[July 15] "Customer Success Award 2026" Announces Three Final Nominees and Four Competitors for the Tenkaichi Pitch

Customer Success Inc. (Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; Co-CEOs: Yuto Iwakuma and Masato Kajiwara) announces that it has selected three final nominee companies for the "Customer Success Award 2026" and four participants for the "Customer Success Tenkaichi Pitch 2026," to be held on July 15, 2026.

The event will be held in two parts: the "Customer Success Award 2026," which recognizes outstanding customer success initiatives within companies, and the "Customer Success Tenkaichi Pitch," a pitch battle featuring practitioners working on the front lines of customer success.

This year saw entries from a wide range of industries including manufacturing, finance, telecommunications, and human resources services, demonstrating that customer success is spreading beyond industry boundaries.

Special site URL: https://cs-award2026.customer-success.co.jp/

■ About the Customer Success Award 2026

The "Customer Success Award 2026" recognizes companies that have driven organizational transformation while achieving both customer value creation and business growth, going beyond conventional frameworks. This year, the award established the top honor "The Blue Flag of the Year 2026," and selected three final nominee companies from entries across the country.

The judging emphasized three perspectives: "Breakthrough Power," "Company-wide Impact," and "Reproducibility," evaluating advanced initiatives that can serve as guidance for many companies and organizations.

The grand prize, "The Blue Flag of the Year 2026," will be announced at the award ceremony on July 15.

■ Three Award Nominees

This award received entries from 10 companies across 11 categories, mainly from major Japanese corporations. Entries came from diverse industries including manufacturing, finance, telecommunications, and education, indicating a broadening commitment to customer success.

Based on the judging criteria supervised by the Japan Customer Success Association, each company's initiatives were evaluated from the perspectives of "Breakthrough Power," "Company-wide Impact," and "Reproducibility." In addition, interviews were conducted to evaluate each initiative quantitatively and qualitatively. As a result, the following three companies were selected as final nominees.

[Nominee Companies]

- NTT DOCOMO Business

- NEC Corporation

- Benesse Corporation, Elementary & Junior High School Division

* Company names are listed in Japanese syllabary order without corporate suffixes.

■ List of Entry Companies

Entries for this award came from a wide range of industries including manufacturing, finance, telecommunications, and human resources services. The applicant companies are as follows:

- Amano Corporation

- NTT DOCOMO Business

- Sumitomo Mitsui Auto Service Co., Ltd.

- NEC Corporation

- Persol Career Co., Ltd.

- Benesse Corporation

- University & Adult Division, Corporate Sales Department

- Elementary & Junior High School Division

- HENNGE K.K.

- Sumitomo Mitsui Card Co., Ltd.

- Mitsubishi Electric Corporation

- Ricoh IT Solutions Co., Ltd.

* Company names are listed in Japanese syllabary order without corporate suffixes.

■ Comment from Masato Kajiwara, COO of Customer Success Inc.

Despite this being the inaugural year for the award event, we received more applications than we imagined, and many were from companies with significant social influence. Speaking with each applicant, I was pleased to realize that customer success is spreading beyond SaaS companies and becoming a broader concept.

It's unfortunate that we cannot introduce all initiatives, as so many companies are promoting truly outstanding customer success activities. Among them, the cases nominated this time are rich in insights that can serve as references for many companies.

This event consists of two parts: an award celebrating challenges by large and non-SaaS companies, and the Tenkaichi Pitch which disseminates advanced SaaS examples. By widely sharing best practices from both, we hope to advance customer success in Japan step by step. Together with those who participate on the day, we aim to build the future of customer success in Japan.

■ Program on the Day: The Blue Flag of the Year Award Ceremony & Talk Session

On the day, the winner of the top prize, "The Blue Flag of the Year 2026," will be announced from among the three nominees.

After the award ceremony, a special talk session will be held with representatives of the winning company and Hisanori Yamada, Representative Director of the Japan Customer Success Association. They will look back on the background of organizational transformation, practical challenges, and how they overcame them, sharing practical knowledge for balancing customer value creation and business growth.

This session will explore the current state and future potential of customer success in Japan through the initiatives of the winning company.

■ The Blue Flag of the Year 2026 Judges

Specialists selected by the Japan Customer Success Association will be invited as judges to conduct a fair evaluation.

Shigemiki Komori (Board Member, Japan Customer Success Association / Former Executive Vice President, Salesforce Japan)

A leading figure who established the concept of customer success in Japan, he evaluates "company-wide impact" from both global-standard knowledge and a managerial perspective.

Osamu Taniguchi (CEO, e-Partners Co., Ltd.)

With long experience in call centers and customer touchpoints, he evaluates customer experience (CX) quality and on-the-ground effectiveness from a specialist viewpoint.

Yoshitaka Miyata (CEO, Zen and Company / Executive Director, Japan CPO Association / Advisor, ALL STAR SAAS FUND)

Combining product management and investor perspectives, he evaluates product–CS alignment in SaaS business and the "reproducibility" related to business growth.

Hisanori Yamada (Representative Director, Japan Customer Success Association)

A top practitioner who has supported the establishment and construction of numerous CS organizations, he evaluates "advancement" in light of the latest industry trends and the degree of organizational adoption.

■ "Customer Success Tenkaichi Pitch" Participants Announced

The "Customer Success Tenkaichi Pitch" has been held since 2018 and is Japan's only pitch battle for customer success practitioners. It has been supported by many practitioners as a forum for sharing insights and the trajectories of their challenges cultivated in the field.

This year as well, out of numerous applications, four participants were selected through a strict screening process. On the day, each will present their practice cases and challenges in a 17-minute pitch, and the winner will be decided by real-time votes from attendees.

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