Mentors / Advisors

Shingo Yoshizumi

KAMAN, Inc. (Representative Director)

After obtaining a Master’s degree in Science and Engineering from Keio University, he joined Sony Corporation in 2005, where he conceptualized and commercialized a fully automatic camera robot. He has applied for approximately 30 patents, obtained an MBA from IE Business School in Spain, and participated in auditions and the launch of new business creation programs. As a producer for the Sony Startup Acceleration Program, he helped more than 100 teams of large companies, ventures, universities, and NPOs launch their new businesses before going out on his own. In 2020, he founded KAMAN, Inc. in Kamakura with the concept of “creating and spreading local charm.” He is developing “Megloo” a sharing service for reusable takeout containers.

Kiyokazu Nasu

Circle Design (Representative Director)

After graduating from an American university and working for two companies, he founded Circle Design in 2020, which provides co-creation, consulting, research, and training services specializing in the Circular Economy. His fieldwork in Ecuador in 2004 on community conflict led to his interest in how “people” and “nature” can prosper together, which later led him to pursue and promote the Circular Economy. He is also the editor-in-chief of the Circular Economy Hub (Harch Inc.), a board member of the Japan Sustainable Salon Association, a mentor for the Business Accelerator Kanagawa (BAKbak), and an advisor for the Circular City Project in Gamagori City, Aichi Prefecture. He also serves as an advisor for the Circular City Project of Gamagori City, Aichi Prefecture.

Shogo Minemura

ZOUKEI-KOUSOU (Representative Director)

Service designer and president of ZOUKEI-KOUSOU. After serving as creative director at FABRIC TOKYO and director and CDO at Zukuri Soken, he became independent. He specializes in designs that capture the relationships between actors in complex systems, such as his work on circular diagrams that visualize the ecosystem of the apparel industry. He holds a master’s degree from Musashino Art University and is a specially-appointed researcher at Musashino Art University.

Hiroki Omura

Recotech (Executive Officer)

After working in marketing at Nike Japan, he joined RECOTECH, a Climate Tech startup, as the third employee. Developing the business of “POOL” which builds resource circulation to accelerate the social implementation of the circular economy. He is also active as a professional coach as an individual. Lives and works in Yamanashi Prefecture.

Yuji Enomoto

Shinto Tsushin Co.,Ltd. (Executive Officer and General Manager, Social Business Division)

Established CIRCULAR DESIGN STUDIO. a consulting firm specializing in CE, and promoted local CE projects such as GREEN WORK HAKUBA. MBA/Small and Medium Enterprise Management Consultant.

Hirokazu Kitahara

Archetype Ventures Partner

At the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC), he was involved in the planning and implementation of regional revitalization measures and the planning of MIC’s overall budget and policy direction. He joined Archetype Ventures, where he focused on investments in sustainability areas such as the circular economy and Climate Tech. He is currently an outside director of fileforce.

Sachiyo Kojima

RINNE Inc. (Representative)

She has been engaged in organization building and human resource development in the creative industry for 16 years and has started three companies. After working as an HR advisor for Mistletoe, which invests in and nurtures startup companies and supports their growth, and for DEEPCORE, a venture capital firm specializing in AI, she founded RINNE, which focuses on upcycling, with the idea that the environment and society can be improved by thinking about how to make fun use of things that are no longer needed with ideas and imagination. Also operates Rinne.bar. Second Class Intellectual Property Management Technician, National Qualification Career Consultant.

Rina Sakai

FERMENSTATION Co., Ltd. (Representative Director)

Born in Tokyo and graduated from ICU. Engaged in M&A and corporate planning at domestic and foreign financial institutions and venture companies. Entered the Department of Brewing Science, Faculty of Applied Biological Science, Tokyo University of Agriculture to study fermentation technology, and graduated in March 2009. In the same year, she established FERMENSTATION Co., Ltd., a technology startup that aims to realize a circular economy by utilizing its proprietary fermentation technology to turn unused resources into functional materials and products. Obtained B Corp certification by striving to create a business that is both profitable and socially responsible. Selected by METI as a J Startup and J Startup Impact.

Yu Kato

Harch Inc. (CEO)

Founded Harch Inc. in 2015. He manages digital media in the sustainability field, including “IDEAS FOR GOOD,” a global magazine of ideas to improve society, “Circular Economy Hub,” a media outlet specializing in circular economy, and “Circular Yokohama,” a circular economy platform in Yokohama, as well as promotes sustainability and circular economy in collaboration with corporations, local governments, and educational institutions. The company obtained B Corp certification in April 2023. He completed the Sustainable marketing, media and creative course at the Institute for Sustainability Leadership, University of Cambridge, UK. Certified Sustainability (CSR) Practitioner, CMI, UK. He holds a Bachelor of Education degree from the University of Tokyo.

Kuniko Sekine

Tokyo Circular Economy Promotion Center (Advisor) / COME FULL CIRCLE (Representative Director)

After graduating from Waseda University, she worked for automotive companies in Japan, the U.S., and Europe before joining Starbucks, where she was in charge of the environment for about 12 years, promoting the 3Rs, including coffee bean dregs recycling, ethical procurement, and environmental education. After working for a bio-venture (microalgae) and an IT venture that tackled the marine plastic problem, she became independent in 2020 and has been involved in supporting SDGs and environmental initiatives of companies and local governments, forest conservation, and the spread of domestic timber. In particular, she focuses on the promotion of regional resource recycling through public-private partnerships, and has served as an advisor to the Tokyo Circular Economy Promotion Center, an advisor to the Saitama Prefecture Platform for Promoting Sustainable Use of Plastic Resources, a secretariat for the Kobe Plastic Next Refill Pack Recycling Project, and numerous other environmental awareness projects sponsored by local governments. Received the Award for Contribution to a Recycling-Oriented Society (Business Category) at the 4th Environmental Counselor’s Environmental Conservation Activity Awards. COME FULL CIRCLE was founded in February 2023 to put the Circular Economy into practice. Appointed as a part-time lecturer at Hitotsubashi University (subject: Environmental Science) in April 2023.

Masayuki Terai

Garbage School (Representative) / HAMADA CO.,LTD. (Circular Economy Advisor)

Born in Kameoka City in 1990. After graduating from the Faculty of Environmental and Human Sciences at the University of Hyogo in 2013, he joined Hamada Corporation, where he established the Circular Economy Co-Creation Promotion Office and has been working with many partners, including local governments and companies, to demonstrate how the circular economy can be realized by utilizing the strengths that only an industrial waste treatment company can offer. After that, he launched “Garbage School Inc.” to provide a place where everyone, including businessmen, housewives, and even children, can learn about garbage correctly, and gave lectures on garbage to a total of 4,000 people in two years. He also runs the facebook group “Garbage School” with a community of over 2,500 members. Even now, in collaboration with several companies and local governments, he is taking on the daily challenge of creating a new recycling-oriented society and services.

Kazoo Sato

TBWA\HAKUHODO (Chief Creative Sustainability Officer)

Born in 1973. After working for a major record company and a major foreign advertising agency, he joined TBWA HAKUHODO in 2009. As one of the industry’s leading creative directors, he has produced numerous masterpieces not only in advertising, but also in product design, architecture, music videos, and stage production. He has won over hundreds of national and international creative awards, including Cannes, and has served as a judge member and president of international creative awards judges, including Cannes Lions, in multidisciplinary categories such as film, design, and digital. He was awarded Creator of the Year Medalist in 2012, Campaign Asia Creator of the Year in 2013, and PEN Magazine Creator of the Year in 2019. M.S. in Global Environmental Studies, Research Fellow, Future Society Co-Creation Innovation Laboratory, Graduate School of SDM, Keio University.

Akira Sakano

Zero Waste Japan (President) / Green innovation (Director and Co-Chairman) / ECOMMIT Co., Ltd.

Born in Nishinomiya City, Hyogo Prefecture, she is a bird lover. She became interested in environmental issues after seeing the endangered “kakapo,” the world’s largest parrot. After majoring in environmental policy at university, she worked for an NGO in Mongolia and a logistics company in the Philippines before joining the Zero Waste Academy, a non-profit organization in charge of waste policy in Kamikatsu-cho, Tokushima Prefecture, which became the first town in Japan to declare a zero-waste policy. As president of the board of directors, she contributes to the promotion of local waste reduction efforts and the spread of zero-waste in Japan and abroad. She co-chaired the 2019 World Economic Forum Annual Meeting (commonly known as the Davos Meeting) with the CEO of Microsoft Corporation and others. From 2020, she has worked on the formation of a model for a recycling-oriented society at Zero Waste Japan, a general incorporated association. In 2021, she co-founded Green Innovator Academy, a human resource development program to create social change toward decarbonization. In January 2023, she was appointed as Director and Chief Sustainability Officer of ECOMMIT Corporation, a “recycling trading company” that is responsible for the infrastructure of resource recycling. She holds a Master’s degree in Global Environmental Studies from Kyoto University. She was named Nikkei Woman of the Year 2022 and Beyond Millennials 2024.

Nozomi Oka

B Corp Certification Support Consultant

Provides companion support to Japanese companies to help them obtain B Corp certification. With a wide range of experience and knowledge from foreign investment banks, domestic manufacturers, government financial institutions, and start-ups, she has been engaged in promoting B Corp certification for companies of various industries and sizes in Japan, as well as providing information, lectures, community management, and training B Corp consultants to promote awareness.

Ryoichi Arai

Circular Economy.TOKYO Co., Ltd (Representative Director)

While operating businesses such as recycled paper recycling and industrial waste disposal, he felt the challenge of the large amount of waste being disposed of daily and founded the media business. In the “Kankyo to Hito” (Environment and People) media, a circular thinking media, he uses his knowledge of the waste industry to provide a unique perspective on the circular economy. Started CE education and training courses for companies in 2024.

Hiroshi Uyama

Professor at Osaka University

After graduating from the Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University, he worked in the private sector before becoming an assistant at the School of Engineering, Tohoku University, and then an assistant and associate professor at Kyoto University before assuming his current position. For more than 30 years, he has been engaged in the development of polymers and plastics using natural resources. In 2008, he won the Grand Prize at the 8th Bio-Business Competition Japan, and in 2011, through an industry-academia collaboration with Mizutani Paint Corporation, he commercialized “Biomass-R” roofing paint. Since then, he has been involved in the development of bioplastics and eco-materials on his own, as well as in industry-academia collaboration and venture support for the development and social implementation of these products. Recently, he has also started research and development of recycling and resource circulation of plastics and fibers.

Koji Kimita

Special associate professor at the Department of Technology Management for Innovation in the Graduate School of Engineering, University of Tokyo

Graduated from the Graduate School of System Design, Tokyo Metropolitan University in 2011. After working as a Research Fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (PD), became Assistant Professor at the Second Faculty of Engineering, Tokyo University of Science, Assistant Professor at the Faculty of System Design, Tokyo Metropolitan University, and Project Lecturer at the Department of Technology Management Strategy, Graduate School of Engineering, the University of Tokyo. He has been in his current position since 2024. He is mainly engaged in research on Circular Economy, Servitization of Manufacturing (Product as a Service, Product-Service Systems), Service Engineering, and Design Engineering.

Sumiyuki Nakadai

NAKADAI Co. Ltd. (Representative Director)

He represents three group companies, NAKADAI Co. Ltd., which has an intermediate treatment plant with a 99% recycling rate, and MoNo factory Co.,Ltd., which provides consulting services for recycling corporate and municipal waste and reducing CO2 emissions, and is developing a resource recycling business. In 2023, he established Circular Park Kyushu Electric Power Company, incorporated as a joint venture with Circular Park Kyushu Co.,Ltd. He is the author of several books, including “Designing a Way to Throw Away: Circulation Business” (SEIBUNDO SHINKOSHA).

Kouzou Eguchi

KAMAKURA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT CO., LTD. / Sohatsu Tsubomi Fund operation director

Influenced by his parents, who are environmental activists, he became involved in the Sanbanse landfill issue in Tokyo Bay and bird conservation from an early age, and developed an interest in ecosystems and cycles. After entering the workforce, he experienced multiple entrepreneurial ventures and startup management, and led three companies to IPOs. In 2020, he joined KAMAKURA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT CO., LTD. and launched a budding fund to promote social transitions. He is also an outside director of Herald Bonnie, which produces artists with intellectual disabilities. He is currently working on the issue of the construction of the Ishiki Dam in Nagasaki Prefecture, and is closely watching to see if the government can cancel the construction plan that was planned 50 years ago.

Ikuho Kochi

Associate professor at the Transdisciplinary Laboratory of the Institute of Transdisciplinary Sciences for Innovation, Kanazawa University

She holds a master’s degree in environmental studies from Duke University and a Ph.D. in economics from Georgia State University, specializing in environmental economics, educational technology, and cognitive science. She is engaged in research on value, awareness, and behavior change for the construction of sustainable social systems. She is a leader of COI-NEXT “Center for Co-Creation of Resource Recycling Society by Renewable Polysaccharide Plant-Derived Plastics” Research and Development Project 5.

宮川 英樹

サーキュラーエコノミー事業開発本部 マネージャー
長崎大学 工学研究科 非常勤講師

株式会社サニックス環境事業部にて新規事業経営企画を経験。株式会社レノバでは、環境コンサルティング事業部
にて家電、廃プラスチック、自動車などのリサイクル関連コンサルティングに携わる。
現在は、サーキュラエコノミー事業開発に従事している。

Hiroya Tanaka

Professor at the SFC Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, Keio University / Director of the Digital Manufacturing and Design Research Center for Emergent Circularity

Graduated from the Faculty of Integrated Human Studies at Kyoto University, the Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies at the same university, and the Department of Social Infrastructure Engineering at the Graduate School of Engineering at the University of Tokyo, with a doctoral degree in engineering. He became a full-time lecturer at the School of Environment and Information Studies (SFC), Keio University in 2005, an associate professor in 2008, and a professor in 2016. In 2010, he became a visiting researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Department of Architecture, and as a major national research project. He is the assistant research leader of the MEXT COI (2013-2021) “A Fab Global Society that Directly Links Sensitivity and Digital Manufacturing to Expand Sei-katsu-sha Creativity,” and the project leader of the MEXT COI-NEXT (2023-). He is also a project leader of the MEXT COI-NEXT (2023-) “Center for Co-creation of ‘Symbiotic Upcycling Society’ Connected by Respect.” He has received numerous awards, including the NISTEP Naive Researcher Award from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, the Unexplored Software Genius Programmer/Super Creator Award, and the Japan Good Design Award. He is also involved in policy advocacy as a member of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry’s “New Manufacturing Study Group” and a member of the “New Manufacturing Network Construction Support Project.” For the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, he served as the design supervisor for the world’s first podium production using recycled 3D printing.

Yasuhiro Kobayashi

Ecosystemic Catalyst / Regenerative Facilitator / Ecological Memes (Representative Director and Founder)

Co-president/founder of Ecological Memes, a co-hybrid organization that reexamines the relationship between humans and nature, and explores and practices for a future (regeneration) in which humans thrive together with other life forms and the global environment. After traveling to 28 countries around the world, including India and Kenya, he engaged in supporting entrepreneurs who set up social enterprises. After that, he supported business creation and organizational transformation in a wide range of industries, starting from an individual’s sense of living, before becoming independent. Currently, he works as a freelance catalyst and co-creation facilitator, mainly supporting and mediating vision and mission creation, business concept development, and leadership development for the realization of a recycling and regenerative society.

His curiosity has led him to become a certified guide interpreter and a certified herbalist in Chinese medicine and medicinal herbs. He presides over the “Nukadoko Co-fermentation Community” where people live together with bacteria. Queen’s Meadow Studios with Horses and People Planning Director. Co-Creation Partner, BIOTOPE co. ltd. Advisor, IDEAS FOR GOOD Business Design Lab. Representative Director of EcologicalMemes. He is also involved in leadership programs and translation activities to bring “Regenerative Leadership” to Japan and to deepen its practice.

Satoshi Nakamura

Archetype Ventures (Senior Associate)

He worked in the investment banking division of Nomura Securities Co., Ltd. where he was involved in domestic and international M&A advisory services mainly in the automobile, automotive parts, semiconductor manufacturing equipment, and electronic parts industries, as well as equity and bond issuance services mainly in the logistics and pharmaceutical industries. His major projects include the rescue capital procurement for Japan Display Inc. and the business integration of ALPS ELECTRIC CO. He later joined Archetype Ventures. Graduated from the University of Tokyo, Department of Economics, and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Shinsuke Konaka

Senior Manager, Sustainability Promotion Department, Management Planning Department, Technology-Based Finance Team, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank

Joined a comprehensive electronics manufacturer, responsible for material development for consumer electronics and new business development for Southeast Asia. Joined Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank in 2022 and belonged to the Technology-Based Finance Team, a group of technical experts. Engaged in the formation and promotion of projects in collaboration with companies, local governments, and universities for the transition of Japan’s industry to a circular economy, as well as finance operations utilizing expertise in technology.

Mariko McTier

Social Innovation Japan (Co-Founder & Co-CEO) /
mymizu (Co-Founder) / Nature Positive Co., Ltd. (Representative Director and President)

In 2017, McTier founded the General Incorporated Association Social Innovation Japan to increase the number of people and businesses addressing social and environmental issues, implementing training programs for this purpose, and working on social design to achieve a circular economy. As an example, she launched Japan’s first free water supply app, “mymizu,” and collaborates with numerous well-known brands and local governments to promote the circular economy. She serves as a council member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Japan and has received numerous awards both domestically and internationally, including the “BEYOND MILLENNIALS Award” from Business Insider Japan and the “Environment Minister’s Award.”

Takako Oyama

fog Co., Ltd. (Representative Director)

After graduating from Suffolk University in the United States, Oyama worked for a newspaper in New York. Following experience in overseas strategy and editing/writing in EdTech, she returned to Japan in 2014. Feeling the necessity of addressing food safety and environmental issues in Japan, she implemented various projects related to food waste at the 100BANCH residency project. After being involved in workshop development, she founded the circular design firm Fog Co., Ltd. in 2019. In 2021, she launched ELAB, an experimental base in Taito Ward, Tokyo, to normalize a circular society in daily life. Since June 2022, Oyama has been a visiting researcher at the Social Creative Research Institute at Musashino Art University. In 2023, she received the 2nd Figaro Japan “Business with Attitude” Award.

Asako Saito (Yano)

BLOOM Co., Ltd. (Representative Director)

After working at Mercedes-Benz, BCG, and Louis Vuitton, Saito became an independent entrepreneur. In 2015, she became an external director at Yaoko and currently holds multiple positions, including at Mitsubishi Pencil. She serves as the chairperson of the Sustainability Committee and advisor, contributing to the ESG response of listed companies. She supports the promotion of “sustainability as a strategy” through seminars and events as a “circular economist.” She has obtained certificates from the Oxford “Leading Sustainable Corporations Programme,” Cambridge “Circular Economy and Sustainability Strategies,” and MIT Life Cycle Assessment: Quantifying Environmental Impacts.

Yoshiharu Hamada

Professor at Tama Art University, Product Design Laboratory

After working as an in-house designer in sports product development and branding, Hamada founded Studio Galleryworks. Since 2018, he has been a professor in the Product Design Department at Tama Art University. Hamada has served as a judge for the Japan Design Promotion Association’s Good Design Award. From 2021, he has been an area advisor for the Japan Science and Technology Agency’s ACT-X program. Currently, he is leading the “Stell Design” project aimed at building a circular society.

Takeshi Fukushima

Attorney at Kollect Partners Law Firm

With a mission to “create a better society,” Fukushima supports companies that aim to achieve this goal through their business activities from a legal perspective (English and Japanese support available). Drawing on his experience seconded to a foreign securities company, he places emphasis on supporting businesses through understanding their operations and coordinating with the business side. Originally from Fukuoka Prefecture, he graduated from the International Liberal Studies Department of Waseda University.

Masaumi Morizumi

Regional Capitalism Division, KAYAC Inc.

As the Chief Officer of Smiles Business at KAYAC Inc., Morizumi launched the recycling shop “PASS THE BATON” and led its business development. He has planned and sold numerous upcycled products in collaboration with brands such as mina perhonen, DEAN&DELUCA, and Patagonia. Furthermore, he has organized numerous exhibitions and events embodying Circular Economy with brands like HERMES and Coca-Cola. After transferring to Accenture Inc. and contributing to corporate strategy planning, he joined KAYAC Inc.’s Regional Capitalism Division in 2024. He is involved in community-building based on regional capital.

Junki Seino

Attorney at Kollect Partners Law Firm

Graduated from the Faculty of Law at Chuo University in 2012 and completed postgraduate studies in legal affairs at Keio University in 2015. Registered as an attorney in 2020. Joined Kollect Partners Law Firm in 2022. Assistant Professor at Keio University’s Graduate School of Legal Affairs. Specializes in corporate law, including contract review, legal research, intellectual property, and organizational restructuring, as well as civil litigation.

Daijirō Mizuno

Professor at Future Design and Engineering Organization, Kyoto Institute of Technology

Born in Tokyo in 1979, Mizuno completed his doctoral program in fashion design at the Royal College of Art in 2008, earning a Doctor of Arts (Fashion Design) degree. He joined the Faculty of Environment and Information Studies at Keio University in 2012 and became an associate professor in the same department in 2015. He is involved in planning and operating various projects that critically examine the relationship between design and society. He began co-editing the fashion criticism magazine “vanitas” with Hiroshi Ashida and has authored/co-authored numerous books, including “x-DESIGN,” “What is Possible with Fab,” “Inclusive Design,” “Real Anonymous Design,” “Fashion Design for Living,” “What is Critical Design,” and “Circular Design.” He has been a visiting professor at the KYOTO design lab at Kyoto Institute of Technology since 2019, and a professor at the Future Design and Engineering Organization at Kyoto Institute of Technology since 2022, as well as a special invited professor at the Graduate School of Policy and Media at Keio University (concurrently).

Misaki Tanaka

Social Designer / SOLIT (Founder) / morning after cutting my hair, Inc. (Founder)

Tanaka founded the planning and PR company, morning after cutting my hair, Inc., specializing in solving social issues. In 2020, she established SOLIT, which utilizes Eastern philosophy-based inclusive design to provide support for the development of various services and products. As its first project, she operates a fashion service, aiming to achieve both sustainability and diversity & inclusion. She has won the iF DESIGN AWARD 2022 GOLD and emerged victorious in a competition at the Global Fashion Summit.

Takahiro Suzuki

Kazegumi Inc. (Representative Director) / Gassaku Inc. (Director) / Promotion Staff at Think the Earth

Born in Mito City, Ibaraki Prefecture. Supports businesses with a focus on facilitation and planning. Suzuki has been involved in the context of social design since around 2006. Based in the Kanto region, he has been engaged in building relationships and city promotion projects in local areas since 2016. He became the representative of Kazegumi Inc. in 2018 and joined Gassaku Inc. as a director in April 2021. Often creates new approaches to issues by designing participatory processes and planning for mutual benefit, and assists in the execution phase behind the scenes.

Hideki Miyakawa

Veolia Japan Co., Ltd., Circular Economy Business Development Division (Manager) / Part-time lecturer at Nagasaki University Graduate School of Engineering

Miyakawa is experienced in new business management planning at Sanix Inc. Environmental Business Division. At Renova Co., Ltd., he is involved in recycling-related consulting for appliances, waste plastics, automobiles, etc., at the Environmental Consulting Business Division. Currently engaged in circular economy business development.

Akihiro Yasui

Circular Initiatives & Partners (Representative)

Born in 1988. Based in Kyoto. Representative of Circular Initiatives & Partners. Graduated from the Master’s program in “Sustainability, Society, and the Environment” at Kiel University in Germany. In 2021, he was highly praised for promoting the practice and theory of the circular economy throughout Japan, receiving the “Cabinet Office Minister’s Encouragement Award (Grand Prize)” at the “Ten Outstanding Young Persons of Japan 2021.” In addition to working with companies and local governments, he serves as an advisor and project producer for circular economy initiatives at music events such as the “Kyoto Music Expo” and “Mori, Michi, Ichiba,” advancing the creation of resource circulation mechanisms from both public and private sectors. Living in Kyoto since 2021, he is commissioned by the city as an advisor for promoting growth strategies and serves as a part-time lecturer at Kyoto Seika University. In 2022, he founded the confectionery shop “Happo Ryoka,” which develops “Kyoto Stollen” in collaboration with welfare workshops, utilizing by-products and non-standard products from Kyoto such as plum fruits for plum wine, nama-yatsuhashi (traditional Japanese sweet), sake kasu (sake lees), okara (soy pulp), and lemon peels. The “Kurokawa Onsen Area Community Compost Project” won the “Environmental Economy Division Director’s Award” at the “Sustaina Awards 2020.” Author of “Practical Circular Economy – Exploring Business Models in the Netherlands” (Gakugei Publishing).