Akihabara News (Tokyo) — Sony’s increased focus on entertainment is paying off for them: gaming, film, and music brought the company great financial success over the past year.

Sony booked over ¥11.5 trillion (US$85 billion) in sales in FY2022, an all-time high.

Leading the charge was Sony’s Game & Network Services division, which includes consoles and other video games, producing ¥3.6 trillion (US$26.5 billion) in sales. At the backbone of this success was the PlayStation 5 console which recorded more than 19 million units sold.

Sony Music Entertainment remains an important revenue source for the company. It is one of the three largest music labels and holds the rights for the works of Michael Jackson, Shakira, and Beyonce, among others.

Music division sales came in at around ¥1.4 trillion (US$10.5 billion) over the course of the year.

Also contributing strongly was Sony’s movie division.

Spider-Man: No Way Home, produced by Columbia Pictures, a division of Sony Pictures, played a huge part. Bullet Train also did quite well for the company.

Overall, the film division booked sales of over ¥1.3 trillion (US$9.5 billion).

Finally, the anime platform Crunchyroll, which Sony purchased nearly two years ago, now boasts around ten million paid subscribers.

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Akihabara News (Tokyo) — The animated film The Super Mario Bros. Movie has broken box office records both worldwide and now in Japan.

Since it began to be released in some countries’ theaters seven weeks ago, the Super Mario movie has grossed over US$1 billion, making it the most successful film so far this year.

It is already one of the fifty highest-grossing films of all time.

The film raked in US$377 million globally on its opening weekend alone and overtook Disney’s Frozen 2 for the highest opening income for an animated film.

It is possible that it could capture the all-time sales record among animated films, snatching the crown from the remake of The Lion King before the global pandemic.

Despite being based on a theme with roots in a Nintendo game and Japanese culture, the release in this country came relatively late.

It arrived a couple weeks ago and has been a local sensation as well, grossing over US$13 million on its opening weekend.

Both the production company, Santa Monica-based Illumination Entertainment, and distributor Universal Pictures are celebrating this blockbuster success.

Notably, some movie critics are less than enthusiastic about the film, arguing that it doesn’t really break any new ground, but no one doubts that it has emerged as a real crowdpleaser.

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Akihabara News (Tokyo) — Virtual YouTubers (VTubers) are gaining ever-greater visibility within Japan. In addition to their growing number of viewers and subscribers on the internet, they are now being commonly utilized as “ambassadors” for the tourism industry and other public relations gigs.

VTubers are web video producers who appear as computer-animated avatars.

Kizuna AI is often cited as the world’s first VTuber, launching seven years ago and gathering over three million subscribers on YouTube.

A lot has happened since then. Today there are thought to be more than thirteen thousand VTubers who have collectively vacuumed up more than two billion views.

The ten most popular VTubers boast a combined subscriber base of over twenty million fans.

The current leader of the pack is Gawr Gura with 4.3 million YouTube subscribers.

Like most VTubers, she is a female anime character who mainly delights her fans with livestreams of games such as Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Minecraft, or Grand Theft Auto V.

The rise of VTubers has been recognized by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. Governor Yuriko Koike appointed the three VTubers–Miko Sakura, Mori Calliope, and the aforementioned Gawr Gura–as official tourism ambassadors for the capital city.

Their future activities are expected to include appearances in PR videos and participation in tourism promotion events organized by the metropolitan government.

Television appearances by VTubers also signify how they are gaining increased recognition within the country. At the end of last month, a new music show featuring VTuber Oozora Subaru was launched by Nippon TV.

For her part, Kizuna AI made her television debut five years ago.

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Akihabara News (Tokyo) — The potential use of chatbots for cheating on academic assignments can be unfair to learners and even deny them a proper education, according to our survey of the opinions of university students in Germany.

“Whomever uses ChatGPT for larger tasks is cheating,” asserted one university student we spoke to.

Another student added that it is “unfair to other students who work without tools” whenever such AI technology is employed.

These students are particularly concerned about cheating on graded assignments such as tests, term papers, and theses.

Moreover, some students also suggested that chatbots can not only cheat the teachers and other students, but can also wind up cheating oneself.

“Anyone who doesn’t want to take something away from their studies should not and will not use them,” noted a third student. He added that he doubted that the use of chatbots corresponds “to the basic core of studying [and] the application of the knowledge you have learned.”

One student went even further to say that “you don’t learn anything just by typing in keywords in chatbots.”

Despite these generally negative assessments of using ChatGPT for assignments, some students do admit that they have at least experimented with using them.

One female university student found ChatGPT to be limited in its usefulness to her even when she did employ it.

Another student acknowledged that she is considering the use of ChatGPT for future homework assignments or parts of her bachelor thesis, but only “insofar as it is legal.”

Our sample was small and related data remains scarce; it is not clear what proportion of university students are now utilizing or considering the use of chatbots in their studies.

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Akihabara News (Tokyo) — Twitter owner and Tesla founder Elon Musk has had enough with lying chatbots.

Taking a shot at OpenAI and its ChatGPT during a recent Fox News interview, Musk declared that “they’re training the AI ​​to lie.”

According to Musk, OpenAI programmers are not so open when it comes to providing answers and analysis which company officials deem to be not politically correct.

In order to combat what he sees as a troubling trend, Musk is advancing what he calls “TruthGPT,” an alternative platform which will be a “maximum truth-seeking AI.”

Musk has yet to provide any details about his project, but two months ago he founded a start-up company called X.AI.

Also, Musk has poached two researchers from the UK-based company DeepMind, which is specialized in AI programming; and he also purchased 10,000 graphics processing units (GPUs), which will convert data into graphics in an optimal manner.

Although he was a cofounder of OpenAI, Musk has long been wary about this technology’s downside risks. He has even gone so far as to suggest that, at some point, AI devices could outnumber humans, outsmarting and eventually replacing humanity.

He recently led an initiative calling for a six-month pause on new AI technology public rollouts in order provide government regulators a chance to legislate the necessary safeguards.

There is no indication, however, that such a pause will actually be implemented. Instead, ChatGPT is quickly growing in popularity with over 100 million active users.

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Akihabara News (Tokyo) — Japanese have reacted positively to recent major developments in Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies, but that doesn’t mean they are without concern about potential negative impacts.

The recent emergence of chatbots–computer programs designed to simulate conversation with humans–are opening up new possibilities, and promise wider applications throughout society. From writing poems to solving math problems, they are capable of many things, performing with ever-greater sophistication and accuracy.

The use of chatbots is rapidly gaining popularity within Japan as it is globally.

ChatGPT, developed by OpenAI, already boasts more than 100 million active users worldwide, and that figure has been expanding exponentially.

According to a survey conducted last month by Line Research, Japanese have a generally positive attitude towards ChatGPT. Around two-thirds of those surveyed stated that they might or definitely want to try out the chatbot’s services in the near future.

“Japan is certainly one of the centers of the world, first with image generation and now with ChatGPT,” declared OpenAI CEO Sam Altman earlier this month after meeting with the prime minister.

Altman added that his firm is exploring the possibility of opening an office in Tokyo.

Some Japanese firms are already working with chatbots. Indeed, LayerX, a startup promoting digital transformation in various industries, has announced that it will make it mandatory for new recruits to have knowledge of ChatGPT and Notion AI.

But this enthusiasm for the technology’s potential is tempered by a recognition that it could also come with risks.

The government has put the issue of AI regulation on the agenda at the upcoming G7 summit.

Moreover, the Ministry of Education is drawing up guidelines for the use of chatbots in schools. Some have argued that frequent use of chatbots could exercise a negative impact on children’s writing skills.

Universities, too, are grappling with their internal policies about how chatbots should be used–and not used–by students.

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Akihabara News (Tokyo) — The Kishida administration has decided to approve a license to build Japan’s first major casino resort in Osaka, aiming for a grand opening in 2029.

“The Integrated Resort will attract many tourists and have an economic impact,” Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said today. “It’s an important initiative for promoting ourselves as a tourism-oriented country.”

The official decision is expected to be announced tomorrow after a meeting with related government ministers.

With the pro-casino Japan Innovation Party (Nippon Ishin) winning another double victory in the gubernatorial and mayoral races last Sunday, the final political hurdle was crossed.

Also quite helpful for the project is that voter exit polls in Osaka revealed that a clear majority of the prefecture’s residents now favor the project. Local polling in earlier years had shown inconclusive results.

The plan calls for the construction of a ¥1.08 trillion (US$8.1 billion) facility owned and operated by a consortium led by MGM Resorts International and the Orix Corporation. The construction site is on the manmade island of Yumeshima in Osaka Bay (which will also host the 2025 World Expo). Once open, the casino resort is expected to draw in about 20 million visitors annually and strengthen Osaka’s tourism revenues.

The legislation authorizing the establishment of casino resorts, the Integrated Resort (IR) Implementation Act, was pushed through the National Diet by the Shinzo Abe administration over fierce opposition.

In January 2020, the Japan Casino Regulatory Commission was set up with a staff of about 160 people.

The fate of the other casino resort project that has applied for a license–which would be located next to the Huis Ten Bosch theme park in Sasebo city, Nagasaki–remains unclear. Reporting suggests that a final decision on that project will come at some later date.

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Akihabara News (Tokyo) — Toshiba last month agreed to a ¥2 trillion (US$15 billion) takeover bid from a Japanese consortium led by Tokyo-based Japan Industrial Partners (JIP). This event was the result of numerous scandals and poor decisions by Toshiba management which stretched over a period of decades.

Eight years ago, an accounting scandal thrust Toshiba into global headlines. The company had deliberately overstated its earnings by over ¥220 billion (US$1.7 billion) over the fiscal years 2008-2013.

This scandal led to a financial pinch involving layoffs for nearly 10,000 employees.

But the largest underlying problem for Toshiba was the failure of its nuclear power business. The Japanese firm purchased, at a premium price, US manufacturer Westinghouse Electric as a strategic investment in the industry. However, massive cost overruns in the US market and the sharp change in global public opinion in the wake of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in 2011 saddled Toshiba with heavy losses in this sector.

US subsidiary Westinghouse was thus allowed to go into bankruptcy in 2017.

At the end of the same year, Toshiba received a US$5.4 billion infusion of funds from more than thirty foreign investors. But what was supposed to become a new lifeline for Toshiba turned out to be another headache.

The main issue was that these foreign investors and the Japanese management had starkly different views about the best strategies going forward. This led to a number of unseemly and often very public feuds between the investors and management, further damaging the firm’s reputation.

With the JIP takeover, Toshiba is hoping for a more successful rebirth.

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Akihabara News (Tokyo) — A lander built by a private Japanese company has entered orbit of the Moon ahead of its scheduled touchdown in about a month’s time.

The Hakuto-R Mission 1 is a project developed by the Tokyo-based startup ispace.

This firm has ambitious plans to pioneer the discovery and development of lunar resources, with a clear objective of creating a permanent human presence on the Moon.

Mission 1, as the name suggests, is a vital early step.

After landing next month in the Atlas Crater on the rim of Mare Frigoris in the northeastern quadrant of the lunar surface, the mission is designed to create a steady telecommunications link and a power supply to support surface operations in the future.

Most notably, it is delivering a lunar rover called Rashid to the Moon, which has been developed by the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre in Dubai. This rover is equipped with microscopic and thermal imaging cameras.

ispace expects that Mission 1 will help validate the performance of its technology and enable the firm to make necessary changes for future missions.

It was a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket which delivered the Japanese lander into space last December.

ispace plans to increase the frequency of its lunar landings in future years, ultimately allowing for swarms of rovers to operate on the lunar surface

Should the mission touch down safely next month, it will become the world’s first private-sector lunar module to successfully land on the Moon.

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Akihabara News (Tokyo) — The science fiction manga Cyberpunk: Peach John is the world’s first manga created entirely with image-generation Artificial Intelligence (AI).

The author, known only by his pseudonym Rootport, used the Midjourney program to create the images for the work. Midjourney is an AI program created by a San Francisco-based independent research lab.

Rootport has never drawn a manga by hand and, according to their own statements, is not proficient as an artist.

Rootport provided characters with particularly eye-catching features, such as dog ears or pink hair, because the Midjourney program is not able to display characters with different facial expressions or in a wide variety of poses. The character designs were, in fact, compiled by the AI based upon verbal descriptions offered by Rootport,

The production of the manga, which runs a little over one hundred pages, took only six weeks to complete.

Hand-drawn manga of a similar length routinely take several months or even years to produce.

One challenge to the spread of AI-generated manga is the issue of copyright. The images are likely to be based upon large datasets of existing works.

Another question is whether or not AI-generated manga will meet with fan acceptance. For example, many anime fans became upset when it was revealed that AI had been used to compose the entire background setting for a short Netflix film called The Dog and the Boy.

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Akihabara News (Tokyo) — Meta, the parent company of Facebook, is working with Mastodon on a longshot bid to take on Twitter.

Last October, Tesla and SpaceX entrepreneur Elon Musk completed a controversial takeover of the social media platform Twitter, an event which drove many long-time users off the network in protest. Since that time, there has been headline after headline criticizing Musk’s decisions and his heavy-handed management style.

Last November, Musk himself raised the possibility that Twitter could go bankrupt by the end of 2023.

Twitter has always struggled with profitability, but it nevertheless established itself firmly as a leading social media platform for journalists, policymakers, and political discussions. At a government level, it exercises an outsized impact in relation to its size as measured by its number of users.

Since his takeover, Musk has been ruthless in regard to staffing and personnel issues. More than 50% of Twitter’s workforce has either been fired or driven to resign from the company.

This has included engineers and others who were critical to the technical operation of the platform. As a result, problems have routinely appeared in its daily operations and user services.

This, in turn, has only heightened criticism of Musk’s leadership.

The Twitter alternative which gained the most attention at the end of last year was Mastodon, a decentralized platform utilizing the ActivityPub protocol. This enables data exchange and communication between independent servers.

Due to the spike in interest, Mastodon, as of this month, has about 6.5 million users, but only about 1.3 million are regarded as being “active users.”

In comparison, Twitter boasts hundreds of millions of active users. The exact figure is disputed, but most accounts put it above 400 million people.

Meta has yet to release a name for its potential Twitter challenger, but it is known that it aims to utilize the same ActivityPub protocol as does Mastodon. This platform will in some way carry Instagram branding.

As should be apparent, whatever the problems of Musk-run Twitter have been, Meta faces a formidable challenge in trying to capture this market.

There will be little leeway for mistakes, either technical issues or public relations fiascos. This could include controversies over platform moderation; a matter which has tripped up more than one social media platform. This is especially true because public opinion on free speech is itself deeply divided.

Another major challenge will be marketing. Even possessing the advantage of operating the Facebook and Instagram platforms, Meta will need to generate enough public interest to convince large numbers of people to register and to begin using an entire new social media platform.

Since this platform will be similar to what Twitter already offers, this could prove to be a tall order.

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By Phoebe Ma

Akihabara News (Tokyo) — Entertainment businesses were heavily impacted by Covid, and the video game arcades in the Akihabara district of Tokyo suffered more than their fair share of the damage. However, a stroll down Chuo Dori reveals that Akihabara arcades are witnessing a return of some of their old energy.

Game arcades in Akihabara are, of course, one of icons of modern Japan. Not only do many Japanese young people flock to this neighborhood, but it is also high on the list for many foreign tourists visiting Japan as well.

It does need to be acknowledged, however, that in recent decades Akihabara has largely remained much the same while some other parts of the capital city have transformed dramatically. In many ways, Akihabara does not seem as comparatively cutting-edge as it did back in the late 20th century.

But the other side of that same coin is that Akihabara’s game arcades, once viewed as ultra-modern, have now gained an extra layer of appeal based on nostalgia for that earlier era.

Inside the arcades, it is by no means rare to hear people speaking in languages other than Japanese, reflecting the fact that the area remains a major draw.

In many of the game arcades, the first and second floors are dominated by crane machines. On our visits, few customers could be found using them. But on the higher floors, where the video game arcades are located, it is not uncommon that they are quite busy.

Many young couples spend their dates in these game arcades, and groups of students also come here seeking fun after school ends.

In the Covid era, machines are being regularly sterilized by staff to comply with sanitary regulations.

A final point worth mentioning is that spending time playing video games in Akihabara is a relatively low-cost form of entertainment in Tokyo, which also helps explain why so many young people can be found here.

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Akihabara News (Tokyo) — The H3 rocket, built to become a mainstay of Japan’s space program, met a disastrous end as it attempted its first launch this week.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which have collaborated on this crucial program, hit the self-destruct for the rocket after about seven minutes after it launched. The reason was that the second stage rocket had failed to fire.

This mishap extends a series of disappoints regarding this vehicle. Its launch was already about two years behind schedule, and last month it also failed to operate properly due to an electronics failure, leaving it sitting on the launch pad.

The H3 was carrying the Advanced Land Observing Satellite-3 (ALOS-3) when it was ordered to self-destruct.

This satellite was intended to become one of Japan’s key tools for disaster management and countermeasures for both the central and local governments. Its loss potentially sets back efforts to grasp the damage situation on the ground in the wake of disasters.

Additionally, the Ministry of Defense had an infrared sensor installed within the ALOS-3 which was being developed to detect military missile launches.

The H3 rocket has been designed to be about half the price, more powerful, and safer than its predecessor, the HIIA rocket–a model which has been scheduled to be phased out next year.

JAXA has been having a bad run in recent months. Last October, it ordered a smaller Epsilon-6 rocket to self-destruct after launch when it deviated from its planned trajectory.

Japan has placed great hopes in the H3 rocket amidst intense competition in the international space industry, especially with the rise of private companies like SpaceX joining the space race.

Among other missions, in the future the H3 is meant to transport large cargo capsules to the International Space Station.

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Akihabara News (Tokyo) — Japan Casino School, which specializes in training card game dealers, has launched an internship program in cooperation with Paradise Casino in South Korea.

Japan Casino School sees this new program as part of national efforts to have competent, trained Japanese dealers available when Japan opens its own casino resorts, now being considered for Osaka and Sasebo in the first round of development.

Successful applicants will spend three months gaining practical experience at either Paradise Casino Walkerhill in central Seoul or Paradise City in Incheon.

The first internships, which are paid positions, begin in April. It is open to anyone over 19 years old, so applicants can be at the beginning of their professional careers or much older people looking for a second career.

There are about twenty casinos throughout South Korea, though all but one, Kangwon Land, are legally limited to host only foreign nationals.

Paradise City, one of the two possible locations affiliated with this internship program, is a joint venture between South Korea’s Paradise Group and Japan’s Sega Sammy Holdings.

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Akihabara News (Tokyo) — The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is sailing along with the trend towards the development of offshore wind power.

At the end of last week, the metropolitan government unveiled its “Tokyo Remote Island Development Plan,” covering the next ten years. One of the most notable new initiatives announced is the concept of building offshore wind power facilities at Izu Oshima island, which has a population of over 8,000 people.

According to the official in charge at the Oshima town government’s Waterworks and Environment Division, it is still very early in the process. There are a number of challenges facing the offshore wind power initiative.

The two largest hurdles are that there is yet to be any business feasibility study and that it is not yet clear if the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) will cooperate in establishing the needed connection to the electricity grid.

Moreover, the project will require a separate budgetary allocation and local fishermen will need to provide their consent.

If the project does go forward, it is expected to involve, at least initially, a 2MW floating wind demonstration project along the west side of the island.

The Oshima town office estimates that the realization of this small wind farm is at least three years distant.

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Akihabara News (Tokyo) — The organizers of the 2025 World Expo in Osaka have selected four eVTOL models which will offer air taxi services and launch the industry in Japan. Only one of the models is Japanese, while the other three are being developed in Western nations.

The Japanese model is, of course, the SkyDrive SD-05, which has become something like Japan’s champion in the global race for urban air mobility.

Joby Aviation is a California-based firm, though with strong financial links with Toyota. ANA Holdings will be the operator for the Joby aircraft during the Expo.

The United Kingdom will be represented by Vertical Aerospace and its VX4 aircraft. Japan Airlines will be flying this model.

Finally, the German firm Volocopter will have its VoloCity eVTOL transporting passengers through the skies, operated by its Japanese partner, Marubeni Corporation.

The air taxi services at the event will run between the Smart Mobility Expo on Yumeshima island and a number of locations within central Osaka and perhaps elsewhere.

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Akihabara News (Tokyo) — Toray Industries is aiming to get a jump on its competitors by establishing the first base for the development of carbon fiber materials specifically aimed at supplying the nascent eVTOL industry.

According to a report in the Nihon Keizai Shinbun–yet to be officially confirmed by the company–the plan calls for the creation of a facility in Nagoya that will include an open lab for joint research with client companies and universities which can host about 140 researchers. This facility will employ Artificial Intelligence with the objective of developing carbon fiber materials for lighter airframes, thus improving the performance of the aircraft.

Toray’s investment in the eVTOL research base is expected to run at about ¥6 billion (US$45 million) and to open its doors in 2026.

Toray is known to already be a carbon fiber supplier for eVTOL-makers Lilium and Joby Aviation, and it clearly aims to become a leading–perhaps the dominant–supplier for the global industry.

The partnerships with Lilium and Joby were both announced in 2020; July in the former case and December in the latter. Joby Founder and CEO JoeBen Bevirt declared at the time that Toray’s carbon fiber materials “provide unparalleled specific strength and toughness, which have enabled Joby to develop aircraft with unprecedented capabilities.”

Toray already plays a key role in the international aviation market. It is the world’s largest manufacturer of carbon fiber materials with a market share of around 30%.

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Akihabara News (Tokyo) — As part of its preparations for hosting a 391MW offshore wind farm, the city of Choshi is thinking beyond conventional facilities.

“We want to use offshore wind power to promote tourism and regional development,” explained Mayor Shinichi Koshikawa said at a press conference earlier this month.

The Choshi wind farm is one of the three zones awarded in December 2021 to Mitsubishi Corporation-led consortiums, but unlike the other offshore wind projects which have so far been awarded, it sits in Chiba Prefecture on the edge of the Kanto plain, with a regional population in excess of 43 million people.

“The sight of large windmills lined up on the sea can be expected to increase the number of visitors, including tourists, as a new scenic resource,” explains Takashi Hakkaku, chief examiner of the city government’s offshore wind power promotion office.

Hakkaku further notes that they’ve already mapped out a basic tour route, including an observation hall and the marina area, at which they hope to offer environmental education programs in cooperation with local businesses in the fields of tourism, accommodation, and transportation.

More conventionally, sections of the local Naarai Port will become a base for offshore wind related maintenance facilities, including warehouses and offices.

The first onshore construction for the Choshi wind farm is scheduled to begin in January 2025, with full operations anticipated for launch in September 2028.

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Akihabara News (Tokyo) — Major real estate developer Mitsui Fudosan is creating a hub for Japan’s space industry in the Nihonbashi district of central Tokyo.

The company has outlined its plans for what it calls Cross U, which will aim to help space-related private firms and universities to form networks and to share information.

Mitsui Fudosan President and CEO Masanobu Komoda explained at a press briefing that “it is important for industry, government, and academia to work without barriers, rather than companies working alone… Through the development of the space industry, we will strengthen Japan’s industrial strength and lead the way toward resolution of global issues.”

An agreement has been signed with Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) by which it will actively participate and support activities at Cross U.

About two hundred companies and organizations are expected to become Cross U members within five years

In April, the X-Nihonbashi Base will be opened within the Tokyo Nihonbashi IT Building. This facility will serve as a co-working and event space, and it will include a bar lounge. JAXA and some space industry startups will set up offices within this facility.

Cross U is chaired by Shinichi Nakasuka, professor of the Graduate School of Engineering at the University of Tokyo.

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