By utilizing horizon scanning techniques to capture signs of uncertain change and forced thinking (brainstorming), we proactively design the future 10-15 years from now that no one has ever thought of before.
Overview
- Future Insights is known internationally as foresight, a methodology that has developed primarily in Europe and North America as a way to navigate uncertainty in an increasingly VUCA world. Today, it is widely used by corporations, governments, and universities in Japan as well.
- Rather than simply extrapolating from current trends, foresight explores multiple possible futures and then looks back from those futures to reconsider the present. By doing so, it helps uncover new questions, opportunities, and perspectives. This approach requires a willingness to challenge existing assumptions and conventional wisdom, and to reframe how problems and possibilities are understood.
- For this session, we will employ the "Living Futures" approach—which combines traditional foresight methods with anthropological perspectives and improvisational acting—to examine not only technological and societal shifts but also changes in human values and behaviors. Additionally, with the cooperation of the major medical device manufacturer Terumo Corporation, we will include an overview of the current landscape relevant to the theme. We invite you to engage in this practical learning experience, designed not merely to "predict" the future, but to explore the transformation of humanity and society.
| 📂 Category | Innovation |
| 📌 Keywords | Issue identification, Backcast, Re-flaming, Scanning |
| 🎯 Objectives | Cultivating the ability to design the future with evidence |
| 🌐 Language | English and Japanese |
| 👥 Target Participants | Bachelor, Master and Doctoral students |
| 🗓 Format | 3 sessions（in-person） |
| ✅ Past & Upcoming Sessions | #1: 6/Nov/2026 (Fri) 18:00-21:00 #2: 13/Nov/2026 (Fri) 18:00-21:00 #3: 22/Nov/2026 (Sun) 13:00-18:00 |
| 📍 Venue | S4-202, South Building 4, 2nd Floor, Ookayama |
| 🌟 Recommended for | - Students who want to learn methods for designing the future (creating their own vision, backcasting, scanning, bias breaking, reframing, and forced thinking) - Students who are interested in solving social issues - Students who are interested in teamwork and building new networks |
| 📊 Points | 11 points in total: 3+3+5 (Points to be awarded to students enrolled in the courses for credits. Please refer to the syllabus for details.) |
| 🎟️ Capacity | 40 participants |
Main Content
Workshop Theme:
Healthcare Professionals Working Beyond Organizational Boundaries
~Freelance and Multi-Organizational Careers for Physicians and Allied Health Professionals~
- As side jobs, portfolio careers, and the sharing economy become more widespread, it is increasingly common for people to engage in multiple jobs, organizations, and communities rather than remaining attached to a single employer. In healthcare, however, physicians and allied health professionals, such as nurses, medical laboratory technologists, and physical therapists, typically work within a specific hospital or healthcare institution. Will this way of working continue in the future?
- In the future, physicians and allied health professionals may increasingly work across multiple healthcare institutions, companies, and other organizations. How might their careers and ways of working evolve? How might the roles of hospitals and healthcare institutions change as a result? This workshop reexamines today’s healthcare system, which is built on the assumption of organizational affiliation, and explores the future of healthcare work.
Facilitator
Shigeki Matsuki
Senior Consultant, Future Design Lab., Research Consulting Dept., The Japan Research Institute, Limited (JRI)
After completing his master's degree at Tokyo Institute of Technology Graduate School of Bioscience and Biotechnology, he worked in plastics research, development, and marketing at a major chemical manufacturer before joining the Japan Research Institute, Ltd.
Specialty Areas
- Supporting mid- to long-term management and business strategy formulation using future insights
- Developing innovative talent using future insights and design thinking
- Supporting new business and technology development
Minako Sawada
Senior Consultant, Future Design Lab., Research Consulting Dept., The Japan Research Institute, Limited (JRI)
International Christian University
Master's degree in Interdisciplinary Information Studies at the University of Tokyo Graduate School
Engaged in R&D activities regarding future society—centered on the theme of the "Ideal Relationship between Humans and Machines"—at Human Renaissance Institute Co., Ltd. (Omron Group).
Subsequently, conducted practical initiatives and outreach activities focused on the "future" at Business Strategy Office, Technology Division, Panasonic Holdings Corporation) and the Laboratory for Embodied Informatics (Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo).
Joined The Japan Research Institute, Ltd. in August 2025.
Specialty Areas
- Research on the relationship between people and science/technology
- Innovation creation techniques (e.g., design thinking, service design, systems thinking)
- Qualitative research methods (e.g., business ethnography, participant observation)
- Cognitive psychology, evolutionary psychology
- Science, Technology, and Society (STS) studies
Natsuko Higa (Anthropologist)
Co-founder, Meshwork LLC
Specially Appointed Associate Professor, Yamanashi Prefectural University
Board Member, Mitsukaru + Wakaru (General Incorporated Association)
After serving as a researcher at Kyoto University and an assistant professor at the Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST), he founded Meshwork to bridge the worlds of academia and business. He integrates anthropological approaches and cognitive processes into diverse real-world settings, seeking methods for a more nuanced understanding of others.
Authored works include *The Anthropology of Gift-Giving and Conduct: "Economic" Practices in the Kingdom of Tonga* (Kyoto University Press); co-authored works include *Steadfast Innovation* (Nakanishiya Shuppan), among others. Co-translated works include *Posthumanist Design* (Akashi Shoten).
Past Event Records
Voices from Participants
- If you want to change your perspective about the future, please join this workshop. You will be grateful with all of the session there.(M1)
- I recommend this workshop to anyone who wants to explore their future beyond just career planning and learn creative ways to connect personal values with social issues.(D1)
- The Future Foresight Workshop is not about predicting the future, but about expanding your imagination and reconnecting your research or interests with society. Working with diverse participants to co-create possible futures is an inspiring and transformative experience. I highly recommend it.(D1)
- This workshop provides an opportunity to reflect on yourself and your future under different conditions. It also includes group activities (and free snacks).(D2)
- While many people have heard of examples of innovations arising from the combination of two different ideas, many remain unsure of how to actually achieve such a combination and what to focus on. I was one of those people, and through this workshop, I experienced a method for forcibly integrating ideas conceived through two completely different methods to arrive at a completely new idea. I felt that this could be applied to research project ideas by replacing scanning materials with papers and reviews. (M1)
- It was extremely enjoyable to indulge in ideas about a future that does not yet exist while being introduced to the method. It was especially satisfying when a chain of ideas arose within the group. I highly recommend participating! (M1)
- If you're struggling to generate new ideas, please give this a try. Knowing how to generate ideas efficiently will make it easier. (M2)
- Future Foresight is also a way to change the future. (M2)
Event Report
Contact Faculty
Keisuke Yamada, Specially Appointed Professor, Center for Entrepreneurship Education
📩 yamada.k.9f82 [at] m.isct.ac.jp
