With my father’s wish that I would nurture rich ideas through art and music from an early age, I began attending an atelier at the age of four.

Even as a child, I learned “freedom” through painting.

Even if you call it “orange,” the color of a sunset and the color of a mandarin are completely different—and it’s fine to paint a lawn pink instead of green. By continuing rule-free, unrestricted painting for ten years, I feel I learned—without needing words—the possibilities of freedom and creation.

Beyond painting, I eagerly explored crafts, ceramics, and building dollhouses—days that nurtured the curiosity for hands-on creation using all five senses that still connects to what I do today.

While teaching myself the skills, I worked as a men’s nail artist at my school.

At the time, the men’s grooming brand GATSBY launched foundation for men. It made me realize that the boundary between men’s and women’s preferences would fade. I began to see nail art as a small canvas and thought I could leverage my decade of atelier experience.

To learn about the industry, I met working nail artists in person, asked questions directly, and studied many nail magazines. I learned it was still the early days in Japan, with only a few dozen male nail artists—most trained at vocational schools for one to two years. Since I had painted at an atelier for ten years, I believed I had a creative advantage and was convinced that if I mastered the techniques, I could outperform existing competitors.

Since I couldn’t afford to attend a nail vocational school while in high school, I learned trends and techniques on my own and enjoyed doing nail art for friends. In childhood, praise from my parents motivated me, but here my motivation shifted to making others happy—and I continued through my university years.

Looking back, the mindset of carving my own path through self-learning—and the joy of helping people through my creativity—may have come from my experience as a nail artist.

I encountered Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, which became a foundation of my worldview.

Inspired by Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, I proposed my own “Originality Theory” at age 21. In short: “Originality holds the greatest advantage in all things.” This became the core of my worldview and the foundation of ZaaZ’s business.

A person’s imagination and sensibility are uniquely their own—no matter how much others imitate them, they cannot surpass the original. Just as perfectly copying a Beatles song or a Van Gogh painting can’t exceed the value of the original, each person’s imagination and sensibility carries inherent value as a one-of-a-kind original. Centering on this “Originality Theory,” refining the sensitivity and depth of my imagination and sensibility has become the bedrock of my life.

On the Origin of Species explains evolution through natural selection: organisms are born with random variations, and those best adapted to their environment survive and leave offspring. Applied to business, evolution requires innovation. That means not being confined by existing frameworks or common sense, but generating ideas from zero and creating new forms of creativity. For this reason, when I conceive something creative, I value an approach that doesn’t start from current trends or existing information, but instead starts from the fundamental essence at the root of information and trends (the bottom of an inverted triangle) to create entirely new domains.

I believe humanity’s mission is “evolution,” and ZaaZ’s mission is “to create the standards of the future.” That belief has not changed at all, and I am convinced that no matter how our scale or business domains evolve, each step will become a standard of the future.

Sensing innovation potential in the B2B fragrance domain, I launched a startup as a student.

At the time, I was influenced by Steve Jobs and Takafumi Horie, who were reshaping the world with unstoppable momentum, and I became interested in innovation and entrepreneurship. This marked the beginning of the practical phase of my “Originality Theory,” conceived during university.

Expanding my imagination based on the originality theory and searching for a domain that could change the world, I came to believe that the essence of business lies in moments when human emotions are moved—and that those moments are where opportunities exist.

If you map emotion to the five senses: sight = media, hearing = music, taste = food & beverage, touch = massage—these industries were already mature and crowded. By contrast, smell was dominated by B2C businesses such as incense, perfume, and aromatherapy, while the B2B space was still largely untapped.

I had an intuition that if there were a machine that could emit the scents of many different foods, it could “change the world” in advertising, PR, and entertainment. Using JPY 550,000 I saved from part-time jobs as capital, I founded ZaaZ Inc. on October 20, 2009.

I devoted myself to inventing, designing, and developing “ZaaZ one,” a machine capable of emitting the scents of various foods.

Although I started the company with passion, in reality it was a start from below zero.

I didn’t even know how to commercialize the product, so I explored by creating mockups—including the internal structure—using paper clay. While repeatedly refining the concept with advice from companies that had served as judges in a university business contest, I pitched to roughly 100 hardware design firms.

Many people ignored me, but one designer showed interest—someone with experience developing a robotic arm for the International Space Station. I struggled because I didn’t have funds to create molds, but thanks to their generosity, development began using a method that enabled small-lot production without molds.

It felt like I had finally reached the true starting line.

Redesigning and developing “ZaaZ 2” — and my first major setback.

The first model, “ZaaZ one,” was designed to emit scent from product shelves in convenience stores and supermarkets, so it was compact and intended to scent only within a radius of a few meters.

With “ZaaZ 2,” we developed a mist-spray method based on our proprietary ZaaZ Ultimate Technology. The scented area expanded dramatically from 9 m² with “ZaaZ one” to 700 m² (about two 25-meter swimming pools). Believing we had achieved a major breakthrough, I was excited about further expansion.

However, after launch, a fatal issue in the product specifications was discovered, and we had to stop selling it. Through this experience, I felt a major setback in life for the first time.

The lesson I learned was to let go of fixation—to stop clinging.

Until then, I was the type who wanted even the process to the goal to be perfect. But my stance changed to: “As long as the goal doesn’t waver, the path can be flexible and adaptive.” I began to look beyond the domain of scent.

Encouraged by my “Originality Theory,” I started again with the founding aspiration to “create the standards of the future.”

Launching “MakeUP,” a presentation redesign service.

First, I started a business separate from scent.

One was a service to restructure and lay out presentations clearly using Keynote.

At the time, it was common for HR staff to create company briefing slides for new graduates in PowerPoint. Using Keynote—still rare then—we transformed those decks into intuitive, easy-to-understand presentations by rebuilding the storyline and applying stylish design.

Today, with Keynote and many other design tools widely available, the service has fulfilled its role. Back then, however, our redesign work contributed to improving the effectiveness of presentations and recruiting.

By adopting Keynote before it became mainstream—and by rebuilding not only visual design but also the narrative and communication itself—we were able to offer unique value that others could not.

Inventing and launching “Scented Business Cards.”

Another new business was “Scented Business Cards,” invented to expand the domains where scent can be used.

Inspired by the “Proust effect,” where a specific scent evokes memories and emotions linked to it, we invented a case that adds scent to business cards.

We proposed linking relevant scents—toast or strawberry jam for a bread maker, sake aroma for a brewery, and so on. Partnering with leading business card manufacturer Yamazakura, the product launched nationwide.

The response exceeded expectations and was well received. I still remember how moved I was when someone I had exchanged cards with before said, upon exchanging again after an address change, “Last time it was the scent of ___, right?”—they truly remembered me through the scent.

Challenging crowdfunding with “ZaaZ Bath Fragrance.”

Aiming to expand sales channels, I pursued crowdfunding, which was booming at the time, especially in the U.S. We developed a fragrance spray that instantly turns a home bath into a hinoki (Japanese cypress) bath, and successfully reached our funding goal.

This led to exhibiting at JAPAN WEEK in New York, hosted by the Japan Tourism Agency. In Japan, it was sold at venues such as Isetan Shinjuku and Tokyu Plaza Ginza, earning strong reviews.

As opportunities to exhibit overseas increased—New York, Abu Dhabi, and more—I felt the excitement of challenging the world with my own products. Around this time, the desire began to grow: “Someday, I want to compete as a startup in Silicon Valley.”

Launching an improved “ZaaZ 3” and entering an expansion phase.

We continued improving our core scent-machine business and launched “ZaaZ 3.”

We shifted direction so it could be used not only for conventional sales promotion but also broadly for promotion, branding, stage production, and more. While strengthening the core scent business, we also proactively pursued new domains beyond scent, aiming to expand the overall business.

Founded VAQSO Inc. in the United States and became CEO.

Meanwhile, preparing to take on Silicon Valley as a startup, I developed a device that emits scent from VR experiences, founded VAQSO Inc. in the U.S., and became CEO.

I was discovered by a top perfumer from a French luxury group, leading to collaborations on various projects. Invited to Paris by the group, I gave a joint talk with the perfumer at the VIVA TECH exhibition on “the future of scent.”

We advanced development while collaborating with major VR-related companies around the world, including in the U.S., Japan, China, and Taiwan. I was highly motivated, but also struggled with funding challenges.

A major turning point due to external factors.

Because “ZaaZ 3” was a service used in public, on-the-street settings, the COVID-19 pandemic caused all projects to be canceled at once, pushing the business to the brink.

However, as with past setbacks, I realized again that the scent machine itself was not the essence—ZaaZ’s core is “to create the standards of the future.”

Triggered by COVID-19, my desire grew stronger to contribute to human healthspan and the anti-aging field. As global attention rose around the anti-aging ingredient NMN (nicotinamide mononucleotide) in aging research, I decided to enter a new domain beyond scent.

At first glance, supplements and fragrance may seem different, but to me they shared a commonality: both involve “chemicals.” Fragrance is created by blending multiple chemicals (liquids) like a cocktail, and supplements are created by mixing chemicals (powders). The physical form differs—liquid vs. powder—but I felt the essence was the same. Although it was a new field for me, I was confident I could succeed by applying the experience I had built.

Launched an NMN supplement OEM business.

After learning that NMN had been listed under the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare’s food-vs-drug classification framework, we focused our resources and commercialized it in the fastest possible way.

In general, the supplement industry is divided into manufacturers and brands/sellers. In the early days of NMN supplements, many sellers began to emerge, but public awareness of NMN was still low. We judged that promoting it as a single company would be difficult, so we deliberately did not enter as a seller and instead started by focusing on the behind-the-scenes role of manufacturing.

Several years have passed since launching the NMN supplement OEM business.

Our early entry, differentiation through high-quality raw materials, and fast responsiveness became strong tailwinds. We have built a client base centered on medical clinics in Japan and overseas, and as of 2025 we have produced a cumulative total of more than 5.5 million capsules.

Developing an AI system to automate internal operations.

Since 2024, we have been gradually increasing our focus on developing operational automation systems.

Because supplement OEM work involves many routine tasks, we are developing AI-based systems for our own operations.

Rather than simply increasing headcount, we are steadily advancing automation to raise productivity and processing capacity per person by using technologies such as AI—so we can respond to clients’ needs more efficiently.

Of course, the goal is not to handle everything mechanically as fast as possible. By thoroughly streamlining what can be automated, we instead create time to provide careful, individualized support in situations that should be handled in a tailored, made-to-order way.

Beginning development of a new AI-agent-driven news media platform, “towta.”

From 2025, we have been rapidly developing a new news media platform, towta, using our in-house AI agents as the core technology.

The name “towta” is inspired by the concept of natural selection in Darwin’s On the Origin of Species. Just as the individuals best adapted to their environment thrive through competition, we believe information should also be filtered so that only what is truly valuable and trustworthy is selected and delivered to people.

towta is being developed to return to the essential value of news and deliver “fast, reliable, unbiased, and easy-to-read news.” An AI acting as a journalist instantly selects valuable information, and based on that, AI agents for reporting, proofreading, and editing generate articles in real time—delivering speed and freshness beyond human capability.

Through this platform, we aim to evolve the essential value of news and create a new standard for media.

Continuing to create the “standards of the future.”

Our work to create the “standards of the future” will continue for a long time to come.

In the medium term through 2028, we plan to expand our current supplement OEM business focused on anti-aging and healthy longevity by growing overseas clients—while also developing towta’s AI agents and operating the media platform to transform the global news industry.

In the long term, we aim to establish ultrasound-based perceptual reproduction technology. This technology reproduces the brain activity that occurs when smelling a specific scent using high-frequency ultrasound, enabling people to “feel a scent” without using actual fragrance materials.

In the future, we plan to apply this principle to other perceptual domains and reproduce human perception via ultrasound—creating an unprecedented, entirely new world that merges the real and the virtual.

Please look forward to what’s next for ZaaZ.