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[Founder Interview #2] Shiho Watabe (Shibuya Startups KK) – Part 1

  • Interview
2026.01.22

Creating an Ecosystem that Connects Shibuya with the World!

For this article, we interviewed Shiho Watabe, Chairperson of Shibuya Startups KK, who participated in our company’s Venture Ecosystem Summit 2025 as a speaker.
(This interview was conducted in November 2025.)

◆ Regarding Venture Ecosystem Summit 2025

Sugihara:
Today, we are interviewing Shiho Watabe, Chairperson of Shibuya Startups KK. Thank you for your time!

I also want to say how much I appreciated you taking the stage with me at Venture Ecosystem Summit 2025 on October 2, 2025. Thanks to you, our joint panel and the event as a whole were a great success. You participated in the main event as well as the second-part networking reception, so I was hoping you could share your honest impressions of that day.

Watabe:
The pleasure was mine, really! The summit was full of energy, and I personally had a lot of fun.

My greatest impression from participating in this event was a sense of family-like unity that was unlike anywhere else. I speak at many events regularly, but it’s rare for me to feel such a warm atmosphere. I was really moved by the sense of solidarity and the hand-crafted feel that transcended the usual organizational boundaries, from seeing legends like Dr. Semmoto and former Ambassador Fujisaki, President Goto’s own family in attendance, and even employees from within D-POPS GROUP acting as event staff and distributing lunch boxes.

Also, a major takeaway for me was being able to directly experience the passion of Japanese entrepreneurs. I normally focus on attracting overseas entrepreneurs, so I don’t have as many opportunities to interact deeply with the domestic Japanese ecosystem. It gave me a fresh jolt and made me think, “There are so many interesting startups in Japan, too!”

Another surprise to me was the diversity of the participants. Even though the summit was held only in Japanese, I bumped into an acquaintance of mine who is a foreign entrepreneur living in Japan, and he exclaimed, “Watabe, why are you in such a Japanese place like this?!”, which made me laugh, ha ha.

Despite being framed as a Venture Ecosystem within Japan, it was actually quite open and rich in diversity. Seeing that, I had the firm realization that the underlying spirit is the same one we’re trying to create at Shibuya Startups.

Sugihara:
That’s exactly right. The fact that it was a hand-crafted event prepared over the course of an entire year by President Goto and our company’s staff, without the use of any external event production, is likely what led to that sense of unity.

Actually, we received many comments from participants saying things like, “Despite her brilliant career, Chairperson Watabe is surprisingly natural and approachable” and “She is so radiant, I admire her”. Many people were drawn to your personality in addition to the content of the discussion. How do you feel about this feedback?

Watabe:
I feel totally honored to hear that. But I also don’t think of myself as anything even close to “radiant”, ha ha.

I might seem that way on the outside, but the truth is, I rush through each day with a sense of desperation, as if I am constantly on the edge of a cliff. It’s more like the other way around: when I see all the entrepreneurs who keep taking on challenges, they look dazzling to me, and sometimes I even feel envious of them.

I believe the main characters of your Venture Ecosystem are the entrepreneurs who are challenging themselves to their very limits. It’s the same in the community we manage.

So, while I am humbled by such gracious personal evaluations of me, I’ll honestly be happier if people simply felt something when seeing my natural self. It reaffirmed my desire to continue supporting the protagonist entrepreneurs from behind the scenes so they can shine their brightest.

Sugihara:
Conversely, as a member of the audience, were there any sessions that inspired you or provided new insights? I saw in another article that you are interested in calligraphy. What did you think of the calligraphy performance at this event?

Watabe:
Having practiced calligraphy myself when I was young, it was deeply emotional. In the modern era, we are surrounded by the internet and technology, and everyone leads busy lives. In such a context, worldviews that place value on slow, methodical actions such as calligraphy, tea ceremony, or Pilates, calm the mind so well that it’s surprising. I felt once again that such quiet moments, in contrast to the speed of digital life, are crucial in this day and age.

Also, looking back on the event as a whole, being able to dialogue with so many people was a great stimulus. An extraordinary benefit for me was seeing entrepreneurs passionately talk about their businesses, coincidentally reuniting with entrepreneurs at the venue, and hearing the stories from leaders who represent Japan, and through those interactions, seeing that there is a next-generation innovation community in Japan.

Sugihara:
Since President Goto himself has a very global perspective, one can see that he invited excellent individuals from among the network he has already cultivated. D-POPS GROUP is seriously considering investing in overseas entrepreneurs in the future, so we can expect this circle to expand even further. Once again, thank you very much for speaking at our summit.

◆ About Shibuya Startups

Sugihara:
Now, I would like to ask what Shibuya Startups does. Could you share with us the kinds of initiatives you undertake?

Watabe:
Shibuya Startups is a public-private startup support organization (accelerator) formed by Shibuya City and leading Japanese corporations. In addition to supporting domestic startups, we attract talented entrepreneurs from overseas to Japan. Along with growth support, we provide assistance with visa applications and opening bank accounts. Currently, over 80% of the founders participating in our organization are from overseas, making it a very international community.

We are pouring our efforts into the discovery of companies that possess technology to solve Japan’s social issues. For example, fields such as age-tech and longevity to address the declining birthrate and aging society, solving labor shortages in the logistics industry. We are also looking at an area where Japan actually has a global advantage: the so-called “Fandom Economy” surrounding anime, video games, and VTubers.

Our distinctive undertaking is that we directly scout talent from all over the world who find these Japanese market characteristics attractive. We provide side-by-side support so they can operate smoothly when they aspire to do business in Japan. We seek them out even before they come to Japan, so that by the time they land, we’ve already established a partner relationship. Now, we are expanding our activities with that kind of idea in mind.

Sugihara:
Is the majority of your support currently focused on startups with bases that are overseas when they enter the Japanese market?

Watabe:
Yes, that is the case for most companies in our community. Some teams set up a branch in Japan, while others decide to move their headquarters to Japan, but many are companies with a global perspective that are already active across multiple locations.

The domain we are particularly focused on supporting is what you could call the “global niche”. Take the anime industry as an example: anime fans exist in every country, but as single communities within those respective countries, they are still considered a small population. However, because those niche groups have a presence around the world, we can combine them to form a massive global-scale market. I believe we can apply the same scheme to the markets adjacent to declining birthrates, aging societies, and elderly care.

In this way, startups that have deep expertise in a specific field yet hold the potential to compete on a larger scale—we prioritize discovering these companies with global niche brilliance and connecting them to the Japanese market.

Sugihara:
Do companies supported by Shibuya Startups actually have to be based within Shibuya City?

Watabe:
No, they don’t…in fact, it doesn’t matter if they’re in another of the 23 Tokyo wards, or even outside of Tokyo entirely.

Originally, even before this company was formed, Shibuya City had a support desk called the Startup Welcome Service which provided a comprehensive one-stop support system, ranging from complicated administrative procedures like obtaining visas to aspects of daily life in Japan. Now, through our organization’s “Shibuya Startup Support”, we are actively working to openly disseminate information regarding startup support.

At our core is the desire to fully support entrepreneurs who come to Shibuya with the ambition of wanting to do business in Japan. While we are using Shibuya as the entrance, we ultimately aim to contribute to the ecosystem of Japan as a whole.

Sugihara:
I see. This is a wonderful project that transcends regions and borders to open a wide door into Japan. By the way, how many startups are you currently supporting?

Watabe:
Currently, we are supporting 52 companies. The lineup is very broad, ranging from age-tech and “creator-tech” to logistics and robotics, but what remains consistent throughout them all is the sense that they hold value precisely because they’re doing business in Japan.

Our direct recruiting methods are focused on areas that lead to solving Japan’s social issues or areas where Japan’s strengths can be utilized. For 7 out of the 52 companies mentioned, our support is also taking the form of capital investment.

◆ Specifics of Support for Startups

Sugihara:
Could you give some specific examples of the sort of support and accompaniment you provide for startups? What kind of experience and knowledge from you and your staff is reflected in that?

Watabe:
Our support is broadly divided into two main aspects.

The first is helping to build the foundation for launching a business in Japan. This includes visa support and providing a base of operations. One example of this is Shibuya Bridge—where we are conducting this interview—which is a coworking space in Shibuya City. We design and operate this community space together with the city government as a place where people are able to interact with supporting companies from Shibuya City and companies participating in the UP program (our accelerator), and attend events where entrepreneurs and supporters can mingle.

Also, opening a bank account can be a real hurdle for overseas entrepreneurs. Under some circumstances, this can take up to nearly a year, but we aim to provide a support system where an account can be opened in as little as two weeks. In addition, we also connect them to assistance for business registration, accounting, and so on.

The second is accelerating business growth. We support everything from strategic planning for market development to research, and the design and execution of Proof of Concept (PoC). In terms of fundraising, we connect entrepreneurs with investors from Asia, North America, and Japan in a way that is optimal for that specific startup.

We want to be like a Swiss Army Knife, so to speak, offering the necessary tools to respond to every sort of issue that entrepreneurs have. As such an all-purpose concierge, we provide multi-faceted advice and practical support.

Sugihara:
This wide-ranging support isn’t handled by you alone, is it?

Watabe:
The work is divided into roles according to area. For example, regarding the procedures and administrative support I first mentioned, we proceed in close coordination with a specialized team. Meanwhile, I personally take charge as the main lead in the second aspect, growth support.

Sugihara:
Having someone like you running alongside them must be very reassuring for those on the receiving side of that support!

Watabe:
Hands-on support is very profound, and there are also complicating factors that make it not so straightforward. However, I feel my career to-date is most utilized in this particular way, since I’ve also experienced the same hardships of starting up a company, so I can really empathize with the difficulties they face.

For that reason, running with them doesn’t feel like a burden at all. Rather than simply offering advice, at times I find myself working with entrepreneurs to craft their fundraising stories, introduce them to the media, and create opportunities for pitches. I go at it with an attitude of literally doing everything I can. When I come that close to them, sometimes I even end up having jealous thoughts, like “Now, I want to go back to my old startup days”, ha ha!

Sugihara:
Yeah, ha ha…when you were a player yourself, coming into contact with their passion makes you feel that way, doesn’t it? But even so, 52 supported companies is an incredible number! How did you manage to gather so many companies?

Watabe:
Actually, after founding this company, I was working by myself for a while and didn’t conduct PR activities overseas. (Especially since overseas media doesn’t report on it anyway, so word of it wouldn’t spread.) As a result, most of the startups we selected were found through word-of-mouth or recommendations from my network. When I became CEO around 2023, the pandemic had ended and the world was largely moving on, and technologies like AI and blockchain were spreading rapidly. Combined with these changes in the global situation, there was a rising momentum that started in the US, and then among other overseas entrepreneurs, towards tackling the Japanese market.

Thankfully, when I told people I had started this job in the midst of such an environment, friends and acquaintances from all over the world reached out to me. Introductions started pouring in, such as “Here’s an interesting company perfect for Japan” or “This business is a bit different from our VC’s investment criteria, but it would definitely shine in the Japanese market”.

Also, we got a lot of connections from the community of my hard-working former colleagues from my time at Google Japan. The fact that the friends I spent my 20s and 30s with are now entrepreneurs and we are in a relationship where we can help each other is a great asset. Furthermore, Dr. Richard Dasher—my mentor from the Stanford Graduate School and a venture capitalist himself—joined us as an advisor, which had a great impact on improving the reputation of the community.

Looking back, I am filled with gratitude as I feel like the connections I formed around the world are living on in my current work.

Note: Richard Dasher is a researcher in Asian studies and innovation at Stanford University. In 2025, he received the Foreign Minister’s Commendation award from the Japanese government for his long-standing contributions to Japanese-American exchange and educational research. He was an advisor at the time of Shibuya Startups’s establishment, but has since stepped down.

Sugihara:
It’s quite significant to have someone like Dr. Richard Dasher at your back. Like how at D-POPS GROUP, we have figures like KDDI co-founder Dr. Sachio Semmoto as our chairman and former ambassador to the US Ichiro Fujisaki as our corporate advisor. The presence of such heavyweights is not only an encouragement to the entrepreneurs in our Ecosystem, but also serves as a testament to our business reputation. Of course, it is critical to have ambitious initiatives that make those among society’s elite want to support you.

Now, as a result of all of this, do you want to share any specific examples of startups that have been able to make the leap successfully?

Watabe:
One case is where we were able to attract talent to Japan who originally had no intention of entering the Japanese market at all. Two founders of the Xoogler community (made up of former Google employees) started a company called Key.ai, inspired by a platform for people facing large-scale temporary layoffs in the tech industry. Initially, they weren’t thinking about Japan at all, but now with our investment and accompaniment, we are trying to open a path into Japan together. I feel that inviting such people to our ecosystem, who would never have even considered Japan, is exactly why we exist in the first place.

Also, there is another impressive startup that is producing anime using AI. The Japanese anime industry—especially outside of the major players—faces challenges such as labor shortages and harsh environments. In fact, the UN even called attention to these working conditions in 2023! In the midst of that, a founder from overseas who loves Japanese anime is striving with the goal of supporting creators with Generative AI.

Our position could be described as an “industrial producer”. We work hand-in-hand with entrepreneurs to craft broad strategies for products, services, marketing, PR, market entry, and fundraising. When I can help even a little at the moment a company’s destiny changes, I deeply feel the significance of this work. That is why I am thoroughly committed to the quality of our support.

~ To be continued in Part 2 ~

Interview conducted by D-POPS GROUP’s advisor Genta Sugihara.

Shibuya Startups KK

Company Representative and Chairperson: Shiho Watabe
Company CEO: Yoshiro Tasaka
Address: Shibuya Bridge Building B, 1-29-3 Higashi, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
Established: February 2023
Website: https://upshibuya.com/en/
 
In the next part of the interview:
・Why she chose startup support
・The appeal factors of Shibuya and Japan
・What “startup ecosystem” means to Shibuya Startups
・“Realizing a Venture Ecosystem”
・And other topics

Please be sure to check out Part 2!

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[Entrepreneur Interview #18] Fuminori Akamatsu (opzt) – Part 2
Life-Changing Experiences and a Valued Organizational Structure: opzt’s Future in Developing Trust In this final installment of a two-part interview, we asked President Akamatsu about his experiences as a musician, what made him decide to be an entrepreneur, his dedication to organization building, the entertainment business he launched after a serious illness, the background of the M&A with D-POPS GROUP, his resonance with realizing a Venture Ecosystem, his vision for five years from now, and a message for our readers. (This interview was conducted in August 2026.) This is the latter part of the interview. To read the first part, click the link below.https://d-pops-group.co.jp/en/column/opzt-interview-first-part/ ◆Applying Experiences from His Band Member Days to Business Management Sugihara:Let’s step away from the business topics for a bit and talk more about you. I’ve heard you used to be a musician. Is that true? Akamatsu:Yes, it is true. I played the bass when I was younger and lived in a world completely different from corporate management. However, in a band, if only one person is skilled, the team doesn’t come together. I think there are actually quite a few similarities with managing a company. Everyone has their own personality and abilities. But in the sense of trying to build a single stage on which to perform, I feel corporate management is much the same. Sugihara:So you cultivated a sense of teamwork and balance over a long period in the field of music. Has your experience as a musician back then helped you in your role as CEO? Akamatsu:I suppose so, though it’s hard to say for sure. The sense of reading the audience’s reactions during a live performance and grasping what they want might be something I still utilize today. Sugihara:That makes sense. You definitely can’t do business with major corporations if you can’t read the room. ◆Creating a Company to Be Proud Of: The Background of opzt’s Founding Sugihara:You touched on this briefly earlier, but could you tell us again: what was the catalyst for starting opzt, and how do you feel now looking back on the 13 years since founding it? Akamatsu:My original motivation for starting a business wasn’t a grand plan to build a massive corporation. Rather, it was a somewhat modest ambition to run a business I alone was responsible for, and create a company that my employees and I could truly be proud of and satisfied with. I didn’t have some sort of grand vision. About 20 years ago, the HR industry was full of extremely exploitative, so-called “black companies”. While working in that environment, part of me felt a desire bubbling up to build a company that would value workers more and could respond more quickly and flexibly to clients. That was how I decided to start up opzt in 2013. Looking back over these 13 years, more than the company’s sales or scale, my strongest feeling is that we’ve somehow made it this far thanks to the connections and relationships we’ve built with people. Sugihara:It’s wonderful that your journey began not with a grand corporate scheme—which doesn’t always go well for entrepreneurs without a concrete plan—but from a genuine desire to provide everyone with an ideal workplace due to your personal experience. In my case, I joined my previous systems company intending to be an engineer, but as it turned out, it used to be a dispatch business back then. My boss would only show his face about once every six months, and I was constantly working at a client’s factory. In those days, we were just seen as unit prices. Even if I was highly evaluated on-site, it was never reflected in my salary at all. That was the era, wasn’t it? In the end, I quit three years later, ha ha. Akamatsu:That’s exactly how it was. In those times, dispatch staff weren’t allowed to take paid leave, and if we were short on people, we were told to go recruit strangers on the street. We were judged solely on numbers and told to push for more overtime. It really was an unreasonable era. Sugihara:Speaking of that, I get the impression that employees who joined around the time of your founding have stayed with you for a long time. Is there anything you prioritize or keep in mind regarding your people in terms of organization building and company management? Akamatsu:Honestly, I simply have nothing but gratitude towards them. I am truly thankful that many employees have stayed for so long. What I value is not looking at employees merely from the perspective of job titles or numbers. Everyone has things they are good at and things they struggle with; some excel at sales, while others are great at administration. Rather than forcing everyone into the same mold, I consciously try to create roles where each person can thrive. Also, rather than having only the founding members make decisions, I want to properly provide opportunities to newer employees and nurture the next generation of leaders and managers. While we’re intentionally preserving those values, at the same time we are trying to transition into an organization that operates according to systems rather than relying on specific individuals. ◆A Philosophy of Helping to Raise Up Executives Instead of Micromanaging Individual Branches Sugihara:I often meet with the team members of opzt’s Tokyo branch based in Shibuya Hikarie. Even when you aren’t there, they work incredibly earnestly and harmoniously. They maintain a bright, positive atmosphere, mixing seriousness with jokes as they manage their tasks. With offices scattered across Nagoya, Shikoku, and Kyushu, as you mentioned earlier, how do your staff and employees work so independently and reliably? Akamatsu:Well, the key is actually to not micromanage each branch. The clients and recruitment markets are completely different depending on the region, and we’ve learned in the past that simply forcing them to use the patterns that are successful at our headquarters doesn’t work. And I think a major reason the Tokyo team can operate autonomously is that the local members think for themselves, make decisions, and commit to the results. It feels less like managing a branch and more like helping branch managers to grow. Sugihara:That’s impressive. Everyone truly acts with a mindset like they’re also an executive, and seem driven to boost Tokyo’s performance. ◆Lessons from a Serious Illness: The Background Behind the Birth of the Entertainment Business “SELEBRO” Sugihara:On a different note, I understand you run an entertainment-related business separate from opzt, called “SELEBRO”. You launched this company after opzt, correct? Akamatsu:Yes, that’s right. Currently, through SELEBRO, we operate live music venues and nightclubs, manage artists, and do event planning for music festivals, etc. As for our business model, we are also heavily involved in entertainment tech, a blending of entertainment and technology. It’s separate from opzt, and while its headquarters is also in Osaka, they aren’t here in this building. My love for music and entertainment was one of my original reasons for founding it, but the biggest factor was being hospitalized for a condition called cerebral artery dissection. It happened around June or July of 2019, about six months after we joined D-POPS GROUP in December 2018. It was completely sudden; when I went to the hospital, I was told to be admitted immediately. It was a truly desperate situation, and I spent a month in a state where every day could have been my last. That experience profoundly changed my outlook on life by 180 degrees. Before that, I assumed I still had a long future ahead and I would live until I was 80 or 90. That baseless assumption was turned upside down. I had vaguely thought it would be nice to try my hand at the music business at some point in my long life, but after going through that hospitalization, I realized that rather than thinking I’ll just do it someday, it was better for me to be intentional about doing it so I wouldn’t die with regrets. When I put on that mindset, old connections of mine from the music world started getting back in contact with me, fantastic venues opened up, and opportunities like that kept coming to me. I figured now I had to do it. So I spoke properly with President Goto, telling him, “This is what I want to do.” He told me as long as I continued to run opzt properly, he was fine with it, making it clear he didn’t want me to do either half-heartedly. By the way, I recovered from my medical condition. Eventually, my body was able to heal without surgery, and I’m in good health now. I feel like I’m getting a second chance at life. I no longer postpone what I want to do until “someday”, because you never know when you’re going to die. ◆Respecting Our Company’s Individuality: Why We Chose D-POPS GROUP Sugihara:Thank you for telling us so much about your personal life. You really went through a difficult experience. Now, you joined D-POPS GROUP in 2018 through an M&A. Could you tell us about that process and why you chose D-POPS GROUP out of the many offers you likely received? Akamatsu:At the time, my company was in its fifth year and approaching a scale of about 1 billion yen. As we grew to a certain size, I started to realize that to proceed to the next phase, we needed management resources and expertise that we couldn’t get on our own. That was the starting point. Since we were growing steadily, we were receiving offers from various companies. The reason I chose D-POPS GROUP was that I was drawn to your CEO’s personality and your philosophies. You didn’t want to simply acquire a company; you wanted to grow together while firmly preserving my identity as a manager and my company’s individuality. I have many peers who have gone through M&As, and I’ve seen numerous cases where the management policy changes after joining a group, or the founding manager leaves the business. In contrast, D-POPS GROUP continues to let me run the company, allowing opzt to grow while respecting our culture and strengths. I really appreciate how they gently watch over us. I really decided not based on terms or conditions, but based on who would be managing the company alongside me and whether my employees could continue working positively after joining D-POPS GROUP. Sugihara:Just as you hoped back then, your 1-billion-yen company has kept growing over these past six years. Have you learned a lot from President Goto and D-POPS GROUP’s management study sessions while keeping your own structure intact? Akamatsu:Yes. Every day, I get to learn more about various aspects, I’m still receiving mentorship, and I feel like I am studying on a daily basis. ◆More and More Managers Emerging from the Group: Resonating with the Venture Ecosystem Sugihara:That’s wonderful. Finally, D-POPS GROUP has the slogan of “realizing a Venture Ecosystem”. Please tell us what aspects of this goal resonate with you, and if you’re doing anything to help build this Ecosystem. Akamatsu:I resonate with a lot of aspects, but most of all, with the philosophy that it’s not just about one company succeeding, but about new managers and new businesses emerging one after another from within the group. As a founding manager myself, my goal isn’t solely to make my company bigger. I want to create a cyclical environment where the next business leaders and managers emerge from among our employees, and they in turn create new companies and businesses. Even within opzt, we give each branch authority and discretion, having them run the branches with the mindset of managing a small company. I believe that circulating the talent, funds, and trust generated by those operations into the next business connects directly to realizing a Venture Ecosystem, so I also agree with that idea. Sugihara:It sounds like you are creating an ecosystem within opzt itself, too. Akamatsu:Yes. The scale is still small, but I think they share common elements. ◆Five Years from Now: A Company Supporting Corporate Growth with People and Technology Sugihara:Please tell us what opzt will look like in five years, or any specific goals you have. Akamatsu:In five years, as I mentioned earlier, I want us to be a company that doesn’t just dispatch talent, but supports corporate growth by combining people and technology. Our staffing business remains a major foundation, so while we will firmly maintain that, I want to increase our focus on AI, data, and the data center sectors, transforming into a highly specialized and profitable business structure. Beyond that, I want us to be a company where employees and staff can properly grow, where clients need us for a long time, and where we generate appropriate profits to invest in new businesses. ◆A Message to Our Readers Sugihara:Lastly, could you share a few words with our readers? Anything is fine. Akamatsu:opzt itself is still an immature company, and I believe technology, including AI, will continue to change at an incredible speed. However, as a company, we want to challenge ourselves with new things without being bound by past successes. If anyone looking for a job happens to read this article, I hope you won’t limit your potential based solely on your current experience. Even if you lack experience now, you can build a new career by learning and taking on challenges. To any corporations reading this, we want to be a partner who can think alongside you, not just in introducing talent, but also in organization building, operational improvement, and taking on new business ventures. If you have even the slightest interest, please feel free to reach out to us. Sugihara:Wonderful. Thank you very much! Interview conducted by D-POPS GROUP’s advisor Genta Sugihara. opzt, Inc. Company President and CEO: Fuminori AkamatsuAddress: 5F Nomura Real Estate Building, 4-2-12 Honmachi, Chuo Ward, OsakaEstablished: September 10, 2013Website: https://opzt.net/
  • Group Companies
  • Interview
2026.09.03
[Entrepreneur Interview #18] Fuminori Akamatsu (opzt) – Part 1
Building Trust with Major Corporations and Creating a Staffing Business that Develops Human Resources In this first installment of a two-part interview, we asked Fuminori Akamatsu, opzt, Inc.’s founder and CEO, about their business operations, how they build trust with major corporations, their expansion into the technology sector, human resource development, and their approach to the generative AI era. (This interview was conducted in August 2026.) ◆Introducing a Nationwide Business with 5 Locations, Centered on HR and Technology Sugihara: Currently, 26 group companies belong to D-POPS GROUP. Today, we are interviewing Mr. Fuminori Akamatsu, president of opzt, Inc., which joined the group in 2018. Thank you for your time! First of all, although it is posted on your website (available in Japanese only), could you give us an overview of your business in your own words? Akamatsu: Our core operations are centered around two main pillars: our HR business, which includes staffing, recruitment, and outsourcing; and our tech business, which handles the IT technology sector. Since our founding, we have provided HR services primarily for the telecommunications industry, focusing on administrative roles, call centers, and sales and promotional support. We currently operate out of five locations—Osaka, Tokyo, Nagoya, Shikoku, and Fukuoka—with many team members working throughout Japan. Recently, we have been focusing not only on conventional HR services but also on the IT technology sector, rolling out highly specialized HR services for roles such as AI specialists, data scientists, and infrastructure engineers. Currently, we mainly provide System Engineering Services (SES) and operate on an outsourcing and contracting basis, but in the future, we hope to develop and release our own in-house products. Sugihara: By the way, could you tell us the origin of your company name? Akamatsu: It originally came from the desire for our company to be our clients’ first choice. However, the word “choice” itself implies picking from a variety of options, whereas “opt” carries the nuance of proactively selecting something, so we embedded our desire to become that kind of company into the name. Since there was already a famous company called Opt, we wanted to avoid using the same spelling. We added ‘z’, the last letter of the alphabet, to make a new word which we gave the meaning of “the ultimate, best company”. Sugihara: So you drew inspiration from English and coined a new word to make your company’s name. About how many employees do you have in terms of the scale of your staffing? Akamatsu: Including both our headquarters staff as well as all of our dispatch employees, there are currently about 550 people registered with our company. ◆Building Trust from Year Two: Forging Bonds with NTT Sugihara: You have a very large pool of talent. How do you go about connecting with the clients where you dispatch your employees? I’ve heard before that you have many clients related to NTT. How did you manage to get your company involved with such a massive corporation? Akamatsu: A major factor is that when I was working as a corporate employee, I was given a lot of responsibility within NTT Group. Even though I was really just a young kid at the time, various key figures took me under their wing, allowing me to build not only business relationships but also deep interpersonal trust. Later, when I decided to start my own business, an NTT executive who had been a great mentor to me said, “If you’re going independent, I want to support you,” and offered to help me as an advisor. While that’s not the only reason, when I launched my business, former colleagues and other excellent individuals within NTT helped me out in various capacities. Because many of these individuals had long-standing trust, networks, and lots of personal connections with major companies like NTT, leveraging those connections to establish business deals became our starting point. And then, truly miraculously, we were able to sign a contract with NTT at the very early stage of our second year in business. Given that we didn’t have a Teikoku Databank rating at the time and weren’t yet the kind of company that they would typically even look at, I think our dealing with NTT was quite the exception. Sugihara: I believe your clients include other major corporations besides NTT. Many startups struggle to establish working relationships, so how did you and your management team pave the way for that? Akamatsu: We were truly fortunate to do business with a massive company like NTT in our second year, as it allowed us to learn through trial and error the difficulties of working with large corporations (things like information management, compliance, and talent quality). Because we were able to build a certain level of trust with NTT and establish an organizational framework for engaging with major companies, we were able to apply that to other large corporations, which helped us to get up and running relatively quickly. As has been the case for a while, rather than sales strategies that simply win contracts, we value strategies that focus on how long we can sustain those contracts. I believe our ongoing transactions with major companies like NTT and Docomo are the result of gradually building things up, one step at a time. Sugihara: What do you specifically pay attention to in order to maintain business with major corporations, or what do you think is the reason you enjoy such favor with your mentors? Akamatsu: I truly believe it’s the accumulation of consistently keeping small promises. It’s about trust—ensuring that the quality of our talent, compliance, and information management are solid, as I mentioned earlier. When a problem occurs on-site, we don’t hide it; we report it immediately and communicate how we will improve as a company. The larger the company, the more they scrutinize these aspects. So, we immediately and thoroughly address each issue. Our employees also strictly adhere to this principle, and I think the accumulation of all these efforts is what makes us stand out. We started from nothing, and while our initial entry point may have been personal connections, I don’t believe business relationships last this long purely on personal ties. It’s all about the cumulative effort. ◆From Routine Tasks to Highly Specialized Fields: Differentiating Their Business in the Era of AI Sugihara: I have the impression that your services have pivoted over these past 13 years. In particular, you recently started a tech-related staffing business. How are you differentiating yourselves in that area? Akamatsu: We didn’t originally set out with a conscious decision to pivot. Rather, as we kept our eyes on the HR market, we realized that routine and standardized tasks would inevitably become automated by AI. At the same time, we saw market movement showing an increased demand for talent capable of utilizing AI, such as data scientists and professionals in the AI and data fields. Our company realized about three or four years ago that if we just continued our traditional HR services, we would definitely be weeded out, so we knew we had to focus on high-growth sectors. However, we felt there was no point in doing the same thing as conventional SES companies. Therefore, we are specifically focusing on areas that directly tie into a company’s competitiveness moving forward, such as AI and data engineers, data scientists, and talent within the infrastructure field who can support data centers. Additionally, rather than only hiring individuals who already possess high skills, we are running a parallel initiative where we hire high-potential individuals with no prior experience, educate them, and develop them into specialized professionals while they gain practical experience. I believe combining the know-how we’ve cultivated in the staffing industry with specialized expertise in the technology sector is our unique point of differentiation that other companies don’t have. Sugihara: Your focus on the data center field, as you just mentioned, is definitely the right move. I’ve seen news from the US where, despite an increase in IT engineer layoffs, the demand for electricians is surging, to the point where even certified public accountants are quitting to become electricians or plumbers. I simply thought it was about having a tangible trade, but it turns out these jobs are related to data center construction. I hear there is a severe labor shortage, and while Japanese manufacturers are profiting from semiconductors and servers, there's also an ultimate demand for the people who actually install them. Akamatsu: That’s exactly right. In Osaka, in particular, data centers are rapidly increasing as backups for ones running in Tokyo. They are currently being built at a rapid pace with the idea that even if Tokyo falls, data can be protected in Osaka. Because these facilities require 24-hour monitoring and are often located in remote areas, telecommunications carriers are constantly struggling with labor shortages. We decided we wanted to tackle this head-on and are putting significant effort into it. I may use AI quite a bit myself, but people really are starting to use AI more and more. ◆Hiring Strategies and Educational Programs to Become Clients’ First Choice Sugihara: Now, I’d like to ask about acquiring the talent you actually dispatch to the clients receiving these services. I’ve heard of companies even within our own group that are struggling with recruitment. With costs rising and a shrinking talent pool to begin with, how is opzt tackling this? Akamatsu: Not to say it’s going perfectly well for us either, but we make a point not to rely on just one recruitment method. Our defining characteristic is that we use a mix of multiple recruitment channels—job boards, recruitment agencies, referrals, social media, and hiring events—depending on the job role and region. More important than that is becoming a company that applicants actively choose. Today’s job seekers look closely not only at the salary and job description, but also at what kind of experiences they will gain after joining, how it will lead to their future career, and how the company will treat them. Because of this, we make sure not to just say the good things, but to honestly explain everything: the job content, workplace environment, and expected roles. We place more emphasis on ensuring that the people who join us can thrive and work with us for a long time, rather than just focusing on the sheer number of hires. Sugihara: That’s wonderful. You mentioned that when people join opzt, you don’t necessarily just hire those who already possess high skills, but you also have programs to educate your employees. Could you elaborate on that? Can someone with no background in technology really become the kind of talent dispatched to that sector? Akamatsu: As part of our fundamental training, in addition to basic education on business etiquette, information security, and compliance, we conduct training tailored to each assignment. Especially in the tech sector, we don’t just have them learn online; we prioritize getting them to a point where they can use what they’ve learned in actual practice. We do this by creating assignments for them to present, supporting their acquisition of certifications, and pairing this with follow-up support from senior engineers. Furthermore, we believe that the ability to report, communicate, ask for help, and to understand a client’s intent is just as crucial as technical skill. So, we adjust our programs for each individual to cover these areas as well. Our goal is to develop talent that makes clients say, “I want to request this person for the job again.” ◆The Era of AI Agents: Stormy Seas or Smooth Sailing? Sugihara: Now, for this kind of staffing business—especially within the tech talent sector you’re focusing on—generative AI, and more recently, agentic AI, is a point of concern. Do you view this trend as a tough situation, or an opportunity? What countermeasures or approaches are you taking? Akamatsu: I think it’s definitely a storm and a critical situation, but more than that, I consider it a massive opportunity. As I mentioned earlier, standardized and routine tasks are increasingly being replaced by AI, and I can already feel that replacement happening in reality. However, if we just continue with the same kind of HR services we’ve offered up to now, I believe our company will undoubtedly disappear. On the other hand, I can feel a steady, upward trend in the demand for talent who can utilize data, talent who can implement AI into businesses, and talent with the level of communication and interpersonal skills that AI cannot replace. In that sense, if opzt itself can change and ride this wave, I believe we could be catching a very massive wave indeed. At our company, we are trying to develop talent capable of using AI even in non-engineering roles like administration, management, and recruitment, beyond just AI specialists and data scientists. By educating people to be on the side that uses AI rather than being used by it, I hope to create a differentiation strategy not found elsewhere. ◆Three New Initiatives for Further Growth Sugihara: Thank you. Are there any specific new initiatives you are currently working on for the further growth of your business? Akamatsu: There are three main things. First, as we discussed earlier, we are prioritizing the growth of our AI and data business, as well as the infrastructure sector surrounding data centers. Second, instead of dispatching individuals one by one, we are steadily increasing contracts with higher added value through outsourcing, where we provide support as a team. Third, even within our existing HR services, we are utilizing AI to enhance productivity in tasks such as recruitment, interviews, and staff follow-ups. Sugihara: Are there clients who need an entire team to be dispatched? Akamatsu: There actually are. Right now, engineers with those specific skills are either no longer available, or their rates have become expensive. So, we are seeing an increase in cases where we form and dispatch a team combining experienced professionals with the young talent we are training. As they grow, we add the next wave of new staff to the team, creating a cycle of continuous on-site training. Sugihara: I see, the younger members gain experience working alongside their mentors on the same job and in the same field with the same client, building their skills to eventually become leaders themselves. Akamatsu: Right. Our clients are also unable to train such talent themselves, so there is a strong demand to outsource the whole process to us. While this system can make things difficult sometimes, it allows our company to bring in inexperienced individuals, so we have recently been proposing to send whole teams to client companies quite often. Sugihara: Indeed, while sending someone individually helps that specific person build skills and experience, it raises the question of whether know-how is accumulating within the company itself. Usually, that person would have to come back and act as an instructor for internal training. But that training time doesn’t translate to revenue right away. Instead of making them just play the role of a teacher, they are essentially providing on-the-job training for younger members while both are getting paid by the client, and they themselves learn something through that, as well. Akamatsu: Exactly. So we are rapidly expanding this method right now. Interview conducted by D-POPS GROUP’s advisor Genta Sugihara. opzt, Inc. Company President and CEO: Fuminori Akamatsu Address: 5F Nomura Real Estate Building, 4-2-12 Honmachi, Chuo Ward, Osaka Established: September 10, 2013 Website: https://opzt.net/ In the second part of the interview, we discuss: ・President Akamatsu’s experience as a musician and how he applies it to business management ・The catalyst for founding opzt, its 13-year trajectory, and organization building ・“SELEBRO”, the entertainment business he launched after a serious illness ・The story of joining D-POPS GROUP and his resonance with realizing a Venture Ecosystem ・opzt’s 5-year vision and a message for the readers ・And other topics Be sure to check it out here: https://d-pops-group.co.jp/en/column/opzt-interview-latter-part/
  • Group Companies
  • Interview
2026.08.31
[Founder Interview #7] Naoto Tomita (Adora Inc.) – Part 3
The Three Values of Sunny, System, Solid: Building a Company to Solve Societal Issues with a Global Team In Part 3, the final installment of this three-part interview series, we take a close look at the people and culture of Adora Inc. Why did the development team, led by the CTO, Mr. Saurabh—whom President Tomita met in India—choose to join an unknown startup? We also cover the bonds President Tomita formed with the friends he met during his study abroad in Estonia, and their three corporate values of “Sunny, System, and Solid.” (Note: This interview was conducted in June 2026.) ◆Office in Kinshicho: A Choice Driven by Human Connection Sugihara: We are conducting this interview in a room in an apartment building in Kinshicho. It feels very cozy, complete with flowers. I understand you moved here this spring, but why did you choose this location? Tomita: There are a few reasons. Naturally, accessibility for all team members played a role. But on a personal level, I felt Kinshicho was a better fit than a high-profile area. Kinshicho is thriving enough to have five Starbucks locations, yet it maintains a remarkably down-to-earth atmosphere. Personally, I enjoy drinking alcohol together with the team—in moderation, of course—to deepen our bonds and boost our collective drive to push forward. So Kinshicho’s nearby izakaya pubs and convenient access made it the ideal spot. ◆Building a Team in Their Mid-Twenties Who Will Change the Future Sugihara: Your team has gradually expanded over the past six months. Could you share your current team structure, to the extent that you can disclose? Tomita: We remain a small company with around ten regular employees, and our core members are rather engineering-centered, but we’ve also welcomed new employees to handle HR, business development, UX, and public policy. Back-office members have also joined, and our functional roles are taking shape. It’s a young team, with an average age of around 26 to 27. We also have a lot of university student interns, so including them makes the overall average even younger. Sugihara: It’s really a team built to change the future. Starting with co-founder and CTO Saurabh, with whom I’ve had the chance to get a drink together, your development team consists of Indian engineers. Is their technical capability seriously on another level? And why did they choose to join a Japanese startup? Tomita: Individual capabilities matter far more than nationality, of course, but all our team members from India possess outstanding technical skills, paired with exceptional commitment and passion. They have a strong sense of ownership and a drive to build great products. Sugihara: They must be wonderful individuals to be not only highly skilled, but also diligent and passionate as well. Tomita: Indeed. I believe Saurabh’s character is the reason for that. Because he is a great person, great people naturally gather around him. Sugihara: Why did Saurabh and the Indian engineering team join Adora back when it was an unknown startup, long before your partnership with au? Tomita: Saurabh and I met at a cafe in India. Back in my student days, I worked a part-time job serving coffee and tea at that shop, and he was a regular customer. Our relationship started purely as friends. Through that connection, Saurabh brought together his colleagues and younger students from his university. Sugihara: So, it all started after you met at a cafe in India! Was it easy for Saurabh to join the company? Tomita: Initially, he kept his other job, but he was committed full-time to our company in the very early stages. Because he trusted me enough to bet on us, I constantly feel the responsibility to work hard and live up to that trust. He is someone who deeply values believing in people. ◆Making Udon Together in a College Dorm in Estonia Sugihara: Among your team members across various roles, some are friends you met during your time studying abroad in Estonia. What are they like? Tomita: Indeed, I met both our current UI/UX head and our HR head back in Estonia! At our dorm, we even made udon together while talking about how much we missed Japan, ha ha. Not only with them, but with all of the people in our company, there are countless moments when I genuinely enjoy working together and that I want to do my best for them, and I personally treasure that feeling. There are many things I cannot do alone, so I am deeply grateful that we complement each other as a team. I want to continue building on the foundation of what can only be accomplished together as a collective unit. ◆Formulating Three Core Values: “Sunny, System, and Solid” Sugihara: I understand that together with those teammates, you recently formulated your mission and values. Could you introduce them to us today? Tomita: Not too long ago, we began trying out three values as our guiding slogans, and then officially put them into practice starting this fiscal year. All three begin with the letter “S” to keep them memorable: “Sunny, System, and Solid”. “Sunny” means acting in a way that makes others feel that working with us is enjoyable and makes them want to support our journey. “System” is inspired by Toyota’s philosophy: “Don’t blame people; improve the system, instead”. When an issue arises, if the people involved start to blame each other, the individuals who are accused of fault will feel rejected. But when you make the mechanism—rather than the person—the target of discussion, it opens the door to constructive dialogue on how to improve. Because our business carries societal responsibility, we need an environment where mistakes can be identified openly while maintaining psychological safety. “Solid” means doing things right and executing steadily to completion. Being a startup is no excuse for shortcuts. Partnering with established corporations and local governments means that delivering on our promises is the most vital source of our reputation. Sugihara: That is excellent. For a security service partnering with established corporations, adopting “Solid” as a core value makes complete sense. ◆Intentionally Postponing the Corporate Website Sugihara: By the way, while Adora has a dedicated service website for Kodomamo, you don’t have a standard corporate website yet. Given the importance of having a place to show off your philosophy and company culture, was postponing it an intentional choice? Tomita: Since our early days, our mindset was that if we had the time to do something like build a corporate website, we should use that time to better please our app users instead. We operated with the mindset of fixing bugs before bothering to make a website. However, moving forward, we recognize the need for a corporate site that serves as a welcoming front door to recruit new teammates and scale our operations. While we might have seemed like a mysterious entity until now, ha ha, we plan to publish a website soon. (Note: Adora’s corporate website is now live at https://corporate.kodomamo.com/en) Sugihara: So, you were prioritizing product development above all else. There are definitely some startups with flashy corporate sites that lack underlying substance, ha ha, so I agree that focusing on delivering real value was entirely the right decision. ◆Goals for 2026–2027 Sugihara: What are your primary goals and major milestones for this year heading into next year? Tomita: Domestically, we want to further strengthen our sales through mobile carrier retail shops. Having reached approximately 300,000 users, we aim to grow that number to 500,000 and beyond. Internationally, we plan to determine our product-market fit in Taiwan to establish a repeatable success playbook, and then use it to drive expansion into countries such as Indonesia and the UK. We want the numbers for our domestic and international results to raise expectations both inside and outside the company. Furthermore, we aim to engage a broader network of stakeholders. Including collaborations with government ministries, our goal for this year is to demonstrate expansion that creates large-scale social implementation and impact. At the same time, establishing our culture and executing our values in a “Solid” manner remains crucial. We plan to expand our workforce thoughtfully while building a strong, healthy organization. ◆Realizing a Venture Ecosystem Sugihara: Finally, D-POPS GROUP’s aim is to realize a “Venture Ecosystem”. What aspects of that vision resonate with you? Tomita: I resonate with it strongly in all areas. No single individual or company can solve complex social issues or generate massive social impact alone. Just as a company cannot be built by one person, addressing societal challenges requires collaboration from various stakeholders beyond individual corporate boundaries. It takes more than just the startup itself—they need investors to back their vision, major corporations to partner with them to bring that vision to society, governments to support causes that benefit the public, and universities to collaborate with them on joint research. I believe we can only solve significant societal challenges by involving all of these stakeholders together. From our founding, Adora Inc. initiated joint development with the Aichi Prefectural Police and partnered with universities, making sure that our company was working not only for ourselves but for our surroundings, as well. Moving forward, we aim to build the ecosystem necessary for safe communication environments for children and families, protecting people from crime. I think our efforts will serve as a good example within the broader Venture Ecosystem. Sugihara: D-POPS GROUP aims to build a platform where diverse partners build an ecosystem together that generates shared value. Tomita: Exactly. It’s the principle that creating value for the ecosystem ultimately returns benefits to everyone involved. I wholeheartedly agree with that idea. ◆A Message to Readers Sugihara: Finally, do you have a message for our readers? Tomita: We’re strongly committed to deeply impacting society. We would be delighted to work together with anyone who shares that vision, whether they be a team member, a shareholder, or whatever relationship we have. D-POPS GROUP is a wonderful shareholder, and I highly recommend them, ha ha! And Kinshicho is a fantastic town, so please come visit us! Interview conducted by D-POPS GROUP’s advisor Genta Sugihara. Adora Inc. Company President and CEO: Naoto Tomita Address: Setagaya Ward, Tokyo Established: July 2023 Kodomamo App Website: https://www.adora-app.com/ Please check out Part 1 and Part 2 of this interview if you have not already!
  • Interview
2026.07.27
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