Futoshi Takashima is a founder / CEO of the General Incorporated Association “NEWHERO”, which approaches social issues from the creator’s point of view and runs a community that connects social activists and creators.
Futoshi is also a visual director/documentalist, specialized in bringing out and capturing ephemeral emotions and moments from individuals, and actively creates social-good content.
He efficiently applies visual expression and ideas which he cultivated through his experience in the advertisement industry, in the field that solves social challenges, and works on creating new stories that reach out to people’s hearts.
His major works are P&G’s “Mom’s Happy 1st Anniversary”” (ママも1歳、おめでとう) etc., which won awards both at home and abroad.

Continuously expanding the boundaries of advertising, I led the planning, concept development, and design of HOTAMET (internationally known as SHELLMET), an environmentally friendly helmet made from discarded seashells and waste plastic.

Major accolades include Gold in the Design category at Cannes Lions, Grand Prix at Clio Health, Best of Show at NY ADC, Tokyo ADC Award, Grand Prix in the Design category at ACC Awards, and being named a 2020 Creator of the Year Medalist. Ranked #1 in the 2022 Campaign Brief Asia Creative Rankings and recognized as Japan Creative Person of the Year 2021 by Campaign Magazine.

Invented the Bubble90, water-saving nozzle in 2009, winning the Product of the Year award. In 2010, he founded DG TAKANO, which quickly grew into a leading company in the industry. By 2019, he was recognized as one of Nikkei Business’ 50 Most Influential Japanese People. In 2023, DG TAKANO was featured in Forbes Japan, with its design management strategy receiving wide acclaim.
Masaaki is also the creator of the meliordesign series, which earned him the Marketer of the Year award and Japan’s Energy Conservation Grand Prize. In 2024, meliordesign received the prestigious Red Dot Design Award, garnering international recognition in the field of sustainable technologies.
The company is currently engaged in building the “city of the future” project in Saudi Arabia, developing resource-recycling infrastructure.DG TAKANO continues to thrive as a global company, combining innovation and social commitment.

Since 2005, Yoko has been in charge of Universal Design (UD) development and promotion for consumer electronics at Panasonic. Since 2012, as the UD Promotion lead for Panasonic Group, Yoko has supported development in a wide range of business areas and has also focused on spreading UD principles through information dissemination and lectures both inside and outside the company. Yoko has been leading the Panasonic Group Inclusive Design promotion since 2023 and is working to lay the groundwork by formulating company-wide regulations, conducting internal training, and creating tools to support product development. In 2017, Yoko received the IAUD Award Grand Prize for Panasonic’s UD communication, and in 2024, the IAUD International Design Award Grand Prize for Panasonic’s Inclusive Design initiatives.