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We spoke with Masubuchi and Luan, Co-Founders and COOs of Emunitas, a company building a platform connecting global talent with Japanese businesses. They shared with us their founding story, business development, and the potential of startups based in Beppu.
Could you introduce yourself and tell us about your background?
My name is Masubuchi, and I serve as the COO. I was born and raised in rural Chiba. It's a place about an hour's walk from the station, with trains running only once every 40 minutes. While people often associate Chiba with being close to Tokyo, it was quite rural—only about three students per grade would take entrance exams for private junior high schools.
I met our current CEO at a Christmas party just before COVID spread when I was in my first year of high school. He was a year below me but already carried business cards, and we hit it off immediately.
After that, a LINE group was created during COVID, and we naturally began working together. I joined the general incorporated association he had established and became involved in a project called "Flare," a platform supporting high school students' initiatives addressing social issues.
Typically, high school students' ideas and enthusiasm would be absorbed by companies through business competitions. However, we created a system that protects high school students' rights while utilizing operational personnel and funding. We developed the platform with the help of lawyers.
This activity ended when I graduated from high school and entered university. Later, when our CEO enrolled at APU (Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University), we wanted to start something new. We gathered at the CEO's family home along with the representative of Sustainable Game, another general incorporated association, talked through the night, and decided to establish a new company.
My name is Luan, and I am the other Co-Founder and COO of Emunitas. I was born and have spent most of my life in Vietnam.
During my third year at university, I had the chance to meet our CEO, Yujin, through a sheer coincidence at an onsen. We ended up discussing various topics, but we particularly resonated on the idea of empathy and the challenges within Japan's workforce. We both felt that there are many talented international students who, due to various circumstances, are unable to fully showcase their abilities.
This shared concern inspired us to form a group of like-minded students at Ritsumeikan APU and create a circle. The purpose of the circle was for members to share their job-hunting experiences. Those with more knowledge could guide others, and members could exchange insights, so everyone could eventually become well-versed in job hunting—not just in Japan but globally.
However, we realized that staying as a university circle came with limitations, and there were already similar groups within the university. That's when, together with the other COO, Masubuchi, we decided to turn this initiative into a company.
The name "Emunitas" is a portmanteau of "Empathy" and "Unitas," which means unity in Latin. Interestingly, "Emunitas" also translates to perseverance and strength in Latin. This reflects our belief that unity and empathy can foster true strength. That is the core vision behind Emunitas.
Can you tell us about Emunitas's business?
It all started through conversations with our CEO, who attends APU (Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University). We complement each other well—he has a strong social consciousness, while I tend to approach things with more of a school festival mindset.
While coordinating exchange circles between Japanese and international students at APU, our CEO questioned why students couldn't gain more diverse experiences during their college years and why job hunting is particularly challenging for international students in Japan.
So we launched a platform for APU's international students. Specifically, we receive projects like overseas research from companies, then outsource those tasks to international students through part-time contracts. Students who build up experience can also connect with job placement opportunities. Additionally, we serve as intermediaries between recruitment agencies with foreign talent and our network of companies. We provide a wide range of services related to foreign talent.
What challenges have you faced based on your experience so far?
There are two major challenges. First is the physical distance issue. I'm based in Tokyo, and our CEO travels frequently, which limits our opportunities to gather everyone together. For instance, we're planning a company-wide party during my current two-week stay in Beppu. As a startup, it's difficult to build team unity.
The second challenge is expanding our user base. Currently, most of our service users are APU students, and our future challenge is to expand nationwide. While our CEO has strong driving force, we also feel the need to grow as an organization while maintaining balance.
Could you tell us about your future developments and business plans?
Currently, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs sets standards for foreign labor, but there aren't clear criteria. For example, if your work visa application is approved for three years, the criteria for that approval aren't transparent.
Government work tends to focus on quantitative standards, but we want to create an evaluation system that includes qualitative aspects, such as company assessments. By consolidating this on our platform and developing it into knowledge, we believe we can create indicators for accepting foreign talent as the working population decreases.
Ultimately, we aim to become the platform that comes to mind when people think of foreign recruitment.
What nationalities are most common among APU's international students?
Southeast Asian students are predominant, with Indonesian students accounting for 20% of the total.
What types of positions do companies typically seek when you introduce candidates?
From the companies' side, there's high demand for engineers. However, there's also considerable demand from manufacturing, such as factory line management. There's truly demand across a wide range of fields, and we believe demand for foreign talent in the agricultural sector will increase in the future.
What feedback do you hear from the students you support?
We're not really supporting them—rather, we're utilizing their valuable workforce and diverse abilities. That said, we do receive a lot of gratitude. We hope for all wonderful foreign nationals to have enriched lives in Japan.
What has been the most rewarding aspect of developing your business? Conversely, what obstacles have you encountered, and how did you overcome them?
The most rewarding aspect is the growth of rich human connections, both within and outside our company. From a business perspective, we frequently use terms like "data" and "management." However, what we value most are real human connections. Sharing joy in those moments is the ultimate experience. Our main challenge is unity. Everyone has their own thoughts and feelings. We address this by maintaining flexible attitudes while believing in the effectiveness of communication.
Can you tell us about the startup scene in Beppu?
In Beppu's startup scene, a company selling bath salts is known as a pioneering example. However, they maintain bases in both Tokyo and Beppu.
Launching a startup in Beppu isn't easy. Particularly in terms of fundraising, it's difficult to remain exclusively in Oita Prefecture, forcing many young entrepreneurs to go to Tokyo. Consequently, while many companies may be registered in Beppu, their actual operational base is often in Tokyo.
While some companies maintain bases in Beppu through business partnerships, most people returning to Beppu are either originally from there or spent their student days at APU. However, rather than aggressively pursuing entrepreneurship, many seem to prioritize work-life balance and a slower pace.
Nevertheless, startup-related events have been gradually increasing. For example, ASO Corporation provides the largest-scale startup support in Oita Prefecture, hosting independent events and conducting finance workshops in collaboration with the Small and Medium Enterprise Agency under the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
Even in Oita City, a young entrepreneur development program has been established, with two or three seminars held monthly, showing that startup support is emerging even in regional areas. I think local governments are also advancing initiatives focused on supporting locally-originated entrepreneurship rather than corporate attraction like in Kumamoto or Miyazaki.
Can you tell us about the appeal of Beppu City?
One of the attractions is the local connections. Unlike Tokyo, word-of-mouth referrals are highly reliable here. Phrases like "This is the former manager of that store" introduce you to genuinely nice people with a sense of warmth. I think this is the charm of regions with strong local character, not limited to Beppu.
Another distinctive feature of Beppu is its multilingual environment. Large stores commonly display information in English and Korean, and restaurants have staff who speak English or Korean.
What's interesting is the coexistence of this multilingual environment with traditional Japanese atmosphere. For example, at Wakakusa Onsen, local staff teach foreign visitors how to bathe in Japanese. You can experience exotic Japanese charm while also enjoying international conveniences like bus information displayed in English, Chinese, and Korean.
