UCLA Japan Center Opened in Kashiwa-no-ha (Kashiwa City, Chiba)
June 20, 2016
Mitsui Fudosan Co., Ltd.
UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles)
Tokyo, Japan, June 20 2016,Mitsui Fudosan Co., Ltd. and UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles) announced the opening of the UCLA Japan Center in Mitsui Fudosan’s “31VENTURES KOIL” in Kashiwa-no-ha Smart City, which promotes urban development through public-private-academic partnership. On June 16, UCLA Chancellor Gene Block and related personnel arrived in Japan and after holding discussions with urban development personnel at Kashiwa-no-ha Smart City, held an inaugural reception.
The UCLA Japan Center was founded as a memorial project for the 100th anniversary of UCLA in 2019 and will serve as a point of contact for UCLA in Japan, a Japan Alumni Association office and a Japan base for UCLA researchers.
UCLA chose this location because it endorses Kashiwa-no-ha Smart City’s concept of urban development to create problem-solving models for the world and 31VENTURES KOIL’s concept of business creation through open innovation, both based on public-private-academic partnership. With such a location as the stage, a major goal of the center is to be a base of exchange that contributes to enhancing international relations between Japan and the rest of Asia as well as the U.S. and promoting mutual international understanding.
UCLA Japan Center
| Representative Director |
Masaru Murai (Executive Advisor at TX Entrepreneur Partners) |
| Director |
Tomohiro Tohyama (Co-founding Partner at TMI Associates, Attorney at Law) |
| Director |
Kenji Yokouchi (Deputy Representative for Support Members at TX Entrepreneur Partners, Patent Attorney) and others |
| Address |
c/o 31VENTURES KOIL, 6F Shop & Office Building, 148-2 Kashiwa-no-ha Campus
178-4 Wakashiba, Kashiwa-shi, Chiba |
| Incorporated |
June 1, 2016 |
UCLA Chancellor Gene Block
The opening of the UCLA Japan Center is a great moment in the history of the Japan Alumni
Association and in UCLA-Japan cooperation. It is through personal conversations and meetings with academicians and leaders that UCLA is best able to share its enormous advantages as a top-tier research university.
UCLA Japan Center Representative Director Masaru Murai
The opening of theNever have innovative ideas been as crucial as in today’s rapidly changing and developing society. Effective innovation comes from businesspeople and researchers working together and requires diverse personnel. There is no better place for this than 31VENTURES KOIL, located between Tsukuba and Tokyo, respective world leaders in research and business.
Hoping that the Japanese who studied at UCLA, one of the world’s top-ranked universities, can bridge the gap between Japan and the U.S., the Japan Alumni Association, with the cooperation of UCLA, took the lead in founding this center as part of the memorial project for the university’s 100th anniversary in 2019.
I hope it will be used as a place of cultural and scientific exchange between Japan and the U.S. and spark new kinds of innovation. UCLA is already involved in joint operations in Asia, a hotbed of development and growth, such as its double MBA with the National University of Singapore, and my hope is that this center will continue to grow as an Asian hub of science, culture and industry.
Kashiwa-no-ha Smart City
An urban development project that Mitsui Fudosan has been pushing forward since 2005 in the area around Kashiwanoha-campus Station in Kashiwa City, Chiba Prefecture. Aiming to create models to solve world problems, it is the site of a variety of initiatives through partnership between the public sector (the Kashiwa City government, etc.), the private sector (local residents and companies based in the area) and the academic sector (universities with nearby campuses such as the University of Tokyo and Chiba University) based on the three themes,“Environmental Harmony”, “Health and Longevity” and “Creation of New Industries”.
31VENTURES KOIL
Opened in Kashiwa-no-ha Gate Square in April 2014, this is an incubation office where everyone from venture companies to researchers and students can gather and interact in open innovation. It also has co-working spaces, small-group offices, event spaces, conference rooms and more.
KOIL is an acronym for Kashiwa-no-ha Open Innovation Lab.
Mitsui Fudosan’s Venture Co-creation Department “31VENTURES” (http://www.31ventures.jp/en/)
Mitsui Fudosan has been accelerating its efforts in co-creation with startups for the ultimate goal of creating new industries both to strengthen Mitsui Fudosan’s business and to expand the scope of its operations. In April 2015, Mitsui Fudosan established the Venture Co-creation Department to achieve co-creation of new industries together with startups by providing fully integrated venture capital services, “Finance,” “Support” and “Community,” for ambitious startups.
