[ASIBA Class Report] Day 3 'Creating Whirlpools' | 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 fosters “creative entrepreneurship that moves back and forth between inquiry and practice” and aims to foster social impact. On May 10, Day 3 of the program was held at the University of Tokyo’s Hongo Campus. This session focused on sharing progress within each team and receiving mentoring, allowing participants to further refine the specifics of their respective projects.

Experiencing the Reality of Startups

The session began with a lecture by Ayumi Yamamoto, CEO of e-lamp. Co., Ltd. Drawing on her own experiences as an entrepreneur since high school, she candidly shared the real challenges and stories of failure she faced in the world of startups and team building.

“There will be tough times. But anyone trying to create something is already amazing!”

Hearing this positive message, smiles naturally spread across the participants’ faces. Ms. Yamamoto is also scheduled to attend the Beyond Conference planned for the week after next. Her lecture gave us a sense of the new connections that lie ahead.

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Defining Your Own “Creative Mode”

Next, Masaki Morihara—co-founder of ASIBA and this term’s mentoring coach—led a workshop.

Startups and entrepreneurship are merely means to an end; ASIBA is an incubation program for “makers.”

The reason ASIBA’s program is structured around three months is based on the hypothesis that the momentum of a new project—the state in which it maintains enough momentum to be difficult to stop—lasts only three months. To achieve the greatest results within that timeframe, it is important to put yourself into “creative mode” rather than building things in a step-by-step, calculated manner. The challenge lies in how participants can infuse their own brand of “chaos” into the structured framework provided by ASIBA—such as assignments and lectures—and how they can guide themselves into a “mode” that exists somewhere between the two.

That’s when the question was posed: “When do you find it easiest to enter ‘Creative Mode’?” Some people get fired up right before a deadline; others come up with ideas when they’re relaxed. Some organize their thoughts as they write, while others deepen their thinking by talking with someone. The patterns vary, but it’s important to recognize the conditions that flip your personal “switch.” That will serve as a solid foundation for making the most of these three months.

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In the second half, each team held a progress-sharing session and mentoring session. This time, all four supporting mentors gathered on-site, and time was set aside to engage thoroughly with each participant individually. Over the two weeks since Day 2, some participants focused intently on conducting in-depth interviews, some teams took on the challenge of prototyping their products, and others even traveled to remote islands to conduct research. It was clear that every participant had been making progress in their own way.

Looming two weeks ahead is the “Beyond Camp,” a two-day, one-night event. It will serve as a venue for participants to convey their visions in their own words to partner companies and government officials and begin building collaborations. With the Beyond Camp in mind, the participants re-examined how to proceed with their projects and worked to solidify concrete plans for the next steps.

During progress-sharing and mentoring sessions, participants shared not only their successes but also their genuine feelings—including doubts, anxieties, and impatience. Nevertheless, the participants did not pause; instead, they continued to move forward step by step, sincerely engaging with themselves and their projects.

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In Closing

Over the past three weeks, participants have deepened their own questions and engaged with their projects through an MVP (Minimum Viable Project). What lies ahead is the phase of “gaining empathy” from society. The two-day Beyond Camp is scheduled for the week after next. How far can they progress within the limited two-week timeframe leading up to it? Today marked the day they stood at the starting line for that journey.

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.