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Morinosuke Kawaguchi          

Innovation & Competitive Strategy Consultant, Futurist, Author, Designer

Morinosuke Kawaguchi is a cultural innovator, writer, strategist and futurist based in Tokyo, Japan. His laboratory, Moronoske Co. Ltd., uses a proprietary innovation method known as The Morinoske Innovation Model which considers every possible creative outcome. “If you don’t dare to think of even the silliest solution to your challenge, you might miss the blue ocean,” Kawaguchi said.

Kawaguchi researches, lectures and examines how Japanese subculture is affected by technological advancements. His writings have won numerous awards, such as a Nikkei BP BizTech Book Award for his book “Otaku de onnanoko na kuni no monozukuri” (Neon Genesis of Geeky-Girly Japanese Engineering). In addition to consulting for private businesses, his future forecasting models form the base of Japan’s official 2030 strategic plan. His Megatrends 2019-2028 book analyzes over 50 trends across all industries to predict market futures.

Kawaguchi’s concept of Gross National Talent and the Gross National Talent Index reveal where countries are strong and weak in their talent base and allow for unique competitive analysis. He is also responsible for companies successful marketing to Japanese subcultures by using them in inform branding and technological research. He has taught at the Tokyo Institute of Technology and Doshisha Business School.

Speech Topics

Subculture-inspired innovation

Based on his unique innovation model, Kawaguchi challenges his audience to cast a deeper look at micro cultures for hints for successful product and service innovation. In a world that becomes more diluted through globalization, identity and distinctive features need to be regained. And it is by looking at today’s subcultures – excellent mirrors to reflect consumer needs – that this can be achieved. This lecture is for people looking for innovative ideas as well as for new models in product value creation and branding.

A new kind of hunger: Herbivore, urban markets

The background of Kawaguchi’s lecture is the change in areas characterized by urbanization, high population density, financial well-being and dominance of the service sector. This urban-centric market-reshaping process is happening all over the globe in emerging as well as in industrialized countries as traditions and social rules and roles are blurring. The “herbivore man” from Japan is but one of the examples Kawaguchi uses to illustrate the formation of a large new market that dances to a different tune. So how does consumer behavior change in these urban centers, what is the hunger of the herbivore consumer, and what new markets can be expected to appear – this is the essence of Kawaguchi’s lecture.

The future is fun

The challenge companies are facing nowadays is how rapidly everything becomes a commodity and loses in both real and emotional value. What is never lost however is people’s deeply-rooted attraction to Play and Game. It is such a basic part of human nature in fact that playing becomes the actual appeal. The lecture exposes how concepts of play and successful product innovation are related. Using insights from brain research and presenting toys that embody different kinds of irresistibility and appeal, Kawaguchi shows how a new product value can be created if the essence of the concepts of toy and game are built into products and services. If this is taken into account, even the most basic commodity can turn into a hit seller or cherished item.

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