Yoshito Hori
Social entrepreneurship
Social entrepreneurship
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### Kibow Foundation

Just days after the destruction of the [2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami](/wiki/2011_T%C5%8Dhoku_earthquake_and_tsunami "2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami"), Hori together with other young entrepreneurs launched Project Kibow to help in the efforts to support and rebuild disaster\-affected areas. The word Kibow is a [portmanteau](/wiki/Portmanteau "Portmanteau") of the Japanese word for  and , derived from rainbow, signifying "a bridge between Japan and the rest of the world". In half a year the project raised ¥99 million yen in donations. Project Kibow was incorporated as the [Kibow Foundation](/wiki/Kibow_Foundation "Kibow Foundation") early 2012\. In 2013, Hori was named a [Young Presidents’ Organization](/wiki/Young_Presidents%27_Organization "Young Presidents' Organization") Global Impact Project honoree for his efforts. In 2015 the Kibow Impact Investment Fund with a net value of ¥500 million yen was raised to support social entrepreneurship.

### Local development

Hori has been an  from 2011\. When Hori visited Mito in August 2015 for a high school swimming team reunion, he was shocked by the decline of the town he grew up in. This led him to launch the Mito Downtown Revitalization Project (水戸ど真ん中再生プロジェクト, mito donmannaka saisei purojekuto), a public\-private initiative to revive the local area economically through tourism and other initiatives in February 2016\. Hori's first initiative was to purchase the [Ibaraki Robots](/wiki/Ibaraki_Robots "Ibaraki Robots") basketball team in April 2016\. The team was promoted to the Japanese [B1 League](/wiki/B.League "B.League") division in 2021\. In 2019, Hori became the majority owner of [LuckyFM Ibaraki Broadcasting System](/wiki/LuckyFM_Ibaraki_Broadcasting_System "LuckyFM Ibaraki Broadcasting System"), the only local radio station in Ibaraki Prefecture. The scope of the radio station was expanded to internet media. IBS, the nickname of the radio station was changed to LuckyFM on April 1, 2021, a playful reference to Ibaraki.

Following the departure announcement of [Rock in Japan Festival](/wiki/Rock_in_Japan_Festival "Rock in Japan Festival") from [Hitachi Seaside Park](/wiki/Hitachi_Seaside_Park "Hitachi Seaside Park") in [Hitachinaka, Ibaraki](/wiki/Hitachinaka%2C_Ibaraki "Hitachinaka, Ibaraki") early 2022, Hori decided to create a new music festival organized by LuckyFM at the vacated location, with himself as self\-appointed festival producer. A crowdfunding campaign for the new festival raised over ¥30 million yen on ReadyFor by April 2022\. LuckyFM Green Festival or [LuckyFes](/wiki/LuckyFes "LuckyFes") in short was held for the first time on July 23\-24, 2022\.


What challenges do young entrepreneurs face when launching projects in disaster-affected areas?