Moon Partners With Monju Business Contest

Illuminating the value of entrepreneurship in Japan has long been one of our core drivers at Moon Creative Lab.

We realize that there is so much untapped creative potential that just needs a great place to flourish. To help foster a society of innovation and entrepreneurship, we’ve recently partnered with the Monju Business Contest, an event organized by students from top Japanese universities like Waseda University and Keio University. From February 12 to March 12, 125 students in the fields of business, art, and tech experienced various aspects of creating a business and sparked their entrepreneurial spirit.

Students were divided into four leagues that each had their own challenge, with five different teams in each league. Our challenge for the teams in the Moon league was to create new, mission-driven businesses that are built on ethical consumption. As we help build and launch new business for Mitsui & Co. and beyond, it is embedded in our purpose that good business should be good for the world, too – human-centered and focused on making life, society, and the earth better in some way.

Students in the Moon league participated in working sessions at our Spring Terrace studio in Tokyo to develop their ideas. We even had the head of our Tokyo studio, Mr. Tomoyuki Takada, teach students on how to make an effective, memorable pitch to prepare them for their upcoming pitch event, the final part of the Monju Business Contest.

The lesson was well received by the students. “It was very helpful to understand the tips for making a clear pitch. It was very persuasive,” said one student. Another added, “the lectures were very intensive in a short time, so I was able to concentrate and absorb a lot of the content.”

Throughout the contest, Moon Creative Lab helped students unlock their creativity and guided them through the many stages of entrepreneurship. They got a first-hand look into what building a business looks like from different perspectives and learned everything it takes to turn an idea into a venture, from creating and managing to prototyping and pitching an idea.

After developing their business ideas, all teams pitched their ideas to a panel of judges. After two rounds of pitch presentations, two teams from the Moon league made it to the final round but, unfortunately, were not picked as the final winner. They did, however, present their pitches to the entire Moon Creative Lab team, which were met with enthusiasm, encouragement, and positive feedback.

The Monju Business Contest was an incredible opportunity to not only help Japan’s future entrepreneurs create the next world-changing idea, but to also encourage and drive creativity and entrepreneurship in Japanese society. We at Moon Creative Lab were deeply honored to be a part of this contest and we can’t wait to see the terrific work these young entrepreneurs will do in the future.

See the press release here (in Japanese).