2017

Japanese whisky is currently undergoing a boom in popularity around the world, with numerous buyers willing to pay high prices when prime examples come up for auction. In 2008, Ichiro Akuto founded a small distillery in Chichibu, Saitama Prefecture, and the drinks produced there in limited quantities owe their distinctive flavor to the local environment, as well as to Akuto's own experimentation with techniques and materials. We follow an innovator who is taking Japanese whisky global.

Taro Nakamura develops robots based on imaginative imitation of living organisms. His expertise is in great demand from numerous firms and government funded research programs thirsty for innovation, and he currently has over 20 individual projects in progress. We focus on his development of an earthworm robot, the first of its kind, designed to traverse the narrow, twisting tunnels of Japan's aging water infrastructure, and other projects including robots with man-made muscle fibers.

Despite their superior workmanship, recent years have seen Japan's apparel factories losing work to lower-cost ones abroad. Entrepreneur Toshio Yamada has teamed up with those factories to create a new, Japan-based clothing brand. Yamada's innovations include selling directly to consumers online and funneling profits back into factories, allowing them to experiment with new techniques. Yamada's goal is to push Japanese factories to the forefront and create a clothing brand recognized worldwide.

With high labor costs and little space, Tokyo's local factories are at a disadvantage compared to those abroad. But one metalworking factory in Tokyo has attracted attention from as far away as MIT. Keiichi Hamano has transformed his long-standing factory into a space where startups can develop new, world-class ideas. Innovations that have emerged from this space include a typhoon-resistant wind turbine, a wheelchair that can navigate difficult terrain, and a solar panel-cleaning robot.

LED grow lights for use in agriculture are currently in the spotlight. Not only do they enable vegetables to be reliably grown all year round, for crops produced in a sterile environment they allow the elimination of agricultural chemicals. And fine adjustment of this lighting even enables regulation of a crop's nutritional content. We follow developer Seiichi Okazaki, a man hoping to harness the cutting edge of veg for a future food revolution.

Paper: even in our digital age, demand for this material continues, and at great environmental cost. But one man is gaining attention for using Japanese technology to create a new kind of paper from... stone. The man who made this limestone-based paper possible is Nobuyoshi Yamasaki. Yamasaki, whose goal was to create "a business that helps society", has been hailed as a revolutionary. Why did Yamasaki spend 6 years chasing this epoch-making goal? Join us and find out.

In 2013, from earthquake-hit northeastern Japan, Hiroyuki Takahashi launched a new kind of food magazine. Packaged together with local ingredients, the publication offers insights into producers' philosophies alongside the chance to try their wares, while you can also order produce via a dedicated social network and app. The model proved a hit and has since spread across Japan, spawning over 30 similar magazines linking other provincial areas to consumers in the major cities.

For social businesses, the need to address social issues while also making a profit means that many young social entrepreneurs falter at the first hurdle. To prevent such good intentions going to waste, Kazunari Taguchi runs a firm that offers investment and expertise that help set such projects on the path to success. We follow a social business incubator that has already helped launch 9 social businesses with a combined annual turnover of around 3 billion yen.

Yasukane Matsumoto is the founder of a web-based printing service that has seen revenues increase 50-fold over in just 4 years. Using a network of small printing firms, the service matches each job request to the ideal printing press, boosting efficiency for customer and printer alike by using factory downtime to produce limited runs. Also offering distribution through haulage firms, Matsumoto's company uses IT to empower small, long-established businesses as part of the sharing economy.

While still a student, Shunji Sugaya started an IT company focused on artificial intelligence and robots for use on the farms of the future. Agriculture in Japan faces serious challenges like an aging population and shrinking workforce. Sugaya imagines robots and drones that reduce labor demands and farms that are run using big data. Today we look at Sugaya and the young engineers at his company in their efforts to shape the future of agriculture and fishing with cutting-edge technology.

There are about 30,000 food-producing companies in Japan. The top 1% are industry giants. The other 99% are small businesses that struggle to compete with the majors on price and get their products sold. Kenta Kurokawa is the founder and CEO of a company that searches regional Japan for the hidden gems of the food industry, and helps them find markets for their great offerings. Several companies he's worked with have created hit products that brought them back from the brink of bankruptcy.

Entrepreneur Yasuyuki Toki and his team won the 2017 Startup World Cup for their revolutionary IoT-based service which tracks and records the physical and mental well-being of children in nursery schools, connecting caregivers and parents. The service, which frees up child-care professionals to spend less time on paperwork and more on providing quality care, also helps prevent sudden infant death syndrome and other issues. Discover the secrets behind Toki's digital child care revolution.

In a small, unassuming factory in Kyoto, one firm is helping save lives. That firm is run by Masatoshi Takeda, who invented a method to build hyper-accurate replicas of the organs of patients, from those with heart defects to liver cancer, who require difficult surgical procedures. Doctors use the replicas to perform simulated surgeries, increasing the chance of success in the operating room. Created hand-in-hand with doctors, Takeda's technology is changing the face of surgery as we know it.

An educational app that's popular with young users. In addition to allowing users to track study hours and study resources, the app also has rich SNS functionality for fostering communication between students. In Japan it's so popular that one in three high school students uses it. The app was developed by Takashi Hirose. His goal? Nothing less than changing the way students study and the educational system in Japan.

Japan is dotted with buildings and houses with centuries of history, but maintaining them can be economically challenging, and many are in danger of being lost. Enter Jun Tarikino, an entrepreneur who rents these structures and gives them new life as wedding halls, restaurants and more. We'll take a look at Tarikino's current project and see how this entrepreneur is using his business talents to preserve these structures' history and culture and pass them on to the next generation.

At some of Japan's most exclusive department stores, colorful African-print bags are gaining a following. The appeal lies in their 4-way versatility: each piece, made from colorful batik fabric, can be used as either a handbag, clutch bag, shoulder bag or tote. Made in Uganda, they are the brainchild of Chizu Nakamoto, who runs a company offering employment to the country's struggling single mothers. Follow Nakamoto's team as they develop new items and expand their business operations.

Around the world, demand for sustainable wind energy is growing. But for traditional wind turbines, strong winds can result in temporary shutdowns, and sometimes even severe damage. Atsushi Shimizu's quest to achieve a global first by creating a functional turbine free from propellers takes him to Okinawa Prefecture and the Philippines, but can he successfully scale up his prototype, and will his groundbreaking idea catch on? We follow the latest advances in wind power generation.

Universal design aims to create an environment accessible to all, regardless of age, or linguistic or physical limitations. As Tokyo prepares for the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics, one venture firm working to make Japan a world leader in this area is led by Toshiya Kakiuchi. Wheelchair-bound since childhood due to brittle bone disease, this young entrepreneur provides consulting on facilities and services for the disabled, aiming to change preconceptions and facilitate true hospitality.

Though Japan is a country with a rapidly aging population and millions of vacant properties, senior citizens often struggle to find rented accommodation due to owners' concerns about the risks of elderly tenants dying alone and unnoticed. To address these issues, Ryo Yamamoto founded a unique estate agent catering solely to the over 65s, also working to allay proprietors' fears through outreach initiatives and even a collaboration with a major electronics developer.

The goal: to develop the world's best sports prosthetic leg and win gold at the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo. Taking on this challenge is MIT graduate Ken Endo, selected in 2013 among Technology Review's top 35 Innovators under 35. Working alongside top Paralympians to develop prosthetics, Endo also established Tokyo's Blade Library, a facility where amputees can try out high-end prosthetics for themselves. Follow a man working to change established notions of disability.