Higashihiroshima City Opens Nationwide Recruitment for “Enjin,” a Co-Creation Business Program for Solving Social Issues

Higashihiroshima Innovation Lab Miraino+ in Higashihiroshima City has been running “Enjin” since fiscal 2023, a social issue-solving program that recruits highly motivated players from across Japan and supports them in working from Higashihiroshima City in collaboration with civic organizations, local residents, companies, and government bodies. The program aims to match people seeking to solve social issues with supporters who can provide business ideas linked to social impact, introduce local networks, and help turn initiatives into sustainable business models. By doing so, it seeks to increase the scale and speed of projects and create sustainable, effective businesses. The city is now recruiting the key players for this program nationwide. There are two main courses: the Start Course and the Scale Course. The Start Course is for people with a strong desire to solve social issues through business. Participants join a monthly full-course meeting and aim to form a business model for solving social issues over six months. About 10 players will be selected, with no activity support grant. The Scale Course includes a Project Type and a Mission Type. The Project Type is for people who can clearly present what they aim to achieve by the end of March 2027 and proceed through co-creation with mentors and supporters toward local implementation of a regional issue-solving business. About four players will be selected, with activity support grants of up to 300,000 yen including tax per player, along with about eight mentors who will receive a flat honorarium of 50,000 yen including tax each. The Mission Type is for people who want to trial and refine local implementation of a regional issue-solving business while building a sustainable system together with mentors and supporters. About four players will be selected, with activity support grants of up to 100,000 yen including tax per player, along with about eight mentors who will receive a flat honorarium of 50,000 yen including tax each. Past selected themes include food loss and children, real-world learning for junior and senior high school students with companies, festivals and companies, senior health and online services, income improvement for people with disabilities through art, parenting and entrepreneurship, income improvement for farmers through design, weakening intergenerational exchange and sports, people with disabilities and employers, regional branding with university students, recycling and international students, reskilling and work styles, cutting-edge research and local connections, researchers and bars, corporate co-creation hubs, international exchange for high school students, sales channel development for local specialty products, multicultural coexistence hubs, women’s support and place-making, support for secure living for seniors and others, connections between people with and without disabilities, regional revitalization through senior participation, early recovery from a sense of loss, theater and improvement of non-cognitive skills, wellbeing improvement, regional revitalization through new attractions, mountain climbing and school refusal, non-standard vegetables, and decluttering with empathy-based support. Information sessions will be held online and in Higashihiroshima City. Online sessions are scheduled for May 21, 2026 from 18:00 to 19:00 and May 30 from 10:00 to 11:00. In-person sessions will be held at Higashihiroshima Innovation Lab Miraino+ on May 23 from 10:00 to 11:00 and May 27 from 18:30 to 19:30. Participants must apply through the designated form by 17:00 on the day before each session. Player applications are due by 23:59 on June 7, 2026. The selection schedule is planned as follows: document screening from June 8 to June 10, interviews from June 15 to June 26, and notification of results in early July. Mentors for the Scale Course should have knowledge of social business or community business and be willing to learn with players and work together toward commercialization. A flat honorarium of 50,000 yen including tax will be provided. Individual contracts with players, including success fees or revenue sharing, are not prohibited. Supporters are people who assist player activities in their own areas of expertise or interest. Recruitment of mentors and supporters who work with Scale Course players is planned from July onward, with details available on the Enjin website. Participation in the program is free, but participants must cover their own necessary expenses, such as transportation and actual costs related to preparing business plans. To protect confidential information learned through the program, including other participants’ business details, players or mentors will be required to sign a confidentiality memorandum. Photos and articles about program participation may be posted on the Miraino website operated by Higashihiroshima City, as well as on Instagram, Facebook, and other channels. Application information, including personal data, will be shared and used by the organizer, Higashihiroshima City, and the program operator, Aile Engine Inc., only within the scope necessary to conduct the project, and will not be provided to third parties without prior consent. Inquiries should be directed to the Enjin Secretariat for the Co-Creation Entrepreneurship Program for Solving Social Issues, contact person Imai, phone 080-9951-9705, email info@mirainoplus.com.