"Shaping Children's Dreams with a Global Perspective" Ayaka Nirei
Ayaka Nirei
Riki Murakoshi
Dentsu Inc.
Riki Murakoshi of DENTSU SOKEN INC. Japan Studies Group interviewed Ayaka Nirei, CEO of GROPAS—a "future-creating company by children, for children" that develops various initiatives from a "child's perspective"—who is currently a high school student.
Shaping Children's Dreams with a Global Perspective
Connecting idea-filled children with adults who can help them
Murakoshi: As CEO of Glowpath, you've launched numerous initiatives. First, could you share the founding purpose?
Nirei: I co-founded GlowPass with COO Ruka Saito in 2011, when I was in my second year of junior high school. At Shonan International School, where we spent our kindergarten and elementary school years, we were constantly challenged to express ourselves and consider how to coexist with people of different values. Turning ideas into reality was simply the norm. When it was difficult for children to achieve something alone, adults around us—like teachers and parents—would lend a helping hand. But in junior high, even though our friends had amazing dreams and ideas, they didn't know how to make them happen, and they lacked connections to adults who could help. That's when our shared goal became clear: "to make children's dreams a reality." We thought we could connect children with dreams and ideas to adults. We are the next generation, the future itself. So, we also discussed taking responsibility for Japan's future.
Murakoshi: Why a corporation, not an NPO or student group?
Nirei: Because we wanted to tackle the things we were most curious about and didn't understand, we decided to do it in the business form we wanted to learn the most.
Murakoshi: You have many unique child-centered projects underway. What are your business areas?
Nirei: Broadly, there are three. First, projects where children shape their own dreams. Second, projects where children create future-oriented schools. This includes operating the Shonan International School, which we took over in 2014, and the "g Café School." g Café is a new type of co-learning community for parents and children from birth, a place where mothers—the first educators—learn how to communicate with their babies. We partner with cafés that are quiet during weekday afternoons. Mothers who learn become teachers themselves, and this model has expanded to eight locations nationwide. Third, we have projects where children support adults who take on challenges. It's a bold theme, isn't it? (laughs). We collaborate with companies on product development and similar initiatives.
Transforming questions and insights into ventures
Murakoshi: The "Global Life Game" project gained attention in 2013 when Nirei-san introduced it at the TEDxKids@Chiyoda conference event. It started because you questioned the existing Life Game, right?
Nirei: I thought, "If I were to create it, I wouldn't make becoming a Daifu & Co., Ltd. the goal." So, I asked children from other countries—the "Globus Friends" I'd connected with from scratch—what kind of Life Game they wanted to create. We got a variety of opinions. For example, an Italian child said, "More holidays are better." In Japanese board games, you want to move quickly, right? Children from other countries said things like, "Getting closer to God is better," rather than money. Even in just one game, we could see the differences in the values people seek in life. If children can understand different cultures through games, perhaps conflicts and wars stemming from differing values will fade away by the time they become adults. With this in mind, we are currently preparing to commercialize it with companies.
Murakoshi: So your own realization became the seed for this project. Was that also the case for the "Post-disaster Innovation Forum" (PI F) on disaster prevention and mitigation hosted by Glopas last year?
Nirei: After the earthquake, many highly meaningful goods and initiatives emerged. But when I looked into them around autumn 2013, they hadn't gained widespread adoption. I realized this was because there was no horizontal connection between them. So, to first connect the key people driving these efforts, we held the first PIF. Amazingly, all 200 participants became panelists. Right there, new businesses, project plans, and connections were born – we achieved significant results. For policy proposals, we advocated replacing the concept of disaster mitigation with disaster reduction and aimed for its widespread adoption in society. We presented this directly to the Minister in charge of disaster management from the Cabinet Office who attended that day. In March this year, PIF hosted the "World Disaster Reduction Junior Conference" in Sendai City as part of the UN World Conference. Approximately 500 people participated, and over half were juniors. We plan to hold it again next March.
Creating opportunities for children to take proactive steps
Murakoshi: What specific activities does the co-creation project with companies involve?
Nirei: For example, we held a two-day conference with an automobile manufacturer to explore new ways to utilize electric vehicles. We thought electric vehicles are essentially moving computers, like a room, and energy itself – there are many possible uses. To foster innovation, we brought together not only experts but also employees from the company, parts manufacturers, and from Glow Path, children, parents, teachers, and others, totaling about 100 participants. It was incredibly dynamic: children, parents, and experts discussed ideas in groups, while company employees circulated to gather hints and suggestions.
Murakoshi: How do you envision moving forward?
Nirei: It's a Gropass rule, but I myself plan to "graduate" on my 20th birthday. Currently, we don't receive individual compensation; instead, we receive a gift upon graduation. This could take the form of stock certificates or potentially inheriting a project to start a business. For GroPass, we want to increase opportunities for face-to-face interaction, connecting children and adults. We were very fortunate to have adults around us who listened to our voices and supported us. We aim to create tangible opportunities to help many children who want to express their ideas and take initiative, giving them a push to make their dreams come true.
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Author
Ayaka Nirei
Born in 1997. Graduated from Shonan International School in 2010 and enrolled in Yokohama Suiryo Junior High School. Currently a third-year student at the same high school. In 2011, during his second year of junior high, he co-founded Glowpath Inc. with his classmate Ruka Saito and first-year junior high student Mizuki Saito, assuming the role of CEO. Since then, he has spearheaded numerous social innovation initiatives.
Riki Murakoshi
Dentsu Inc.
In addition to client-facing consultation work, engage in future forecasting and SDGs-related activities. Perform duties including value creation, consultation, and planning.
