Artist Employee Receives 'Koichi Nishimura Prize' at 2026 Blue Art Contest

株式会社SHIFT (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President: Dai Tange; Prime Market: 3697; hereinafter 'SHIFT') is pleased to announce that Sota Shinmura, an artist employee in the Business Support Department—a division responsible for internal BPO operations—has received the 'Koichi Nishimura Prize' at the 2026 Blue Art Contest, hosted by the NPO Tokyo Autistic Association, for his piece 'Blue Heart.'

Since 2023, Shinmura has been working at SHIFT as an artist employee, creating art using masking tape of various colors and patterns. The judges evaluated his work for the storytelling within each detail, while maintaining a balanced use of color and segmentation, resulting in a piece that can also be perceived three-dimensionally.

Comments from the Winner: Sota Shinmura, Art Team, Business Support Department 'Thank you very much for this wonderful award. I am happiest that I was praised for my work and that the people around me, such as my fellow art team members, were happy for me. I am not good at expressing myself with words, so I hope my gratitude reaches everyone through my art. I will continue to create with all my heart, using my strengths to be of service to others, to soften hearts, increase work efficiency, and help everyone at SHIFT—and all who see my art—to feel empowered.'

SHIFT's Initiatives SHIFT considers the active contribution of all employees as a key growth driver, and has been working on recruiting talent regardless of backgrounds such as academic history, career, or disabilities, while building workplace environments and systems where employees can leverage their strengths. As part of this, the Business Support Department was established in 2019 with the mission of 'realizing a society where everyone can be active by leveraging their talents.' In recent years, it has been promoting initiatives to enhance business quality by using AI to prevent errors and improve operational productivity. Regarding art, the company has held the 'SHIFT Challenged Art Exhibition,' showcased art in-house, and sold works to facilitate employee communication and promote 'art thinking' to drive company-wide growth. Furthermore, leveraging the strength of hiring artists, it promotes collaboration among artists to spark creative synergy and innovation.

About the 2026 Blue Art Contest Hosted by the NPO Tokyo Autistic Association, this contest recruits and honors art works themed around the symbol color 'Blue,' aimed at raising awareness for World Autism Awareness Day.