Bizjapan (English)

A non-profit organization where people with a global perspective and entrepreneurial spirit gather and start running projects.

■Mission/Principles・Background

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Mission/Principles
A non-profit organization where people with a global perspective and entrepreneurial spirit gather and start running projects.

Background
Bizjapan was founded as a student organization in 2011 and became a non-profit organization in 2017.

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■Activities

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Before COVID
A diverse group of people who have a global mindset and an entrepreneurial spirit gather and kick start various projects.

Fifty-five successful projects and events have been launched at Bizjapan so far.
The activities are led by members from various universities like UTokyo, ICU, Waseda, Keio, as well as foreign universities. In 2020, twenty-five projects, such as those involving traditional Japanese arts and crafts, information about the Middle East, cross-cultural exchanges in English, and biking startups, were executed.
People of any gender, university, grade, the field of interest are welcome. Official languages of communication are English and Japanese.

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After COVID
Members share information about and learnings from their projects and interact with each other at the Friday Gatherings (FG). Apart from FGs, individual projects are the primary activity of BizJapan. Activities within projects mainly include deskwork during the planning stage and interaction with stakeholders on the grassroots level during the execution phase.

The themes of last year’s projects were diverse, from token economies to traditional arts and crafts, and from discussing the future of the Middle East to the creation of an English-conversation community. Events interlinking poems and walks (Sampo) were also held.
There are also members who take part in lectures, workshops, and internships held by other organizations.

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■Careers/Activities of Past Members (OB・OG)　

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Careers
Career paths of past Bizjapan members (OB・OG, short for Old Boy・Old Girl) are diverse, including foreign consulting firms, major banks, IT companies, venture companies. There are entrepreneurs as well. On the other hand, Some continue to pursue academics by going to graduate school, and some engage in political affairs by becoming a politician.

Activities of the alumni
・The founder, Sho Hayashi, first worked at a strategic consulting firm, later co-launched a startup called EDGEof. He is currently involved in the urban development of Obuse town in Nagano prefecture.
Interview with Mr.Sho Hayashi
・Ai Taguchi, of the 7th batch, set up chocolate factories and launched a Ghana-based chocolate brand called MAAHA Chocolate in Ghana to expand the potential of the Cacao farmers there.
The farmer and Chocolate-Maker University Student in Ghana: The Challenge of Ai Taguchi

Number of Members
First-year students: around 30
Second-year students: around 20

Grade Composition of Members
Mainly first and second-year students, but there are some graduate students

Grade Composition of the Administration Team
Second-year students (starting from January of their first year)

Gender Ratio (Male:Female)
Around 1:1

Period of Entry
Spring recruitment: Around 30 members
Autumn recruitment: Around 10 members
Year-Around recruitment: Around 2-3 members

Features of membership
・Students are mainly from UTokyo, International Christian University, Waseda, Keio, but there are many members from other universities as well, including Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Sophia University, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, and universities abroad.
・No restrictions on department/major, undergraduate/postgraduate, nationality, etc...
・More members studying natural sciences (Rikei) students as compared to other international circles.
・There are many active students who have studied abroad, lived abroad, or participated in various extracurricular activities up until high school. (However, those without any previous experience can expand their own potential here)
・Many members tend to have a wide range of interests and they take on many challenges.

Withdrawal Rate
Initially, around 30 members join, yet we tend to see a decline in participation from about a third of the members (subject to change every year). Instead of withdrawing completely, many members focus mainly on their projects after finding what they really want to do.

Grade Composition of the Administration Team
Grade Composition of the Administration Team
Second-year students (starting from January of their first year)

Structure of Administration
The structure of administration is quite flexible, with the number of admins changing year to year. Certain departments are created and erased according to the requirements. Currently, one president and three vice presidents are the centers of administration. Additionally, other sections such as the culture section, which aims to improve the quality of the Bizjapan community, and the branding section, which works on public relations, exist.

Usual Activities
・Friday Gathering (FG) once a week
・Activities of each project: Differs according to the objectives of each person. There are cases where meetings are held 1-2 times a week, apart from the Friday Gathering. Also, Bizjapan is one of the first organizations in Japan to have introduced Slack in its activities, beginning a few years back.

The schedule below is the annual schedule, however last year, due to COVID, the Welcome Camp and the Spring Camp were not held.

April: Spring Recruitment・Interview・Acceptance Notification
Start of May: Welcome Party (Friday Gatherings start the week after)
Mid-May: Welcome Camp. Main activities are the workshop and exchange among members (activities change every year)
May: Project Pitch ※1
End of May to Mid-July: Work on projects until Final Exams
Start of August: Summer Camp (Aim is to get to know each other and OBOGs come sometimes too)
Summer Vacation: Up to the members whether they want to do projects or not! End of September: Back to Biz※2
October: Fall Recruitment & FGs begin
November: Autumn recruits enter
November-December: Work on projects until final exams
December: End of Year Party※3
December to January: Preparation of change in administration duties & looking back at the year

January: Selection of the new President, and transfer of administrative duties to the next batch
　
※1　Members who want to start a project present their ideas. Every year, around ten ideas come up. Project members are recruited around a week after the ideas are announced.
※2　Time for members to speak about what they did in the summer break. Also, it is a time to create an atmosphere to make it easy for those members who weren’t able to participate actively in spring to be able to do so from autumn again.
※3 An event where OB・OGs are also invited. In the past, the founder, Mr Sho Hayashi and Professor Shigeo Kagami, the head of the Office of Strategic Research Alliance of the Division of University Corporate Relations, the University of Tokyo, held a panel discussion. Please refer to Bizjapan’s Note for details.

Selection Process
Selection process exists

Eligible Members：
No restriction on the basis of university, grade, department, undergraduate/graduate

Members who actually join：
First year students are the majority. People in their second year of undergraduate studies and above, as well as graduate students, are also members.

Procedure to join：
① Attend information sessions at universities and symposiums during the beginning of April.
②Apply for the interview and submit the application documents.
③Interviews are held on the weekends of the third and fourth week of “ ADD A MONTH NAME”
④Acceptance notification in April (first half of Golden Week)
⑤Welcome Party in May
(Autumn Recruitment・Year round selection also conducted)

※The year round selection has a stricter recruitment standard as compared to the Spring・Autumn Recruitment. Members who apply through the year round selection must start a project as soon as they join Bizjapan.

○Pros

・You can meet a lot of people with diverse value sets.
・It is an environment that encourages challenges.
・It is a community that makes you feel at home, where you can come back to at any time.
・Apart from the FG, there are no compulsory activities. Thus, it is easy to balance Bizjapan with other activities and commit in the way you want.
・You can get information about interesting events and internships from OB・OGs, organizations, companies, and professors who have close ties with Bizjapan,
・There are many people who can speak English, so it is easy for international students who don’t speak much Japanese to get involved.

△Cons

・Since there are no fixed objectives, if a member does not act by themselves then one year passes by without achieving anything. Bizjapan is not an organization where one can get something just by waiting. The ideal way to participate is by utilising resources and chances offered by Bizjapan to the maximum.
・There is so much information coming in (although that is one of the benefits) that it is difficult to catch up.
・The management of projects requires enthusiasm as well as planning ability, so it is quite difficult. However, there is a sense of self-worth and happiness once projects materialise.

March 25: UT-BASE Joint Information Session of International Oriented Organizations
April 1: BizjapanxHCAP Joint Information Session
April 3: Bizjapan Solo Information Session・Consultation Session
April 4: UT-BASE Online Joint Information Session
April 7: Bizjapan Solo Information Session・Consultation Session
April 24: Deadline for the application form
May 2: Interviews
May 8: Result Notification
May 14: Welcome Party