Soka University’s Yoshinori Yasuda Seminar of the Faculty of Economics won the Idea Award (equivalent to third place) in the 2019 “Student Business Plan Contest” sponsored by the Student Support Center (a general incorporated association). The award conferral ceremony took place on February 5 (Tuesday) at the National Olympic Memorial Youth Center, where team leader Ms. Akari Katada (junior, Faculty of Business Administration) and others attended.

The aim of this contest is to be able to foster every student, enrolled at college and filled with creativity and motivation, in such a way so that they can think for themselves and take action.
The “Selection Committee for Subsidies to Foster Students’ Creativity” serves as a judging panel so as to examine documents on (1) purpose and outline, (2) freshness and uniqueness of ideas, (3) feasibility, (4) marketability (growth), (5) marketing, and (6) sociability. This year, 94 teams entered from 39 universities.

Team Owl applied with a business plan titled, “Experience-type Game Event for ADHD Students: What’s your color? – Discovering Your Own Strengths.”
The team focused on the many cases in which those who have developmental disorders leave their jobs or experience secondary disorders. As the team proceeded in their studies, they learned the importance of learning about ways to deal with situations that match one’s unique characteristics before employment, and they devised an experience-type game event through which pre-employment ADHD students can learn about ways to deal with situations that matches their characteristics. They held the event several times and proposed a plan that included the results of these tests.
Ms. Akari Katada, the team leader, shared: “I think we were able to receive the award thanks to many people, including Professor Yasuda and the seniors in our seminar. We faced various obstacles, but we unitedly and sincerely worked together until the very end so as to come up with a business plan. I will be studying in Denmark from now, but I hope to absorb a lot and gain the ability to contribute to society.”
Members of Team Owl
Ms. Akari Katada, Mr. Shunsuke Tanaka, Mr. Shuya Arai, Ms. Remi Yasui, Ms. Yuka Deai, Mr. Keito Matsubara, Ms. Sakura Kobayakawa