Networking events bring working adults together to meet new people and connect across industries.
One day, someone I met at an inter-industry networking event told me about an event called “ASTORO Cafe” being held at the Kurashiki Astronomical Observatory.
ASTORO Cafe is a networking event for people under 29 (Under 29: U-29), held with a concept different from that of inter-industry networking events.
The event is organized by Kunimoto Ryota, a student at Okayama Prefectural Kurashiki Seiryo High School. I was intrigued to hear that, despite being a current high school student, he is involved in a range of activities, including organizing events in collaboration with companies and entering business plan competitions.
I spoke with Kunimoto about what goes on behind the scenes of ASTORO Cafe, an event organized by a current high school student.
The information presented here is as of the article’s publication in August 2024. Please note that it may differ from current information.
What Is ASTORO Cafe?
ASTORO Cafe is a networking event for people under 29 held at the Kurashiki Astronomical Observatory. The first event was held in March 2024, and it has been held once a month since then.
- A place for people pursuing activities to seek advice
- A place that offers new connections and ideas for activities to people who “want to get involved but can’t take the first step”
These are its two main purposes.
Past participants have included junior high school students struggling to choose a topic for independent study, high school students seeking feedback on business plans they had developed, and people who offered advice and listened to their concerns.
Since people of similar ages gather, the venue has a friendly atmosphere throughout, and participants enjoy lively conversations with one another.
As organizer Kunimoto is preparing for entrance exams, the next event has not yet been scheduled. If one is held, it will be announced on Instagram, so be sure to check.
About ASTORO Cafe Organizer Kunimoto Ryota
Kunimoto Ryota, who runs ASTORO Cafe, is a third-year student at Okayama Prefectural Kurashiki Seiryo High School (as of August 2024).
In addition to ASTORO Cafe, Kunimoto has taken part in various extracurricular activities.
In his second year of high school, he attended the Okayama Innovation School and entered a business plan competition in the prefecture. He later organized employment-related events with friends he met at the school, and has been pursuing activities focused on employment and careers.
Kunimoto’s interest in career-related business began with his past plans to find a job after graduating from high school.
Compared with university graduates entering the workforce, high school graduates have fewer job options. Feeling that he might not be able to do the work he wanted, Kunimoto thought, “I want to create a society where people can work with confidence even if they find a job after high school.”
At the “Okayama Gas Business Plan Contest 2023,” organized by Okayama Gas, Kunimoto proposed a service matching high school graduates seeking employment with local small and medium-sized businesses, and won an award in the high school student division.
He also organized events, including a seminar in collaboration with Okayama University’s Business Club and a company information session with Ichijiku Group, which runs the local education program “Ichijiku.” Both opportunities came about through connections Kunimoto made in his extracurricular activities.
As he pursued these activities enthusiastically, he began to feel, “It would be great to have a community where people can casually talk things over and seek advice,” and ASTORO Cafe began as a place to fulfill that role.
ASTORO Cafe has continued to be held through trial and error, without relying on adults. We spoke with Kunimoto about what he finds rewarding in organizing events and what has helped him grow.
Interview with Kunimoto Ryota
How did you come up with the idea for ASTORO Cafe?
Kunimoto (honorific omitted)
The Kurashiki Astronomical Observatory used to host an event called ASTORO Bar, which was like an inter-industry networking event.
When I attended, the organizer asked me, “Would you like to create a version of the networking event for young people?” That was what inspired me to start ASTORO Cafe.
There wasn’t yet a community in Kurashiki where young people could connect with one another, so I planned the event hoping to create a place where people could drop in casually and talk things over.
The first idea was a networking event where young people could gather to seek advice and share information.
I wanted to create a place where junior and senior high school students engaged in independent study, people with concerns about issues in society, and those who could offer them advice and feedback could connect.
I thought people might be able to speak more openly if they were close in age, so I planned an event for people under 29, so that there wouldn’t be too much of an age gap with the students.
How did it go when you actually started running it?
Kunimoto
Personally, I think the first ASTORO Cafe was a success. Not only junior and senior high school students, but also people working at companies in the city and schoolteachers came, so the number and mix of participants were just right.
That time, it wasn’t just a networking event. I gave a presentation to everyone about the kind of things I had talked about at the Okayama Gas Innovation Contest. Participants then gave me advice, such as, “You should do more of this.” I think it ended up being close to what I had originally envisioned.
But from the second event onward, it gradually became harder to maintain the concept…
You had trouble deciding on the direction of the event after the second one.
Kunimoto
Since the first event established the format of “someone giving a presentation,” it was difficult to find people willing to present at subsequent events, so we couldn’t settle on a plan.
It was hard to keep running the event in the same format, and I think that was a major lesson for me. In the end, the format of giving a presentation and receiving feedback stopped working, and some events became just casual conversation focused on networking.
From the second event onward, fewer working adults attended, and we had a lot of trouble attracting participants.
What did you gain from running ASTORO Cafe?
Kunimoto
There are two things I learned from the challenges.
First, I realized that an event can’t continue for long unless you carefully consider how to attract participants.
Second, I learned how important it is to have a strong concept for “what kind of event you want to create.”
If I have the opportunity to organize an event myself in the future, I want to make sure I apply these two lessons.
But it wasn’t all lessons learned. Meeting all kinds of people through ASTORO Cafe has been a great source of encouragement for me. I’ve never been particularly good at communicating, so I was happy that ASTORO Cafe helped me make new connections.
I think this interview is also an experience I had thanks to ASTORO Cafe. Seeing new activities emerge from the event helped me reaffirm the value of holding it.
I want to value the process of activities expanding further through an event, rather than simply holding it and calling it done.
What are your goals for ASTORO Cafe going forward?
Kunimoto
I want to create a place where people can do more than just socialize—a place where they can share their concerns and talk things over.
I also want new activities to emerge through the connections made at ASTORO Cafe, so I hope to make it a place where participants can meet lots of new people.
For example, one idea I’m considering is “Participant Plus One.” The goal is to create more new connections by asking people who have attended to bring a friend the next time they come.
In terms of running the event, I want to look for a successor and firmly establish its content and concept so that I can hand it over properly. I’ll do my best to make ASTORO Cafe even better.
Do you have any personal goals?
Kunimoto
What I’m aiming for now is “a society where everyone can shine in the workplace.”
I think there are many ways to make that society a reality, but I’m focusing on employment after high school.
That’s because I originally wasn’t planning to go on to further education. I was interested in manufacturing and wanted to attend a technical high school. In the end, I went to Kurashiki Seiryo High School, but looking back, I don’t think I would have been able to do the work I wanted if I had found a job after high school.
The usual path is to go to university and then find a job, and if you step off that path, people tend to view you negatively. That’s why I believe it’s important to create a society where people who find jobs after high school can work with confidence in their own choices.
You’ve also thought about a specific business idea, right?
Kunimoto
Yes. What I presented at the Okayama Gas Business Plan Contest was a proposal for a service matching local small and medium-sized businesses with high school graduates seeking employment.
At present, many high school graduates who enter the workforce join large, well-known companies. Small and medium-sized businesses are also looking for employees, but they have trouble finding good candidates. I think it would be good to share more information about what makes these businesses appealing.
I want to create a service that provides high school students, schools, and parents with accurate information about small and medium-sized businesses, so that the gap between expectations and reality after joining a company can be minimized.
I want to expand the range of job options for high school graduates, and I hope to launch a business matching service that connects companies with high school graduates seeking employment and supports them in pursuing the work they want to do.
Do you think your work with ASTORO Cafe will be useful in the future?
Kunimoto
Yes. There were certainly many things to learn from running ASTORO Cafe, but I feel that having organized an event has given me confidence.
The matching service for high school graduates and companies that I mentioned earlier will mainly use a website, but I think some people will want to meet companies in person and talk before making a choice. So, someday, I’m thinking of creating a place where people can connect with companies, such as a joint company information session.
I’d be happy if I could put my experience running ASTORO Cafe to use when creating that kind of in-person space.
Do you have a message for our readers?
Kunimoto
All of us on the organizing team will work hard to make ASTORO Cafe’s events even better than before, so if you’re interested, please come along and join us.
We’re also looking for more members to help run ASTORO Cafe. If you’d like to get involved in organizing events or share our enthusiasm, come and join the team.
I’d be happy to talk with anyone who’s even a little interested in our events.
From the Writer
The author has attended the third ASTORO Cafe. Thanks to the age limit of under 29, it was a place where people close in age could talk easily and everyone could comfortably share their opinions.
Having a place for this kind of exchange meant I could learn about the concerns and trends of today’s middle and high school students, as well as the state of education. I also learned a lot myself. Meeting passionate teenagers also gave me a chance to look back on the past and wonder, “What was I doing when I was a teenager...?”
Whether you want to share your concerns, broaden your connections, or support people who are working hard, taking part in ASTORO Cafe may lead to new discoveries.
ASTORO Cafe continues to evolve through trial and error. I look forward to seeing what Kunimoto Ryota accomplishes in the future.
ASTORO Cafe Information
| Name | ASTORO Cafe |
|---|---|
| Location | 2-19-10 Chuo, Kurashiki City |
| Participation fee (tax included) | Participation fee: ¥1,000 |
| Website | ASTORO Cafe Instagram |
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