Mr. Yuichi Kusano

Representative Director, Agri Mito Ltd.

Agri Mito" is an agricultural production corporation that produces and sells agricultural products such as strawberries, baby leaves, and eggplants, mainly in Mito-machi, Masuda City, Shimane Prefecture. Because of agricultural production in a mountainous area, it is difficult to improve management efficiency through large-scale production. In addition, the winter season has little sunlight and snowfall, which is unique to the San-in region, making it difficult to produce crops year-round and to provide year-round employment. Under these circumstances, the company is developing sustainable agricultural production in mountainous areas by cultivating strawberries, which have high yield and can be grown in winter, and baby leaves throughout the year.

Mr. Kensuke Kageyama

Professor, Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Saitama University

D. in Advanced Interdisciplinary Engineering from the University of Tokyo. After engaging in research on nondestructive evaluation of various materials using acoustic emissions (AE, elastic waves generated by sudden phenomena), he has developed acoustic and ultrasonic sensors using electrets. He is now working on the practical application of technology that uses electret sensors to capture the invisible movements of plants and microorganisms with AE and monitor their activities. We are challenging the activity monitoring in various environments by developing our own instruments for AE measurement, such as sensor elements, device circuit boards, and analysis programs in our laboratory.

Mr. Hiroshi Kajiyama

President and Representative Director, Agri Blue K.K.

After working at Hitachi, Ltd., the Institute of Industrial Science, the University of Tokyo, and the Graduate School of Hiroshima University, he joined the Faculty of Science and Technology, Tokushima Bunri University in 2012. Doctor of Science. Specializes in surface physics and photophysics. Realizing that weak light, about one-millionth of sunlight, greatly promotes plant growth and secondary metabolism, he started research on next-generation cultivation technology for leafy greens, fruit trees, seaweed, and microalgae. Aiming for social implementation of this technology, he established Agri Blue Inc. in 2020, and is promoting its application to horticulture facilities, plant factories, agricultural power generation, and marine resource recovery.

Yosuke Miyauchi (Moderator)

Director, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Research Center, Riverness, Inc.

Representative Director, Agronome Research Institute, Inc.

D. (Agronomy), Graduate School of Horticulture, Chiba University. In graduate school, he worked with local researchers in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region to establish high-yield cultivation technology for soybean. At RIVANES, he is involved in research projects based on his experience, and in 2019, he established the Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries Research Center to actively promote cross-sectional research in the field of agriculture. In the same year, he became the president of Agronome Research Institute, Inc. to conduct projects and research on the realization of fully cyclical agriculture for sustainable food production.

Ms. Tomoko Takahashi

General Manager, President's Office, Takahashi Construction Co.

Takahashi Construction is a general construction company that mainly constructs roads, bridges, private residences, and public facilities. The company also operates a stone quarry, museum store, gas station, incineration plant operation, and a tourist farm, and is involved in a variety of other fields. Operating a farm in a construction company began as a continuous employment program for retired employees. We have people in their 80s who maintain a good work-life balance and are still working in the field. We aim to continue to build a company where people can work energetically.

Mr. Kazu Gojusei

President and CEO, EVE Care Inc.

He graduated from the Graduate School of Education at Shiga University in 2020 with a Master's degree (Education). In collaboration with Associate Professor Ohira of the same university, he was selected as a finalist in the Shiga Tech Plan Grand Prix in July 2018 and received the Panasonic Appliance Company Award; he was also selected as a finalist in the Biotech Grand Prix held in Tokyo in July and received the Nihon Unisys Award and Takenaka Corporation Award; 2019 On January 11, 2019, he established EveCare Corporation, the first university-launched venture from Shiga University.

Mr. Arata Onishi

President (CEO & CTO), RESVO Inc.

D., Shimane University School of Medicine. （D. in Medicine. He spent about 10 years at the National Institute of Radiological Sciences (former National Institute of Radiological Sciences), National Institute of Quantum Science and Technology (NIRS), studying the pathogenic mechanism of psychiatric disorders. In 2016, he founded RESVO, Inc. after leaving the institute to implement his research results in society. In collaboration with Shimane University School of Medicine, he developed a technology to measure psychological stress from urine samples and began selling it to the general public in 2021. Currently, he is working to expand this technology to develop a dream diagnostic agent for mental disorders.

Kaori Nakajima (Moderator)

Director, Knowledge Foundation Research Center, Liverness, Inc.

D. in Cell Biology, Graduate School of Biological Sciences, Nara Institute of Science and Technology (NAIST). D. in Cell Biology at Nara Institute of Science and Technology (NAIST), and withdrew from the doctoral program of NAIST. After working as a specially-appointed assistant professor at the Department of Genome System Science, Graduate School of Bioscience and Nanosystems, Yokohama City University, he joined REVANES in 2013. He has been involved in the PoC of new seeds for R&D by venture companies and the construction of an open lab platform that serves as a place for co-creation with universities and companies. He is also a senior mentor for the JST Junior Doctor Training Program and a member of the board of directors of BIOTA Inc.

Yun, Koh Chul

Regional Development Division, LIVERNESS Co.

Veterinarian (specialty: cattle). After graduating from university, he joined the Hyogo Agricultural Mutual Aid Association. As a clinical veterinarian, he was involved in breeding management and disease prevention treatment for dairy and beef cattle farmers. After joining RIVANES, he was in charge of a livestock project in Masuda City. He established Masuda Demonstration Farm and served as farm manager. He aims to accelerate knowledge inflow to the region and create a new industry using local resources.

Yukihiro Maru (Moderator)

Group CEO and Representative Director, Liverness, Inc.

D. in Applied Biotechnology, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo.
In 2002, while still in graduate school, he founded LIVERNESS with only undergraduate and graduate students in science and engineering. He has turned Japan's first "delivery laboratory class of cutting-edge science" into a business. He operates a "knowledge manufacturing business" that creates new knowledge by combining management resources and technologies that lie dormant in universities and local communities, and has facilitated more than 200 projects through his "knowledge platform. As the instigator of one of Asia's largest venture ecosystems in collaboration with local factories and major companies, etc., he works to solve global-scale social issues by discovering deep tech from around the world. He has also been involved in the launch of numerous venture companies, including Euglena Co.
He is the author of "DeepTech: Sleeping Technologies that Pioneer the Future of the World" (Nikkei BP) and "Businesses that change the world are born from the 'enthusiasm' of a single person" (Japan Business Publications, Inc. (Nihon Jitsugyo Publishing Co., Ltd.).

Satoyuki Washitani

President and Representative Director, ACSL, Inc.

He joined ACSL in July 2016. Previously, he worked for McKinsey & Company in Japan and Sweden on management reform projects for Japanese and European companies. He holds a Master's degree from the Graduate School of Creative Science and Engineering, Waseda University.

Shunsuke Tsuboi

Representative Director and CEO, Sagri Corporation

Graduated from Yokohama National University, Faculty of Science and Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, in 2016, he went to Rwanda to conduct educational activities and learned that local children have their own dreams, but after graduation, they work in the agricultural field. In 2018, he founded Sagri Corporation, which aims to solve problems in agriculture and the environment by combining star data (Satellite) x machine learning (AI) x plot technology (GRID). The company has also established a subsidiary in Bangalore, India. The company has received a total of 21 awards. Before founding Sagri, he was the CEO of Uchu Corporation, the first private space education venture. Member of "Study Group on Management of Agricultural Land Information Using Digital Maps", Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan Visiting Professor, Information Management Innovation Professional University, 13th year student of Softbank Academia