ギルド名鑑 No.237 Business Growth Driver 向山純平さん

「おもろい！」がこれからの成長エンジン！！
Business Growth Driver 向山純平さんの熱量と知恵でつなぐ事業共創

(The English version follows the Japanese text.)

港区を起点にいろんなところで働く・暮らす、楽しい時間を創りたい人たちによるコミュニティCreative Guild。このギルド名鑑では、そんなCreative Guildでつながったユニークな方々をご紹介しています。今回ご紹介するのは、Business Growth Driverの向山純平さん。食品、メディア、モビリティなどの領域を横断し、事業開発からマーケティング、広報PR、ライティング・編集まで、課題に応じて組み合わせる事業成長推進者です。その原動力は、「おもろい！」という感覚。人やブランドが持つ可能性を見つけ、一緒に手を動かしながら、次の成長へつないでいます。

向山さんのキャリアの出発点は、意外にもパン屋の店長。現場で働く中で信頼できたのは、一緒に動いてくれる人でした。その後、食品、メディア、ゲームなどで経験を重ね、現在は食品ロス削減ショップ「ecoeat（エコイート）」の広報マーケティング担当を軸に、モビリティ関連企業アドバイザーやジャーナリストなどで活動しています。
ジャーナリストとしては、自らのネットワークを活用しながら題材を探し、テーマを企画して書く経験を積み重ねました。苦手だった文章も、体系的に学び、読者の反応や人からの感謝を受け取るうちに、大切な仕事の一つに。その経験は、見つけ、形にし、届け、反応を確かめ、成長につなぐという現在のスタンスへ。立ち上がった事業の成長から、長く続くブランドの再活性化まで、活躍の幅を広げています。

そんな向山さんが大切にする価値観は、「おもろい！」のひとことに集約されます。単に笑えることだけでなく、意外な組合せや新しい切り口、誰かの工夫から生まれる可能性も、その言葉に含まれています。同時に、自分の感覚を一方的に押し付けないことも大切にしています。関わる相手と共に掘り下げ、その人自身の「おもろい！」を起点に、主体的な行動を引き出す。そして多様な人とつながり、一つの型に囚われず、自分も一緒に手を動かしながら、現場で小さく試しては反応を確かめる。考え方は共有しても、答えは同じでなくていい。その試行錯誤が、向山さん自身の想像も超える、新しい可能性を拓いていきます。

こうした新しい可能性は、既存の職種や業界の枠だけでは捉えきれません。所属や肩書きから人を理解しようとすれば、領域をまたいで生まれる価値は見えにくくなります。確実な答えを求めるあまり、小さく試す機会が閉じられることも。共につくった成果を一人の手柄にしてしまえば、率直な異論や次の提案も出にくくなるでしょう。予想どおりに進める力と、予想を超える可能性を育てる力を、どう両立するか。「おもろい」を事業の選択肢にするには、違いを尊重し、試して学べる関係が欠かせません。その挑戦を成長へ結びつける、現場に根ざした実践も必要です。

つまり、向山さんが今目指すのは、「おもろい！」を事業の成長エンジンにしていくこと。分野や組織の枠を超えて、多様な人が「おもろい！」を共通感覚としてつながり、小さく試しながら価値を共創していく。その積み重ねは、そこに関わる人たちだからこそできる独自の魅力を育み、長く愛されるブランドも築き得ます。また、得られた知恵や考え方を次の担い手へ渡せば、まだ見ぬ「おもろい！」が生まれ続ける流れにも。けれど、それは決して特別なことではありません。私たちにも十分できること。なぜなら、「おもろい！」の種は、私たちの身近な仕事や、人とのつながりの中にもあるはずだからです。「おもろい！（かも）」と思ったら、誰かと分かち合い、まずは小さくやってみる。成長を求める私たちが、向山さんのスタンスから学べることは多そうですね。

“Omoroi!” Is the Engine of Future Growth!!
Business Growth Driver Junpei Mukouyama: Co-creating Businesses through Passion, Practical Wisdom, and Connection

Back to the Japanese version.

Creative Guild is a community of people who live and work in various places, starting from Minato City, and who want to create joyful moments together. In this Guild Directory, we introduce unique individuals connected through Creative Guild. Meet Junpei Mukouyama, a Business Growth Driver who works across food, media, mobility, and other fields. He combines business development, marketing, public relations, writing, and editorial work according to the challenge at hand. His driving force is the feeling of ‘Omoroi!’: a Kansai Japanese expression for something that sparks interest, amusement, or excitement. He discovers the potential in people and brands, then works alongside them to turn it into their next stage of growth.

Perhaps surprisingly, Mukouyama began his career as a bakery manager. The people he trusted on the shop floor were those who rolled up their sleeves and worked with him. He went on to gain experience in food, media, and games. Today, his work centers on PR and marketing for ecoeat, a shop dedicated to reducing food waste, alongside his roles as an advisor to mobility businesses and as a journalist.
As a journalist, he has drawn on his own network to find subjects, develop story ideas, and write articles. Writing had initially been difficult for him, but systematic learning, readers’ responses, and expressions of gratitude made it an important part of his work. That experience evolved into his current approach: discover, shape, deliver, assess the response, and connect it to growth. His work now ranges from helping newly established businesses grow to revitalizing longstanding brands.

Mukouyama’s values come together in one expression: ‘Omoroi!’ It encompasses more than something funny: unexpected combinations, fresh perspectives, and possibilities born from someone’s ingenuity are part of it, too. He also takes care not to impose his own sense of what is interesting. Instead, he explores it with the people involved, encouraging them to act on their own sense of ‘Omoroi!’ He connects with diverse people, avoids being confined to a single formula, and joins in the hands-on work, testing small ideas in real settings and checking the response. A shared way of thinking need not produce identical answers. Through this trial and error, new possibilities emerge that can exceed even his own imagination.

These possibilities cannot be fully understood within established job descriptions or industry boundaries. When we judge people by their employer or title, the value they create across fields becomes harder to see. Seeking a certain answer can also close off opportunities to try something small. If one person claims all the credit for a shared achievement, honest disagreement and new proposals may become harder to voice. How can we combine the ability to deliver as expected with the ability to nurture possibilities beyond our expectations? Making ‘Omoroi!’ a viable choice in business requires relationships that respect differences and allow people to test and learn. It also requires practical work grounded in the field to connect those experiments to growth.

What Mukouyama now aims to do is turn ‘Omoroi!’ into an engine of business growth. Across fields and organizations, diverse people can connect through a shared sense of ‘Omoroi!’ and co-create value by trying small ideas. As these efforts accumulate, they can cultivate an appeal unique to the people involved and build brands that remain loved over time. Passing the knowledge and ways of thinking gained along the way to the next people who carry the work forward can also create a continuing flow of ‘Omoroi!’ yet to be discovered. This need not be something exceptional. It is well within our reach, too, because the seeds of ‘Omoroi!’ are surely present in our everyday work and relationships. When something makes you think, ‘This could be omoroi!’, share it with someone and start by trying something small. Those of us seeking growth have much to learn from Mukouyama’s approach.

Back to the Japanese version.