Mitou Junior Photo in 2019


What’s Mitou Junior?

Mitou Junior is a half-year-long program to enhance young innovative creators in Japan. This program, initiated by the Mitou Foundation in 2016 and originating from the government-backed MITOU Program, has received support from various companies and organizations since its inception. With that support we offer the following benefits.


Mentoring

Creators will be able to learn from mentors and other MITOU Program graduates, like professors and tech founders, who are at the forefront of technology.

Watch on YouTube


Financial Support

Each group will be eligible to receive up to 500K Yen as funding for development.

Support developing projects at CASE Shinjuku.

Place to develop

If necessary, places to develop will be provided. And transportation and accommodation expenses for participating in events like Maker Faire Tokyo will also be covered.

Booth exhibition at Maker Faire Tokyo 2023.

Award outstanding performance

Creators who have shown their outstanding performance during Mitou Junior program get an outstanding performance award. The award is highly recognized for Admissions Office of several universities, including Keio University SFC, Kindai University and Tokyo Metropolitan University.

Award ceremony for graduates of the MITOU Junior program at The University of Tokyo.

Media & Awards

Our alumni are creating new values after the program as well. Here are a few examples.

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Projects Showcase

Up to now 743 applications are submitted to our Mitou Junior program, and we support 94 projects and 116 creators. (Acceptance rate: 10-13%)

Example projects, accepted and boosted by our program, are as follows.

Program Agenda

Supervisor

Photo of Ikuo Takeuchi

Ikuo Takeuchi

Professor Emeritus at The University of Tokyo, Director of MITOU Programs, and Director of Mitou Foundation
Biography

He was born in Toyama in 1946. After he joined NTT Research in 1971, he worked on Lisp and the development of its processing system. Inventor of the TAK Function. After he left the company, he was a professor at The University of Electro-Communications, The University of Tokyo, and Waseda University.

Message

Since the launch of The MITOU Programs in 2000, we have increasingly focused on younger creators. Information Technology (IT) is not just for adults; I believe it's essential to discover and nurture an understanding of IT from a very young age. The Mitou Junior program is designed to facilitate it by providing an environment where young people can do more than just 'learn.' They can develop and enhance their skills, growing into talented IT professionals. This program is an opportunity for them to spread their wings and realize their full potential.

Watch message on YouTube (in Japanese)

Organizer

Mitou Foundation's logo image

The Mitou Foundation focuses on fostering IT innovation by building a network of creative talents, particularly those who have completed the MITOU Program. This organization was established in 2014 to address the growing need for innovative talents capable of transforming various industries and societal structures in the 21st century. It is a non-profit general incorporated association, a legal entity in Japanese law.

Sponsors & Supporters

Mitou Junior program has 10+ financial and in-kind sponsors. Also we have 10+ supporters, including MEXT (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology) and METI (Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry).

Sponsors for 2024

Interested in sponsoring?

Feel free to contact us to find out
what we can do together!

Collaborators

Supported by Japanese goverment

FAQ

Mitou Foundation runs the project. Volunteer by project manager and Mitou graduates, and support by companies and organizations.

An assigned mentor will support development scheduling and development issues once a week for about one hour. Also, up to 500K Yen is given per project to cover all the development costs. In addition, there are events at which all participants come together (such as Kickoff Camp and Demo Day) and get feedback from project managers and other Mitou related personnel and experts related to projects.

Aside from the project development cost, transportation and camp costs for official events will be covered.

No problem. An environment will be set up to present and talk with participants during events using internet calling services. The round trip cost from overseas (in economical and rational range) will be given in addition to the development fee.

The Mitou Junior development fee is strictly for development tools and software. It is not salary paid for labor, so it does not count as working.

Yes. The same proposal and documents for The MITOU Program can be used to apply for the Mitou Junior program.

It is not a requirement, but it is good if, even though it may be rough, you have a prototype to explain to the audience by the demo day.

We will pace the development flexibly for each participant. Mitou Junior is not a job, and students' first and foremost duty is studying. We don't push participants to certain hours.

We look for the skill to research and implement about what you want to develop.

Yes, it is possible.

Accepted participants need a person to sign the parental authority's agreement before the start of the project, but it is not needed at the time of application.

After about one week (depends on number of applications) from the deadline, we will email you. Information about the reason why you were not accepted will not be disclosed.

Yes. Check out "Guidelines in Case (in Japanese)" video in YouTube for details.

The person who created it.

To edit the application, you can send the same proposal multiple times. In that case, the old application becomes invalid.

Within several days from each deadline (in Japanese), we send the result to the email submitted on the application form. We ask the selected and chosen ones to reply. If we do not recieve a reply, we will call you. If you are using a spam mail filter, please allow email from mitou.org domain.

Yes, but up to 3 projects. And if selected, only one project will be supported.




Contact

Let us know if you have any questions or interests!