CLAP WakBiz—one of Japan's largest ideathon events—was held on November 20, 2024, with the participation of business development representatives from 56 companies. Organized by Mitsubishi HC Capital, the purpose of this event is to create new business ideas for solving social issues by combining the strengths of corporations from different industries. Why did Mitsubishi HC Capital take the initiative in organizing the event? We asked Ryosuke Takahashi, Kohei Asai, and Maiko Iwasaki about the company’s intention behind the event. They were in charge of the event as the members of the Digitalization Strategy Planning Department of Mitsubishi HC Capital.

CLAP WakBiz was attended by around 180 business persons from 56 companies, including listed companies and Mitsubishi HC Capital. The participants were divided into teams of four, representing at least three companies in different industries.
Although many of the participants were meeting for the first time, the team members enthusiastically exchanged opinions on the themes presented, discussing how their companies’ strengths could be put to use.

This was the second edition of CLAP WakBiz, following the first edition held on a small scale in February 2024. Since the first event was well received, this ideathon was held for much larger corporate participants.
The teams discussed the issues presented by sponsor companies, namely, JR East Marketing & Communications, Inc., ALL NIPPON AIRWAYS CO., LTD., and TOPPAN Edge Inc. The best idea for each problem was selected by participant vote. The teams that proposed the best ideas were awarded prizes from the sponsor companies. After the event, a reception was held as an opportunity for the business development representatives to network and strengthen their relationships.
The participating companies are allowed to continuously validate the ideas they have generated with a view to commercialization. In fact, discussions are currently underway on the idea generated at the first CLAP WakBiz to build a platform that simultaneously addresses the logistics issues of 2024 and decarbonization.

A practical, problem-solving workshop.
Problem statements are presented.
After pre-discussion work was done individually, each team selects a problem and engages in discussions to come up with business ideas.
Each team pitches its business idea.

Under the concept of “open innovation for tangible business ventures,” the event featured a practical, problem-solving workshop, in which the sponsors provided problems and the participants were placed in teams, where they chose and tried to solve a problem using the respective strengths of the participating companies.

In addition, Mitsubishi HC Capital has started validating a new business project related to digital signage in office buildings, in collaboration with AGC and JR East Marketing & Communications, which it formed close ties with in the first round of CLAP WakBiz. The project under consideration will make use of AGC’s mirror display Mirroria® and East Japan Marketing & Communications’ expertise in content selection and profitability verification. A proof-of-concept installation of Mirroria® in the restrooms of the Shin-Marunouchi Building began in January 2025.

The following excellent ideas were proposed at the second CLAP WakBiz:

(1)An idea to solve the problem posed by JR East Marketing & Communications “Digital Green Car: A service that uses information on an app to allow a passenger to know in advance when and at which station other passengers being seated in the train will get off.”

(2) An idea to solve the problem posed by ALL NIPPON AIRWAYS

(3) An idea to solve the problem posed by TOPPAN Edge ”Using a facial recognition system that allows people to vote anywhere”

Will Mitsubishi HC Capital be involved in all of these ideas? “That's not necessarily the case,” said Ryosuke Takahashi of the Digital Strategy Planning Department. “Leasing companies are inherently in a position of supporting customers' businesses from behind the scenes. Although we are the organizer of CLAP WakBiz, we remain in the background as the secretariat. We regard it a success if this event helps a company create a new business, and such company does not have to be us,” shared Mr. Takahashi.

CLAP, a group of professionals who design new businesses

Mr. Takahashi launched the business development team “CLAP” within the Digitalization Strategy Planning Department in October 2023, and has since served as the leader. An acronym for “collaborate, link, achieve, and progress,” CLAP is about working together internally and externally (collaborate), bringing together the strengths of different companies (link), carrying out tasks with a strong will (achieve), and moving forward together (progress) to ultimately praise each other with applause (CLAP). In corporation with the company’s sales department, the team researches and identifies external companies to partner with, build relationships, and evaluate the feasibility of new business ideas.

Mitsubishi HC Capital has established Our 10-year Vision, “Together we innovate, challenge and explore the frontiers of the future.” In order to achieve this vision, it is promoting the evolution and layering of business models as one of its business strategies through adding value to the existing businesses and developing new businesses that are not bound by conventional leasing business models. At first, the Digitalization Strategy Planning Department was in charge of developing new businesses based on ideas provided by the front line. However, ideas soon ran out, which led to the launch of CLAP as a new business creation team that proactively seeks out new ideas.
CLAP is constantly exploring and creating new business ideas and making proposals to various companies. CLAP's strength lies in its ability to develop business concepts into concrete proposals. Kohei Asai of the Digitalization Strategy Planning Department says, “Drawing a blueprint for business is essential for actively generating ideas and pushing the business forward. Large-scale open innovation events often end up merely as a venue for meeting people. CLAP wants to change this, so we make sure that our proposal is aligned with the strengths of each company. We aim at truly feasible business ventures.”

The secret to CLAP's ability to come up with feasible business ideas lies with the composition of its members.

“CLAP is composed of nine members. All of them frequently participate in events for business development managers and startup business owners. There, they accumulate information on the latest industry trends and a wide range of knowledge about business, and also build various networks. Furthermore, three of the nine concurrently assume a sales position within the company and are deeply involved with specific companies. We have a system in place that allows us to validate new business ideas in detail by drawing on both our broad cross-industry insights and in-depth industry-specific knowledge,” said Mr. Takahashi.
He continued, “As new business may not directly lead to short-term profits, it is difficult to receive recognition within an organization, and this causes a dilemma for many companies. Mitsubishi HC Capital has established a new budget system to accelerate new business development. This has enabled flexible and quick decision making.

We want to demonstrate our value in a more diverse way by connecting a variety of companies and creating businesses together, even outside of our core leasing business. We are grateful to any company that partners with us to undertake business that would otherwise be difficult to achieve.”

CLAP is a group of professionals specialized in developing new businesses. CLAP has already started preparing for the third CLAP WakBiz—an initiative for sharing knowledge with other companies—in response to many requests already received for a third event. Maiko Iwasaki of the Digitalization Strategy Planning Department is enthusiastic about the upcoming event:

“At the ideathon, the participants enthusiastically engaged in the workshop without the support of the secretariat, and I was impressed by the lively atmosphere. In the post-event questionnaire, we received many favorable comments such as, ‘It's rare to have an opportunity to meet business development representatives from 56 companies all at once,’ and ‘It was a valuable networking opportunity.’ We believe that many of the participants were satisfied with the event. We will continue to leverage the resources of CLAP and our company’s network to plan even more fulfilling events going forward,” said Ms. Iwasaki.

CLAP WakBiz represents Mitsubishi HC Capital’s attempt to expand the possibility of open innovation. The company tirelessly endeavors to ensure that CLAP WakBiz remains a venue for practical open innovation.