【July 15 Event】Finalists Announced for Japan's Largest 'Customer Success Award 2026'

Customer Success Co., Ltd. and the Japan Customer Success Association have announced the three finalist companies for the 'Customer Success Award 2026,' to be held on July 15, 2026. The award received entries from 10 major corporations across 11 divisions, including NEC and Mitsubishi Electric. The event will recognize outstanding customer success initiatives that drive organizational transformation and will also feature Japan's only CS pitch battle, the 'Customer Success Ultimate Dojo.'

Official Website: https://cs-award2026.customer-success.co.jp/

About the Customer Success Award 2026

The 'Customer Success Award 2026' honors companies that have gone beyond conventional frameworks to simultaneously achieve customer value creation and business growth while driving organizational transformation. This year, the top honor, 'The Blue Flag of the Year 2026,' has been established, and three finalist companies have been selected from nationwide entries.

The judging criteria emphasize 'Breakthrough Power,' 'Enterprise-wide Impact,' and 'Reproducibility,' evaluating advanced initiatives that can serve as benchmarks for other organizations.

The winner of the highest honor, 'The Blue Flag of the Year 2026,' will be announced at the awards ceremony on July 15.

Three Finalist Companies

The award received entries from 10 companies across 11 divisions, primarily major Japanese corporations. Applications came from diverse industries such as manufacturing, finance, telecommunications, and education, demonstrating the widespread adoption of customer success practices across sectors.

Based on evaluation criteria supervised by the Japan Customer Success Association, each company's initiatives were assessed from the perspectives of 'Breakthrough Power,' 'Enterprise-wide Impact,' and 'Reproducibility.' Additionally, in-depth interviews were conducted with each company to perform quantitative and qualitative evaluations. As a result, the following three companies have been selected as finalists.

【Finalist Companies】

・NTT Docomo Business Corporation ・NEC Corporation ・Benesse Corporation, Junior & Senior High School Division

*Listed in alphabetical order by company name, excluding legal entity suffixes.

List of Participating Companies

The award received applications from a wide range of industries, including manufacturing, finance, telecommunications, and human resources services. Participating companies are as follows:

Amano Corporation NTT Docomo Business Corporation Sumitomo Mitsui Auto Service Corporation NEC Corporation Pasona Career Corporation Benesse Corporation ・University & Lifelong Learning Division, Corporate Sales Department ・Junior & Senior High School Division HENNGE Corporation Sumitomo Mitsui Card Company Mitsubishi Electric Corporation Ricoh IT Solutions Corporation

*Listed in alphabetical order by company name, excluding legal entity suffixes.

Comment from Hisanori Yamada, Representative Director, Japan Customer Success Association

"This year, we received applications from a broad range of industries, including manufacturing, finance, and telecommunications, and we truly feel that customer success has expanded beyond the SaaS industry to become a key theme in corporate transformation.

The three nominated companies, despite facing different environments and challenges, have driven organizational transformation to simultaneously enhance customer value and achieve business growth, implementing highly reproducible initiatives that serve as references for other companies.

On the day of the event, we aim to create a platform that contributes to the further development of customer success in Japan by sharing the background and practical insights behind the awardees' challenges."

Event Program: The Blue Flag of the Year Award Ceremony & Special Talk Session

On the day, the winner of the highest honor, 'The Blue Flag of the Year 2026,' will be announced from among the three finalists.

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

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

Judging Panel

Specialists selected by the association have been invited as judges to conduct a rigorous evaluation.

Shigemichi Komori (Director, Japan Customer Success Association / Former Executive Vice President, Salesforce Japan)

A pioneer in establishing the concept of customer success in Japan, he evaluates the 'Enterprise-wide Impact' of initiatives from both global standards and strategic management perspectives.

Osamu Taniguchi (Representative Director, E-Partners LLC)

With extensive consulting experience and deep expertise in call centers and customer touchpoints, he evaluates the quality of customer experience (CX) and the 'practical effectiveness' at the frontline level from a professional standpoint.

Yoshihisa Miyata (Representative Director, Zen and Company / Executive Managing Director, Japan CPO Association / Advisor, ALL STAR SAAS FUND)

Combining perspectives from product management and investment, he evaluates the integration of product and CS in SaaS businesses and the 'reproducibility' of initiatives in driving business growth.

Hisanori Yamada (Representative Director, Japan Customer Success Association)

One of Japan's top practitioners, having supported the establishment and development of CS organizations in numerous companies, he evaluates the 'innovativeness' in light of the latest industry trends and the 'organizational adoption rate' of initiatives.

'Customer Success Ultimate Dojo' Participants Announced

The 'Customer Success Ultimate Dojo' is Japan's only pitch battle for customer success professionals, held annually since 2018. It has gained strong support from CS practitioners as a platform to share insights and experiences gained from the field.

This year, after a rigorous selection process from numerous applications, the following four participants have been selected. On the day, each will present their practical case studies and challenges in a 17-minute pitch, and the winner will be determined by real-time voting from the audience.

Voting will be based on three criteria: 'Innovativeness,' 'Impact,' and 'Presentation Skills.' The winner will receive a prize of 500,000 yen and the title of 'Strongest Customer Success Manager.'

Please look forward to practical insights applicable across industries and company sizes, along with passionate, field-driven presentations.

【List of Participants】

・Schoo Inc.

Head of Customer Success Department

Ayaka Konishi

・Stamen Inc.

Executive Officer, VP of Customer Success

Ryoji Yamada

・STORES Inc.

Manager, Growth Success Division, Customers Department

Takuya Kanda

・Freee Inc.

freee-mcp Evangelist

Shohei Aoyama

*Listed in alphabetical order by company name, excluding legal entity suffixes.

Event Overview

Event Name

Customer Success Award 2026 (Simultaneously hosted: Customer Success Ultimate Dojo)