Stanford e-Entrepreneurship Japan is an online course offered to high school students in Japan. It is offered annually in spring and fall by SPICE in collaboration with the Japanese NPO e-Entrepreneurship, led by Yusuke Ed Matsuda. The instructors in 2022 were Maiko Tamagawa Bacha (spring) and Irene Bryant (fall). The goal of the course is to foster creative thinking and problem-solving skills in students with a focus on innovation to address social issues.

On August 19, 2023, the top students in the 2022 spring and fall Stanford e-Entrepreneurship Japan cohorts were honored in a virtual ceremony. 

Spring 2022 honorees: 
•    Aiko Hayashi, Higashi Katsushika High School, Kashiwa, Chiba Prefecture
•    Airi Tachino, Island School, Hong Kong

Fall 2022 honorees: 
•    Ririko Noda, Tokyo Metropolitan Kokusai High School, Tokyo
•    Yuna Otsuki, Shibuya Kyoiku Gakuen Makuhari Senior High School, Tokyo

The ceremony began with opening comments by Yusuke Ed Matsuda, who noted,

[T]his is a very rigorous course and very selective as well. Your contributions were very much appreciated and made the 2022 courses very successful. Stanford e-Entrepreneurship Japan is becoming a huge buzz here in Japan. A lot of students who are considering enrollment want to study abroad… I hope that you will continue your endeavors with the social projects that you conceptualized in this course and connect the projects with your future pursuits.

Course instructors Maiko Tamagawa Bacha and Irene Bryant shared general reflections on the 2022 courses as well as specific contributions of each of the four honorees. The honorees then made outstanding presentations that focused on “Suggesting a New Solution for the Problem of Vacant Houses in Urban Areas” (Hayashi); “Reviewing the Current Situation Concerning Organ Transplantations for Children in Japan” (Tachino); “The Emergence of ‘Silver Democracy’: Lack of Youth Political Participation in Contemporary Japan” (Noda); and “Analysis of Barriers for Japanese Female Students in STEM” (Otsuki). They also skillfully answered questions from the audience. 

Reflecting on the growth of the course since its launch in spring 2020, Bryant noted, “I am so pleased that Stanford e-Entrepreneurship Japan has become so popular in Japan. I believe that one major contributing factor to this is our roster of engaging guest speakers, such as Stanford MD/PhD candidate Richard Liang, who was in attendance during the ceremony.” And reflecting on the presentations by the four students, Bacha reflected, “Each year, I am so impressed by the caliber of the student honorees, and the 2022 honorees were certainly no exception. What I believe is special about teaching Stanford e-Entrepreneurship Japan is observing students learning to work together as a team to tackle a problem. I believe that this is a crucial aspect of problem-solving skills in general.” Bryant and Bacha both expressed their gratitude to Junna Hagiwara, Program Manager at NPO e-Entrepreneurship, for her unwavering support throughout the 2022 courses.

Stanford e-Entrepreneurship Japan is currently accepting applications for its fall 2023 course. For more details, visit the program page at https://spice.fsi.stanford.edu/fellowship/stanford-e-entrepreneurship-japan. Applications are due September 8, 2023. 

The spring 2022 Stanford e-Entrepreneurship Japan course was generously supported by the Water Dragon Foundation. The fall 2022 course was generously supported by Noriko Honda Chen and the Capital Group, Norman Chen, Andrew Ogawa, and Mako Ogawa.

For more information about SPICE’s online courses for students, visit our Student Programs page. To stay informed of SPICE news, join our email list and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.