etomoji CEO Kiyokawa Selected for "2026 Design Grant Program"; Begins Empirical Research on Culture Building in Contractor Organizations
Hanae Kiyokawa, CEO of etomoji Inc., has been selected as a grantee for the "2026 Design Grant Program Design Research" implemented by the Japan Institute of Design Promotion. She will commence empirical research titled "Project Mikan - Empirical Research on Culture Building and Growth Foundations in Contractor Organizations," aiming to verify whether culture building can function as an educational foundation in organizations composed solely of contractors.
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- 📰 Published: April 15, 2026 at 00:00
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Hanae Kiyokawa, CEO of etomoji Inc. (Location: Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo), has been personally selected as a grantee for the "2026 Design Grant Program Design Research" implemented by the Japan Institute of Design Promotion.
This research, titled "Project Mikan - Empirical Research on Culture Building and Growth Foundations in Contractor Organizations," aims to verify whether culture building can function as an educational foundation in organizations composed solely of contractors, without employment relationships.
The knowledge gained will be widely disclosed to society, with a view to future consulting expansion into various industries as a new organizational design model independent of employment.
Background: Freelancers expanding to 13 million, while the fragility of "education and growth foundations" becomes apparent.
In recent years, the freelance population in Japan has rapidly increased, reaching 13.03 million* in 2024 (a 32.4% increase compared to nine years ago), with an economic scale exceeding 20 trillion yen. Freelancing is no longer a special way of working but has become a very important option in the Japanese labor market.
However, while the population is increasing, mechanisms for forming organizational commitment and continuous growth (educational foundations) are not sufficiently developed socially.
In reality, despite 97.8% of freelancers feeling the need for "learning to improve their skills," 68.1% have answered that they "have given up on learning what they wanted to due to securing time and expenses"*, highlighting a structural issue where continuous growth is difficult through individual effort (self-investment) alone.
Amidst being busy with daily one-off projects, opportunities to grasp the overall business perspective and learn the premises of decision-making are scarce, resulting in a dilemma where "talent deeply committed to the company or project is not nurtured," which is an industry-wide challenge.
This research is an attempt to present a new education and growth platform independent of employment, addressing the social issue of "limitations in utilizing contractors."
Sources:
*1: Lancers Inc. "Freelance Survey 2024," document download URL https://www.lancers.jp/research_news/2024
*2: General Incorporated Association Professional & Parallel Career Freelance Association
"Freelance White Paper 2024," document download URL https://blog.freelance-jp.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/whitepaperFreelanceSurvey2024.pdf
Research Overview: "Project Mikan" uses a fully remote organization of all contractors as an experimental site.
The stage for this research is etomoji Inc., where Kiyokawa serves as CEO. Our company is a fully remote organization where everyone is involved under a contract agreement, with approximately 40 members as of January 2026.
The majority of members are creators, mainly designers, active nationwide.
In this research, named "Project Mikan," the following three hypotheses will be empirically verified:
Even in an organization composed solely of contractors, a high state of engagement can be formed through culture building.
Improved engagement positively impacts the growth of individual freelancers (technology, thinking, business understanding) and the productivity and performance of the entire organization.
By making culture building function as an educational foundation, a path can be drawn for freelancers to evolve from mere contractors to potential entrepreneurs and managers.
The name "Mikan" (みかん) has two meanings: likening the theme of culture building to the familiar metaphor of a "mandarin orange" (蜜柑), and implying that the organization is always fluid and "unfinished" (未完).
Implementation Details and Future Developments: Empirical verification and social implementation of an organizational model that transcends the limitations of freelance utilization.
The originality of this research lies in empirically verifying and long-term operating culture building as an "educational foundation" in a contractor organization, which tends to remain a short-term, transactional relationship.
Specifically, it will involve "quantitative assessment of engagement" through eNPS before and after the project, "verbalization of behavioral changes and improvements in business perspective and judgment" brought about by daily measures, and "correlation analysis between improved engagement and performance such as sales and retention rates."
The expected effects and significance of this research are to simultaneously demonstrate the following three points:
This research, titled "Project Mikan - Empirical Research on Culture Building and Growth Foundations in Contractor Organizations," aims to verify whether culture building can function as an educational foundation in organizations composed solely of contractors, without employment relationships.
The knowledge gained will be widely disclosed to society, with a view to future consulting expansion into various industries as a new organizational design model independent of employment.
Background: Freelancers expanding to 13 million, while the fragility of "education and growth foundations" becomes apparent.
In recent years, the freelance population in Japan has rapidly increased, reaching 13.03 million* in 2024 (a 32.4% increase compared to nine years ago), with an economic scale exceeding 20 trillion yen. Freelancing is no longer a special way of working but has become a very important option in the Japanese labor market.
However, while the population is increasing, mechanisms for forming organizational commitment and continuous growth (educational foundations) are not sufficiently developed socially.
In reality, despite 97.8% of freelancers feeling the need for "learning to improve their skills," 68.1% have answered that they "have given up on learning what they wanted to due to securing time and expenses"*, highlighting a structural issue where continuous growth is difficult through individual effort (self-investment) alone.
Amidst being busy with daily one-off projects, opportunities to grasp the overall business perspective and learn the premises of decision-making are scarce, resulting in a dilemma where "talent deeply committed to the company or project is not nurtured," which is an industry-wide challenge.
This research is an attempt to present a new education and growth platform independent of employment, addressing the social issue of "limitations in utilizing contractors."
Sources:
*1: Lancers Inc. "Freelance Survey 2024," document download URL https://www.lancers.jp/research_news/2024
*2: General Incorporated Association Professional & Parallel Career Freelance Association
"Freelance White Paper 2024," document download URL https://blog.freelance-jp.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/whitepaperFreelanceSurvey2024.pdf
Research Overview: "Project Mikan" uses a fully remote organization of all contractors as an experimental site.
The stage for this research is etomoji Inc., where Kiyokawa serves as CEO. Our company is a fully remote organization where everyone is involved under a contract agreement, with approximately 40 members as of January 2026.
The majority of members are creators, mainly designers, active nationwide.
In this research, named "Project Mikan," the following three hypotheses will be empirically verified:
Even in an organization composed solely of contractors, a high state of engagement can be formed through culture building.
Improved engagement positively impacts the growth of individual freelancers (technology, thinking, business understanding) and the productivity and performance of the entire organization.
By making culture building function as an educational foundation, a path can be drawn for freelancers to evolve from mere contractors to potential entrepreneurs and managers.
The name "Mikan" (みかん) has two meanings: likening the theme of culture building to the familiar metaphor of a "mandarin orange" (蜜柑), and implying that the organization is always fluid and "unfinished" (未完).
Implementation Details and Future Developments: Empirical verification and social implementation of an organizational model that transcends the limitations of freelance utilization.
The originality of this research lies in empirically verifying and long-term operating culture building as an "educational foundation" in a contractor organization, which tends to remain a short-term, transactional relationship.
Specifically, it will involve "quantitative assessment of engagement" through eNPS before and after the project, "verbalization of behavioral changes and improvements in business perspective and judgment" brought about by daily measures, and "correlation analysis between improved engagement and performance such as sales and retention rates."
The expected effects and significance of this research are to simultaneously demonstrate the following three points: