[Class Report] ASIBA Third Term Begins! Day 1 'Overlooking the Continent' | ASIBA

I’m Kagami, an ASIBA Student Supporter! As a member of the organizing team, I’ll be sharing updates on the program and highlights from our third cohort.

The ASIBA Creative Incubation Program, now in its third cohort, is designed for individuals under 30 working in creative fields. It aims to foster “creative entrepreneurship that moves back and forth between inquiry and practice” and to promote social impact. After a rigorous selection process from a large pool of applicants, 13 teams with diverse backgrounds in architecture, art, design, and other fields were selected.To mark the program’s historic first event, Day 1—the kickoff event—was held on April 19 at the Hori Building (goodoffice Shimbashi).

ASIBA Cohort 3 Begins!

The program began with passionate self-introductions from each participant. Seated in a circle, they took turns introducing their activities and backgrounds within the short time limit of one minute per person. Projects ranged from initiatives aiming to forge new connections between communities and people through competitions, to the development of stickers that let you summon memories using your smartphone, and even a team attempting to make weeds float in the sky.Although the themes were diverse, 13 projects with a certain shared vibe came together. Everyone was incredibly curious about each other’s work, and the participants listened intently to one another’s stories. Holding “Fetish Cards”—on which they wrote points of interest or empathy toward their fellow participants—the group began their first interactions.

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The Program’s Core Values

Next, a lecture was given by ASIBA’s Representative Director, Nihei. “In three months, you’ll have reached a place you can’t even imagine right now.” He conveyed the core values the program pursues and his thoughts on the participants, renewing everyone’s resolve alongside the peers they’ll be racing through this journey with.

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Workshop: “The ASIBA Continent”

The main workshop, titled “ASIBA Continent,” was designed to help participants deepen their mutual understanding based on pre-assigned tasks. This time, participants were given two pre-assigned tasks.

Life Graph: A exercise in which participants visualized their lives—from birth to the present and into the future—as a graph, delving deeper into the origins of their projects and their aspirations for the future
My Compass: An exercise in which participants analyzed the people and organizations surrounding themselves and the project to recognize the distance between themselves and society

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In the “ASIBA Continent” workshop, participants formed teams and shared their work with one another. While differences in the specificity of their projects and their backgrounds became apparent, taking a bird’s-eye view revealed overlapping themes and shared values—much like islands forming an archipelago.

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Find Your Own Island and Cross the Continent

Through the pre-workshop assignment, participants reexamined their own position relative to the “continent” of society. “ASIBA Continent” became an opportunity to understand their place within ASIBA through interaction with other participants.

“I was a little nervous, but seeing other participants openly express what they ‘like’ and ‘want to do’ made me think, ‘Maybe it’s okay for me to talk about myself too… Actually, I want to be able to talk about it!’” “It was really interesting to hear about fields I don’t usually come into contact with. It made me want to learn more about them.” The words written in the “exchange diary” after the event conveyed how each participant was beginning to define their own identity.

Introduction to Takeno Construction’s Activities

At the end of the event, representatives from ASIBA partner Takenaka Corporation—who provided the venue, the Hori Building—shared insights into cutting-edge activities in the construction sector. In addition to their innovation initiatives at COT-Lab®, we heard numerous inspiring stories, including projects in Silicon Valley and Antarctica.

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In Closing

The third incubation cycle has finally begun. Through this program, participants will expand and solidify their own “islands” while interacting with others—much like crossing a continent. I look forward to witnessing the future leaps and bounds of each and every one of them!