Kumanomics Joins Toranomon Hills Glass Rock as Strategic Partner

Kumanomics Inc. (Headquarters: Setagaya-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director: Naoki Hashimoto) announced its participation as a strategic partner in Glass Rock, a hub aiming to solve societal issues across sectors, set to open in Toranomon Hills in April 2025 by Mori Building Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director and President: Shingo Tsuji). For the past year since its opening, Kumanomics has served as a "Co-creation Coordinator," connecting stakeholders and promoting co-creation to solve societal issues. In addition to this role, Kumanomics will strengthen its collaboration by driving strategy development, new program creation, and event design, further revitalizing the facility. ◎Background and Vision for Enhanced Collaboration from Kumanomics Representative I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to have built this place together as a Co-creation Coordinator over the past year since Glass Rock's opening.

I have become convinced of one thing over this past year. Solving societal issues requires not only excellent policies or groundbreaking business models, but also a "place" and a "mechanism" where policy and business move simultaneously. Glass Rock possesses both. I have witnessed firsthand the co-creation that arises when government officials, corporate employees, and practitioners come together at the same table, shedding their sector-specific titles. Our appointment as a strategic partner by Kumanomics Inc. adds a greater role on top of the foundation built through our activities as a Co-creation Coordinator over the past year. This is to further enhance the value of Glass Rock – its unique position as a co-creation hub in Japan capable of driving both policy and business across sector boundaries – and to jointly shape its strategy.

The core of this initiative will be the "Social Innovation Sprint," launching in fiscal year 2026. This is a practical program designed to generate businesses by combining policy and business, starting from societal issues.

We conceived the mechanisms of society at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, honed our ability to shape them at a design school, and have poured both into creating this program. We are embarking on a new stage of driving change in societal mechanisms themselves from Glass Rock. I feel a great sense of responsibility and joy in reaching this new stage. ◎Team Members Kumanomics Inc. is comprised of specialists from various fields, including its representative. We will contribute to the value creation and enhancement of Glass Rock, a hub dedicated to solving societal issues through cross-sector co-creation. Representative Director / Nomad Policy Maker, Kumanomics Inc. Naoki Hashimoto Born in Hyogo Prefecture in 1986. After graduating from the Faculty of Law at the University of Tokyo, he joined the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) in 2010. He was the first national public servant to study abroad at a graduate school of fine arts (Parsons School of Design, USA), where he completed his MFA (Master of Fine Arts). He has been involved in promoting design-driven management, planning and operating JAPAN+D which formulates policies using design methods, and introducing service design methods at the Digital Agency. He also launched the "I-OPEN Project" at the Japan Patent Office to solve societal issues through intellectual property rights, receiving the Good Design Award in 2023 for this project. In 2024, he resigned from METI and founded Kumanomics. As a "Nomad Policy Maker" who transcends organizational boundaries, he handles numerous projects where companies and government collaborate to design business and policy as one. At Toranomon Hills Glass Rock, he is primarily responsible for co-creation design between policy and business as a Co-creation Coordinator. He also serves as an Adjunct Lecturer at the Graduate School of Public Policy, The University of Tokyo.

Director: Public-Private Partnership, Community, PR Ryuta Kosuge Formerly a "once-a-week bureaucrat" at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), he served in the ministry's first Community Manager position. He handles everything from planning and design to MCing, facilitation, and PR. In July 2025, he founded Grau Inc. He is an expert in revitalizing venues for solving regional issues. As a Co-creation Coordinator for Toranomon Hills Glass Rock, he is primarily responsible for building collaborations with public partners (government). He also serves as a Tourism Ambassador for Tsumagoi Village, Gunma Prefecture.

Director: Strategy Development Yosuke Kubota He has been involved in a wide range of activities at a major retail company, from corporate branding strategy development to intellectual property utilization. In 2021, he joined the design firm KESIKI. He has worked on projects such as corporate culture transformation and business development. In April 2025, he founded con-syn Inc. At Glass Rock, he is responsible for overall strategy development and the new program "Social Innovation Sprint."

◎What is "Social Innovation Sprint"? The Social Innovation Sprint is a five-workshop program designed to develop business concepts by combining "policy" and "business," starting from societal issues. The curriculum includes understanding the structure of social trends, visualizing issues through systems thinking, and techniques for concept design that integrate policy and business. Through five days of lectures and practical exercises, and cross-sector co-creation, participants aim to acquire the conceptual ability to create new markets and establish rules. ◎Kumanomics Media Coverage History (Reference) ▼Published March 9, 2026, "Worker’s Resort" Interview with Mr. Hashimoto, Co-creation Coordinator at Glass Rock: "The mechanisms of a place that sparks co-creation" Details ▼Published November 28, 2025, "XU (Cross You)" YouTube interview with Jun Tamura "Saving a city with a potential population of 8,000. A former METI bureaucrat who saves depopulated areas talks about the power of design! What is the "design thinking" that won the Good Design Award and can save regions?" Details ▼Published November 5, 2025, "Nikkei Shimbun" Electronic Edition (and morning edition, page 35, University section) "Looking Beyond Precedents: Naoki Hashimoto, Representative Director of Kumanomics. Footprints of Predecessors: Changemakers." Details ▼Published July 18, 2025, "Future Literacy Journal" "Changing the Future by 'Opening Up' Policy (Naoki Hashimoto, Representative Director of Kumanomics) #Future of Work Series 2040s" Details

◎Inquiries Regarding This Article

Kumanomics Inc. Public Relations (Midori Hashimoto / Kosuge)

Web│https://kumanomics.jp MAIL│info@kumanomics.jp Facebook│https://www.facebook.com/kumanomics/ Instagram│https://www.instagram.com/kumanomics/

*We share Kumanomics' philosophy and activities on our social media using original illustrations. We look forward to your follows and likes!