Kunitake Saso

After graduating from the University of Tokyo’s Faculty of Law, Kunitake began his career at P&G as a brand manager for Febreze, Lenor, and Gillette. Later, at Sony, he worked as a Global Insight Specialist, improving customer-focused product planning. After completing a Master of Design Methods at the Institute of Design, he returned to Japan to serve a creative producer at Sony’s Creative Center. In that role, he led the launch of the Sony Seed Acceleration Program to foster company-wide innovation.

In 2015, Kunitake founded BIOTOPE, a strategic design firm supporting corporations, startups, and governments through vision, philosophy, branding, and business design. Kunitake has authored several books, including The Non-Designer’s Guide to Design Thinking and VISION DRIVEN: How to integrate your intuition into business and live a purposeful life. Internationally recognized for promoting design thinking and vision thinking, Kunitake serves as an advisor to Kyoto City on cultural entrepreneurship and has been a special associate professor at Tama Art University, contributing to design education and innovation.