Dentsu Inc. and University of Tokyo Launch INOU CREATIVE School Program to Nurture Uniquely Talented Creatives

Co-creating ideas and bringing them to life.
Theme for first term is "Making Tokyo Bay the World's Most Vibrant Sea"

Dentsu Inc. (President & CEO: Takeshi Sano; Head Office: Tokyo; hereafter: Dentsu) and the University of Tokyo (Campus: Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo; President: Teruo Fujii; hereafter: UTokyo) today announced that on July 11 an opening ceremony was held in the Yasuda Auditorium of UTokyo for INOU CREATIVE School.^*1 This new program is aimed at developing "uniquely talented creatives" through the co-creation of new ideas that can serve as model cases for solving social issues and their implementation in society.

This program is part of a partnership agreement^*2 signed in March 2025, and it combines the knowledge of UTokyo with Dentsu's creativity to nurture "uniquely talented creatives." Ideas selected for the program are developed into projects under the direction of Dentsu, driving real-world implementation through industry-academia collaboration that involves student participation.

UTokyo is Japan's foremost educational institution and has amassed a wide body of advanced knowledge in diverse subjects and research areas. Dentsu has cultivated a problem-solving creativity through long years of working in advertising and communications. In today's world--replete with challenges that confound conventional wisdom--there is an unprecedented need for talent that sees things differently and is capable of creating differently. INOU CREATIVE School brings together UTokyo's knowledge and Dentsu's creativity to nurture "uniquely talented creatives" who will tackle society's challenges using their original ideas, generating fresh approaches for solving society's pressing issues.

The theme for the first term of academic year 2025 is "Making Tokyo Bay the World's Most Vibrant Sea." Students will hear lectures and presentations from Dentsu employees and UTokyo instructors and also embark on various marine-related fieldwork, learning about everything from the nurturing of ideas through to social implementation. Through this program, Dentsu offers opportunities to learn and experience unique creative thinking methods, project realization, and implementation. A new theme will be introduced for the second term, planned to begin in academic year 2026.

INOU CREATIVE School Opening Ceremony (July 11)
(L) Fujii, President, UTokyo ／ (R) Sano, President, Dentsu Inc.

Students, faculty and staff, and Dentsu members participating in the opening day of the program (July 12)

Together, Dentsu and UTokyo aim to cultivate and launch talent who generate unprecedented ideas originating from unique perspectives, and lead the way in solving societal challenges.

*1 INOU CREATIVE School official website (Japanese): https://inou-creative.com/
*2 INOU CREATIVE School is being implemented as part of the UTokyo CO-creation Program (UCOP), an experience-based educational program that is being implemented based on the partnership agreement concluded between UTokyo and Dentsu.
See UTokyo press release "UTokyo and Dentsu Conclude Partnership Agreement" (April 3, 2025; Japanese only)
https://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/focus/ja/articles/z0801_00094.html

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