[ASIBA Class Report] Day 7 'Raising the Flag' | ASIBA

I’m Kagami, an ASIBA student supporter! As a member of the organizing team, I’ll be sharing updates on the program and the third cohort of participants.

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 drive social impact. On July 5, we held DAY 7 at Kameido Garage in Tokyo.The three-month ASIBA Cohort 3 program has finally reached its final session. However, this is not the true finish line. With DEMO WEEK less than two weeks away and the projects set to continue beyond this point, we conducted our final progress reports and mentoring sessions while keeping our focus on both immediate goals and long-term ideals.

Crossing Media Boundaries to Establish a Unique Worldview

To kick things off, we held a lecture by Gakki, Acting Representative of the Kinmirai Gakki Contemporary Branch. The Kinmirai Gakki Contemporary Branch is an SF company project—a branch of “The Time Traveler’s Music Store”—aiming to popularize instruments from parallel universes. While engaging in a wide range of activities—including production, performance, sales, and research—they produce “Kinmirai Gakki,” instruments from another dimension that are not bound by existing values or conventional thinking.

Gakki, who operates under the title of Acting Representative under the guidance of “C.E.O.”—a supernatural mask that transcends time and space—spoke during this lecture about how to continue expressing a unique worldview while crossing a wide range of mediums, using specific examples.

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Practical Experience Accumulated at a Rapid Pace

As in the previous session, the venue was ASIBA’s new base, Kameido Garage. Walls that had been there two weeks ago were gone, and air conditioners that hadn’t existed before were now installed. It’s a space that feels just like a secret base, transforming at an incredible pace. The third cohort is keeping up with that same speed.In preparation for DEMO WEEK, each project has been working at a high intensity to finalize their plans and move forward with validation.

For this DAY 7 session, titled “DEMO WEEK Declaration,” all projects presented their demonstration methods and goals for DEMO WEEK in a presentation format.

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They changed course and backtracked. By overcoming countless obstacles, the third-cohort members have likely reached places they never could have imagined at the start. Three months—a period that feels both short and long. The quality of their presentations clearly reflected all their daily processes and efforts.

Running Together, Thinking Together

In the second half, participants split into teams for mentoring sessions. This third incubation cohort began with the theme of “cross-disciplinary collaboration.” After completing the seven-session program, 12 projects spanning a wide range of fields—including architecture, art, and design—were finalized. While their backgrounds and goals varied, they nurtured each individual’s “creative entrepreneurship” by providing one another with new insights and inspiration.

Support mentors, program staff, and the third-cohort participants—precisely because they are colleagues who have run this journey together—engaged in a lively exchange of ideas regarding the specifics of DEMO WEEK and future project goals.

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“Just having fun and taking on challenges”

— What was on your mind as you participated today?

(Rin Inagaki, utsuRe) Over the past three months, through in-person programs and online mentoring sessions, I’ve received a lot of valuable feedback from everyone. Sometimes the comments were harsh, but I’m truly grateful because they weren’t meant to criticize—they were given because everyone took my challenges as seriously as if they were their own. For me, these past three months have been a time of deep, relentless reflection, so I came here today intending to pour all of that into my presentation.

── What is the utsRe project currently working on?

We’re developing the “Persona Camera,” where the camera takes center stage on a journey, and the “Heart’s F-Stop,” which likens the degree to which one’s heart is open to the camera’s f-stop. We actually started building the camera two weeks ago, and we’ve managed to complete the underlying mechanism. Right now, we’re working on making the camera smaller and refining the packaging design.

── How do you feel when you look back on yourself during DAY1 in April?

Looking back now, I realize that what I was thinking at the time was entirely driven by my own ego, and I wasn’t able to view things objectively. I received feedback that completely overturned the beliefs I held dear, and I felt discouraged when comparing our progress to that of other projects… There were many difficult moments, but with the help of so many people, I’ve finally been able to actually start “making things.” So now, I’m just enjoying the challenge.

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In Closing

Compared to the first and second cohorts, the third cohort’s projects have moved forward at an overwhelming pace. But precisely because the pace is so fast, there are obstacles standing in our way. As our projects “take shape,” previously unseen challenges have come to light, and the scrutiny from those around us has grown even more intense. And going forward, those obstacles will surely become even higher and more formidable. Even so, over these past three months, not a single person has stopped moving forward; everyone has continued to gain hands-on experience. This journey will surely become a solid path leading to great success. Once again, I’m looking forward to seeing the great strides the third cohort will make in the future! (Text by Rigo Kagami)

I’m Kagami, an ASIBA student supporter! As a member of the organizing team, I’ll be sharing updates on the program and the third cohort of participants.

Crossing Media Boundaries to Establish a Unique Worldview

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Practical Experience Accumulated at a Rapid Pace

For this DAY 7 session, titled “DEMO WEEK Declaration,” all projects presented their demonstration methods and goals for DEMO WEEK in a presentation format.

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