My History
I’ve spent my life pushing beyond the boundaries of what’s considered “common sense.” After starting my career at a Japanese textile trading company, I struck out on my own in 2000 and founded the apparel brand Yamagin. Long before “sustainability” became a buzzword in Japan, I began developing eco-friendly materials.
The catalyst came in 2012, when I saw an ad from an outdoor brand with the message: “Live with nature.” It struck a deep chord with me and made me confront the dark side of the textile industry—mass production, mass disposal, and the environmental damage that comes with it.
I started developing recycled polyester, nylon, and cotton using waste materials like plastic bottles, discarded fishing nets, and fabric scraps. At the time, few people understood what I was doing, and the business wasn’t profitable. But I believed the world would eventually change—and I kept going.
Back then, “sustainability” wasn’t even part of the public conversation in Japan. Hardly anyone understood the meaning or value of these materials. Still, I was convinced that, 10 or 20 years down the road, the world would catch up. I committed to leading a material revolution—earlier and more deeply than anyone else.
And I never stopped believing. In 2015, when the UN adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the global tide began to turn. Our materials started gaining recognition. By 2019, we were showcasing our products at Première Vision, one of the world’s largest textile exhibitions. That opened the door to partnerships with global luxury brands. Eventually, 70% of our sales came from overseas, and the center of our business shifted from Japan to the world.
But I realized that changing materials alone wasn’t enough. To create real change, we need to rethink the structure of society itself. That’s when I turned to my next challenge: transforming waste into energy. And that’s where my new journey began.
The Present
BIOTECHWORKS-H2, the company I founded, is not just another environmental tech startup. We're driving a structural and fundamental transformation with a bold mission: to turn the world’s waste into energy. Our goal is to tackle multiple global challenges—waste, energy, CO₂ emissions, and regional economic decline—through a single, integrated technology.
This journey began with a hard truth: waste simply can’t be perfectly sorted. We've seen it on the ground—whether at households or businesses, the idea of perfect separation is a myth. That’s why we ventured into an entirely new space: waste processing that doesn’t rely on sorting.
At the heart of BIOTECHWORKS-H2’s technology is the optimization of the preprocessing stage. Using IoT and AI, we analyze and control the composition and moisture levels of incoming waste in real time. Our system mechanically separates materials and automatically adjusts them into the ideal mix before feeding them into our gasification furnace. This allows us to efficiently produce high-purity hydrogen from organic waste that would otherwise be unrecyclable. All CO₂ is captured, and even byproducts like slag and metals are reused—achieving a truly zero-emissions, next-generation form of chemical recycling.
But we’re not stopping at energy conversion. We’ve also developed a digital platform called “REBORN,” which provides real-time visibility into the entire process—from waste generation and treatment to hydrogen production and CO₂ reduction. REBORN ensures full traceability and serves as essential infrastructure to support ESG ratings for companies, decarbonization efforts in cities, and the credibility of carbon credits.
What makes REBORN powerful isn’t just the technology—it’s the transparency and real-world applicability. I don’t believe technology alone changes the future. I believe in transforming it into a reason for society to act.
To me, the future isn’t defined by technology—it’s defined by action and design. I want to be the one who designs that future and takes the very first step.
For the Future
I have a clear vision for the future: to transform waste facilities across the globe into centers for clean energy production. What has long been treated as a burden or cost can be reimagined as a source of value and revenue—empowering every community to become energy self-sufficient and enabling a truly circular economy. That is the future I aim to build.
At the heart of this vision is a fundamental shift—from a centralized energy system to one that is decentralized and self-sustaining. I imagine a hydrogen-powered world that doesn’t rely on fossil fuels or long-distance transportation—a world where local communities become local energy producers. In that world, wars over resources and poverty driven by energy price spikes could become things of the past.
I also believe that waste-to-energy technology can be a powerful tool to close the energy gap between cities and rural areas, and between developed and developing nations. Waste is everywhere. Energy is needed everywhere. Turning one into the other offers a path toward true global equity. This is technology as a global equalizer.
I’m not in business to predict the future—I’m here to create it. The biggest opportunities for transformation often lie in the spaces most people ignore or write off as impossible. My role is to uncover the value in those places, structure it, and bring it to the world. That’s not just my mission—it’s how I live.
To the next generation, I offer this advice: Don’t be afraid to choose a different path. I’ve always walked the road less traveled—and along the way, I’ve discovered landscapes that no one else had seen. Those unseen landscapes are often where true change begins.
Our guiding words are: “Make the move. Make the action for the future.” For the sake of our planet—and for the children who will inherit it—I will keep moving forward. If someone has to take the first step, let it be me.