Hello, this is Ryuta Hamamoto from TIMEWELL.
"The regions are full of interesting problems, and yet there are too few young people to turn them into businesses." Moving around regional industries and university sites, I hear this said again and again. Labour shortages, the drive to do more with fewer hands, greater efficiency in farming and logistics. There is a mountain of problems waiting to be solved right in front of you, and yet the people who could solve them with frontier technology and stand a business up flow away to the three great metropolitan areas. How to change this structure is a major theme of regional revitalisation.
Taking on exactly that challenge, with a national subsidy scheme and local operating organisations joining hands, is the subject of this article: the "AKATSUKI project" and one of its selected programmes, the "Chushikoku Tech Gateway." And, on a slightly personal note, our company, TIMEWELL, is also involved in this Chushikoku Tech Gateway, as PM (project manager). In this article I will walk you through it in order, from how the scheme works to the ten businesses that were selected, in a way that makes sense even to a beginner. If you are interested in student entrepreneurship or deep tech in the regions, and equally if you are curious about where you stand on using AI yourself, it helps to first confirm your position with our free AI literacy self-check. I think the later part of this piece will feel more relatable once you have.
What the AKATSUKI project is
Let me start by organising the underlying scheme.
The AKATSUKI project is the business brand name attached to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry's "Subsidy for the Programme to Discover and Develop Young Talent in the Regions"1. It is a rather long name, but its meaning comes into view once you break it apart. The state provides a "subsidy" to programmes that "discover" and "develop" "young talent in the regions." There is a long lineage of young-creator development that IPA (the Information-technology Promotion Agency) and METI have sustained under the "MITOU (unexplored) programme," and it helps to understand this as an initiative that sits within a wider extension of the regional version of that, the "MITOU-style programme to discover and develop young talent in the regions."
The aim is to find young people (students and young talent) who live in the regions or are affiliated with regional universities and the like, and to develop them, with frontier technologies such as AI and robotics as their tools, into innovators and founders who create new businesses1. The idea is to prepare a place where you can take on challenges with frontier technology while staying in your home area, without having to move to a metropolitan area.
One point worth grasping about the mechanism is that this is an "indirect-support" model. Rather than METI handing money directly to each young person, it grants a subsidy to operating organisations (selected businesses) recruited from across the country, and those organisations design and run development programmes region by region. TOPPAN Inc. serves as the secretariat, and information is published on a dedicated site (mitouteki.jp)1. The scheme is described as continuing into FY Reiwa 7 (令和7年度) as well, with a grant decision, on top of FY Reiwa 4 through 61.
Here is one point that is easy to misunderstand, so let me flag it first. The AKATSUKI project itself is a scheme whose main purpose is to "discover and develop young talent in the regions," not a scheme dedicated to deep tech. Because many of the regional programmes that are actually selected put forward frontier technologies such as AI, robotics and IoT, it does function, as a result, as a foundation supporting regional deep tech and student entrepreneurship, but I think it matters not to oversimplify it into "AKATSUKI equals a deep-tech scheme." Incidentally, the character "暁" (akatsuki) means "daybreak," which sits well with the mood of the programme's name, but the formal notation used for the scheme is "AKATSUKI project" (the precise official notation should be confirmed with the official sources).
What the Chushikoku Tech Gateway is
One of the initiatives selected as a regional operating programme for FY Reiwa 7 under that AKATSUKI project is the "Chushikoku Tech Gateway (中四国 TECHGATEWAY)"2.
The lead operator is GOB Inc. (GOB Incubation Partners), running it in partnership with Okayama University (岡山大学)2. The target is undergraduate, graduate and technical-college (kosen) students in the Chugoku-Shikoku region. In other words, it aims squarely at the young people who will carry the region forward. The concept it puts forward is "Break the Bias," which carries the sense of tearing down fixed assumptions, and it holds within it a stance of re-examining problems without being bound by existing premises.
The content of the programme is hands-on. Participating students use frontier technologies such as AI, robotics, IoT and data analysis, and they re-frame the individual troubles that local companies face, treating them not as "that one company's problem" but as challenges common to an industry. On top of that, the structure has them experience the whole journey from research and development through prototyping, PoC (proof-of-concept testing) and business-model design in one continuous stretch. The image is of taking an idea in your head and carrying it all the way to a working thing and the form of a business, tracing that path once through while receiving support alongside you.
On the Okayama University side, lecturer Yuki Matsuda (松田裕貴) is described as serving as overall PM and associate professor Yuta Kodera (小寺雄太) as PM, walking alongside the students2. The development period is given as running until January 2027, and it has been reported that around ten projects are planned to be selected during that period (the number of selections, the development period and the various dates rest on reporting and press summaries, so the precise figures should be confirmed with the official sources)2.
Let me add one note about the scheme's fiscal-year label. AKATSUKI's programme name is "FY Reiwa 7" (令和7年度, that is, FY2025, April 2025 to March 2026), yet in the reporting the dates for selection, publication and the development period straddle 2026, and there are places where the fiscal-year label and the dates do not quite line up. I state upfront that the precise selection date, fiscal year and development period are a point that needs confirming against the original press releases from Okayama University and GOB.
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Why doing this in Chugoku-Shikoku matters
Why does it matter to carry out this initiative in "Chugoku-Shikoku"? From here I will fold in my own view as I organise the picture.
Chugoku-Shikoku is the region combining the Chugoku area (Tottori, Shimane, Okayama, Hiroshima and Yamaguchi) and Shikoku (Tokushima, Kagawa, Ehime and Kochi). With the Setouchi industrial belt at its core, it can be described as a land of "manufacturing meets primary industry," where manufacturing such as automobiles, shipbuilding, steel and chemical complexes gathers thickly alongside agriculture, forestry and fisheries. The field is packed tight with real problems such as labour shortages, DX and GX, and the drive to do more with fewer hands.
At the same time, there is a structural worry. Young people and students tend to flow out to the three great metropolitan areas such as Tokyo and Osaka, and the layer of university-originated startups and deep-tech founders is thinner than in the Tokyo-Nagoya-Osaka belt. My reading is that there are too few people to connect the research seeds held by regional national universities such as Okayama University with the on-the-ground problems that local companies run into every day, using AI, robotics and IoT.
That is exactly why I believe an AKATSUKI-style regional development programme such as the Chushikoku Tech Gateway carries great meaning. Organised, it comes down to these three points.
- The first is curbing talent outflow. Young people within the region gain the chance to take on business creation with frontier technology while staying in their home area. The very option of "you can take on a challenge without moving to a metropolitan area" becomes a value in itself.
- The second is the social implementation of research seeds (the seeds of research lying dormant in universities). It becomes a bridge that connects them to an exit in the form of solving the problems of regional industry.
- The third is creating a starting point for an ecosystem. It becomes the first trigger for a local startup ecosystem to be born. When one person who takes on a challenge appears, the next challenger tends to follow more easily.
This regional policy also overlaps with our own areas of interest at TIMEWELL. AI use in manufacturing (our ZEROCK) and the DX of regional industry are exactly the on-the-ground problems of Chugoku-Shikoku. In the sense of connecting regional manufacturing with frontier technology, I feel this is an initiative with a strong affinity for the themes we face day to day.
TIMEWELL's involvement
Here, let me tell you about our involvement.
As I touched on at the outset, two members of TIMEWELL, Ryuta Hamamoto and Koki Ando (安藤 晃規), take part in the Chushikoku Tech Gateway as PMs (project managers). Our role is to stay close to the selected teams and walk alongside them through the process of building their businesses.
What we usually do in our AI consulting service for companies, WARP, is precisely to discern "what to build" and to think through, together, how to apply technology to it. In WARP Entre (/en/warp/entre), which specialises in the early stage of founding a company or a new business, we have built up a track record of walking alongside people as they turn an idea into a working thing and verify its value. I want to bring that experience to bear for the region's young challengers too. It is with that feeling that we have taken on the role of PM for the Chushikoku Tech Gateway. I hope to be even a little useful in the process of nurturing the technical sprouts and the sense of problems that the students hold into the form of a business.
The ten businesses selected for FY2026
Now, at last, we come to the main subject. Let me introduce the ten businesses selected under the Chushikoku Tech Gateway, following the official list of selectees (7 July 2026)2. Every one is driven by students and kosen students from Chugoku-Shikoku, and the themes are genuinely varied. Here I introduce all of the businesses fairly and with respect, placing no ranking or judgement of superiority on them (★ marks the team leader).
| # | Business name | Description | Affiliation (names) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Continuum | Physical-task automation by self-improving AI | Kamiyama Marugoto Institute of Technology / 神山まるごと高専 (Hinata Suzuki / 鈴木陽向) |
| 2 | Web Anatomy Box | An educational network device that makes the workings of web communication visible | Okayama University of Science / 岡山理科大学 (Hiroto Kawakami / 川上寛人) |
| 3 | Forest Plug-IN | A new farm-experience platform that uses digital tools to turn "a distant place" into "the everyday" | Okayama University / 岡山大学 (Rokujin Maeda / 前田緑仁 ★, Yuto Niki / 仁木優斗, Shun Akiyama / 秋山竣) |
| 4 | Mago-no-Te / まごの手 | A remote robot that lets you pat and play with a child even when you are apart | Okayama University / 岡山大学 (Yushin Kanao / 金尾祐伸 ★, Haru Shibata / 柴田晴, Koya Okada / 岡田昂也) |
| 5 | Regional Logistics OS / 地域物流OS | Optimising and building post-harvest logistics in hilly and mountainous areas to bring elderly farmers' shipping burden to zero | Okayama University / 岡山大学 (Haruki Okimoto / 沖本陽樹) |
| 6 | FureFure Frail! / フレフレ・フレイル！ | A balance-ability measurement and improvement system for frailty prevention that brings in an element of "play" | Okayama University / 岡山大学 (Mai Hyogu / 表具真衣 ★, Renma Takeichi / 武市蓮麻, Sota Sakamoto / 阪本藻太) |
| 7 | AR Mushimegane / ARむしめがね | Your own insect encyclopaedia you can observe at 360° and life size (an experience-expanding app) | Hiroshima City University / 広島市立大学 (Tomoki Sera / 世良智輝 ★), Okayama University / 岡山大学 (Munemasa Sugioka / 杉岡宗真) |
| 8 | YuzuriAI | A retrofit in-vehicle AI that uses AI to read a pedestrian's "intent to cross," making up for a driver's oversights and encouraging "give and take" | Fukuyama University / 福山大学 (Ikina Ishikawa / 石川以絆) |
| 9 | ReFit AI | Developing a system that supports the introduction of AI-powered retrofit devices for legacy equipment | National Institute of Technology, Anan College / 阿南工業高等専門学校 (Hazuki Fujikawa / 藤川葉月 ★, Ayano Okahisa / 岡久紋乃) |
| 10 | Power-Assisted Silver Car / 電動アシスト付きシルバーカー | Developing a device that draws on the user's walking ability while easing physical burden | National Institute of Technology, Matsue College / 松江工業高等専門学校 (Yura Mitani / 三谷如良 ★, Nana Kotake / 小竹七愛) |
Looking over the list, what I myself found interesting is the breadth of the themes and the fact that every one is rooted in "a real problem of the region or of daily life." Let me touch, just a little, on the uniqueness of each.
Continuum (Kamiyama Marugoto Institute of Technology / 神山まるごと高専) is a challenge to automate physical work itself with self-improving AI, and it looks well suited to the manufacturing floor. Web Anatomy Box (Okayama University of Science / 岡山理科大学) is an educational device that gives visible form to the usually invisible workings of web communication, and the idea of creating an entrance to learning shines through. Forest Plug-IN (Okayama University / 岡山大学) takes on the challenge of turning a farm experience in a distant place into "the everyday," bridging digital tools and primary industry.
Mago-no-Te (まごの手, Okayama University / 岡山大学) is a remote robot that lets you interact with a child even from afar, and the perspective of trying to deliver human warmth through technology is striking. Regional Logistics OS (地域物流OS, Okayama University / 岡山大学) faces head-on a pressing problem particular to hilly and mountainous areas: bringing elderly farmers' shipping burden to zero. FureFure Frail! (フレフレ・フレイル！, Okayama University / 岡山大学) has an upbeat approach that brings an element of "play" into preventing frailty in older people.
AR Mushimegane (ARむしめがね, Hiroshima City University / 広島市立大学 and Okayama University / 岡山大学) is an experience-expanding app that lets you observe insects at 360° and life size, and the idea of stirring children's curiosity is exciting. YuzuriAI (Fukuyama University / 福山大学) reads with AI a pedestrian's intent to cross and makes up for a driver's oversights, taking on traffic safety, a theme close to everyone. ReFit AI (National Institute of Technology, Anan College / 阿南工業高専) is a system that supports retrofitting devices onto old legacy equipment, which you could call the DX of manufacturing itself. Power-Assisted Silver Car (電動アシスト付きシルバーカー, National Institute of Technology, Matsue College / 松江工業高専) is a device that eases burden while drawing on walking ability, an effort to support mobility in an ageing society.
Kosen students and university students, each starting from the troubles of their own home area, are trying to produce answers with frontier technology. This line-up, and the very breadth of ideas it represents, embodies, I think, the meaning of an AKATSUKI-style programme.
To those about to take on a challenge, and to sum up
Finally, let me write a short message to those thinking of founding a company from here, and to young student founders in the regions.
When you hear "start a business," you tend to brace yourself, thinking you need a lump of capital and a perfect plan. But what I feel afresh watching the ten businesses of the Chushikoku Tech Gateway is that the starting point is always "a problem right around you that you cannot leave alone." The burden on an elderly farmer, the distance from family living apart, the awkwardness of using old equipment. It need not be a special idea; if you have just one problem you genuinely want to solve, that becomes the entrance to founding a business.
And now, thanks to frontier technologies beginning with AI, the cost of testing that problem in a small way has fallen sharply. Build a working thing quickly, show it to people close to you and check their reaction, push forward if it is good, and change direction quickly if it is off. This is an era in which the person who can run that back-and-forth can produce value even on a small stake. I also dig into the angle of how to make use of AI in founding a business in an article on why founders should embrace AI-driven development, so please take a look alongside this.
Let me organise the key points.
- The AKATSUKI project is the business brand name of METI's "Subsidy for the Programme to Discover and Develop Young Talent in the Regions," an indirect-support scheme that discovers and develops young talent in the regions (the secretariat is TOPPAN Inc.)
- The Chushikoku Tech Gateway is a hands-on development programme for students and kosen students in Chugoku-Shikoku, run by GOB Inc. in partnership with Okayama University and selected for the FY Reiwa 7 AKATSUKI project (its concept is "Break the Bias")
- Chugoku-Shikoku is a region of "manufacturing meets primary industry," and while it faces challenges of young-talent outflow and a thin founder layer, it is rich in real on-the-ground problems. I believe there is great meaning in creating chances to take on frontier technology locally
- Two members of TIMEWELL, Ryuta Hamamoto and Koki Ando, serve as PMs for this programme
- For FY2026, ten businesses using AI, robotics and IoT were selected. Every one is an ambitious effort rooted in the problems of the region and of daily life
We too continue to walk alongside people founding companies and new businesses through WARP Entre (/en/warp/entre). When you want to turn a local problem into a business, or want a sparring partner for how to use AI, please do not carry it all alone; reach out to the WARP team. From Chugoku-Shikoku, and from every region, I sincerely hope new challenges will sprout.
References and primary sources
Footnotes
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AKATSUKI Project Secretariat (TOPPAN Inc.), dedicated site "mitouteki.jp" https://www.mitouteki.jp/ ― That it is the business brand name of METI's "Subsidy for the Programme to Discover and Develop Young Talent in the Regions"; the indirect-support scheme aimed at discovering and developing young talent in the regions; the lineage of the "MITOU-style programme to discover and develop young talent in the regions"; the continuation in FY Reiwa 7. The scheme name, purpose, operating body and structure are confirmed. The finer details of individual fiscal years and figures should be confirmed with the official sources ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4
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Chushikoku Tech Gateway official page (GOB Incubation Partners) https://gob-ip.net/chushikokutechgateway ― The lead operator (GOB Inc. in partnership with Okayama University), the target region (undergraduate, graduate and kosen students in Chugoku-Shikoku), the concept "Break the Bias," selection for the FY Reiwa 7 AKATSUKI project, and the ten businesses with their affiliations and names based on the list of selectees (7 July 2026). Overall PM (Yuki Matsuda, lecturer at Okayama University), PM (Yuta Kodera, associate professor at the same university). The number of selections ("about ten"), the development period (until January 2027) and the various dates rest on reporting and press summaries, so the precise figures and dates should be confirmed against the original press releases from Okayama University and GOB ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5