Kunitake Seminar's Idea to Solve Bamboo Damage Makes Final Selection in National Contest

Fourth-year students from the Kunitake Seminar in Faculty of Management and Information Sciences were selected as one of five finalist teams from among 47 teams from 23 universities in the 5th Sustainable Business Contest, sponsored by Toridoll Holdings Co., Ltd. (Shibuya-ku, Tokyo), and competed in the final selection meeting on November 6th.
The aim of this contest is to give university students from all over the country the opportunity to develop a "sustainable business plan" based on the company's business activities, thereby acquiring the perspective of social business that will be required in the future. The winners will be judged based on six criteria: 1) Innovation/uniqueness, 2) Profitability, 3) Feasibility, 4) Affinity with the company's philosophy, 5) Social impact (degree of social contribution), and 6) Presentation ability.

Presentation at a business contest

The final selection was held at the headquarters of Toridoll Holdings Co., Ltd. in Shibuya Ward, and five contestants participated: Asai Kiyonori, Ohno Kaito, Nakanishi Kanato, Hoshino Yuka, and Maeda Yuo.
The team proposed a solution to the issue of "bamboo damage," a biodiversity conservation issue, by proposing udon noodles and interior decorations using bamboo charcoal. The problem of bamboo's strong reproductive and water-absorbing properties is becoming more serious throughout Chiba Prefecture, including the area around Chiba Togane Campus. The team considered and presented a plan that would utilize the company's philosophy and resources.
The students first focused on the health benefits of bamboo charcoal and investigated the possibility of combining it with udon noodles, with the aim of selling it at Marugame Seimen, a restaurant operated by the company. They conducted in-depth Research over the course of approximately two years, making their own udon noodles from flour, tasting them repeatedly, and conducting surveys on the taste and texture. They also included a wide range of ideas for using bamboo, such as proposing interior decorations and tableware using bamboo, and using it in environmental education in satoyama (satoyama forests).
After being selected as finalists, they received direct feedback from Toridoll Holdings employees and made presentations in front of management at the final selection meeting. Unfortunately, they did not win an award in the final round, but it was a very valuable experience.

The interior of a traditional Japanese cafe

Activities at the university festival

As part of this project, members of the Kunitake Seminar and the Regional Studies Collaborative Creation Project took on practical challenges, such as creating their own bamboo interior when they operated an old-style house cafe in Isumi City in September. The light fixtures, which were made by drilling holes in the bamboo and allowing soft light to shine from within, blended well with the wooden old house and were well received by visitors.
At the university festival "JIU Festival" held in November, a workshop was held to make New Year's decorations using locally harvested bamboo and straw, as well as traditional Finnish Christmas decorations called "himmeli." The seminar considered ways to utilize bamboo, including giving lectures to visitors on how to make them, and has since expanded its activities to various scenes in the community.
Furthermore, at the Study and Research Grant Project Research Results Presentation held at Chiba Togane Campus on November 29th, a presentation was given on the theme of "Practical attempts to solve local bamboo forest problems by utilizing bamboo." It was an opportunity to look back on the efforts made so far and summarize them from an academic perspective.

Presentation at the study Research results presentation

Asai Kiyonori, a fourth-year student Faculty of Management and Information Sciences who has been at the forefront of the project, spoke of his aspirations for the future, saying, "I have been involved in the Bamboo Project for the past two years. To be honest, it was a very difficult seminar, but it gave me many valuable experiences that I would not have had anywhere else. In particular, at the Toridoll Holdings business contest, the project members and I worked together through trial and error to propose our idea, and finally, being able to present in front of the CEOs of well-known companies gave me a lot of confidence. I believe this experience will help me grow in the future. What I learned in this project is something I can put to use in the government field where I plan to work after graduation. I will remember what I thought about local issues in this project and what I put into practice with my friends in the seminar, and I hope to one day be able to propose the approach of utilizing nature that I have practiced at university as a means of resolving the challenges facing local governments."