On November 29, 2025 (Saturday), Sanjo City University (Sanjo City, Niigata Prefecture) held the first "Tokimeki Tsubame-Sanjo Business Contest 2025".
The "Tokimeki Tsubame-Sanjo Business Contest" is a competition that solicits new business ideas set in Niigata Prefecture. Its purpose is to contribute to regional revitalization and support enthusiastic individuals who aim to start businesses in Niigata Prefecture or establish themselves in the local community. Eligibility is open to individuals or groups of high school age or older who aspire to develop a business, and junior high school students are also allowed to participate if at least one person in the group is a high school student or older.
For this inaugural event, applications were accepted from 58 teams across a wide range of ages, both within and outside the prefecture, during the application period from August 20th to October 10th. After a rigorous first round of judging, nine teams advanced to the second round (presentations). The finalists were a young group consisting of eight university students and one high school student.
The second round of judging consisted of a 5-minute presentation followed by a 5-minute Q&A session, featuring unique and creative proposals. The judging panel consisted of seven members, including President Ahmed Shahriar, Mayor Ryo Takizawa of Sanjo City, and Futoshi Yamai, Chairman, CEO and CCO of Snow Peak Inc.
As a result of the judging, the grand prize was awarded to Re:Local (2nd year student at Atomi Gakuen High School), the only high school finalist, for their proposal "Mimadro - A Circle of Peace of Mind Connecting from the Sky," a multi-functional drone service that can monitor and check on the well-being of the elderly, make calls to family members living far away, and deliver daily necessities.
<Tokimeki Tsubame-Sanjo Business Contest 2025 Results>
Grand Prize Winner: "Mimadro - A Circle of Security Connected from the Sky" Re:Local (2nd year student, Atomi Gakuen High School)
2nd Place: "Generative AI App to Support New Farmers" ROUVIS (3rd year student, Nagaoka University of Technology)
Third place: "Connecting rural areas through agriculture, from Niigata to the world" - Condor Village (3rd year student at Niigata University)
Special Award: "en:core" - Ryuji Ito Seminar (3rd year students at Niigata University)
Reference: [Sanjo City University] [Results Report] Tokimeki Tsubame-Sanjo Business Contest 2025
