Winners Decided for the 12th Mynavi Career Koshien, One of Japan’s Largest Business Idea Contests for High School Students

Mynavi Corporation (Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director and President: Shunsuke Awai) held the finals for the '12th Mynavi Career Koshien,' a business idea contest for high school students nationwide, on Saturday, March 14, and Sunday, March 15, 2026, at Otemachi Mitsui Hall (Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo). Mynavi Career Koshien is an inquiry-based learning program in the form of a business idea contest where high school students form teams of two to four to tackle themes presented by corporations. Since its inception in 2014, the number of participants has increased every year, and this year, marking its 12th iteration, saw a record 11,668 students from 3,151 teams across the country participating. As a result of the judging, Team 'No Side' from Rugby School Japan/Waseda High School (representing Mizkan) won in the 'Breakthrough Division,' and Team '≒0' (Nearly Equal Zero) from Shibuya Education Gakuen Shibuya High School (representing Lotte) won in the 'Innovation Division.' Furthermore, both teams garnered support from the audience and simultaneously won the Audience Award, achieving the honor of winning both their division and the audience vote. The theme for this 12th event was 'Borderless Age.' Based on this grand theme, participating companies set their own specific themes. High school students who passed the document screening, video screening, and semi-finals teamed up with their respective companies to advance to the finals. They presented ideas they had spent over half a year perfecting, with each team given up to 10 minutes. This year, the contest was divided into two divisions, 'Breakthrough' and 'Innovation,' with a winner, runner-up, and Audience Award selected for each. In the finals, the 12 representative teams selected by various companies and organizations conducted presentations, split into six teams across the two divisions. Each team had a 10-minute presentation followed by a 5-minute Q&A session, unveiling ideas developed over six months with various ingenuities. Winners were determined by combining a primary evaluation (absolute evaluation based on six common criteria: information gathering, theme analysis, feasibility, sustainability, social impact, and novelty) with a secondary evaluation (relative evaluation) by judges, and scores from audience voting. Winning teams were awarded a trophy and a prize of 1 million yen in overseas travel vouchers. ■ Award-Winning Teams 'Breakthrough Division' Winner Mizkan Representative: Team 'No Side' (Rugby School Japan / Waseda High School) Based on the theme, 'From the perspective of Mizkan's mission, "Something that will eventually become life," create a future Mizkan business originating from food experiences that resonate with the younger generation,' Team 'No Side' focused on new types of malnutrition becoming a problem in modern society. They proposed 'Saku-mame,' freeze-dried natto snacks utilizing Mizkan's fermentation technology and odor-neutralizing N64 bacteria. By eliminating the stickiness and smell unique to natto and turning the sauce into seasoning, they redefined natto as a 'snack that can be eaten anytime, anywhere.' They presented a new possibility for food that brings healthy eating habits closer to the lifestyle of the younger generation. The moment our team name was called, my mind went blank, and I couldn't believe we had actually been chosen. During the preparation period, our ideas clashed many times, and we even had conflicts during discussions, but I believe the time we spent seriously confronting our goal of winning made our team bond stronger. Through Mizkan and this competition, I also learned that behind the products and services companies create, there are many trials and errors and perspectives from various people. The joy of challenging a goal together with friends and the great sense of accomplishment I gained have been a significant experience for thinking about my future. 'Innovation Division' Winner Secom Representative: Team '≒0' (Nearly Equal Zero) (Shibuya Education Gakuen Shibuya High School) Based on Secom's theme, 'Using the power of the Secom Group, what is a new service that redefines "peace of mind" to make your daily life 5 years from now 100x happier?', Team '≒0' devised 'Looky,' a service that embeds a portable camera utilizing Secom's monitoring technology into a stuffed toy, where AI analyzes daily emotions and events, and saves and visualizes them in a dedicated app. They proposed a revenue model through hardware sales and subscriptions, while integrating functions for reflecting on memories, career support, and emergency security. By enabling self-analysis from present, past, and future perspectives, they presented the service as one that records the 'as-is' of young people, providing confidence and peace of mind. The moment our names were called as the winning team, joy welled up inside, and at the same time, it felt surreal. During the preparation period, I struggled for weeks over setting the challenge and repeatedly re-evaluated what we should be as a team; it was a series of difficult times. Even so, while acknowledging each other's strengths and weaknesses and repeating trial and error, I believe we were able to build one form as a team. Also, while working with Secom, the experience of continuously thinking about how to convey our ideas and how to get people to empathize with them was a great learning experience for us. Through this competition, I reaffirmed the importance of believing in myself, my teammates, and our goal, and I felt that people can grow by challenging themselves beyond their limits. Building on this experience, I want to continue taking on challenges so that I can create new value for society. 'Breakthrough Division' Runner-up Nippon Life Representative: Team 'Sukoyaka-han' (Saku Chosei High School / Hamamatsu Municipal High School / Shizuoka Prefectural Hamamatsu Higashi High School) When it was announced we were runners-up, I felt happy, but since we were aiming for the top prize, I also felt a deep sense of frustration, and a mix of emotions. Since the three of us were working in separate locations during the preparation period, coordinating the script and sharing opinions didn't always go as planned, which was the difficult part. However, because the three of us have spent a long time together as childhood friends, I think we were able to polish our ideas into something better by exchanging opinions without hesitation. Through this competition, I learned the importance of relying on my teammates and gained a lot from the presentations of other high school students, making it a very valuable experience. Triggered by this experience, I would like to challenge myself with jobs related to solving social issues in the future. 'Innovation Division' Runner-up Lotte Representative: Team 'Toshitsu Joto' (Tezukayama High School) When our name was called as runners-up, while I felt happy that what we had worked on was recognized, I also strongly felt the regret of not winning. During the 8-month preparation period, there were times when our opinions clashed while deepening our proposal content, and we had trouble deciding how to consolidate them as a team, but the fact that we were able to shape it into one proposal finally through repeated discussions was a great experience. Also, through this competition, I learned the perspective of establishing problem-solving as a business and the importance of how to communicate so that our thoughts reach the other party. I feel that the experience of taking on challenges while interacting with many people has had a major influence on our values and thoughts about the future. Building on this experience, I would like to continue taking on challenges so that I can create value that is useful to people in society. 'Breakthrough Division': Mizkan Representative - Team 'No Side' (Rugby School Japan / Waseda High School) 'Innovation Division': Secom Representative - Team '≒0' (Shibuya Education Gakuen Shibuya High School) ■ About the broadcast of the '12th Mynavi Career Koshien' documentary program The finals will be broadcast on the TBS nationwide terrestrial network (28 stations). - Broadcast: April 12 (Sun) from 3:30 PM on the TBS nationwide terrestrial network. - Free streaming available on TVer. ■ '12th Mynavi Career Koshien' Overview - Finals Date: Breakthrough Division: March 14 (Sat), Innovation Division: March 15 (Sun) - Venue: Otemachi Mitsui Hall (3F Otemachi One, 1-2-1 Otemachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo) - Official HP: https://careerkoshien.mynavi.jp/ - Organizers: Mynavi Corporation, TBS Television, Inc.