On April 13, Mr. Shunsuke Shimada, a senior in the Okayama University Faculty of Environmental Science and Technology’s Department of Environmental Chemistry and Materials, was selected by the world-renowned American business magazine Forbes as one of the “30 Under 30 Asia” young entrepreneurs in the retail and e-commerce division.

Mr. Shimada is a participant in the “Okayama University Venture Laboratory,” in which students who are aiming to start up businesses have gathered together. Two years ago, in a business plan contest for university student nationwide, Mr. Shimada won the top prize for a plan for developing original style jeans using crowd funding to raise funds through the Internet. In April last year, he launched the denim products planning and sales company “EVERY DENIM” with his brother. Staging try-on events for people to see how they like, Mr. Shimada has endeavored to spread the word about the allure of high-quality Kojima denim from Kurashiki City.

“After graduation, I want to develop this business model further and have this lead on to worldwide sales,” Mr. Shimada said enthusiastically.