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The Mitsunami Seminar, in collaboration with Joso City and Kawakatsu Sohonten, held an "Educational Research Exchange Meeting on Regional Revitalization"Hachioji Campus

On Wednesday, March 11, 2026, the seminar of Associate Professor Kohei Mitsunami of Faculty of Economics, Faculty Department of Business Administration, Teikyo University, held an "Educational Research Exchange Meeting on Regional Revitalization" at the Joso City Hall (Ibaraki Prefecture), in collaboration with the Joso City Asset Utilization Division and Kawakatsu Sohonten Co., Ltd. Kawakatsu Sohonten is a long-established Kyoto company founded in 1917 that manufactures and sells Kyoto-style pickles. Since 2020, the Mitsunami seminar has been working in collaboration with Joso City and Kawakatsu Sohonten to develop a local specialty product (pickles) using off-grade cucumbers, a specialty product of Joso City, Ibaraki Prefecture, as part of an industry-government-academia partnership project aimed at reducing the waste of substandard agricultural products (food loss), which is a social issue in Joso City, Ibaraki Prefecture.

交流会には、元JA常総ひかり専務理事 倉金一廣氏、川勝總本家専務取締役 川勝隆義氏、本学卒業生であり起業家のCROSSTONE代表 石渡雅幸氏を招聘したほか、常総市役所資産活用課の皆さま、本学先端総合研究機構産学連携推進センター長 中西穂高、同センター講師 戸田裕子、経済学部経営学科客員教授 関水信和を始めとする本事業に参画している教員、三竝ゼミの有志学生が多数参加しました。
当日は、千石きゅうりの規格外品を活用した地域特産品（漬物）の試験販売実現のためのスケジュールを確認したほか、味やパッケージデザイン、PR方法など、幅広いテーマで闊達な意見交換がなされました。交流会修了後には、倉金一廣氏が運営する倉金グリーンファームを訪問し、本学学生たちが中心となって、千石きゅうりの収穫作業を体験しました。ゼミ長である塚本惟央さん（経済学部3年）からは、「きゅうりの花はバニラの香りがすることを初めて知りました。新鮮なきゅうりはとげがとても固いことにも驚きました。この美味しいきゅうりをより多くの方がたに知っていただくために、大学での学びを生かして精いっぱい頑張りたいです」とコメントがあり、今後の活動へのはずみとなりました。

At our university, we are committed to promoting Practical learning entrepreneurship education that allows students to proactively address regional issues and experience the creation of new businesses, starting with the Joso City Pickled Vegetable Project. Moving forward, we will continue to strengthen collaboration with society and industry-government-academia partnerships, and in order to connect the knowledge our university possesses to society, we will promote interdisciplinary collaboration and cooperation across academic fields, as well as the establishment of a cross-campus research system, while disseminating the results of our education and research aimed at solving the numerous social issues facing society.

Click here for information about Kawakatsu Sohonten Co., Ltd.

Click here for articles related to our university's entrepreneurship education

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