Monday, February 6, 2023 | The Japan Times | 7

sustainable japan

ESG promotional content
produced by The Japan Times Cube

Sustainable Lab harnesses the power of data science
Roundtable
JACOB REEDCONTRIBUTING WRITER

Yuki Kishi, the chief financial officer of Sustainable Lab, a financial technology startup
that gathers companies’ ESG data and provides it to investors and banks, was the guest
at The Japan Times Sustainable Roundtable
No. 27, hosted by Ross Rowbury, on Jan. 13.
The company wants to become a recognized platform in the quest for worldwide
sustainability and contribute in a meaningful
way to sustainability-based decision-making.
In the coming years, they hope to expand
their business operations outside their baseof Japan to include Singapore, Europe andthe United States. Kishi and Rowbury discussed a range of topics including diversity,
Sustainable Lab’s initiatives and issues facing
the sustainability transition today.

The power of diversity

ESG is a broad category covering diverse
environmental, social and governance issues.
The social part is what intrigued Kishi themost in joining the company.
Born in Osaka, he moved to multicultural
London at the age of 12 and attended aninternational school surrounded by peopleof different nationalities. Entering the workforce with a background in finance, he spenteight years at Deutsche Bank and continued
to be exposed to people from around theworld. He learned that “diversity is what creates innovation,” and passionately believes
that workplaces that embrace diversity —like Sustainable Lab — are the places where

successful ideas are born.

Data enabling sustainability“The relationship between people who need
the funding to carry on the transition andthe people who are supplying that money isa critical one,” Rowbury commented. But tomake decisions on financing, having transparent data is key. Sustainable Lab wants tocreate a world in which every investment
decision is based on data sets like the ones it
procures, and thereby help lead the charge
toward global sustainability.
Currently, it offers two services. The first isa “next-gen Bloomberg”, called Terrast (from“terasu” to illuminate”) which focuses oncompanies’ ESG metrics.. Many companies
already produce annual sustainability reportsthat include data such as carbon dioxide
emissions or board diversity. Sustainability
Lab analyzes the data in these reports andorganizes it visually for its customers, investors and even academics.
Another service, called Terrast for Enterprise, is a tool for enterprises to self-assess
their strategies related to ESG and the U.N.’s
SDGs. Though companies are increasingly
focusing on ESG, in-house working groups
often are at a loss as to just what they should
be doing. Even if they have a strategy, they
may not be able to tell if it is effective or not.
Data is crucial for a coherent ESG corporate
strategy. “Companies need to be able tosee where they are and how they stack up
against industry peers. We are helping themby providing an ESG toolkit that equips themwith visualized data,” he said.
There are companies today that try to “gogreen” without even knowing what their
Prior to his career at
Sustainable Lab,
Yuki Kishi worked at
Plug and Play Japanand Deutsche Bank
Group.
YUICO TAIYA

Yuki Kishi, Chief Financial Officer at Sustainable Lab YUICO TAIYA FOR PHOTOMATE

overall purpose is, which areas they actuallyneed to improve in, or what the most financially appropriate strategies are. Terrast canhelp companies target the metrics that are
most financially sound. Naturally, financial
stability is important to any business, so Terrast attempts to highlight which ESG metrics
are helping to improve their financial condition. In this way, businesses can become sustainable without endangering profitability.
While Kishi noted that his company’s
expertise is not in the specifics of solving ESG
issues, the services it provides reveal the ESG
issues that companies are facing. The data
forms the basis for actionable insights, and isthereby the starting point for the conversation on sustainability. “We are a company

Yoichi Sagra
Italian restaurant in Hokkaido wine capital Yoichi

that functions like an annual health check.
We meet with a company from year toyear to let them know how they are doing
and what they could be doing better,” heexplained. Ultimately, what corporations
want to know is what actions they shouldtake based on the numbers, and this requires
interpretation and analysis.

Overcoming hurdles

Rowbury illustrated what has become something of an ESG dilemma: the ever-evolving
narrative. “Seven years ago, the narrative inJapan was about gender diversity. Later, theemphasis was more on LGBTQ issues, andnow it is more about ‘inclusion’ and ‘equity.’”
Kishi agreed that the changing focus is

MAIKO MURAOKACONTRIBUTING WRITERTAEKO TERAOCONTRIBUTING WRITER

Yoichi, home to this issue’s featured restaurant, is a small town of 18,000 in northwestern Hokkaido, past Otaru from Sapporo. The
drive from New Chitose Airport takes anhour and a half, or two hours with snow on
the ground. The town’s name has roots inthe language of Hokkaido’s Indigenous Ainu
people, and according to various theories
may mean either “place with a hot spring,”
after the springs in the upper reaches of the
Yoichi River, or “place with snakes.” From the
middle of the Edo Period through the 1950s,
the port town had a thriving herring fishery,
but today the boats bring in mainly shrimp,
squid and flounder. The town is known for
its apples, cherries, pears and other fruits,
and for being one of Japan’s few centers of
production for Western-style alcohol; its first
whisky distillery was established in the 1930s
and its first winery in the 1970s. Today Yoichi
boasts the highest wine production in all of
Hokkaido.
Yoichi Sagra is an Italian-style inn withthree guestrooms, costing ¥38,500 ($290) for
one night and two meals. Chef-owner Hiroto
Murai shapes his cuisine around wines from
Yoichi and other parts of Hokkaido. The
prix fixe dinner (¥15,000) includes about 10

innovative courses, many of which make useof the region’s traditional food-preserving
techniques.
“Although this area is blessed with abundant nature and foodstuffs, the climate isharsh. In winter, when the sea is rough, there
are times when fishing boats can only go out
twice a month, so we focus on vegetables
and preserved foods as well,” Murai said.
For instance, the appetizer one December day was saba (mackerel) rui-be, a dish offish frozen to preserve it and distribute thefat more evenly, which improves flavor. It
paired perfectly with a local cider. Cannelloni
stuffed with hatahata (Japanese sandfish)
and wrapped in a dough made with mukago,
the propagules of wild root vegetables, wasserved with salty, umami-rich shirogai mollusks fermented in salt and paired with wine
made from aromatic Kerner white wine
grapes.
Guests can dine at the restaurant without
staying at the inn, but an overnight stay witha breakfast is highly recommended. “In the
future we’ll be offering a monthly multinight
package deal that includes special activities,
targeted at repeat guests. Through events
such as river kayaking to pick gyōja ninniku(Alpine leeks) or watching salmon swim
upriver, I hope to share more widely whatmakes this place wonderful,” Murai said.
He also plans to begin making takehome sweets using surplus fruit that local
farmers currently struggle to sell. It seems
there is still much he can contribute as achef rooted in this community.

KEISUKE SAITO
MAYOR OF YOICHI

We are very honored that
Yoichi’s restaurant Yoichi
Sagra was selected to bepart of The Japan Times’
Destination Restaurants

2022.
The town of Yoichi is located in Hokkaido, with good access to the Sapporo
and Niseko areas, and boasts abundantfood resources thanks to Mother Nature’s
blessings in the mountains, sea and rivers.
We hope you will enjoy chef Murai’s
cuisine, which makes the most of Yoichi’srich ingredients, paired with world-classlocal wines.

YUICO TAIYA

ated claims about a company’s ESG status or
the sustainability of its products — is an issue
that could be particularly pernicious for abusiness that relies on data transparency, like
Sustainable Lab. However, Kishi explainedthat greenwashing is more of a problem
between companies and consumers, and lessso in business-to-business dealings and investor relations — situations in which the fineprint is read carefully.
Of course, Sustainable Lab wants consumers to be more conscious of their rolein sustainability too. To this end, it is now
collaborating on a project with a Japanese
e-commerce company to create a new
search category for online shopping. “People
usually search for products online based onreviews and price, but what we want to do iscreate another metric: a ‘sustainability score’for products,” Kishi said. Consumers would
be able to use this to make more informed
purchase decisions by ranking search results
based on sustainability. With eco-conscious
consumers on the rise, moves like this should
benefit companies with an eye toward sustainability initiatives,
making the services Sustainable Lab provides all
the more important.
Roundtable is a monthly series of Englishlanguage events organizedby The Japan Times Cube. For
more information visit https://sustainable.japantimes.com/
roundtable

Aomori’s Mutsu finds partners
for the future through Singapore
ESG/SDGs

Address
Yoichi Sagra
987-2 Nobori-cho,
Yoichi-cho, Yoichi-gun,
Hokkaido
https://sagra.jp

problematic, and added that “now environmental issues have taken precedence oversocial ones.” The difficulty for companies
faced with making long-term investments
related to ESG issues lies in the time horizons
involved. Companies that invest a large sum
into a multiyear plan to improve one aspectof ESG may find that the impact of theirinvestment is greatly reduced due to the
public focus having shifted to something different in the interim.
To help companies navigate this dynamic
landscape, data once again provides ananswer. Sustainable Lab currently maintains
the largest set of corporate ESG data in Japan,
with nearly 4,000 public and nonpublic companies from around the world in its database.
This allows it to notice shifting trends andspot correlations between specific ESG metrics and financial stability. In other words, its
data can shed light on which metrics tend
to have a positive long-term impact and areworth the capital risk.
While data is the prerequisite for Sustainable Lab’s business model, acquiring it isn’t
always simple. Depending on the company
and how much information is publicly available online, it can be difficult to get comprehensive data. To fill in the holes, SustainableLab goes beyond digital data mining andreaches out directly to companies to request
more information, which is then added tothe database. Not all companies are forthcoming, however, due to their corporate
culture, the jurisdiction they are based in, or
simply not wanting to report informationthat might cast a shadow over their business.
Another pain point is in making comparisons between companies. Not all companies
report the same information or use the same
metrics. “Fortunately, we have an enormous
amount of data,” Kishi said. That alone canhelp with identifying patterns and shifting
trends, plus highlighting businesses that are
performing vastly better than others, or perhaps are “too good to be true” through using
overly generous reporting methodologies.
Greenwashing — issuing false or exagger-

The city of Mutsu in Aomori Prefecture is
one of the most ambitious and open ruralmunicipalities in Japan. It not only works torevitalize its area in sustainable ways using
existing geographic, natural, historic andcultural resources but also collaborates withinternational players to promote the city’scharms globally.
“Many of the rural municipalities in Japanare facing such problems as depopulation
and aging. I believe that solutions to suchproblems can be found not only in the connections within communities in Japan but
also in building networks with foreign countries that are still expanding,” said Mutsu
Mayor Soichiro Miyashita in response toquestions from The Japan Times.
One of the countries that the city has beenbuilding close relationships with is Singapore.
In 2018, Mutsu and two other municipalities
in the prefecture, along with local banks andcompanies, held the event “Umai!! Aomori
Food Fair 2018” in Singapore to promote andexpand sales channels for Aomori products.
To Japan, Singapore is an important gateway
to the growing Southeast Asian market.
In 2019, while in Singapore for the second
food fair, Miyashita and several other city
leaders visited the National University ofSingapore, where they met Centre for Language Studies Director Izumi Walker. NUS,
established in 1905, is ranked first in Asia and11th globally in the Quacquarelli Symonds
World University Rankings 2023, and thecenter offers 13 language courses, including
Japanese. In the meeting, Walker shared her

Test sale at Iroha Market MUTSU CITY

PAGE: 7wish to give the center’s students learning
Japanese more opportunities to visit Japanand experience life there. Miyashita also saw
a new opportunity for Mutsu in realizing
her wish. “Deepening a direct relationshipwith the NUS would allow Mutsu and othermunicipalities in the prefecture to learn fromthe growth and dynamism of Singapore
and neighboring Southeast Asian countries,
which would contribute to nurturing the
growth of the local earning power,” Miyashita said.
Although the programs that came to beplanned for NUS students to visit Mutsu
and several other neighboring municipalities
in 2020 had to be canceled because of the
COVID-19 pandemic, the first subsequentannual event, Aomori Global Advance Project 2021, was held online, offering a virtual
exchange program for students at NUS andJapanese universities, test-marketing local
products, conducting online tours and promoting Mutsu on Instagram.
In 2022, Miyashita and a group of university students from the prefecture visited
Singapore from Sept. 17 to 20 to sign a comprehensive partnership agreement with
the Centre for Language Studies for further
collaboration and to engage in various activities such as test-marketing and promoting
Aomori products at Iroha Mart, a Japanesesupermarket in Singapore, and interactingwith NUS students as part of the Aomori
Global Advance Project 2022.
The Aomori Global Advance Project 2023
will take local and NUS students deeper
into collaboration. From May 10 to 30,
about a dozen students from NUS will stayin Aomori to enrich their understanding of
the regional culture and value through various hands-on activities and exchanges withlocal students. The participating students
from both countries will also visit local producers to think about how to enhance local
industries by improving local products’ competitiveness and visibility. The activities will
include experiences such as feeding and harvesting salmon and milking cows, as well as
developing a strategy to promote food products made from local ingredients.

Commemorative photo on the campus of NUS
MUTSU CITY

The NUS students who participated in the
project can also participate in a longer-term
internship program starting in June at Fifty
One Media Pte. Ltd., a media firm in Singapore that connects Japan and Singapore.
Fifty One Media, led by Aomori native Managing Director Kosuke Iida, has been supporting the projects between Aomori andSingapore since 2018.
In October, an event will be held in Singapore to report on the achievements of thetrip to Aomori and to promote Aomori products based on the strategies discussed by students during the trip.
Miyashita believes these efforts will help
promote Mutsu and Aomori in Singapore
and the rest of Southeast Asia, which willlead to revaluation of his area. “This will ultimately contribute to enhancing civic pride,”
he said. He also said it is good for NUS students to gain a deep understanding of Mutsu’s values. “These students are expected tolead the Southeast Asian business sector in
the future. I hope that they will become ourpowerful partners. It is exciting to imagine
how Mutsu and Aomori will be recognizedin Southeast Asia in several years’ time,”
Miyashita said, expressing a renewed determination to give the fruits of these efforts
back to the citizens and makethe Aomori Global Advance
Project a model for tackling
regional challenges.
Mutsu is a member of the Sustainable Japan
Network, a group of entities that cooperatewith this newspaper in spreading information about sustainability in Japan. You canalso be part of the network; scan the QR
code for more details.