What Indigo Blue does

Indigo Blue Co., Ltd. (株式会社Indigo Blue) is a privately held Japanese consulting firm founded in 2007 and headquartered in Tokyo (registered in Chiyoda-ku with a contact office in Minato-ku). The company specializes in strengthening and transforming people and organizations, with a portfolio focused on leadership development, executive candidate cultivation, organizational culture change, and HR system design for Japanese enterprises. Its primary message — "If people change, the company changes" (ヒトが変われば会社が変わる) — frames its positioning around "change-response capability and challenge culture" (変化対応力・挑戦の風土) for Japanese corporate clients.

The firm's core technology is a set of proprietary experiential methodologies rather than a software platform. The flagship is Organization Theater® (a registered trademark), an actor-driven case-study program that places participants in high-stakes situations drawn from real corporate incidents for use in next-generation leader selection and development. This is complemented by Business eXperience Gates (BXG), a real-time business simulation focused on mobilizing people; the Cross-Industry Leader Co-Creation School and Cross-Industry Future Leaders Co-Creation School, three-day intensive programs for current and aspiring leaders; Hiryumon (飛龍門), a selective program for mid-to-senior management director-track candidates; and Professional-Type HR System (プロフェッショナル型人事制度) consulting that designs company-wide professional employment frameworks. Layered on top of these services is a substantial thought-leadership apparatus: a weekly email newsletter ("Jinji no Me" / 人事の目) authored by Representative Director Shibata Reiji that has reached issue 1,100+ as of June 2026, a dedicated YouTube channel, the IB JOURNAL blog, and recurring columns in Nikkei Sangyo Shimbun Smart Times (#53–58, 2023–2024) and other Japanese business and HR media.

Indigo Blue generates revenue through professional-services training delivery (per-course, on scheduled dates), one-time sales of physical teaching materials, and quote-based consulting engagements; pricing is not publicly disclosed and payment is accepted by bank transfer (within 7 days) or credit card. The go-to-market is a sales-led / consultative model targeting HR departments and senior leadership of mid-to-large Japanese companies, supplemented by earned-media-led thought leadership and direct-to-individual programs for emerging leaders. The firm operates exclusively in the Japanese domestic market, and CEO Shibata Reiji — who also co-founded the PHAZE Recurrent program for professionals aged 40+ — functions as both operational leader and principal brand asset.

Name

Indigo Blue

Legal name

株式会社Indigo Blue

Website

https://indigoblue.co.jp

Company type

Private

Founded year

2007

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Indigo Blue is a Tokyo-based, privately held Japanese consultancy founded in 2007 that delivers proprietary experiential leadership development programs — including Organization Theater®, Business eXperience Gates, and cross-industry co-creation schools — to Japanese enterprises, public-sector organizations, and individual emerging leaders.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Minato

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Training (研修) Services: One-time or scheduled delivery of training courses, sold per course (1コースより). Training is delivered on the dates specified on the relevant product page. Refunds are not available after participation. Payment via bank transfer (within 7 days of order) or credit card.
2. Teaching Materials (教材) Sales: Sale of physical training materials in units of 1 item or 1 set. Materials are shipped within 5 business days after payment confirmation. Returns only accepted in case of wrong/damaged/incorrect items within 7 days of receipt.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

Indigo Blue provides organizational and HR development training, business skills training, and professional-type HR system consulting to Japanese enterprises. The firm delivers these services using proprietary experiential methodologies — including the trademarked Organization Theater® (an actor-driven case-study program), Business eXperience Gates (BXG) (a real-time business simulation), and cross-industry leader co-creation schools — to develop next-generation leaders, transform organizational culture, and design HR systems for Japanese companies.

Product overview

Indigo Blue's offering is a portfolio of related training, consulting, and content products delivered primarily to Japanese corporations, rather than a single unified software platform. The portfolio is anchored by three core service lines — 組織開発・人材開発研修サービス (Organization Development & HR Development Training), ビジネススキル研修サービス (Business Skills Training), and プロフェッショナル型人事制度 (Professional HR System consulting) — which are delivered using proprietary メソッド・ツール (methods & tools) that include Organization Theater® (an actor-driven experiential case-study program), Business eXperience Gates (BXG) (a real-time business simulation), and the 異業種リーダー共創塾 / 異業種 Future Leaders 共創塾 cross-industry co-creation leadership schools. Layered on top of these training services is the 飛竜門 (Hiryumon) program for mid-to-senior management candidates, while audience-facing thought-leadership content — the weekly メールマガジン「人事の目」 ("HR's Eye") newsletter and the "Smart Times" column authored by representative director Shibata Reiji — drives brand awareness and lead generation across the full portfolio.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Organization Theater®: Proprietary experiential case study program that simulates critical incidents at companies, used for next-generation leader selection and development.
• Business eXperience Gates (BXG)
• 異業種リーダー共創塾 (Cross-Industry Leader Co-Creation School)
• 異業種 Future Leaders 共創塾 (Cross-Industry Future Leaders Co-Creation School)
• 飛竜門 (Hiryumon)

Products and services

• Organization Development & HR Development Training Service (組織開発・人材開発研修サービス) Comprehensive training and consulting service for organizational development (OD) and talent/HR development, helping Japanese enterprises achieve sustainable growth through interventions targeted at improving both the organization and its people.
• Business Skills Training Service (ビジネススキル研修サービス) Training offering that develops portable business skills applicable anywhere, targeted at working professionals who need to build practical, transferable competencies for business execution.
• Professional HR System Consulting (プロフェッショナル型人事制度) HR system design and advisory offering that creates a professional group throughout the client company, in which all employees work as "professionals" for life, with policies supporting that professional model.
• Organization Theater® (OT) Trademarked experiential case-study program in which participants experience, via actors, the critical situations that actually occurred in companies. Positioned as optimal for next-generation leader selection and development.
• Business eXperience Gates (BXG) Real-time business simulation program that asks participants "how do you move people?" — testing the human-mobilization capability required to drive business outcomes.
• Cross-Industry Leader Co-Creation School (異業種リーダー共創塾) Three-day intensive program for current and future leaders that develops practical leadership and followership skills through cross-industry co-creation with peers from other sectors.
• Cross-Industry Future Leaders Co-Creation School (異業種 Future Leaders 共創塾) Practical business-school-style program aimed at those aspiring to become leaders and those expected to become leaders in the future, focused on cultivating next-generation leadership capability through cross-industry co-creation.
• Hiryumon (飛竜門) — Mid-to-Senior Management Program Selective training program targeted at mid-to-senior management candidates who are being considered for director-level positions, designed to develop executives capable of leading organizational transformation through cross-industry Organization Theater.
• Mail Magazine "Jinji no Me" / "HR's Eye" (メールマガジン「人事の目」) Weekly email newsletter in which Representative Director Shibata Reiji discusses leadership, management, the economy, society, and HR-related topics; distributed via free subscription signup on the Indigo Blue site.
• YouTube Channel — "Shibata Reiji: Developing People, Growing Organizations" (柴田励司の人を伸ばす組織を伸ばす) Official YouTube channel of Indigo Blue featuring video content by CEO Shibata Reiji focused on developing people and growing organizations.
• Smart Times Column Regular serialized column authored by Indigo Blue's Representative Director Shibata Reiji, published on the company website under the "Smart Times" series and in Nikkei Sangyo Shimbun, covering management, leadership, governance, and social trends.

Quantifiable outcome

• 異業種リーダー共創塾 recognized as a recommended next-generation leader training by 日本人材ニュース (Japan HR News), August 2023 special issue
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• PHAZE (㈳PHAZE)flagship / coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerShibata Reiji is a co-founder (発起人), board member (理事), and overall producer (総合プロデューサー) of the PHAZE Recurrent program — a recurring education program for professionals aged 40+ that started in 2020 and has produced 200+ graduates across 11 cohorts. The program operates online, mornings 7–8am, four days per week (Mon/Wed/Thu/Fri). PHAZE is therefore a deep strategic alliance in which Indigo Blue's CEO plays a founding and leadership role.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• PMI Japan (Project Management Institute): Japan chapter of global professional association providing training and certification in project/portfolio leadership; competes for a slice of the same Japanese enterprise training budget focused on leadership and business skills uplift.

Broad incumbents

• Egon Zehnder Japan: Global executive search and leadership advisory firm serving Japanese multinationals; competes for board-level succession and executive development mandates — a broader incumbent in the same next-generation-leader advisory category.
• Spencer Stuart Japan: Global executive search and board advisory firm with established Tokyo presence; targets CEO/board succession and leadership assessment — comparable buyer (CHRO, board) and methodology (assessment + development) to Indigo Blue, though at the very top of the market.
• Right Management Japan (ManpowerGroup): Talent and career management arm of ManpowerGroup operating in Japan; offers leadership development, career transition, and organizational consulting to large Japanese employers — overlapping with Indigo Blue's mid-career and manager-development programs.
• Korn Ferry Japan: Global leadership/executive search and talent consulting giant with significant Japan practice; provides executive assessment, succession planning, and organizational consulting at enterprise scale — overlapping with Indigo Blue's mid-to-senior management (Hiryumon) and HR system design offerings but at much larger scale and with broader portfolio.

Direct peers

• Link and Motivation: Japan's largest pure-play organizational engagement and leadership development firm; offers motivation engineering, organizational consulting, and training to mid-large Japanese corporates — directly competing with Indigo Blue for the same next-generation leader and culture transformation budgets.
• Dale Carnegie Training Japan: Long-established leadership, sales, and communication training franchise in Japan targeting working professionals and corporate cohorts; directly comparable as a branded experiential leadership-training provider to the Japanese mid-market.
• Development Dimensions International (DDI) Japan: Global leadership and selection specialist with Japan presence; competes on executive selection, succession, and middle-management development — overlapping with Indigo Blue's Hiryumon and Cross-Industry Leader Co-Creation School offerings.
• FranklinCovey Japan: Operates the global "7 Habits" leadership framework in Japan as a licensee/franchise, delivering enterprise leadership training and workshops to Japanese corporations; comparable methodology (premium branded leadership content), similar target buyer (HR/L&D), and Japanese-language delivery.

Regional players

• en Japan ( Leadership / consulting practice ): Large Japan-listed HR services group that, beyond recruitment, runs training and organizational consulting through subsidiaries; serves Japanese corporates across mid-career and manager segments and overlaps with Indigo Blue's training buyer.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@IndigoBlueJPN
• Facebookfacebook.com/ShibataReiji
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/indigoblue-jp

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Indigo Blue