Global Minds Unite: Soka University Hosts Prestigious SAGE WORLD CUP, Attracting Top High School Students Worldwide

On Wednesday, August 28th, the “SAGE WORLD CUP” was held on our campus, where high school students from around the world presented their problem-solving ideas. SAGE is an abbreviation for “Students for the Advancement of Global Entrepreneurship” and is an international educational program established in California, USA in 2002. It was established to train the next generation of entrepreneurs who will solve major international problems through innovative ideas and social contribution projects. Currently, more than 20 countries are participating, and this time we invited representative teams from each country to our university to hold the world championship. This is the first time that the world championship will be held in Japan.

The team “Gachagacha” from Tokyo Metropolitan Ryogoku High School, which represented Japan and won the national competition, presented a proposal to address the issue of discarded clothing by transforming discarded kimonos into bags that can be reused, putting them in capsules and selling them as gachapon machines. After the presentation, the team said, “It was a wonderful opportunity to interact with people from all over the world. The experience of communicating beyond language has become an irreplaceable memory.” The world competition was won by the Korean team, which proposed solving the issue of bullying through fashion.

The program was managed by members of the “SAGE World Cup Management Office,” which is centered around the Miyazaki Seminar in the Faculty of Education. Kazutaka Takahashi, a third-year student in the Faculty of Law, who served as executive committee chairman, said, “I’m glad that this world tournament was a great success. The high school students who participated made a lot of preparations before they reached the world tournament. I’ll never forget the serious look in each of their eyes. And I think the friendships that the high school students built across countries are irreplaceable. I’m truly grateful to everyone who worked hard to make this tournament a success, and to the fact that it was held at our university.”