From Sapporo: A Recruitment Experiment Starting with Pizza — Launch of 'BREAKING WONDER,' a New Initiative to Turn Youth Frustrations into Business Ventures

Recruitment difficulties continue, raising questions about how companies can connect with young people and share values.

Wonderstorage Holdings Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Toyohira-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido; Representative Director and Group CEO: Hajime Sato; hereinafter WSH), a company addressing social issues based on welfare and caregiving services, has launched a new initiative called 'BREAKING WONDER' that nurtures the feelings of frustration, unease, and 'something feels wrong' among youth aged 25 and under into business ideas.

The initiative begins by listening to young people's frustrations while eating pizza. It delves into the emotions and values behind these frustrations, refining them into ideas that solve local and societal challenges. Selected proposals will receive not just prize money, but actual budgets and employee resources to work alongside WSH staff toward commercialization.

Participants sharing their daily frustrations over pizza

According to data released by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, the three-year post-employment turnover rate for new university graduates who graduated in March of Reiwa 4 (2022) was 33.8%. Additionally, a survey by En-Japan found that 54% of those with resignation experience answered that they had 'real reasons for leaving they never communicated to their company,' with the top reason being 'I didn’t think I’d be understood even if I spoke up' (46%). Creating connections with young talent requires not just job postings, but spaces where honest opinions and discomforts are genuinely heard.

'BREAKING WONDER' is a new approach for an era of recruitment challenges—instead of companies unilaterally issuing job ads, it creates new jobs and businesses from young people’s honest voices. After completing Round 1 and Round 2, which focused on uncovering youth frustrations and exploring their roots, WSH will now open the process of transforming these discomforts into business proposals to media coverage from Round 3 onward.

■ Beyond Announcements—Opening the Field Where Youth Frustrations Become Business Proposals

Round 1 was held on Saturday, June 6, 2026, and Round 2 on Saturday, June 13, 2026.

In Round 1, participants shared their personal 'irritations' over pizza, expressing them in words and discussing them together. CEO Sato stated, 'If we determine a venture is truly necessary, we’re prepared to consider investments on the scale of 20 million yen,' demonstrating a commitment to not letting youth ideas end with mere presentations.

Round 2 focused on deep-diving into the emotions and beliefs behind these frustrations and anxieties. From Round 3 onward, the process of youth transforming their discomforts into business plans will be made available for media coverage.

■ Frustration as the Seed of New Ventures—Why WSH Turns Youth Discomfort into Social Challenges

'BREAKING WONDER' is an audition-style program that nurtures the everyday feelings among youth aged 25 and under—'something feels off,' 'it would be better if it were like this,' 'is this really okay?'—into business ideas that solve societal and local challenges.

Amid ongoing recruitment difficulties and the challenge of connecting with young talent, WSH has chosen an approach not of fitting youth into the company, but of creating jobs from youth discomfort. This stems from CEO Sato’s own foundational experience of 'turning anger and discomfort into business.' The company believes that within the daily 'irritations' and 'unease' felt by youth lie social issues that have yet to be fully articulated.

Participants are not expected to have fully developed business plans or entrepreneurial experience from the start. What’s needed is simply the discomfort felt in daily life. To prevent terms like 'social issue resolution' and 'business planning' from being seen as exclusive to a select few, the entry point has been intentionally made accessible.

Through this initiative, WSH aims to pass on the mindset of solving social issues to the next generation.

■ Selected Ideas Get Budgeted: A New Model of 'Creating Jobs Before Hiring'

Moving forward, youth frustrations will be concretized into business plans. In Round 3, participants will shape their ideas with mentors. In Round 4, they will present interim reports and refine their ideas with feedback. After individual online mentoring sessions, the Final Round will feature final pitches in front of Sato. Selection is not guaranteed. Projects will be rigorously evaluated for whether they truly warrant business-level commitment.

Creating jobs from real youth discomfort, and then working together to operate those jobs, allowing companies and youth to become teammates. 'BREAKING WONDER' represents a new model of recruitment and business development—creating jobs before hiring.

■ Comment from Hajime Sato, Representative Director and Group CEO, Wonderstorage Holdings Co., Ltd.

'I started my business from nothing after experiencing the Lehman Shock, semiconductor downturn, family illness, and natural disasters.

At the root was the anger that 'a society where welfare depends on goodwill is wrong.' I turned that anger into a business and nurtured it. Academic background and career history don’t matter. It all starts with a single feeling that 'something is wrong.'

I believe the essence of social issues lies precisely within dissatisfaction, anger, and discomfort. It’s not those who accept the status quo as normal who change society, but those who feel 'something is wrong' and take action from that discomfort.

For ventures that we determine are truly necessary, we will seriously invest not just awards, but the budgets and employee resources needed for implementation.'

Sato sharing his experience with participants

■ Upcoming Schedule ※Media coverage available from Round 3 onward

※Individual participant interview permissions will be communicated separately
※We will accommodate requests such as individual interviews with stakeholders

■ Inquiries regarding this matter

Wonderstorage Holdings Co., Ltd.

Public Relations Contact: Yuise (080-8385-1137)
https://wonderstorage-h.jp/