UoA Student Onoue wins Campus Venture Grand Prix Convention Japan Special Prize

On Thursday, March 6th, the Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun held the 10th Campus Venture Grand Prix (CVG), a business proposal competition aimed at cultivating young business talent, and creating new industry.

At the national competition, the Convention Japan, University of Aizu sophomore Yuichiro Onoue won the Business Division Judge's Special Prize.

Mr. Onoue was awarded for his proposal, "Sakuraage, a new Aizu delicacy full of Aizu's four seasons." Sakuraage is a variant of takoyaki (fried octopus balls) that replaces the octopus with horsemeat, an Aizu delicacy, to create a health fast food.

Onoue's idea previously won the top prizes at the "9th Campus Venture Grand Prix Tohoku Competition" and "4th Aizu Agriculture, Commerce, Industry, Academia and Tourism Fair" respectively.

It originated as a business plan created utilizing the history and culture of Aizu and applying IT in the "Basic Knowledge Course on Starting Up Ventures I." This course is instructed by Professor Shigaku Tei, Professor Shiro Ishibashi, Associate Professor Junbo Wang, and offered as part of the Factories for Experiencing Starting Up Ventures of "Aizu IT Nisshinkan."*1

*1
Aizu IT Nisshinkan: Composed of "Factories for Experiencing Start Up Ventures" on themes to meet local needs. These factories are operated by the University of Aizu, which specializes in IT education, in collaboration with venture companies and municipal governments in the region. Each factory aims to help students to develop solid skills and entrepreneurial spirit by learning the practical production process, such as development of software to meet local needs, while receiving the guidance from managers and engineers in local companies.

Comment from Mr. Onoue
Receiving this award is a big honor. I am very happy. "Sakuraage" is a plan that I began as part of a class last September. Receiving this award is the result of all the support and cooperation I have received. I am extremely grateful to everyone who helped me.　"Sakuraage" is something that I have been working hard every day to improve since the Tohoku competition in order to create a new Aizu delicacy, to convey the goodness of Aizu, and the deliciousness of horsemeat. I hope it will help lead to the revitalization of the Aizu region.

By spreading "Sakuraage" around Japan as a new Aizu fast food delicacy, I hope to contribute to revitalizing all of Aizu. I will further refine my plan in order to build "Sakuraage" into a major resource for the tourism industry, while also spreading a new culture of eating horsemeat around the country.


Onoue giving a presentation on his idea.


Presentation of awards

Photos provided by Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun

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