J. F. Oberlin University’s new campus in the Hyakuninchō neighborhood of Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo, is scheduled to open in April, 2019. Part of the university’s vision for the new campus is that students in the College of Business Management, the main users of the new campus, should be involved in the planning and operation of the dining hall and café. To that end, a competition was held to solicit ideas for the dining hall and café.

Each team had about ten minutes to present its ideas. Suggestions included serving breakfast as well as lunch, offering inexpensive meals that Hyakuninchō residents and company employees could also buy, installing partitions between seats for privacy, and allowing customers to use prepaid cards such as Suica and Pasmo.

The Kumahachi Morino Award was presented to students from Professor Yūji Yamaguchi’s zemi. On behalf of the team, College of Business Management third-year student Tenchi Kasahara accepted the award. Kasahara commented, “I first heard about this competition in April, and my zemi’s members have been preparing for it ever since then. I think it’s a great idea for students to take part in planning and running the dining facilities at the new campus.”