Morinosuke Kawaguchi (川口 盛之助)
Morinosuke Kawaguchi is an innovation and competitive strategy consultant, futurist, author and designer. He is the founder and CEO of Morinoske Co. Ltd., a creative future laboratory based in Tokyo.
As Japan’s foremost futurist, he serves as a strategy advisor to the Japanese government and to some of the world’s largest multinationals. These organizations adopted Morinosuke’s future forecasting book Megatrends 2019-2028 as the base for their future strategy. It was in 2013 that the first Megatrends book was published by Nikkei BP, titled Megatrends 2014-2023 メガトレンド 2014-2023 and as of December 2018, the book has been updated three times. Morinosuke presents the material at conferences and in-company events around Japan, as well as abroad.
Each version contains the original 50 chapters:
MEGATRENDS 2014-2023 Table of Contents In December 2018, the third update was published, titled Megatrends 2019-2028 , containing 1168 pages, including a new chapter on Happiness. Megatrends 2019-2028 is probably the most expensive book by a single author on the Japanese market, retailing at 600,000 Yen a copy, or about 5440 US dollars.
Morinosuke Kawaguchi’s Megatrends series has three volumes: the original Megatrends described above and one special volume dedicated to the future of the car industry, and another to the future of ICT. The latter two were published in 2015: 川口盛之助氏のメガトレンド シリーズ 2015-2024
More about the book here: Megatrends 2019-2028
Nikkei BP also published a compact version of Morinosuke’s MEGATRENDS in June 2017.
Morinosuke’s book 日本人も知らなかった日本の国力ソフトパワー Gross National Talent: Quantitative Analysis of Amazing Japanese Soft Power was published in June 2016 in Japan, introducing Morinosuke’s concept of Gross National Talent and its corresponding Gross National Talent Index. Its Chinese version was published in 2018.
Since 2014 he has been an advisor to the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s National Strategy Headquarters. At first he was invited for his ideas on creating jobs and gaining foreign currency, two issues that are crucial for the Japanese government’s 2030 future strategy. [More…] Since then he has been giving guidance on many other issues and continues to do so.
In 2014 Morinosuke was also engaged in the Japanese government’s science and technology policy-planning process while working with The National Institute of Science and Technology Policy (NISTEP), a national research institution under the direct jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT).
Since 2013 he has been an advisor to the 日経BP未来研究所, Nikkei BP Mirai Kenkyujou, ( renamed 日経BP社 日経BP総研 未来ラボ in August 2018) the Future Laboratory of Nikkei BP, Japan’s biggest publisher of business and technology magazines and books.
Previously, for eleven years, he worked for the global strategy consulting firm, Arthur D. Little, (Japan) Inc. where he was Principal & Associate Director.
He is the inventor of the Morinoske Subculture-driven Innovation Model, which he applies to both his consulting work and educational activity. In this fundamental concept, he established the importance of subculture as a seed for innovation, defined its parameters and is proving that it is indeed a value creating, viable solution for both industrial and national strategies. More about the Morinoske Innovation Model
Recognized as a leading authority on innovation and strategy, he is an expert in the management of technology, intellectual property and design. He assists companies in a wide range of industries, including the telecommunications, electronics, automobile and healthcare fields.
Before joining Arthur D. Little in 2002, Kawaguchi worked at the Kansai Research Institute, Inc., a Japanese technology consulting firm which was originally connected to the Stanford Research Institute. At KRI, he focused on evaluating the marketability of manufacturing technologies, building technology strategy and setting intellectual property strategy.
Prior to becoming a consultant, he worked as an engineer at Hitachi Ltd, Japan’s biggest electronic equipment and machine manufacturer. For 15 years at Hitachi, he worked in the factory, where he gained experience in product development, as well as materials and production technology research and development for their office automation equipment, household appliances, and heavy industry equipment businesses. At Hitachi Inc. he wrote over 35 patents and was awarded one Gold and two Bronze Awards as the principal writer of strategic patents, among them the influential patent for the “bacteria-free washing machine” in 1994.
Morinosuke Kawaguchi is an award-winning author whose books have been translated into four languages and they influence thinking and practice not only in Japan but in other countries as well. His seminal book: “Otaku de onnano ko na kuni no monozukuri” (English title: Geeky-Girly Innovation: A Japanese Subculturist’s Guide to Technology & Design) was awarded the prestigious Nikkei BP BizTech Book Award 2008 in Japan, given to books that contribute to the advancement and development of technology and management. In Taiwan, it was listed as number one among the top ten “Great Technology Management Books 2010”. That same year Taiwan’s Small and Medium Enterprise Administration, Ministry of Economic Affairs and South Korea’s KITECH, the Korea Institute if Industrial Technology, studied the book to be applied in their countries’ technology and innovation strategies. More about his books and columns
He writes regularly for various business publications and as of March 2012, has published over 150 articles. By 2014 April, we sort of lost count but the total number of articles he either wrote or was interviewed for is over 200. From January 2007 until March 2010, he wrote a biweekly column for the Nikkei BP website, called 川口盛之助のニッポン的ものづくりの起源 Morinosuke Kawaguchi’s Theory of Japanese Monozukuri. (monozukuri means “making things” and it signifies excellence in technology, engineering and art) Page views were sometimes 100,000 a day, making it the top page of Nikkei website, which is Japan’s most influential and biggest site for business people. From August 2007 until January 2010, he also had a column on 技術経営戦略考 Technology Strategy for the Nikkei TechOn website, geared towards engineers. Page views were around 50,000 a day.
He is a sought-after bilingual lecturer in Japan and abroad and a popular commentator for television and print media. Morinosuke Kawaguchi’s versatility is unparalleled: he’s eloquent on innovation and strategy, and well-versed on Japanese young people’s subculture. From February 2009 until January 2010, he wrote 22 articles for DIME magazine, which is similar to WIRED, titled 川口盛之助のアニメ的ものづくり論 Morinosuke Kawaguchi’s Theory of Anime-Inspired Design and Engineering. In 2011 he hosted his own weekly television show, titled Sunday Break, on Tokyo MX TV. This fun entertainment program featured the members of Marblee, a group of Japan’s cutest and hottest bloggers, trendsetters, designers and models of the fashion magazine, ViVi. Together with Morinon, as Morinosuke Kawaguchi was called on the show, they introduced the best of Japanese subculture from books, music, fashion and more.
Kawaguchi is dedicated to education and lectures both in Japan and abroad at universities and business schools. He makes keynote speeches at international conferences and also holds company seminars and workshops. His references include Harvard University Graduate School of Design, HULT International Business School, University of Arts London, IED Istituto Europeo di Design, EOI Spain’s School for Industrial Organization, Tokyo Institute of Technology, University of Tokyo, TEDxTokyo, Toyota, Nissan, NTT, NEC, KDDI, and many others. For years he was a visiting professor at the postgraduate program at the Tokyo Institute of Technology and at Doshisha Business School’s Global MBA course in Kyoto. More about his lectures, including testimonials
He graduated from Keio University’s (Tokyo, Japan) Faculty of Engineering with a Bachelor’s Degree in Applied Chemistry in 1984. He received a Master of Science in Chemistry from the University of Illinois at Chicago (USA) in 1992.
Born in Ashiya, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan, he was a competitive athlete from age 10 until his mid twenties. At one point he was Japan’s fifth-fastest sprinter, with 10.4 seconds for the 100-meter dash. Today he still works out regularly and maintains a strong interest in the world of sports. Morinosuke Kawaguchi is married to journalist and TV reporter Judit Kawaguchi. The couple lives in Tokyo with Purin chan and Marron chan, two shiba inu dogs, who are also team members of Morinoske Co. Ltd.