~From Waseda to Taiwan~Learning the Importance of Relying on Others
“Taiwan is like my second hometown, and I want to return at least once a year.”
Tamaki Shimizu, a 5th year student in the School of Letters, Arts and Sciences, contributed this article for Waseda Weekly’s Study Abroad corner. It has been six years since she fell in love with the historic architecture and palm-tree lined avenues of National Taiwan University, which she first visited on a family trip when she was 16. Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, Tamaki’s study abroad was first postponed for one year, but after seven months of online classes she finally set foot in Taiwan’s capital, Taipei, in March of 2022. Her major is modern Taiwanese history, and she chose to study abroad with the dual goals of studying the language and conducting fieldwork.
For Tamaki, Taiwan’s charm lies in its people, who are kind and helpful while still maintaining an appropriate sense of distance. As an example, she shared a story of how she fell asleep on the subway on her way to the airport when a Taiwanese woman, who had noticed Tamaki’s luggage, woke her up asking, “You don’t have to get off? We’re arriving at the airport!” At the same time, studying abroad helped her realize that even though on the surface it appears people accept each other and coexist, under the surface swirl unanswered questions. In the run-up to the 2024 presidential elections fierce debates wage, and Tamaki prompted the readers to consider the problem of unnecessarily idealizing Taiwan and called for them to remember its historical background and its challenging identity as an immigrant society.
Japanese article:～早稲田から台湾へ～人情味あふれる国で学んだ、人を頼る大切さ
Waseda University Student Entrepreneur Reika Koike Aims for “A World Where You Can Love Your Uniqueness”
“I want to be someone that gives something to others.”
Reika Koike (3rd year student in the School of Law) is the President of Cinderelax, which develops and manages the app “BU” (ビーユー). The app makes it easier to watch and access the products used in makeup videos trending on YouTube. For this article of the People series, Waseda Weekly asked Reika about what prompted her to start her business, about BU, and her plans for the future.
Reika shared how she broke down while trying to enter university and felt she wanted to help others who have a similar experience by offering counseling services. She entered Waseda’s School of Law to deepen her understanding of both law and commerce with the goal of eventually providing such services. She mentioned that the Business Creation Course (offered by the Global Education Center (GEC)), where she could learn how to start a business, was a big turning point for her. There she met her mentors including Professor Toru Asahi (Faculty of Science and Engineering), Professor Hironori Higashide (Faculty of Commerce), Assistant Professor Tomoharu Inoue (GEC), among others, who responded to her active participation in class by suggesting she might be suited to starting her own business. With this realization and the support of her teachers, she pivoted from wanting to provide counseling services to starting a business.
In response to a question about Cinderlax’s mission, Reika replied that the overall mission is, “To create a world where people can love themselves.” The BU app not only provides links to retailers and recommends similar videos, but it also adds chapter buttons beneath the video that break it up into sections like “base makeup”, “foundation”, and “eyes” so viewers can more easily find the section of the video that interests them. Her goals for the company include increasing the number of people who value their individuality, which first requires people to know about and use BU. Her personal goal going forward is to become someone that can give back, in the same way that she has received so much support from others.
Japanese article:早大生起業家・小池伶佳が目指すのは「自分らしさを愛せる世界」
Waseda’s Entrepreneurship Development Program and Support for Startups:An Assortment of Programs and Projects to Unlock Your Future
In recent years, the rapid progress of startups has attracted attention, and the number of people starting their own business while still at university is increasing. It is no stretch, then, to assume there must be students who are interested in giving entrepreneurship a try themselves. However, since starting a business is not limited to any one specific department, they may also be wondering where and how to study it. In this article Waseda Weekly introduces the Center for Entrepreneurship’s efforts to support startups and gives examples of students and an alumna who have actually used it.
To begin, Waseda Weekly spoke with Emi Muto, the person in charge of Waseda’s Center for Entrepreneurship. In sum, the Center provides support to students, faculty, staff, and alumni who want to start a business. Emi noted how universities have two major roles: education and research. Recently, it has also become important to use the knowledge and experience gained at university to contribute to society. Starting a business is one way to achieve this. Waseda University provides systematic support, from courses that teach how to start a business, help for those who are thinking of actually starting one, as well as support once the business is up and running. Since 2017 the Global Education Center (GEC) has been offering around 30 business classes through its Business Creation Course which students can take as needed regardless of their undergraduate or graduate school. As a venue for showcasing ideas and projects, there is the “Waseda University Business Plan Contest” and the “WASEDA-EDGE Demo Day.” Additionally, there are several support programs for those who are actually looking to start a business, including the “WASEDA-EDGE Gap Fund Project” and the “Waseda POC Fund”, which is specifically for commercializing science and engineering lab findings.
The article then introduces three people who have used and benefitted from the Center for Entrepreneurship’s services. Kohei Kawaji is a first-year student in the School of Letters, Arts and Sciences who has taken classes through the GEC’s Business Creation Course and is currently preparing to participate in the February 2024 “WASEDA-EDGE Demo Day”. Shiori Yoshida is a third-year student in the School of Fundamental Science and Engineering who has also taken the Business Creation Courses. She was awarded the Special Jury Award during the February 2023 “WASEDA-EDGE Demo Day” and was recently selected to receive support from the “WASEDA-EDGE Gap Fund Project.” Finally, Mutsuko Aoki, CEO and Co-founder of Hynts Tech and a 2010 graduate of the masters program of the Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering, received funding from the “Waseda PoC Fund” and continues to receive support such as legal advice and mentoring.
Japanese article:早稲田の起業家教育とスタートアップ支援 「いいとこ取り」で開ける未来
