The Customer Success Awards 2026 Celebrates Excellence in Japan's Business Landscape
On July 15, 2026, Japan's largest customer success award ceremony, the "Customer Success Awards 2026," took place with great fanfare. Organized by Customer Success Co., Ltd. and supported by the Japan Customer Success Association, the event attracted over 200 participants at the Tokyo headquarters of WingArc 1st Co., Ltd. The highlight of the day included the announcement of the prestigious award, "The Blue Flag of the Year 2026," which was bestowed upon NEC Corporation after a rigorous evaluation process.
The Customer Success Awards aim to recognize companies that transcend traditional norms to foster customer value creation and organizational transformation that drives business growth. This year, NEC Corporation was chosen for the top honor, thanks to their comprehensive integration of customer success strategies company-wide involving thousands of employees. Attendees witnessed how NEC has extended customer success initiatives beyond software, delving into system integration (SI) efforts that significantly contribute to business outcomes.
Several distinguished judges shared their thoughts on the awarded strategies:
Following the awards ceremony, a symposium featuring Mr. Yoshimasa Hattori of NEC and Hisanori Yamada from the Association discussed the corporate transformations behind successful customer engagement strategies and the inherent challenges faced by large organizations.
The event also hosted the "Customer Success Battle," a pitching competition for customer success professionals, where four finalists presented their innovative customer success practices and strategies. After compelling presentations, Shohei Aoyama from freee Co., Ltd. triumphed, earning a cash prize of 500,000 yen to support their winning initiative.
The finalists included:
Judging criteria focused on innovativeness, outreach potential, and presentation quality, with freee’s Shohei Aoyama emerging as the standout.
Attendees left with a plethora of insights, with many resonating on the crucial role of customer success in driving business growth. Comments such as “I was unsure where to begin with customer success initiatives, but I learned that it begins with a genuine engagement with our customers” were prevalent.
The Japan Customer Success Association continues to aspire towards the advancement of customer success practices in Japan, advocating for the dissemination of knowledge and best practices across various industries.
Founded with the vision of fostering a society where companies and customers can thrive together through customer success, the Association continues to promote the integration of customer success strategies within various industry sectors.|
Award Highlights
The Customer Success Awards aim to recognize companies that transcend traditional norms to foster customer value creation and organizational transformation that drives business growth. This year, NEC Corporation was chosen for the top honor, thanks to their comprehensive integration of customer success strategies company-wide involving thousands of employees. Attendees witnessed how NEC has extended customer success initiatives beyond software, delving into system integration (SI) efforts that significantly contribute to business outcomes.
Judge Remarks
Several distinguished judges shared their thoughts on the awarded strategies:
- - Shigekuni Komori, an executive from Salesforce, remarked on the importance of involving internal stakeholders to propagate customer success strategies across a vast organization.
- - Shu Taniguchi, CEO of e-Partners, highlighted NEC’s expansion of customer success efforts into the SI domain, creating a business-contributing structure.
- - Yoshitaka Miyata from Zen and Company praised the reproducibility of NEC's standardized programs through their Center of Excellence (CoE).
- - Hisanori Yamada, the Association’s representative, stressed the remarkable achievement of embedding a widespread organizational focus on customer success in a large corporation like NEC.
Event Itinerary
Following the awards ceremony, a symposium featuring Mr. Yoshimasa Hattori of NEC and Hisanori Yamada from the Association discussed the corporate transformations behind successful customer engagement strategies and the inherent challenges faced by large organizations.
The event also hosted the "Customer Success Battle," a pitching competition for customer success professionals, where four finalists presented their innovative customer success practices and strategies. After compelling presentations, Shohei Aoyama from freee Co., Ltd. triumphed, earning a cash prize of 500,000 yen to support their winning initiative.
Finalists and Presentations
The finalists included:
- - Ayaka Shimonishi from Schoo: Discussed support strategies for inactive customers using a tiered engagement model.
- - Ryoji Yamada from Stamen: Presented an approach rooted in firsthand information to transition to a scalable organization.
- - Takuya Kanda from STORES: Explored ways to create organizational outcomes through the Land & Expand strategy in customer success operations.
- - Shohei Aoyama from freee: Offered insights into achieving ultimate scalability through a customer-centric approach, emphasizing the paradox of success.
Judging criteria focused on innovativeness, outreach potential, and presentation quality, with freee’s Shohei Aoyama emerging as the standout.
Participant Feedback
Attendees left with a plethora of insights, with many resonating on the crucial role of customer success in driving business growth. Comments such as “I was unsure where to begin with customer success initiatives, but I learned that it begins with a genuine engagement with our customers” were prevalent.
The Japan Customer Success Association continues to aspire towards the advancement of customer success practices in Japan, advocating for the dissemination of knowledge and best practices across various industries.
About Customer Success Co., Ltd.
- - Founded: October 1, 2025
- - Location: 1-5-1 Otemachi, Chiyoda, Tokyo
- - Mission: Providing consulting, training, and recruitment support for customer success initiatives.
- - Website: customer-success.co.jp
About the Japan Customer Success Association
Founded with the vision of fostering a society where companies and customers can thrive together through customer success, the Association continues to promote the integration of customer success strategies within various industry sectors.|
Topics People & Culture）
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