About zenschoolGlobal
The teaching of Zen begins with a deep look into the inner self. Zen meditation in silence provides a means for us to leave the hustle and bustle of everyday life and find stillness within. In this stillness, one can discover one's true self and feel the inner aspiration or path. The practice of Zen can be described as a process of facing the self and finding the "path" at the center of the self.
The "Way" in Lao Zhuang philosophy refers to the fundamental principles of the universe and the laws of nature. It is said that the Way is the source of all existence, and that by following it, one achieves true freedom and harmony. Through the practice of Zen, one can experience this "Way" and find one's inner aspiration.
Zen practice and teachings play a central role in zenschool as well. Mindfulness meditation and thorough self-disclosure for mental transformation and internal motivation are deeply related to Zen teachings. This allows us to create sustainable businesses and jobs based on our inner aspirations rather than being bound by ambition.
The concept of "nothing is natural" in Lao Zhuang philosophy is also deeply related to Zen practice and aspiration. The concept of "no action, no nature" is the idea of letting nature take its course without forcing oneself to act, and humans are considered to be a part of nature. By adopting this concept, we can continue to create work according to our inner excitement and aspiration, without being bound by external evaluation or ambition.
By combining the teachings of Lao Zhuang philosophy and Zen, we can find ways to pursue a true life shift and a sustainable future. We will not be bound by external evaluations and ambitions, but face our inner self, discover our true self, and create sustainable businesses and jobs based on this self-discovery. This will be the formation of new values and businesses that incorporate the teachings of Lao Zhuang philosophy and Zen.
From the birthplace of Japanese zen
With the deepening of this Age of COVID-19, the world economy has entered an era marked by a high-degree of uncertainty. This was exactly the same state as during the Kamakura period (1185-1333) of Japanese history, when warfare and epidemics were also rampant.
HOJO Tokiyori (1227-1263), head of the Kamakura shogunate and leader to many samurai, thought that "Zen" was necessary to regulate his own spirit and reign over the world during such a confusing time. He founded a school (Japanese, “dojo”) specializing in Zen Buddhism in Kamakura, which marked the beginning of the history of Japan's samurai society.
Our company enmono is headquartered in Kamakura, the "City of Samurai," where we are cultivating a new generation of true global leaders in business creation and management who can thrive in this COVID-19 era (often referred to as “With COVID” or “After-COVID” in Japan), thanks to a rigorous evidence-based zenschool curriculum based on the True Innovation® theory, which demonstrates the effectiveness of Zen thinking in preparing one's own mind to survive this chaotic era characterized by volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA).
This program incorporates the essence of consciousness transformation that led to the founding of Zen2.0, the world's largest international Zen and mindfulness conference from Kamakura.
The founder of enmono, Miki, experienced the loss of his job due to restructuring after big economical shock in 2008, experienced emotional depression, and was saved by practicing Zen.
In five years, the international conference, which started with four people, grew to become the world's largest international conference on Zen and mindfulness. Through this success, he realized that the transformation of the mind through the practice of Zen has the potential to bring out the potential in people, and has incorporated the essence of this into this school of innovation.
Metaverse accelerates innovation.
Using the metaverse space (VR) workspace provided by Spatial Inc, we will be using zenschool VR.
We can interact with a Japanese Zen garden in the metaverse space.
We will have a deep dialogue in Japanese tearoom in a metaverse space provided by Spatial Inc.
(VR headset will be provided as a standard rental.)
We will also offer the experience of talking to each other in a zendo in the metaverse.
This program is based on True Innovation®, a unique theory of innovation that was developed through nine years of trial and error since 2011, through mindfulness meditation, thorough self-disclosure, and deep dialogue to uncover the intrinsic motivation within individuals.
During "zenschool Kamakura" or "zenschool Metaverse" (VR headset rental included), participants will have a reflective talk in a place of absolute psychological safety through thorough self-disclosure. After that, we will extract a product concept based on intrinsic motivation, make a business plan, and create a prototype to realize it. By following up on the extracted concepts through dialogues with us, we will implement them in the organization and commercialize them in the corporate entity.
Due to the global spread of the new coronavirus, the global economy has entered an era in which the future is completely uncertain. What is required in such an era is the ability to notice one's own physical senses, make accurate judgments, and act accordingly.
These abilities include the ability to focus on the task at hand, the ability to be compassionate and understanding of team members' minds and emotions, the ability to make decisions based on one's own physical senses, the ability to be resilient even in high-stress environments, and the ability to create new things from scratch. Creativity is the ability to create something new from scratch.
The True Innovation® Theory is a unique theory for innovation that has been repeatedly practiced and developed through trial and error over the nine years of the zenschool® innovation program.
Jugyuzu (The Ten Oxen Pictures), which has been handed down from generation to generation for over a thousand years, shows the path to enlightenment through ten pictures of cows.
We discovered that this pattern is very similar to the pattern of mental change in people who initiate innovation, and systematized it as "True Innovation" Theory.
zenschool Master
Kouji Miki
zenschool Founder
CEO of enmono Co., Ltd.
After working for Fujitsu Limited, Miki began and then ended his doctoral studies at Keio University, later working as a part-time lecturer at Mie University and Kobe University. Then, while working as an executive at an IT venture, Miki experienced a loss of mental balance due to his company’s restructuring, after which he began practicing zazen at home. This practice helped him to recover and later found his current company in 2009.
In the beginning, he held zenschool courses to accelerate innovation in the manufacturing industry, where he has helped numerous SME factories develop their own products. In April 2017he founded Zen2.0, a general incorporated association (GIA) that organizes the world's largest international conference on Zen and mindfulness with his colleagues, and became co-chairman.
He is the author of several books, including "Let's Start Micro Monozukuri" and "True Innovation: Changing the Mindset of Employees with 'Zen-like' Dialogue.”
Shigeru Utsunomiya
zenschool Founder
CTO of enmono Co., Ltd.
After graduating from Doshisha University, Utsunomiya worked as a production engineer at Suzuki Motor Corporation for 18-years. His last role was as production engineering section chief at a local factory, after which he joined NC Network, a venture company supporting small to medium-sized manufacturing companies, where he met MIKI. There, as a production engineer and manager in charge of procurement, he was involved with selecting suppliers for prototype manufacturing and providing sales support for parts procurement.
In 2009, he founded enmono Inc. with MIKI. Thanks to spending two years facilitating an idea generation workshop called "Power Generation Conference," he built up professional skills in extracting ideas for developing in-house products.
Adam LOBEL
zenschool Master （Teaching Assistant & English Language Support）
Originally from New York, Adam is a graduate of UC Berkeley with a degree in religious studies focusing on Buddhist psychology. He is currently Representative Director at Kumano Shindo, a regenerative lab based in Kumano, Mie Prefecture. Concurrently DX team leader at ITO Corporation, and Research Fellow at the Institute for Future Engineering. Previously, co-founder and Ecosystem Director at Sizung, the global collaboration platform for making this world a better place to live. 2019 Generation Award winner (Govt of Japan, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications’ INNO-vation program). He is a graduate of zenschool VR02, and provided course support for VR03 and VR04, where he finished his master training.
Tomita Naoko
zenschool Master
President at Willwind Inc.
Naoko is a graduate of Keio University, Faculty of Policy Studies. She started her career as consultant and project manager in the Japan offices of an IT company, and has worked at Arthur Andersen, GE, and AIG. TOMITA is a Six Sigma Black Belt. In 2005, she founded Willwind, Inc. as a company that delivers a better future for the next generation. She has designed various workshops to realize a world where all living beings, including people, can live in abundance with the resources of a one planet. She is a certified facilitator of "2030SDGs", "SDGs Outside In", and "Design Sprint," and has been supervising a recurring series on SDGs in Orange Page magazine since 2020. In February 2021, she co-authored a book titled "Amazing Companies of SDGs" published by Fusosha. She is a graduate of zenschool Tonomachi 6th, and provided course support for VR03 and VR04, where she finished her master training. TOMITA enjoys home gardening and learning about the essence of life: circulation and regeneration.
Dates and Fees
Dates
As for the start of the course, we will coordinate and make a decision once all three reservations have been made. Please contact us for details.
※This is a six-month program, which includes two days of intensive lectures and a follow-up program for practical use.
Fees
※If you cancel, you will be charged a cancellation fee, so be sure to check the cancellation policy before applying.
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300,000 yen (excluding tax)
Required environment
Hardware
・VR head-mounted set (If you don't have one, we will rent one and provide you with prior training on VR)
・Computer
Internet environment
・Minimum: 10Mbps download, 2Mbps upload
・Best: 50Mbps download, 10Mbps upload
(Please make sure to check the wifi speed before you register.
Please make sure you are not on a wired LAN.)
Software
・zoom/viewing lectures
・Browser / Text browsing (Google Slide)
・VR application / dialogue in VR space
Curriculum
SpecialProgram
DOJO（DAY1）
13:00-13:15 Pre-questionnaire (happiness, creativity research)
13:15-15:00 Team Building: Personal History Mind Map - Dialogue
15:00-15:45 Mindful work
15:45-16:00 Take off your headset and fill in the Exciting Work Treasure Hunting Chart
16:00-16:15 Sharing of completed charts: using the online tool miro
16:15-19:00 Dialogue in VR
Review of the workshop and feedback
DOJO（DAY2）
13:00-15:30 Wacquack Treasure Hunting Chart
15:30-15:45 Storyboard explanation
15:45-16:00 Work with headsets off - storyboarding
16:00-16:15 Sharing of completed charts: using the online tool miro
16:15-19:00 Dialogue in VR
Review of the workshop and feedback
Pre-VR training and lecture 1.5 hoursFor those who are not comfortable with handling VR equipment, we will provide 1.5 hours of pre-training on how to use the headset and an overview of True Innovation before the lecture starts.
Post-lecture: 2 hours
Within a week, a 2-hour lecture on media strategy, crowdfunding, and marketing will be given in order to turn the ideas into reality. Then we will give an overview of the presentation materials for the presentation about a month later.
Presentation
The presentation time for the presentation using zoom is 10 minutes plus 10 minutes for Q&A. Unlike ordinary business plan contests, we will gather people who share the same interest in the business, conduct team building, and prepare a system that allows participants to place a "tentative order" for products and services of immediate interest.
In addition, all participants are required to sign a confidentiality agreement to ensure that intellectual property is not leaked to outside parties.
Follow up
During this follow-up period, some of our graduates make a major pivot in their business, or obtain a budget and grow significantly.
Some of them even appear in our on-demand media as a promotional support for their business.
http://www.enmono.jp/mms
We will start follow-up immediately after the presentation. We will then follow up on the progress of the project online via zoom for about one hour every month for six months.
Development of a lunar exploration robot and contract with NASA
YAOKI, a lunar rover developed by a company started by zenschool graduate Shin-ichiro Nakajima, will carry out Japan's first lunar exploration in 2021 aboard Astrobotic's lunar module Peregrine. A total of 100 million yen was raised in sponsorship. For more information about YAOKI, click here.
Movie of YAOKI, the lunar exploration rover
Providing services to famous gloal companies
Momoe, a graduate of zenschool, started Zen Eating, which provides services to famous foreign companies and other people around the world.
Learn more about Zen Eating here.
The following is a conversation with Momoe about her thoughts on zenschool.
Interview Video
Develop "flying car" and raised 14.7 billion yen for mass production.
