The following reflection is a guest post written by Sunny Park, a Fall 2020 alumna of Stanford e-Entrepreneurship Japan, which is currently accepting applications for Fall 2026.

A “smart” high school student is often defined by strong grades, perhaps alongside a few extracurricular activities to strengthen university applications. Before encountering Stanford e-Entrepreneurship Japan (SeEJ), that was largely how I viewed myself. 

I came across SeEJ during the COVID-19 pandemic through a Facebook advertisement. Like many students at the time, I was looking for something more engaging beyond school. I didn’t expect how much it would reshape the way I think about learning, ambition, and possibility. 

What made SeEJ distinct was its focus on people rather than definitions. Each session featured entrepreneurs from different industries, sharing not just what they built, but how they navigated uncertainty, failure, and personal ambition. Seeing such varied paths made me realize that entrepreneurship isn’t a fixed route; it’s a way of thinking. And that was probably the moment when things shifted for me. Until then, I had always thought of my future in fairly narrow terms: choose a subject, go to university, and follow a path that already exists. SeEJ made me realize that there are far more ways to build a life, and that entrepreneurship is less about starting a company and more about taking ownership of what you want to pursue. 

Since then, I’ve found myself saying yes to things I would have hesitated to try before. I’m now in my final year of studying Biology at Imperial College London, and I co-founded a biotech startup called Eidolon Therapeutics. At Eidolon, we’re pioneering microbial protein combinations to combat immunotherapy resistance and inflammation-driven toxicity in cancer. It was through my Year-in-Research program where I met my Co-Founders (i.e., my professor and post-doc supervisor), and I was so fascinated by the research they were conducting I couldn’t help but impatiently suggest building a company out of it. Since then, we’ve been working incredibly hard on making Eidolon real, including joining accelerator programs such as the Cancer Tech Accelerator, Venture Catalyst Challenge, and Conception X. Through building an early-stage startup, I’ve had the chance to meet people I once found intimidating, pitch ideas in front of large audiences, and build relationships that started from simple conversations. 

I don’t think any of that came from a single moment of confidence. If anything, it came from gradually becoming more comfortable with not knowing exactly what I’m doing… and trying it anyway. Based on my journey so far, here are a few reflections for students exploring a similar path:

1. Be intentional about the opportunities you choose.

There are so many opportunities available as a student! SeEJ, in particular, showed me the value of learning environments where you actively engage with ideas and people. There are many programs available, but depth matters more than quantity. Choose opportunities where you can contribute, ask questions, and grow. 

2. Focus on genuine connections!

One of the most valuable parts of SeEJ was the access to people with diverse experiences. What I learned is that meaningful connections come from curiosity and sincerity, not from trying to impress. When you approach people with a willingness to learn, they are often more open than you expect. 

3. Stay engaged beyond the program.

The real impact of SeEJ extended beyond the sessions themselves. Following up with people, continuing conversations, and sharing your own progress helps turn short-term interactions into long-term relationships. Small, consistent effort makes a difference!

4. Reflect as you go. 

Exploring entrepreneurship alongside academics can be exciting but also overwhelming. Taking time to reflect on what you enjoy, what challenges you, and what kind of path you want to build helps you stay grounded and intentional.

Looking back, SeEJ was a turning point not because it provided a single opportunity, but because it changed how I see opportunities altogether. It reminded me that there isn’t one path to follow, but many that you can create. 

Stanford e-Entrepreneurship Japan is currently accepting applications for Fall 2026. Apply at https://forms.gle/5gkHrhm3X4sycZGG8.

Stanford e-Entrepreneurship Japan is one of several online courses offered by SPICE.

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SPICE offers several local programs for students in Japan, including regional programs at the city and prefectural levels. Developed through collaborations between SPICE and local governments across Japan, these online programs encourage students to engage with complex global issues while deepening their understanding of U.S. society, culture, and U.S.–Japan relations through critical thinking and research.

With the 2025–2026 session now finished, each participating program has recognized two outstanding students for their exceptional achievements throughout the course, including the quality of their final research projects. These student honorees will travel to Stanford University in August 2026, where they will present their research during a series of recognition ceremonies. The events will welcome distinguished guests from the Stanford community, the Consulate General of Japan in San Francisco, and members of the Japanese community throughout the Bay Area.

SPICE proudly congratulates the following students for their outstanding academic accomplishments.

Stanford e-Fukuoka (Instructor: Kasumi Yamashita)

Student Honoree: Konoha Inoyusu
School: Fukuoka Daichi High School

Student Honoree: Haruki Kenyon
School: Kurume High School

Stanford e-Hiroshima (Instructor: Rylan Sekiguchi)

Student Honoree: Konatsu Haga
School: Fukuyama Akenohoshi Girls’ High School

Student Honoree: Momoka Nagayama
School: Hiroshima Inokuchi High School

Stanford e-Kagoshima City (Instructor: Amy Cheng)

Student Honoree: Nayuta Nei
School: Kagoshima Gyokuryu High School

Student Honoree: Shiori Nishizono
School: Kagoshima Girls’ High School

Stanford e-Kawasaki (Instructor: Maiko Tamagawa Bacha)

Student Honoree: Mio Suzuki
School: Kawasaki High School

Student Honoree: Rio Hojo
School: Tachibana High School

Stanford e-Kobe (Instructor: Alison Harsch)

Student Honoree: Sakura Oe
School: Kobe Municipal Fukiai High School

Student Honoree: Shotaro Take
School: Kobe Municipal Fukiai High School

Stanford e-Oita (Instructor: Kasumi Yamashita)

Student Honoree: Mao Hieida
School: Nakatsu Minami High School

Student Honoree: Taichi Morikawa
School: Takada High School

Stanford e-Tottori (Instructor: Jonas Edman)

Student Honoree: Una Ishikawa
School: National Institute of Technology, Yonago College

Student Honoree: Asumi Nishimura
School: Tottori Nishi High School

Stanford e-Yamaguchi (Instructor: Jonas Edman)

Student Honoree: Misaki Kobayashi
School: Keishin Senior High School

Student Honoree: Hiroi Tomokawa
School: Iwakuni Senior High School

SPICE commends these students for their intellectual curiosity, academic excellence, and commitment to developing a global perspective. We look forward to recognizing their accomplishments at Stanford University next month.

SPICE also offers online courses to U.S. high school students on Japan (Reischauer Scholars Program), China (China Scholars Program), Korea (Sejong Korea Scholars Program), and entrepreneurship (Stanford e-Entrepreneurship U.S.), and online courses to Chinese high school students on the United States (Stanford e-China) and to Japanese high school students on the United States and U.S.–Japan relations (Stanford e-Japan) and on entrepreneurship (Stanford e-Entrepreneurship Japan).

To stay informed of news about Stanford e-Japan and SPICE’s other programs, join our email list and follow us on Facebook, X, and Instagram.

The Stanford e-Yamaguchi Program recently concluded its second year, continuing a successful partnership between SPICE and the Yamaguchi Prefectural Board of Education. Designed to provide high school students in Yamaguchi Prefecture with opportunities to strengthen their English communication skills, explore global issues, and engage with Stanford educators and guest speakers, the program offers participants a unique opportunity to develop their global perspectives while interacting with experts from a variety of fields.

This year marked my first year teaching the Stanford e-Yamaguchi course, and it has been a truly rewarding experience. Throughout the program, I was consistently impressed by the students’ intellectual curiosity, thoughtful participation, and willingness to engage with complex global topics in English. Their enthusiasm for learning and openness to new perspectives made every virtual classroom session meaningful and enjoyable.

I would like to express my sincere appreciation to Mia Kimura, who taught the inaugural year of the program and helped establish a strong foundation for its continued success. Her efforts during the program’s first year played an important role in creating a welcoming and engaging learning environment, one that I have sought to emulate in my own teaching.

The course featured a series of outstanding guest speakers who shared their expertise and experiences with students. I would like to thank Dr. Stephen Murphy-Shigematsu, Dr. Elizabeth Baham, Dr. Gary Mukai, and Dr. Mariko Yoshihara Yang for their generous contributions to the program. Through their presentations and discussions, students explored a wide range of topics, including mindfulness in leadership, diversity in leadership, global citizenship, and design thinking. These sessions provided students with opportunities to connect classroom learning to real-world challenges and encouraged them to think critically about the qualities needed to lead in an increasingly interconnected world.

The success of the Stanford e-Yamaguchi course is the result of the efforts of many individuals and organizations. I am especially grateful to Professor Yuko Hayashi, Yamaguchi University, for introducing SPICE to Tsugumasa Muraoka, Governor of Yamaguchi Prefecture. That introduction helped establish the connections and support necessary to make this partnership possible.

I would also like to extend my deepest thanks to Akinobu Tomonari of the Yamaguchi Prefectural Board of Education. Tomonari-sensei has been instrumental in planning, coordinating, and facilitating the program. His dedication and commitment have been essential to the program’s success.

As we conclude another successful year, we celebrate not only the accomplishments of the students but also the strong partnership between SPICE and Yamaguchi Prefecture. We look forward to continuing this collaboration and providing future cohorts of students with opportunities to develop the knowledge, skills, and global perspectives needed to become thoughtful leaders in their communities and beyond.

Stanford e-Yamaguchi is one of SPICE’s local student programs in Japan.

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On March 27, 2026, 16 undergraduate students in Japan joined 50 graduate students in Norway for a virtual exchange focused on local sustainability challenges. The session was part of the SPICE Social Entrepreneurship course offered at Eikei University of Hiroshima (Eikei) and co-organized with the Faculty of Technology, Art and Design at the Oslo Metropolitan University (OsloMet). 

The exchange served as the culminating activity of a course that SPICE has offered at Eikei since 2022, made possible in large part by the vision of Hiroshima’s former Governor Hidehiko Yuzaki. The course guides students through community engagement, local sustainability challenges, and problem-solving using design thinking methods. This year, students tackled topics including rural transportation, migrant worker conditions, seniors' access to AI, and cybersecurity. What distinguished this iteration was the opportunity for students to test their ideas with an international audience whose academic background differed significantly from their own. 

To create that opportunity, SPICE partnered with OsloMet’s master’s program in Applied Computer and Information Technology. Though the two programs differ in size, location, and disciplinary focus – one rooted in liberal arts, the other in STEM – they share a common goal: helping students explore complex social problems through interdisciplinary and cross-cultural collaboration. To prepare for the virtual session, Eikei students created short video presentations introducing the sustainability challenges they had identified in Hiroshima. OsloMet students then reframed those challenges in their own local content and developed technical solutions in response. During the live session, students from both sides met in breakout discussions facilitated by Eikei student assistants, where Oslo teams proposed solutions and Hiroshima teams asked questions and explored implementation. 

For Eikei students, the most significant learning emerged from the reflective activities that followed. Students’ responses centered on two pillars the SPICE course had set from the beginning: intercultural competence and interdisciplinary thinking.

Eikei students reflecting on Japan-Norway student exchange | Photo Credit: SPICE

On the intercultural side, the exchange made clear how deeply local context shapes the way problems are understood and solved. A group working on AI and senior citizens, for instance, found that differing attitudes toward aging in Japan and Norway influenced both how the problem was defined and which solutions seemed viable. One student wrote: 

"The most memorable moment was when the very first prototype shown — from Group 9 — was an AI-generated image of a pizza with wheels, with an elderly person smiling next to it. I felt that our perspectives on social welfare and the public good were fundamentally different. Our conception of government's mission is something close to protecting the vulnerable. Their view, by contrast, were rooted in a focus on individual flourishing and self-actualization. It really took me by surprise."

Another student recalled a similarly unexpected moment:

“I received a lot of basic questions about everyday life in Japan — things like 'Isn't it normal for people in Japanese suburbs to ride electric scooters?' or 'How much do elderly people in Japan actually use smartphones?' I had expected questions about complex solutions, but I realized that even things I take for granted carry invisible assumptions and biases. In a cross-cultural setting, you have to align on the basics before you can go deeper."

These moments pushed students to examine their own assumptions and recognize how context shapes both problems and solutions. 

The interdisciplinary dimension was equally revealing. Eikei students admired how their Norwegian peers translated broad social concerns into concrete, technically grounded proposals. At the same time, the exchange helped them see the value of their own liberal arts education. One student reflected:

“Since the Oslo students each specialize in one field, it seemed like every group felt compelled to apply that expertise — which meant their solutions often ended up looking similar. We, on the other hand, are trained to approach problems from multiple disciplines and to include not just what’s immediately feasible but also future possibilities. Seeing that difference made so concrete was what left the strongest impression.”

Rather than viewing technical expertise as inherently superior, Eikei students came to see stakeholder engagement and contextual sensitivity as equally essential for addressing complex challenges, and concluded that effective solutions require both. This shift in perspective reflects a central aim of STEAM education: integrating a human-centered perspective into the traditional STEM framework (link to a related article). 

This experience reinforced the value of designing courses that connect students across institutions, disciplines, and cultures. The impact, it turns out, extended beyond the participants themselves. One of the Eikei student assistants who helped facilitate the session also reflected on what the experience meant to her (link). Many Eikei students expressed a desire for more sustained collaboration with their Norwegian peers, suggesting that future iterations of such a course could benefit from extending the exchange beyond a single session. More time and more exchanges would create greater space for mutual understanding and deeper engagement with complex "wicked" social problems.

Eikei students in SPICE Social Entrepreneurship course | Photo Credit: SPICE

Acknowledgement: I am deeply grateful to Professor Tulpesh Patel at OsloMet for making this partnership both possible and genuinely rewarding. Since we began working together in August 2025, it has been a true collaboration, the one built on regular conversation, mutual trust, and a shared belief in the value of human-centered, context-sensitive learning, an approach that lies at the heart of STEAM education. Working with Professor Patel has been a personal reminder of why cross-cultural and interdisciplinary collaboration matters. 

SPICE's course on Social Entrepreneurship with Eikei University of Hiroshima is one of SPICE’s local student programs in Japan.

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Eikei University of Hiroshima (EUH) is a liberal arts institution dedicated to fostering solutions- and impact-driven leaders who create social value in today’s world. Its goal is to cultivate practical skills for solving real-world issues through active learning, international perspectives, and interdisciplinary education. SPICE’s Social Entrepreneurship course, developed and taught by Dr. Mariko Yang-Yoshihara, is an intensive program that reflects the university’s objectives by helping students recognize and address social issues through a human-centred approach. Having taken the course twice, first as a student and later as a student assistant, I gained valuable skills, perspectives, and knowledge from both experiences.

The key learnings acquired this year placed greater emphasis on interdisciplinary exchange, sharing, and combining perspectives on social issues. The course instituted an exchange between liberal arts students at EUH and STEM students at Oslo Metropolitan University (Oslomet) in Norway. The EUH students identified human-centred social issues related to technology-based themes found within Hiroshima and shared with the Oslomet students, and the Oslomet students provided solutions or prototypes in response to these problems, with a discussion exchange that was held online toward the conclusion of the course.  

I found this exchange to be very interesting and engaging, even with my role as a student assistant in this course. The difference in perspectives between liberal arts students and STEM students was quite evident during this discussion, especially through the concepts and factors emphasized in the assigned theme by both groups of students. Due to vast differences in class sizes, we, the Eikei students, were required to review multiple prototypes submitted by the Oslomet student groups. Initially, all of the prototypes provided for my group’s theme seemed similar, but my perspective significantly changed after communicating and discussing with the Oslomet student groups during the online exchange. Their overview of prototypes shared similarities from an external point of view, but their features, emphasis, and priorities were quite different. This differentiation only became evident during the interactive session through the exchange of viewpoints between students from both universities.

A cultural comparison between the two universities was also a key observation. The exchange of participants’ views on the feasibility of said prototypes within Norwegian and Japanese societies was intriguing to observe through a thorough comparison of social aspects in both countries, particularly governmental assistance, hierarchical structures, and the focus of the prototype. This further highlighted the contrasts in the same target demographics across both countries, leading to the realization that the same prototype may not have the same impact on both societies. 

Another important note was the difference in priority and emphasis between the assigned theme and problem statement for the liberal arts students and the STEM students. There was a clear distinction in focus areas between the two universities. The EUH students solely prioritized the human-centred aspect of the provided theme, while the Oslomet students, on the other hand, targeted the technological aspect. It was quite intriguing to witness STEM students and liberal arts students trying to understand each other’s perspectives on the same situation.

Interestingly, rather than observing two major groups of students taking part in this course, I noticed three different groups. The first group is the Norwegian students who had never been to Japan, who viewed the problem statement based in Hiroshima from an external perspective. The second group consists of native Japanese students currently living in Hiroshima who viewed the problem statement from an internal perspective. The third group was international students (non-Japanese students studying at Eikei, including myself) who are also currently living in Hiroshima but viewed the problem statement from a pseudo internal-external perspective. All three groups had differing opinions and thought processes, which led to a significantly interactive and dynamic session. I was able to perceive the importance of having people with differing experiences and cultures participate in a discussion, as it progressively leads to a more adaptable and inclusive long-term approach towards achieving a common objective.

Additionally, my experiences in this course resonated with my own experience as the president of the international student organization club at our university. Oftentimes, while having meetings with Academic Affairs and International Affairs at our university regarding new initiatives, changes, or plans, I always aim to gather various opinions and concerns of my international peers, representing their needs and concerns as well. These concerns or opinions are quite varied, since the international student community has students who come from different regions of the world, resulting in a wide range of perspectives. When these varied concerns are addressed, it encourages developing solutions that aim at supporting a diverse community.

Chhavvi Anilkumar reflects on her experience in the course, Social Entrepreneurship | Photo courtesy of Chhavvi Anilkumar

This course has given me important insights and perspectives that I am sure will continue to shape my views in the short- as well as the long-term future. As a person interested in diversity and multiculturalism, this course’s experience considerably strengthened my understanding of how social structures and different experiences shape the perspectives of an individual. I believe this insight will assist me in interacting with a diverse range of people in a more inclusive manner, especially when creating solutions or strategies that can cater to various demographic groups.

Facilitating such interactive sessions, observing, and understanding the differences between the given prototypes reinforces more than just the value of collaborating with individuals coming from other backgrounds. Including different groups to participate in a situation or problem with their differing perspectives and skills increases the potential of having an adaptable solution idea that could further positively impact more than just the targeted audience. Hence, courses such as Social Entrepreneurship play a significant role in encouraging and fostering collaborative initiatives and approaches that lead to developing unique, adaptable, and successful solutions.

SPICE's course on Social Entrepreneurship with Eikei University of Hiroshima is one of SPICE’s local student programs in Japan.

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Stanford e-Tottori is a distance-learning course sponsored by the Tottori Prefectural Board of Education and the Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education (SPICE) at Stanford University.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Stanford e-Tottori Program, a milestone that provides an opportunity to reflect on a decade of learning, cross-cultural exchange, and partnership between Stanford University and Tottori Prefecture.

Launched in 2016, Stanford e-Tottori was the first regional program in Japan developed by SPICE. The program was created through a partnership between SPICE and the Tottori Prefectural Board of Education with the goal of helping high school students in Tottori engage in global issues, deepen their understanding of the United States and U.S.–Japan relations, and strengthen their English communication skills.

When the program began, none of us could have imagined that it would still be thriving 10 years later. Over the past decade, approximately 250 students from across Tottori Prefecture have participated in the program. Through weekly assignments, online discussions, virtual classroom sessions, guest lectures, and independent research projects, students have explored topics ranging from education and entrepreneurship to sustainability, diversity, leadership, and U.S.–Japan relations.

Having taught every cohort since the program’s founding, I have had the privilege of working with an extraordinary group of students. Each year, I am impressed by their curiosity, thoughtfulness, and willingness to engage with complex issues. Although students enter the program with varying levels of English proficiency and different academic interests, they consistently demonstrate a desire to learn, challenge themselves, and better understand perspectives beyond their own.

One of the defining features of the program has been the students’ final research projects. At the end of each course, students select a topic of personal interest, conduct independent research, and present their findings in English. Over the years, they have investigated subjects as diverse as artificial intelligence, environmental sustainability, education systems, cultural identity, social welfare, entrepreneurship, history, and international relations. These presentations have provided students with opportunities not only to strengthen their research and communication skills but also to share their passions and interests with others.

The success of Stanford e-Tottori also helped to lay the foundation for SPICE’s broader expansion of regional programs throughout Japan. What began as SPICE’s first regional program has grown into a network of educational partnerships that now serve students in prefectures and cities across the country. Today, SPICE offers regional programs in Fukuoka, Hiroshima, Oita, Tottori, and Yamaguchi prefectures, as well as in the cities of Kagoshima, Kawasaki, and Kobe.

One of the greatest joys of the program has been seeing students experience California and Stanford University firsthand. Each year, two top-performing students are invited to Stanford as honorees in recognition of their outstanding achievement in the course. During their visits, students participate in award ceremonies, tour the Stanford campus, meet Stanford faculty and staff, and connect with fellow students from other SPICE regional programs.

These visits have also provided opportunities for students to glimpse into American high school life firsthand. Over the years, I have had the pleasure of accompanying students to local schools, where they have attended classes and met with American students. I am especially grateful to local educators, including Yoko Sase of The Nueva School in Hillsborough and Matt Hall of Gunn High School in Palo Alto, who have generously welcomed our students into their classrooms and school communities.

The Stanford e-Tottori Program would not exist without the vision, dedication, and support of many individuals and organizations. I am especially grateful to Takeshi Homma, whose passion for education, entrepreneurship, and international exchange helped inspire the creation of the program 10 years ago. Since its inception, Homma-san has remained a steadfast supporter, generously sharing his experiences and insights with students through annual guest lectures on entrepreneurship, innovation, and global citizenship.

I would also like to express my sincere appreciation to Governor Shinji Hirai for his longstanding commitment to international education and global engagement. His support of educational exchange between Tottori and Stanford has helped create opportunities for hundreds of students to broaden their horizons and develop a deeper understanding of the United States and U.S.–Japan relations.

I am deeply grateful to the Tottori Prefectural Board of Education for its partnership and commitment to providing meaningful international educational opportunities for students. Over the years, I have had the pleasure of working with many dedicated educators and teacher consultants whose efforts have been essential to the program’s success, including Koji Tsubaki, Takuya Fukushima, Tomoya Minohara, Shuichi Hata, Natsu Odahara, and Satoru Hamahashi. Their enthusiasm, professionalism, and unwavering support have helped make the Stanford e-Tottori Program a rewarding experience for students throughout Tottori Prefecture. 

As I reflect on the past 10 years, what stands out most are not the individual lessons, assignments, or presentations, but the relationships that have developed through the program. Education is ultimately about people, and one of the greatest rewards of teaching Stanford e-Tottori has been the opportunity to learn from and work with so many talented students, teachers, and colleagues in both Japan and the United States.

As Stanford e-Tottori enters its second decade, I am excited to see what the future holds. I look forward to continuing to learn alongside future generations of students and to strengthening the bonds of friendship and understanding that have connected Stanford and Tottori over the past 10 years.

Congratulations to all of the students, educators, and partners who have been part of the Stanford e-Tottori story. Thank you for making the past 10 years such a remarkable journey.

Stanford e-Tottori is one of SPICE’s local student programs in Japan.

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The following reflection is a guest post written by Minami Ohno, an alum of the Fall 2025 Stanford e-Entrepreneurship Japan (SeEJ) Program. SeEJ’s next application period will open July 31, 2026.

The Stanford e-Entrepreneurship Japan program is a powerful platform for the next generation of social entrepreneurs looking to address future social issues.

From the day of our first virtual meeting, the Sunday blues became a happy Friday-equivalent—an electric and thrilling day. Something I looked forward to.

The fall 2025 SeEJ program lasted approximately four months, with virtual meetings on Sunday every two weeks. Each session was very memorable, covering areas from public health to environmental sustainability. While there were only a total of 10 remote classes, each session was truly an educational journey that transformed my views on entrepreneurship. The program attracted students with diverse multicultural backgrounds, and students had a wide range of views and experiences. Our group projects and individual research papers covered topics from advocacy for financial literacy to animal therapy. I was fortunate to learn about these various ideas and proposals alongside students who had direct experience and knowledge in those fields.

Some of the most powerful experiences in the program were our sessions interacting with guest speakers, successful social entrepreneurs. SeEJ has a strong network of successful social entrepreneurs across the globe. These entrepreneurs were truly visionaries with a strong sense of social responsibility, aiming to drive change for a better world. They shared their inspirational stories in building businesses to tackle serious societal problems. I was truly grateful for their advice. At first, I felt a little intimidated engaging with experienced entrepreneurs and scholars, but they were very approachable, and our interactions with them were extremely productive, with time always running short due to active participation from all students. Besides inspiring us with their personal stories, they also provided us with practical suggestions, from business development strategies to presentation techniques when pitching to an investor audience.

One session on sustainability and biodiversity left a particularly strong impression on me. Our guest speaker that day was Mr. Robin Takashi Lewis, the founder of mymizu, an app that aims to reduce the use of plastic water bottles and promote the use of free refill spots. Water supply is scarce in many countries, and water scarcity is becoming a growing problem, but mymizu is working to make water more accessible and sustainable. At the end of the session, Mr. Lewis introduced us to the “3.5% rule”—a research-backed rule that suggests that when at least 3.5% of the population takes action, major social and political change is not only achievable but highly likely. This observation highlights how even seemingly small-scale efforts can lead to major change. As aspiring young entrepreneurs, my classmates and I found this insight incredibly exciting. It made me want to take action for societal change.

My experience in SeEJ was truly invaluable. I was able to be part of a special community of top scholars and entrepreneurs, as well as fantastic peers who shared their innovative ideas and opinions. The instructor, Ms. Irene Bryant, and TA Naho Ohara were very supportive in kindly guiding us throughout the program. They consistently encouraged us to think critically and take full advantage of the program. Thanks to my experience in SeEJ, I not only feel knowledgeable about entrepreneurship—I also feel more confident, inspired, and equipped to put it into practice in my future.

Stanford e-Entrepreneurship Japan will begin accepting applications for the fall 2026 course on July 31, 2026.

SeEJ is one of several online courses offered by SPICE.

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The following is a guest article written by Naoya Kobayashi, who traveled to the San Francisco Bay Area with other graduate students from the University of Tokyo in January 2026, under the leadership of Professor Hideto Fukudome. Naoya is also a Guest Researcher at the Keio University Global Research Institute. SPICE/Stanford collaborates closely with the Graduate School of Education at the University of Tokyo and met with the students during their visit to the Bay Area. 

Guided by Roger L. Geiger’s remark—“Historians should approach the present with trepidation” (Geiger, 2019, 313)—I have conducted archival research primarily along the East Coast and in the Midwest as a doctoral student specializing in the history of American higher education. Working with historical manuscripts often feels like having conversations with people from the past, drawing me away from the pressing educational issues of the present. However, during my first visit to the Bay Area through a SPICE-supported program, I came to realize that Geiger’s statement is not merely a call for professional restraint. It also points to the significant role historians can and should play in contextualizing the present and actively shaping the future.

This program brought together students and alumni from the University of Tokyo, who had been trained across a wide range of disciplines, including sociology, psychology, policy studies, and comparative education. To reflect these diverse interests, Professor Hideto Fukudome invited guest speakers from various fields. Consequently, we were able to engage in candid discussions on topics such as undergraduate curricula, academic advising, international student support, and public service.

Among these experiences, one particularly memorable moment came during a lecture by Professor Londa Schiebinger, an internationally distinguished historian of science and a leading authority on gender in science and technology. She introduced us to Gendered Innovations, an interdisciplinary initiative that integrates sex, gender, and intersectional analysis into scientific research and technological development. After her talk, my colleague Yuki Kihara asked how her work in the history of science connects to this initiative. In response, she stated without hesitation: “I want to create the future, so I use the same techniques as a historian to push and pull on culture. We need to make human knowledge whole again. That is one of my key challenges.” Her response was deeply thought-provoking, speaking to my long-held interest in how historians might meaningfully engage with contemporary issues. (Photo below of Professor Schiebinger courtesy of Naoya Kobayashi.)

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Our learning also extended beyond the university. On the final morning, we visited Japantown in San Jose with SPICE Director Dr. Gary Mukai as our guide. Drawing on his personal memories, he explained the history embedded in local monuments. Through this, we came to appreciate how diverse communities have long been integral to the region’s social fabric, shaped by both hardship and resilience. From the perspective of contemporary Japan, where public discourse has increasingly focused on how diversity might be “accepted,” this experience revealed a simple but profound truth: diversity is not a possibility to be realized but a reality to be recognized. As a historian, I hope to carry this insight forward by using the past not only to understand the present, but also to imagine more inclusive ways of living together in the future. (Photo below taken in Japantown in San Jose courtesy of Naoya Kobayashi.)

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Finally, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Dr. Mukai and all the members of SPICE who so warmly welcomed us. It is my sincere hope that exchanges between the University of Tokyo and SPICE will continue to grow in the years to come.

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