time, we invited Ms. Riko Yoshiura, founder of the Future Creation Club, and Mr. Hidemasa Kuwae, who was in charge of consulting for the secondary prize, "Compass Share*," to appear and ask them about the Future Creation Club's ideas and current community management, along with their thoughts on the matter.
*About "Compass Share"
"Compass Share" is a service provided by Axis Consulting Co., Ltd. that helps corporations nationwide with management issues and operational concerns to utilize the knowledge and efforts of talented personnel. You can utilize the experience and knowledge of third parties for various purposes, such as bouncing management advice, creating materials, and training. People currently employed at consulting companies or with consulting work experience, including experienced strategic consultants, corporate planners, and IT consultants, are registered.
An environment where it is natural to face what you want to do
-Firstly, Mr. Yoshiura, please tell us what inspired you to apply for the NOVUS FUTURE DESIGN AWARD (hereinafter referred to as NFDA) and about your winning team, the Future Creation Club.
Yoshiura: "The Future Creation Club is an inquiry-based educational platform in which members are mainly high school students. By working on real corporate issues and taking part in activities such as business contests and networking events, we create opportunities for students to learn through experience, broadening their curiosity, realizing that starting a business or participating in social activities can be very interesting, and helping them discover concrete dreams.
The reason I decided to start this club was because I realized that I was interested in business but had not taken any action when I studied abroad in my third year of junior high school. I was surprised at how many people my age were so active in America. I wished I had had the opportunity to take the initiative and move towards my dreams sooner, and I came up with the idea of the Future Creation Club, hoping to spread an environment where it is natural for young people my age who have hidden potential in Japan to take action now and move towards what they want to do.
I discovered NFDA when I was looking for support as I had no experience in starting a business and was feeling my way around. I thought it was an opportunity to fill the experience and knowledge that I lacked as a high school student, so I applied.
I was grateful that even high school students who don't know where to start can get help as long as they have passion, ideas, and the will to work hard.
Consulting that makes use of Yoshiura's experience
-As part of the Compass Share prize, you served as a consultant to Yoshiura. What were your thoughts when you first heard the Future Creation Department's idea?
Kuwae: First of all, I thought that compared to when I was in high school, they are really good (laughs).
I also had the experience of studying abroad in Germany during graduate school, and the way of doing group work with only Japanese people there was completely different from group work with people from overseas who have different backgrounds, and overseas, if you don't take the initiative, you're not even considered to be there. In that sense, I thought at first that the concept of the Future Creation Club, which creates a place to realize things that one person cannot do alone and to exchange information, was an idea that made good use of Yoshiura's student experience in both Japan and the United States.
-Specifically, what kind of involvement and support did you provide?
Kuwae: To be frank, there is a big difference between the business planning that we as working adults do and the business planning that students do in that the goal is to create a plan, whereas the goal is to actually create a business and start making money. However, in this case, the goal is to implement the winning idea, so we provide feedback on each step and support them all the way up to modeling monetization.
Yoshiura: "I was very grateful that they were able to take my abstract idea of 'I want to do this' and turn it into concrete action.
Also, when I had trouble knowing what to do specifically because I had no experience, they would often give me various examples, saying, 'Try referring to this case example, and this case example,' and I learned that even situations and issues I have no experience with can be solved by applying case examples from various angles."
Hopes for collaboration between companies and students with diverse sensibilities
-Were there any challenges or memorable events during your activities?
Yoshiura: "Our activities up until now have mainly been aimed at students, and there have been few activities that require us to consider the perspectives of adults or companies, so figuring out how to approach companies is still a challenge. By receiving advice from Kuwae as a working adult, I have been able to discover new things and realize new things, but I also feel uncomfortable when there are things I cannot imagine. I also feel the difficulty of working without any experience in society or in a company."
Kuwae: "High school students have their own way of perceiving words and have unique sensibilities, so we have a lot to learn from them. We can learn from the way Yoshiura's generation thinks now, and how they perceive the world, so it was a relationship where we learned from each other."
Yoshiura: "The person who has helped me the most in the business world is Mr. Kuwae. Every day I receive knowledge and insight into the field I want to advance in. As with the Future Creation Department, he has helped me to take a big step forward as a person, and I am truly grateful to him every day!"
Kuwae: "Excuse me, do you have any tissues? (crying)
But I'm actually learning from them. I look after the club from an advisory standpoint, but I also learn a lot about the current students, their perspectives, how they see the world, and so on, and it's a positive thing for my business. I'm kind of giving back to them."
-That's a wonderful story. What are your plans for the future?
Yoshiura: "Right now, there is a lot of activity going on where students can learn from each other, which I find very rewarding, but ultimately I want to expand the scale of the Future Creation Club's operations and raise its profile. When a company wants to solve something with the help of students, I want them to immediately think, 'Let's ask the Future Creation Club.' I want us to become an organization that receives a steady stream of issues and actively connects the best of companies and students.
Currently, between 40 and 50 students are participating, bringing together students from a diverse range of backgrounds, including international students and junior high school investors. Anyone interested in our activities can apply to join on the Future Creation Club's website.
I will be entering a school called Minerva University in September. The university offers an education that allows students to travel the world while they learn, and I hope to bring the knowledge, discoveries, and networks I have gained at university back to the Future Creation Club to further innovate. I think that by utilizing the communities and relationships I have built while learning and connecting with various companies and organizations in various countries, the Future Creation Club can become an organization that plays a role in connecting students from Japan and around the world."
Kuwae: "From now on, it will be important for us to build up a track record of corporate projects. We are also considering setting up a "committee" as a sub-organization of the Future Creation Department. By working in the committee, we would like to see members other than the steering committee take the initiative and make the department bigger."
Awards that give you a chance
-Finally, please give a message to those who are considering applying for this award again this year!
Yoshiura: "When you hear the word 'award' it might sound serious, but I think every step of this award was very warm. The judges were not strict during question and answer sessions or when they pointed out things to us, but rather gave warm advice like 'Wouldn't it be better to do it this way?' The members of Future Design Shibuya who supported us to make this happen were similarly warm. For example, when we were supporting Compass Share, we received encouragement, support and advice, which motivated me to work harder.
When you receive the award and bring your idea to fruition, it will support you in the areas where you lack, and I think it's a perfect award for those with little experience who are willing to take on challenges, so I hope that many people will take on the challenge and grab the opportunity."
