Empowering Japan's Future Leaders
OYWJ Announces Astellas As
Its First Ever PLATFORM PARTNER
September 1, 2025 – Tokyo, JAPAN:
One Young World Japan (OYWJ) is delighted to announce that Astellas Pharma Inc. will deepen its relationship with OYWJ as its first ever “Platform Partner.”
Astellas first joined forces with OYWJ in 2018 as co-host of the first annual Japan Forum, then entitled the Japan Caucus. The success of the event led to the creation of an internal development program focused on empowering young leaders to entertain entrepreneurial ideas outside of the main pharmaceutical market focus.
The resulting ASTAR program, sponsored by both the Rx+ division and select C-Suite executives, created a culture of leadership that continues to inspire. So far, Astellas has sent over 30 delegates to the One Young World global summits with projects to advance SDG-related priorities – largely around improving Health & Well-being.
The introduction of the Platform Partnership will now allow Astellas to continue its successes by supporting One Young World Japan and all of its annual events and programs, including the Japan Forum, the Send Off, One Junior World, the Debrief, and the upcoming Leadership Circles.
The new partnership was spearheaded by OYWJ Executive Director, Mr. Daren Afshar, and Head of Sustainability for Astellas, Dr. Shingo Iino, with the continued support of Astellas’ President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr. Naoki Okamura.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Astellas is One Young World Japan’s first ever platform partner
- What is the Platform Partnership?
- The OYWJ Platform Partnership is available to organizations who wish to engage young leaders inside and outside the organization to identify and begin to address SDG-related challenges throughout the calendar year.
- It provides one scholarship to the annual OYW global summit to an individual outside the organization who is making a significant contribution to Japan’s effort to realize real impact from the UN SDGs.
- It also provides additional resources for OYWJ’s domestic events and programs:
- One Junior World & its annual Spring Camp
- The One Young World Japan Forum
- The One Young World Japan Send Off & Student Pitch
- The One Young World Japan Debrief
- The ASTAR program, co-developed with OYWJ and its Global Leader Accelerator, has produced significant impact within the global Astellas organization using the UN SDGs as its “north star”, empowering young professionals with direct insight from Astellas’ C-Suite leaders.
