Report on the 20th SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) Seminar “Practice of Social Entrepreneurship by Student” (July 2022)

2023年4月12日更新

Lecturer Mr. Shogo Takaku

The 20th SDGs Seminar titled “Practice of Social Entrepreneurship by Student” was held on Thursday, July 7th, 2022, by Global Collaboration Center. Mr. Shogo TAKAKU, senior student at the School of Culture, Media and Society in Waseda University, led the seminar. Over 70 attendees from Ochanomizu and Waseda Universities participated in the online seminar.

Mr. TAKAKU is an exceptional college student who founded the company "Daifukuya" in Malaysia while he was still an undergraduate. His goal is to help people in developing countries through social entrepreneurship. He visited Myanmar in 2017 when he entered Waseda University, sparked his interest in developing countries, and inspired himself to engage in the activities that followed. During the high school days, he didn’t show much interest in international cooperation or developing countries. However, he gained recognition as a representative of the Borneo Project, under the WAVOC Volunteer Project, which advocates for the education of stateless children in Malaysia. The involvement with the Borneo Project encouraged Mr. TAKAKU to work harder for Malaysia. In 2019, he founded the company "Daifukuya" after being an intern at a Japanese refugee relief company. His goal is to build a program that would allow impoverished children to attend public school without fear by hiring locals.

The business system of "Daifukuya" founded by Mr. Takaku

Mr. TAKAKU, a person of extraordinary energy and enthusiasm, described himself as a bandwagon student. He spoke openly and amusingly about his motivation for starting his social business and the process of trial and error, as an ordinary student. After hearing the stories of the difficulties of social business and the unexpected failures caused by the COVID-19, I became acutely aware of the importance of repeating challenges, trial and error, and course correction without fear of failure. At the seminar, we learned a lot not only from his story, but also from his speaking style, as his presentation skills were brushed when he made a presentation to get a loan to start the “Daifukuya” business.

Recently, the importance of fostering an entrepreneurial mindset among young people has been widely advocated in Japan, and Ochanomizu University has been offering courses on entrepreneurship. In this regard, the seminar by Mr. TAKAKU－a college student who founded his social enterprise abroad－was an important learning opportunity for the participating Ochanomizu students to expand their ideas. I would like to cherish the opportunity to look at the actions of my generation when thinking about how to build a sustainable society.

（Sayumi Ohta, third-year student, Global Studies for Intercultural Cooperation Course, Department of Human and Social Sciences, Faculty of Letters and Education）