Yutaro Kuchiki, Representative Member of Asmirai LLC, is serving as a support advisor in the Kumamoto Mitou-teki Project IPPO, mentoring a student team from Prefectural University of Kumamoto on their project "Kokoro no Soroban." Together with the team, he is working toward the final presentation in January 2027.
Yutaro Kuchiki, Representative Member of Asmirai LLC, is serving as a support advisor (伴走支援アドバイザー) in the 2026 Kumamoto Mitou-teki Project IPPO, mentoring a student team from Prefectural University of Kumamoto on their project "Kokoro no Soroban." The team is now building and testing prototypes ahead of the interim presentation in November and the final presentation in January 2027.
About the Kumamoto Mitou-teki Project IPPO
The Kumamoto Mitou-teki Project IPPO aims to nurture IT talent and entrepreneurs who create new value from Kumamoto. Modeled on the MITOU program run by the Information-technology Promotion Agency, Japan (IPA), it discovers and develops young creators in Kumamoto Prefecture. The program is run by Kumamoto Nichinichi Shimbun and is part of the AKATSUKI Project, supported by a subsidy from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry for discovering and developing young talent in regional Japan.
In 2026, nine teams were selected. From August 2026 to January 2027, they develop their projects with support from project managers (PMs) and support advisors.
The Project: "Kokoro no Soroban"
The team Kuchiki mentors consists of two students majoring in information science at Prefectural University of Kumamoto. Their project is titled "Developing a Phygital Learning Application That Merges Physical and Digital to Realize the 'Abacus in the Mind'."
"Kokoro no soroban" — literally "the abacus in the mind" — is the ability to calculate by picturing an abacus in your head, known as abacus-based mental arithmetic. Abacus schools and teachers are becoming fewer, leaving some children unable to learn even when they want to, and practicing alone at home is hard to keep up. To address this, the team is developing an iPad game that lets elementary school children build this skill while having fun.
- Use a real abacus as is: The iPad camera reads the beads, turning calculations into a battle game where children defeat enemies. No special device is needed.
- Remove cues step by step: As children advance through stages, cues such as the sound of the beads, the displayed numbers, and the look of the beads disappear one by one, until they answer without an abacus at all.
- Connect the classroom and home: Children can keep practicing at home as a game, and teachers can review each child's activity log to offer encouragement.
During the program, the team plans a field trial in which children at an abacus school actually use the app. Testing whether removing cues step by step builds mental arithmetic skills is a further goal beyond that.
Kuchiki's Role as a Support Advisor
Beyond technical areas such as AI, data analysis, and web development, Kuchiki works with the team on what to build first, how far to build before testing, and how to turn the technology into real value for society.
Toward the Final Presentation
The team is now heading toward IPPO's key milestones.
- Interim presentation (Hachigome Kaigi): Saturday, November 7, 2026
- Final presentation: Saturday, January 23, 2027
At the final presentation, the team aims to present its prototype along with the feedback gathered from trying it at an abacus school. Details are available on the IPPO official website (Japanese). Please cheer on the team!
Comment from Our CEO
I see real potential in combining the abacus, a way of learning long cherished in Japan, with digital technology to create a new kind of learning experience.
At the same time, what matters is not the technology itself, but creating something of real value for the children who learn and the teachers who teach.
Ahead of the final presentation, I hope to see a working prototype take shape, one that makes abacus teachers think, "I'd like to use this."
Valuing the students' flexible thinking and their initiative, I will support them as a mentor so that their ideas turn into real value.
Yutaro Kuchiki, Representative Member, Asmirai LLC
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Announcement / Kumamoto Mitou-teki Project IPPO / Kumamoto Nichinichi Shimbun / Prefectural University of Kumamoto / Talent Development / Mentoring