MITOU Program

Program Mission

MITOU(Me-Toe) Program's mission is to discover and develop young talents called "Creators" who are capable of accelerating innovation and playing a key role in creating next-generation IT markets.

Three MITOU Programs

The MITOU Program consists of three programs with different targets and objectives.

MITOU IT Program

The MITOU IT Program is an endeavor to discover “mitou” (Japanese for hidden) young IT talents and to draw out their potential. We bring them together for friendly rivalry and have them work with project managers who provide guidance to improve their skills and ideas through creative projects. This program has generated numerous outcomes of revolutionary new products, solutions and startup businesses, built upon big data, AI and robotics.

After the completion of the Program the "Creator" who made outstanding progress during the program is given the title of honor "Super Creator".

Eligibility: IT talents under age 25
Duration: approx. 9 months

Project Results: Results of the FY2023 MITOU IT Program

MITOU Advanced Program

The MITOU Advanced Program aims to develop highly-skilled IT human resources who can contribute to the development of IT-related industries in Japan, with marketable and outstanding ideas and high development feasibility that can contribute to solving social issues. One of its main characteristics is that in addition to Project Manages with excellent skills and achievements, Business Advisors, who vary in their expertise in organizational management, financing, legal and intellectual property aspects of business, take charge of fostering the innovators to improve the marketability of the project.

Eligibility: IT talents of all ages
Duration: approx. 8 months

Project Results: Results of the FY2023 MITOU Advanced Program

Application Guideline

The MITOU Advanced Program has an English version of the Application Guideline.

The call for Proposals for FY2025 Program has been closed.

MITOU Target Program

The MITOU Target Program aims to develop IT professionals with highly specialized skills and expertise in pioneering technology and applications. With this program, we support transformational IT talents capable of driving future innovations. Project themes are chosen from among new technologies that are coming under the spotlight in research and development across the globe.

This Program accepts applications in the following two fields of technology;

Software development field using quantum computing technology
Software development field using reservoir computing technology

Eligibility: IT talents of all ages
Duration: approx. 9 months

Project Results: Results of the FY2023 MITOU Target Program: Software Development Utilizing Quantum Computing Technology Project Results: Results of the FY2023 MITOU Target Program: Software Development Utilizing Reservoir Computing Technology

Program Benefits

Creators who are selected to the Program can receive the following benefits;

Intensive mentoring from Japanese distinguished IT innovators called "Project Managers"
Connections with highly motivated MITOU(Me-Toe) peers, graduates, and the "Project Managers"
Opportunity to receive research funding from IPA

Intellectual property (IP) rights acquired through the Program will belong to the Creator.

Program Accomplishments

The number of young talents developed by the Program is;

A total of more than 2,300 "Creators" (As of April 2025)
433 "Super Creators" (As of June 2024)

Check out the special websites.

Program Brochure

「MITOU:Ingenious Creators - Pioneering the Future with IT」(excerpt)(PDF:1.5 MB)

Results of the MITOU Program

Contact information

E-mail