【First in Japan! From Kyoto! University Collaboration!】Launch of "Youth Atotsugi Lab," a Community for Students with Family Businesses, and Kick-off Event Held

The General Incorporated Association Oendo, which champions the slogan "Supporting all humanity as successors," is set to launch the "Youth Atotsugi Lab" in April 2026. This new community will primarily consist of students from the youth generation who either have family businesses or are potential successors to small and medium-sized enterprises. This follows the successful establishment of the "Atotsugi Lab" in March 2024. Leveraging Kyoto's unique attributes as a "World Cultural and Historical City" and a "Student City," Oendo will forge partnerships with key academic institutions. These co-creation partners include the Kyoto Sangyo University Innovation Center and its Entrepreneurship Program, the Tomohiro Seki Seminar from Doshisha University's Faculty of Commerce, and the Norio Kubota Seminar from Ritsumeikan University's Faculty of Business Administration. Through inter-university dialogue and exchange, the initiative aims to empower students to confront the realities of their family businesses and their own aspirations. It seeks to broaden their potential, fostering an entrepreneurial spirit and a deep love for their local communities, thereby supporting their endeavors with the collective backing of the region. (Scene from the monthly Atotsugi Lab) 【About Youth Atotsugi Lab】 (1) Overview The Youth Atotsugi Lab is an inter-university community primarily for students who have the potential to inherit a family business (including students interested in small and medium-sized enterprises). Through monthly activities such as interactions with senior successors and business owners, building camaraderie with peers in similar situations, and practical fieldwork rooted in the local community, students will confront themselves and their family businesses, envision their future, and continuously seek their own answers. Simultaneously, with the motto "Break out of your shell!", the community aims to foster relationships and an environment that encourages action and challenge with an entrepreneurial spirit. Moving forward, Oendo will support the activities, which will be continuously driven by the students themselves. (2) Background and Vision We believe that succeeding a business is by no means a passive act; rather, it is an extremely proactive endeavor where one selectively chooses the foundations left by predecessors and actively shapes and pioneers the future. A successor is an entrepreneur who repeatedly takes small actions and challenges to pass on the baton to the next generation, while also being a storyteller of history and culture rooted in the community. Together with our co-creation partners who have endorsed this initiative, we aim to cultivate an environment that supports these budding successors in the region and stand by them. 【About General Incorporated Association Oendo】 Established in May 2025. In March 2024, the organization launched "Atotsugi Lab," a community primarily for successors in their 20s and 30s planning to inherit family businesses in Kyoto, which was later incorporated. With the slogan "Supporting all humanity as successors," Oendo currently supports successors mainly in Kyoto and Shiga through opportunities for dialogue and exchange. 【About the Kick-off Event】 A talk session and networking event will be held involving stakeholders of the Youth Atotsugi Lab. (1) Date and Time: Tuesday, April 28, 2026, 18:30-21:00 (2) Venue: KOIN, 3rd floor, Kyoto Economic Center (3) Content: Explanation of purpose / Introduction of initiatives / Talk session / Commemorative photo / Networking event (4) Theme: The Potential of Budding Successors (5) Target Audience: Successors of small and medium-sized enterprises (current, prospective, or candidate successors) Students with family businesses or students interested in small and medium-sized enterprises Individuals who wish to support successors and students (6) Expected Attendees: Mr. Seung-Hwan Gu, Director, Kyoto Sangyo University Innovation Center Mr. Masanori Nakatani, Director, Kyoto Sangyo University Entrepreneurship Program Professor Tomohiro Seki, Faculty of Commerce, Doshisha University Professor Norio Kubota, Faculty of Business Administration, Ritsumeikan University Mr. Masahiro Uchida, Faculty of Contemporary Sociology, Kyoto Sangyo University (Uchida Tsukemono / Kyoto) Mr. Shindai Akasaka, Faculty of Commerce, Doshisha University (Akasaka Shoten / Osaka) Ms. Yuki Takemoto, Faculty of Business Administration, Ritsumeikan University (Chikuyouen / Kyoto) (7) Application Method: Please apply via the form below. https://forms.gle/H6j7gipier3Dygmo8 【About Co-creation Partners】 ▼Kyoto Sangyo University Innovation Center Operates a comprehensive, university-wide program for all students, integrating formal education and entrepreneurship support for students who "aim to start a business" or "want to take a step forward." ▼Kyoto Sangyo University Entrepreneurship Program A new academic program that transcends specialized fields to cultivate entrepreneurship for "creating businesses." ▼Doshisha University Faculty of Commerce Tomohiro Seki Seminar Researches the entrepreneurial development process of Japanese small and medium-sized enterprises and entrepreneurs. ▼Ritsumeikan University Faculty of Business Administration Norio Kubota Seminar Learning SME management from the field ~ Proposing management solutions focused on business succession and creating company histories. 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