Next-Generation Women Leaders Training 2026 (Kyoto Chamber of Commerce)

Before you go

This is a program run by the Kyoto Chamber of Commerce — not a one-off seminar, but a structured course of 7 sessions running from August 2026 to February 2027. The theme is 'self-transformation' and leadership: university professors teach organizational strategy and talent management, while frontline business executives share real cases, with cross-industry group discussions woven through every session. The final session (February 19, 2027) is a results presentation where participants present action plans in teams. It targets women managers, executives, and management candidates who work for companies in Kyoto Prefecture or live/work in the prefecture.

• All 7 sessions: 8/24, 9/25, 10/23, 11/18, 12/16, 1/27/2027, 2/19/2027 (results presentation)

Getting there

Kyoto Economic Center, conference room 7-AB (Shijo-dori Muromachi Higashi-iru, Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto). Official access: subway Karasuma Line 'Shijo' Station, or Hankyu Kyoto Line 'Karasuma' Station, exit 26 (direct connection). The organizer asks attendees to use public transport.

Booking

¥45,000 for all 7 sessions, about 45 places on a first-come basis, maximum 2 people per company. Application page: kyo.or.jp/kyoto/ac/event_125919.html. Inquiries: Kyoto Chamber of Commerce, Membership Dept., Human Resource Development Section, 075-341-9762 / jinzai@kyo.or.jp. Note: the course started August 24; the leaflet does not say whether joining from session 3 is possible — call the Chamber to confirm. Cancellations after the day following session 1 are non-refundable.

Crowds

A small class of about 45, first-come first-served. Participants are women managers and management candidates from companies across the prefecture, spanning industries.

Good for

For women managers and management candidates working at companies in Kyoto Prefecture, or living/working in the prefecture. The leaflet and instruction are in Japanese, so Japanese ability is required. Foreign women working in the prefecture meet the eligibility criteria if otherwise qualified, but need Japanese to follow the course.

How it differs

Unlike one-off women's leadership seminars, this is a 7-session, half-year program with a cross-company participant network and a final presentation. Unlike business-school open courses, it leans 'practical + dialogic': half the instructors are university professors, half are business executives. But it is fundamentally a paid professional training (¥45,000 for 7 sessions), not a free public lecture — enrollment has regional and eligibility requirements.

The organizer, the 'Kyoto Conference for Supporting Shining Women,' is a joint public-private platform whose secretariat consists of Kyoto Prefecture, Kyoto City, the Kyoto Labor Bureau, and the Kyoto Chamber of Commerce. The 2026 course opened August 24: session 1 on people-centered management (Prof. Fukuko Inoue, Doshisha Business School), session 2 on diverse leaders for a new era (Chika Yamanaka, With Grow), and session 3 (10/23) features Mio Nakamoto — who started from cleaning a run-down, dysfunctional workplace and drove personnel reform to become the company's first woman manager — on seriously building 'a company I'd want to transfer to' from the inside. Sessions 4–6 are full-day (10:00–16:00, bring your own lunch); session 7 is the results presentation (13:00–17:00).