Team Sunrise – Hitachi Employees' Network that Fosters Innovation
【Part 10】The "Bridge of Ambidexterity" Sustaining Hitachi's Culture of Challenge — 20 Years of Activities Reported to Executive Chairman Higashihara

Summary
In 2006, a small study group of approximately 10 members was launched, which later became the predecessor of Team Sunrise. What does it take to create an internal network that goes beyond organizational and national boundaries to foster innovation? Over the past 20 years, various initiatives have been carried out, including study sessions with guest lecturers, hackathons, and ideathons. Team Sunrise has grown into an internal network with 3,600 newsletter registrants and 2,700 community participants. On July 29, 2025, a roundtable discussion on Team Sunrise's past achievements and future direction took place with Toshiaki Higashihara, Executive Chairman of Hitachi, Ltd., and six members of the team. The conversation from the roundtable will be highlighted in a three-part series. This part offers a summary of the Team Sunrise activity report meeting presented to Director Higashihara prior to the roundtable.

Japanese

Click here for "【Part 1】 15 Years of Hitachi’s Internal Employee Network"
Click here for "【Part 2】 The Logic of Transforming an Organization"
Click here for "【Part 3】 Making a Fresh Start from Stagnation"
Click here for "【Part 4】 Challenging the Pandemic by DX of Innovation"
Click here for "【Part 5】 Secret behind the Longevity of Team Sunrise"
Click here for "【Part 6】 Drivers of Innovation"
Click here for "【Part 7】 The Man Who Brought the US Bestseller “The Human Element” to Japan"
Click here for "【Part 8】 Global Mindset and English"
Click here for "【Part 9】 Organization Where Innovation Occurs from the Bottom Up"
Click here for "【Part 10】The "Bridge of Ambidexterity" Sustaining Hitachi's Culture of Challenge — 20 Years of Activities Reported to Executive Chairman Higashihara

* This article was written as of July 29, 2025.

Team Sunrise's Activity Report

On May 18, 2025, two Team Sunrise secretariat representatives and four ambassador representatives held a report session on 20 years of activities with Director Toshiaki Higashihara of Hitachi, Ltd. The report session began with Masahiko Sato, head of Team Sunrise and currently a member of Hitachi's Research & Development Group, reflecting on the network's past activities.

The internal network activities began in 2006 as an in-house study group including Masahiko Sato, who worked as an SE in Hitachi's IT department, along with a few colleagues. By the fifth year, the group had grown to around 500 members. However, the network's original purpose of examining Hitachi's challenges gradually shifted toward repeatedly finding faults within the company, and at one point, the activities hit a dead end. The network then realigned its activities toward discovering seeds for new businesses through visits to the company's founding hut and studying Hitachi Founding Spirit （*1） and Ochibo Spirit （*2）. In 2015, secretariat members of Team Sunrise became finalists in the in-house business contest "Make a Difference!" open to all Hitachi Group employees and themed around the "I will mindset". This milestone reignited the network's energy as a hub for creativity.
*1: "Harmony, Sincerity, and Pioneering Spirit"
*2: The "Ochibo Spirit" at Hitachi embodies a mindset of noticing small or easily overlooked issues and handling them with care and thoroughness. The term originates from the practice of picking up fallen ears of grain during farming, symbolizing a mindset that values attention to detail. This approach aims to ensure high quality and customer satisfaction.

The group adopted the name "Team Sunrise" in 2016, and by 2019, the number of registrants had surpassed 2,000. However, the 2020 "BUNKASAI （Cultural Festival）," planned to feature then-President Toshiaki Higashihara, was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. "For Team Sunrise, whose activities are all about connecting people, the impact of COVID-19 was truly significant. Yet it was precisely because of this that we were able to rapidly shift our activities to a digitally driven, online format," reflects Sato, head of Team Sunrise and Miyazawa, Team Sunrise secretariat.1

Ambassador Activity Report 1

Following the activity report of Team Sunrise by Sato, individual activity reports were presented by the ambassadors. The first speaker was Ikue Osawa from Hitachi, Ltd.'s Social Innovation Business Division. On the very day she joined Team Sunrise, she formed a team with the members she met. Together with colleagues beyond her work group, she entered the "Make a Difference! 2019" in-house contest in the Internal Reform category and won the Silver Award. Subsequently, through Team Sunrise, she organized an event promoting customer success, attracting 270 participants. She is currently preparing to leverage the Team Sunrise framework to provide career support, drawing on the expertise she gained as a career consultant after gaining national certification during her childcare leave. "I was really pleased that Director Higashihara remembered the idea of the 'Childcare Leave Division' from Make a Difference! 2019," Osawa shared, reflecting on her presentation.

Ambassador Activity Report 2

Following this, Eiko Ono of Hitachi Academy Co., Ltd. gave her presentation. As part of the 25th anniversary of Open Day, Hitachi Academy's learning festival for the Hitachi Group, a pre-event for Hitachi Academy Open Day 2024 was organized in collaboration with Team Sunrise. It featured a discussion in the first part with Professor Asa Ito of the Institute of Science Tokyo and Kazuo Yano, CEO of Happiness Planet Ltd., on the theme "How Innovative Organizations Engage with Altruism." In the second part, the Innovation BUNKASAI was held under the theme of "connection" and "collaboration" for innovation. Fourteen groups from various Hitachi Group companies, who responded to a callfrom Team Sunrise, presented their diverse businesses and research through pitches and venue exhibitions. At the main event of Hitachi Academy Open Day 2024, a record-high 14,000 pre-registrations were achieved, made possible in part by the support of 60 Team Sunrise Ambassadors from 30 locations. .

She highlighted recent efforts, stating, "Within the framework of Hitachi Academy's initiative to promote self-driven learning across the Hitachi Group, we have launched a language-learning community with Hitachi Group members,some of whom voluntarily joined through Team Sunrise. The community now has over 800 members and continues to expand steadily. Beyond its original purpose as a gathering for language learning, the community is growing beyond our expectations and fostering autonomous connections, transcending nationality and organizational divisions."

Ambassador Activity Report 3

Next to present was Kazunari Nakazaki from Hitachi Solutions, Ltd. Hitachi Solutions, aiming to transform from a company that builds systems into one that co-creates social value, launched the SX （Sustainability Transformation） project in FY2022. The initiative has promoted the creation of a company that will attract both talent and business even 50 years into the future. As part of this, an open community called "Hello Min," aimed at co-creating an exciting future through collaboration, was launched in April 2024. As one of the outcomes, he reported that in the 2025 brand ranking of IT companies in the manufacturing sector for new graduates, Hitachi Solutions ranked first （Weekly Toyo Keizai）.

In the "Hello Min" community, they have been planning a variety of events around the theme of sustainability, sponsoring Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan Signature Pavilion "Playground of Life: Jellyfish Pavilion" as a partner, and hosting co-creation events with other communities, which has led to new connections with over 3,500 people outside the company.
He explained that the co-creation events with Team Sunrise have been organized around the theme of collaboration with startups to drive open innovation. At the event, Hitachi Solutions presented its "Startup Creation Program," an initiative designed to establish startups in Silicon Valley, where leading global tech companies gather, by learning entrepreneurial methods and creating ventures capable of receiving investment from external venture capital firms. Nakazaki commented, "The participants all shared the same passion, which led to lively and inspiring discussions."

The final presentation was given by Ritsuha Tanaka from Hitachi's IT sector, Digital Systems & Services Division （DSS）, who spoke about a joint pitch event organized within DSS to promote new businesses. This initiative invited employees in DSS with new business ideas to deliver three-minute presentations （pitches） during lunch breaks in open spaces, where colleagues could listen onsite or join via online streaming. She reported that the initiative, which marked the first internal open innovation forum connected to the Team Sunrise network, drew a total of 566 participants onsite and online, and generated more than 80 follow-up actions such as personal introductions. Tanaka recalls, "By making ideas visible, we saw mentors step in to accompany us and supporters emerge across business units. This gave us a real sense that the initiative could serve as an engine for both challenge and encouragement."

Learning from Failures

Masahiko Sato, head of Team Sunrise, reflected on the past 20 years under the theme of learning from failures and explained why the initiative initially lost momentum. He explained that the cause lay in the belief among younger members that they had to fix Hitachi's "big business syndrome." This mindset, however, led to a lack of values such as altruism and the "I will mindset," ultimately driving the group into a distorted cycle of misguided righteousness. He further reflected, drawing on insights from a discussion with Professor Asa Ito（Institute of Science Tokyo）（*3）, that the group had fallen into a pattern described as "the toxicity of altruism," where good intentions of making others happy became prescriptive, turning into a controlling mindset.　
*3: https://www.foresight.ext.hitachi.co.jp/_ct/17743416

To overcome this situation, Sato turned to his former university professors to study economics and organizational management, while also researching open innovation, and came to two conclusions. The first conclusion was that it is necessary not only to leverage individuals beyond an organization but also to cultivate boundary-crossing talent who can facilitate new combinations and recombinations. The second conclusion was that networks of individuals connected not merely by mutual interests but by genuine empathy are essential for open innovation.

"While it is important to transcend organizational boundaries to incorporate new ideas and value, simply expanding the scope of activities by leveraging individuals outside an organization is not enough. Only by 'recrystallizing' the insights and experiences that have been broken down and connecting them as new value to the organization can one be called boundary-crossing talent. I learned that if the process ends with only leveraging individuals beyond an organization, one does not become boundary-crossing talent but rather overstepping talent," Sato reflected.

Team Sunrise has carried on for 20 years, consistently turning failures into opportunities for learning. What supported this development was a network of ambidextrous initiatives, where employees with independence and a spirit of altruistic support engaged in "finding and cultivating raw gems." Discovering and visualizing seeds for new businesses, facilitating their matching, and nurturing them into fully developed ventures. Team Sunrise aims to evolve as a "bridge of ambidexterity," cultivating new ideas informally within Hitachi and transforming them into businesses through formal channels. Furthermore, the plan is to expand this open innovation ecosystem globally moving forward. The report from Team Sunrise concluded with a look toward the future, sharing aspirations such as hosting the "Innovation BUNKASAI Hitachi" forum, an innovation platform led by Hitachi employees.

Comments from Director Higashihara

Sato
We appreciate your time in reviewing the Team Sunrise activity report. Please give us your honest feedback.

Higashihara
It was well understood that Team Sunrise has carried on its activities under values such as the "I will mindset", altruism, and One Hitachi. I'm very glad to know that what I've been wanting to convey has truly been understood. Although we know the word "altruism," the nuance is not easily conveyed. I still believe that holding back your own interests and thinking for the benefit of society underpins well-being, such as contentment and happiness. Yet, the feelings of wanting to be praised and acknowledged are inseparable from human nature.

Recognizing that the pursuit of self-interest is a human instinct, the question is how we can build a participatory society where people see social issues as their own and take action. In order to address this issue, we have joined the Kyoto Institute of Philosophy (*), founded by NTT Chairman Jun Sawada and Kyoto University philosophy professor Yasuo Deguchi, as a board member alongside Hakuhodo and the Yomiuri Shimbun . This September in Kyoto, we are planning to hold an international conference that will bring together philosophers including Markus Gabriel. Our aim is to create a forum where diverse perspectives can be acknowledged and shared.
*Kyoto Institute of Philosophy: About the Kyoto Institute of Philosophy | Kyoto Institute of Philosophy

Concepts like altruism and "I will mindset" are ineffective for individuals whose basic physiological needs （in terms of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs） are unmet, or for those compelled to live day-to-day. We face two challenges: one is how to provide support for people struggling with basic physical needs, and the other is how to create a society where those with the capacity to think can engage in free and open discussions. Hitachi should take the lead in addressing both of these challenges, and since Team Sunrise has significant potential, I would very much like to see it grow on a global scale.

Sato
Could you share any considerations for expanding Team Sunrise's initiatives globally?

Higashihara
I believe there are three important points. The first point is "sense of ownership" —take a first-person perspective and clearly communicate to others what you yourself can contribute. The second point is "empathy" —communicating your ideas not by force, but by first understanding the other person and then helping them grasp your perspective. The third point is "ability to involve others" —actively engaging and involving those around you. I encourage you to value these three points.

From a global perspective, understanding people with different cultural or religious backgrounds is not easy. Especially overseas, where job security differs, some people naturally prioritize their own positions above all else. There is a difference between expressing ideas under guaranteed employment and in environments without such security, leading some to view global implementation of One Hitachi as difficult. I believe it is a real loss, especially overseas, when many people are forced to leave their jobs due to company circumstances. I have been discussing with executives whether it might be possible for them to continue working at other Hitachi Group companies in the same region abroad.

My wish is for both researchers and business unit members to take on the "I will mindset" in their work and stand out more. And I believe it is important for the company to evaluate and acknowledge such individuals. Abroad, evaluation of employees is not solely done by their managers. There are always people around observing, carefully monitoring whether individuals are contributing to One Hitachi. Let's create opportunities to talk together, including how we will continue to develop altruistic activities like Team Sunrise.

On July 29, a discussion with Executive Chairman Higashihara took place with the same group to further explore One Hitachi and the concept of altruism. The details of this discussion will be covered in depth in Part 11 through 14.

Toshiaki Higashihara
Hitachi, Ltd.
Director, Executive Chairman and Representative Executive Officer
Born in 1955. Joined Hitachi, Ltd. in 1977. Has long been engaged in quality assurance for control systems across various sectors, including electric power and railways. After serving as president of domestic and overseas subsidiaries and gaining management experience,
appointed as President & COO, and Director in 2014; President & CEO, and Director in 2016; Executive Chairman & CEO and Director in 2021; and has held the current position since April 2022.
He has also been active outside the company, serving as Vice Chair of the Keidanren （Japan Business Federation） and as Chairman of the Japan Science Foundation, dedicating his efforts to solving social issues and promoting science and technology education. His publications include “Breaking Down Silos” （Toyo Keizai Inc.）.

Masahiko Sato
Hitachi, Ltd., Research & Development Group
Technology Strategy Office, Strategy Management Center
Open Innovation Promotion Office
Chief Strategist Joined Hitachi, Ltd. in 2001 after holding the position of IT head at an international NGO. While engaged in system engineering for the information and communication business, new company establishment, M&A, and other new business planning, he also completed an MBA. He is currently pursuing a doctoral program in organizational management. After roles including Chief Researcher at the Headquarters IT Strategy Division and the Research & Development Group's Global Center for Social Innovation （CSI）, he took on his current position in 2023. He is in charge of developing R&D strategies and promoting open innovation. He has led Team Sunrise, an internal network activity continuing since 2006.

Aki Miyazawa
Hitachi Academy Co., Ltd., Business Partnering Division, Smart Life Sector BP Group
Assistant Manager
After beginning in a sales role at Hitachi, Ltd., she transferred to the Hitachi Institute of Management Development, the forerunner of Hitachi Academy. She is now part of the Business Partnering Division, responsible for aligning business and talent strategies, identifying development needs in partnership with BUs and group companies, and designing solutions to enhance organizational strength. She provides development support for employees ranging from young professionals to management and facilitates knowledge utilization. As a member of the Team Sunrise secretariat, she has been involved in planning collaborations with Hitachi Academy events.

Ikue Osawa
Hitachi Ltd., Digital Systems & Services Division
Social Innovation Business Division
Well-being Society Business Creation Division
Well-being Society Business Creation Department 2
Unit Manager
Engaged in planning of the well-being business. Through voluntary activities, she has worked on career support for employees, with one of her internal reform proposals winning the Silver Award in the company's business contest. During her childcare leave, she obtained the national qualification of career consultant and has been engaged in initiatives to support career development.

Eiko Ono
Hitachi Academy Co., Ltd., Learning & Development Division, L&D Solutions Department
Assistant Manager
Joined Hitachi, Ltd. in 2009. After working in IT sales and proposing HR systems to client HR departments, she became interested in self-driven career development and talent management. In 2022, she transferred to her current role within the Hitachi Group through an internal open recruitment process.
She is currently at Hitachi Academy, engaged in talent development support, including designing and developing language and global training programs, and promoting language learning using a learning experience platform （LXP） that supports self-driven learning.

Kazunari Nakazaki
Hitachi Solutions, Ltd., Corporate Strategy Management Group
Sustainability Management Division
Brand Communication Department
Section Manager
Joined Hitachi Solutions, Ltd. in 2003. Since joining, he has been consistently engaged in marketing and communications. In 2022, he managed the secretariat for the company-wide SX project and led project management for corporate branding initiatives. In 2024, he lead the establish "Hello Min," a collaborative community for building a sustainable future, and is actively contributing to sustainable society initiatives as its community manager. Registered Small and Medium Enterprise Consultant, accredited by the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry （METI）.

Ritsuha Tanaka
Hitachi Ltd., Digital Systems & Services Division
Strategy Planning Division, Business Development
Joined Hitachi Ltd. in 2023. Engaged in business development through collaboration with startups, as well as in the design and implementation of internal systems and initiatives aimed at achieving ambidextrous management （both deepening existing businesses and exploring new businesses）. While majoring in applied chemistry during her student years, she gained a strong awareness of the gap between technology and society through presenting at conferences and writing papers. Alongside her research, she studied in the U.S. and Europe, where she experienced launching startups and interning at accelerators. Currently, she is applying these experiences to develop ecosystems aimed at generating new businesses.