The Forbes Japan feature profiles Associate Professor Yasuhiro Yamakawa of Babson College, the world‑leading entrepreneurship school. Drawing on his 16‑year teaching experience, Yamakawa argues that the future of success lies in embracing failure, cultivating personal curiosity, and creating value through ‘inner‑origin new combinations’ (内発新結合). He explains the flagship Foundations of Management and Entrepreneurship (FME) course, the Most Valuable Failure (MVF) award that celebrates learning from mistakes, and the high‑school Ring program that brings his ideas to Japanese youth. Yamakawa stresses the importance of the triple‑bottom‑line (People, Planet, Profit), the pivotal role of teachers as cultural carriers, and offers five concrete questions for teenagers to spark innovative action. The article also includes viewpoints from Japanese education leaders Goichi Shakudo, Takaaki Umada, and Masaki Nakamura, highlighting the need for common language, teacher training, and ethical grounding in entrepreneurship education across Japan.
Topics
Failure is Good! – Yamakawa’s mantra and its pedagogical impact
Yamakawa’s core belief that failure should be celebrated and leveraged as a learning tool in entrepreneurship education.
Foundations of Management and Entrepreneurship (FME) – Core curriculum at Babson
Overview of the flagship first‑year course that immerses students in self‑understanding, value creation, and iterative experimentation.
Most Valuable Failure (MVF) award – Institutionalizing failure celebration
Annual Babson award that honors the most instructive failures, reinforcing the ‘Failure is Good’ culture.
Inner‑Origin New Combination (内発新結合) – Framework for AI‑era innovation
Yamakawa’s concept that personal, intrinsic motivation combined with external knowledge (e.g., AI) drives novel, meaningful solutions.
High‑School Ring program – Scaling entrepreneurship to Japanese youth
A nationwide Japanese high‑school initiative founded by Yamakawa that engages over 100,000 students in entrepreneurial practice.
Triple Bottom Line (People, Planet, Profit) – Value pillars in Yamakawa’s teaching
Emphasis on social, environmental, and financial impact as integral to entrepreneurial success.
Teacher as catalyst – The pivotal role of educators in Japanese entrepreneurship education
Argument that teachers, not celebrity entrepreneurs, are the primary role models for fostering self‑efficacy and ethical mindsets in students.
Five guiding questions for young innovators – Practical prompts from Yamakawa
A set of reflective questions designed to spark curiosity, experimentation, and socially‑oriented value creation among teenagers.