In 2013, from earthquake-hit northeastern Japan, Hiroyuki Takahashi launched a new kind of food magazine. Packaged together with local ingredients, the publication offers insights into producers' philosophies alongside the chance to try their wares, while you can also order produce via a dedicated social network and app. The model proved a hit and has since spread across Japan, spawning over 30 similar magazines linking other provincial areas to consumers in the major cities.

For social businesses, the need to address social issues while also making a profit means that many young social entrepreneurs falter at the first hurdle. To prevent such good intentions going to waste, Kazunari Taguchi runs a firm that offers investment and expertise that help set such projects on the path to success. We follow a social business incubator that has already helped launch 9 social businesses with a combined annual turnover of around 3 billion yen.

Yasukane Matsumoto is the founder of a web-based printing service that has seen revenues increase 50-fold over in just 4 years. Using a network of small printing firms, the service matches each job request to the ideal printing press, boosting efficiency for customer and printer alike by using factory downtime to produce limited runs. Also offering distribution through haulage firms, Matsumoto's company uses IT to empower small, long-established businesses as part of the sharing economy.