From finding a problem to Demo Day, in two months.
In 2025, AI reached the level of solving International Math Olympiad problems.
But no matter how smart AI is, it means nothing if you can't make use of it. The more capable you are of facing hard problems yourself, the better you can design what to have AI solve and how, then combine the results into new value. The deeper your ability to think, the more you can amplify AI's power — many times over.
The logical thinking and structuring skills you've honed become your greatest weapons precisely in the AI era. We've entered a time when things one person could never build before can now be built. Use that power, rally the people around you, give a product real form, and ship it to the world. That is what you can experience at Edge.
Edge is an incubation program in which selected participants — individually or in teams — build a product that actually works and ship it, all within two months. An incubation program is a support program for nurturing entrepreneurs and startup hopefuls, providing mentoring, a development environment, opportunities to present, and a network, accompanying you from the idea stage to launching a product.
You can fully leverage AI for product development. No programming experience is required. What matters is the ability to think about "what you want to build," and the drive to rally others and give it form. The program is centered on STEM, but we welcome people who excel in any field.
*This program is currently in the planning stage; content, schedule, and conditions are subject to change.
Program features
*Content is subject to change.
Selected peers
You'll meet peers who gathered not by exam deviation scores, but by the drive and curiosity to "change something, build something." A place to connect outside school with same-generation people facing the same direction is rare. You can join individually or as a team.
It doesn't end with lectures
Listen to a lecture, write a report, present, done — that's not it. You find a problem yourself, talk to people, devise a solution, and take it all the way to giving it form. Producing your own answer to a problem with no set answer offers a kind of excitement you can't taste in exam prep. What matters is taking the first step with your own head and hands.
Experience you'll use for life, even if you never start a company
Starting from a state where no one knows you, you persuade, involve, and gradually build trust. This experience will serve you whether you become a doctor, a researcher, or join a company. And even if you fail, you won't go bankrupt. Small challenges, in a safe environment. We design with parents' peace of mind in mind.
Make AI your weapon
You can fully leverage AI for product development. No programming experience required. The ability to think about "what to build" and give AI precise instructions — structural thinking itself — becomes your weapon.
*Using AI is encouraged but not required. You can work in whatever way you're best at.
Designed to fit around exams
Two hours per session, every other Saturday. Work between sessions can be made efficient with AI, and when you're stuck, our staff support you individually. The workload is designed so that even busy exam-takers can take part.
Diverse backgrounds welcome
We're centered on STEM, but we welcome people from humanities, arts, sports, and other backgrounds. We believe that when diverse talents intersect, more interesting products emerge.
What the world's top
universities value
The world's top universities, such as MIT and Stanford, do not select students by test scores and grades alone. What they value is whether you are someone who moves on your own, takes risks, and gives something form with your own hands — in other words, almost exactly the qualities demanded in the startup world.
Edge's curriculum is designed so that these qualities are naturally honed through practice.
Initiative — the drive to act on your own
MIT explicitly lists "the attitude of seizing opportunities yourself" as a selection criterion. Taking challenging classes, starting a company, contributing to a community — going after what you can't get by merely waiting.
At Edge → It starts on Day 1 with finding your own problem and beginning to act.
Risk-taking — taking risks and learning from failure
MIT values "taking risks and the resilience to bounce back from failure." The most creative and successful people, they say, know that risk can lead to failure as well as to success.
At Edge → On Day 3, you have real people use an unfinished product and learn from reactions that differ from your expectations.
Hands-on creativity
MIT's motto is "Mind and Hand." Beyond thinking through theory, they look for the ability to apply it to real-world problems and actually solve them with your own hands.
At Edge → On Day 2, you build a product that actually works, with your own hands, leveraging AI.
Collaborative spirit
At MIT's core are collaboration and cooperation, and problem sets are designed to be tackled in groups. The ability to take on big challenges together with people of different backgrounds.
At Edge → You divide roles with mentors and peers and push the project forward.
Intellectual Vitality
One of the qualities Stanford values most. The attitude of continuing to learn beyond the classroom, broadening your horizons, and acting in search of new opportunities. They seek students brimming with curiosity, openness, and imagination.
At Edge → Outside the classroom, you follow your own curiosity to find a problem and turn it into action.
Sources: MIT Admissions "What We Look For", Stanford Undergraduate Admission
Curriculum
*Content and schedule are subject to change.
Find your own question
Introductions and orientation. From "what makes you lose track of time" or "what makes you angry," search for a problem you genuinely want to tackle. Using AI as a sparring partner, sharpen the resolution of the problem and put into words "whose problem, what problem, and why you." Tentatively decide on the direction of a solution and the shape of a product.
Between sessions: deepen it in 1-on-1s with a mentor. Find people who are actually struggling and talk to them. Begin building a prototype.
Build
After sharing each person's problem and solution, develop a prototype leveraging AI. Participants design and decide, and instruct AI to implement. It doesn't have to be perfect — build something that works.
Between sessions: keep developing the prototype. The most important period of the whole program. Confirm direction in 1-on-1s with a mentor.
Ship it and test
Have real people use your prototype. Ask, "Would you actually want to use this?" "What's missing?" Organize reactions that differed from your expectations and judge whether a pivot is needed.
Between sessions: improve the product by reflecting the feedback.
Polish + retest
Reflect the feedback to improve the product, and have people use it again. Check how reactions changed compared with the first time. The second Build-Measure-Learn cycle.
Between sessions: final adjustments to the product. Prepare the demo for Demo Day.
Demo Day
Each participant pitches before external judges. Judging and awards. Reflect on and articulate "what changed between the you of Day 1 and the you now." Launch of the alumni network.
Who this is for
For those with exceptional ability
Those who have concentrated intensely on their strengths
People who have produced strong results in their field of strength — math, physics, computer science, and so on. Those with Science Olympiad experience, of course, but also those who feel a head above their peers. As long as you're interested not only in exams and research but also in the experience of "creating something with your own power," that's enough. Those who want to take on challenges through practice, moving your own hands rather than sitting in lectures. Interest in management and business is also welcome.
Those who want to broaden their future options
For those considering recommendation / holistic admissions to top universities abroad or in Japan, the Edge experience becomes powerful material. The qualities MIT and Stanford officially value — Initiative, Risk-taking, Hands-on creativity — are designed to be naturally honed through practice within Edge's curriculum. The experience of actually building a product and delivering it to people surfaces naturally in application documents and essays.
Those who excel in any field
Not limited to STEM. We welcome those with outstanding achievements or passion in their field — humanities, arts, sports, and beyond. When different talents intersect, more interesting things are born.
The origins of Edge
Yamada, Founding Partner of Roppongi Venture Capital, studied mechanical engineering at the graduate school of the Tokyo Institute of Technology and spent six and a half years at Sumitomo Heavy Industries as a development engineer for cryogenic refrigerators, standing on the front lines of Japanese manufacturing. He then worked in the manufacturing × AI domain at IBM and AWS. The capabilities of Japan's STEM talent are something to be proud of on the world stage. Yet in the field, he came to feel there is a structure in which the very people supporting advanced technology are least likely to receive recognition matching their contribution. Now that AI is fundamentally changing society, building an environment where STEM talent is fairly valued and can fully exercise its power is, he believes, essential — both for Japan's international competitiveness and for solving global-scale challenges such as energy, healthcare, and food.
Through founding the healthcare NPO "Minato-ku Wellness Research Institute," and through accelerator programs such as METI's "Shido Next Innovator" and UC Berkeley's "SkyDeck Bootcamp in Tokyo," his community of diverse people expanded. When he launched the NPO, it began from a state where no one would give him the time of day. Continuing to act even after being turned down again and again, trust gradually formed and a path opened — and the lessons and growth gained in that process were greater than any classroom learning.
He wants to deliver this kind of experience to the top talent who will carry the next generation. That is the origin of Edge.
An engineer at the frontier of technology accompanies you
The host, Yamada, is an active engineer working in the manufacturing × AI domain. Not textbook knowledge — someone who knows the technology field firsthand advises directly on participants' projects.
Opportunities to meet people from diverse fields
Drawing on the domestic and international network Yamada has built through his activities, including attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, we hope to create opportunities to interact with people from diverse fields — entrepreneurs, engineers, researchers — whom you would rarely meet through school life alone.
How to take part
For Cohort 1, we are proceeding with a very small, selected group (we are not recruiting widely; it is centered on invitations and referrals).
Even so, if you feel "this is where I want to think," please get in touch — adding a line about the question you most want to dig into right now, or something you've lost track of time working on.
An application form is coming soon.
FAQ
*Answers are subject to change.
Do I need programming experience?
It's not required. With AI, you can build a product without writing code. What matters is "the ability to think about what to build" and "the ability to give AI precise instructions." Of course, programming experience enables deeper development.
Can I balance it with exam prep?
Yes. Sessions are two hours, every other Saturday. There's also a low-effort option where work between sessions can be left to AI or supporters. The schedule is designed so it can also serve as an extracurricular track record for university applications abroad.
Is it OK to join alone?
Yes. Individual participation is the default. For those who want to form a team within the program, we provide that opportunity too.
Do I need a business idea?
Not at the time of application. We start by finding a problem on Day 1. Even if you can't find a theme of your own, you can join and work together on a problem another participant is tackling.
Is participation really free?
Yes. For Cohort 1, there is no cost to participate in the program. This may change for future cohorts.
Can I use it for applications to universities abroad or domestic recommendation admissions?
Yes. The experience of an extracurricular activity you took on in earnest surfaces naturally in application documents and essays. It becomes valuable experience not only for applications to top universities abroad, but also for domestic recommendation / holistic admissions such as the University of Tokyo recommendation and the Kyoto University special admission. The program's timing is an ideal opportunity to build a track record heading into the peak of overseas applications (September–December).
How is this different from Agora?
Edge is a hands-on program where you build a product that actually works from your own problem and ship it to the world. Agora, on the other hand, is a place to question deeply with AI and release the thinking process and discoveries as a "work." If you want to "first use your head casually and give it a try," Agora; if you want to "give serious form to a theme you've chosen," Edge. See Agora →