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Armed with anime avatars, Japan bids to conquer the metaverse

The nation’s penchant for online anonymity and well-established love of virtual idols could boost adoption, but early attempts offer cautionary tales

Hikky, a Tokyo-based provider of virtual reality and augmented reality services, is known for its Virtual Market, a massive online event featuring a dizzying array of virtual spaces — some resembling real places, some that are pure fantasy — including this one based on Tokyo's Akihabara neighborhood. | HIKKY

By Tim Hornyak
Contributing writer

Dec 5, 2022

At Japan’s latest CEATEC tech show, everything old seemed new again.

For one thing, the nation’s premier gadgets and technology showcase was back after a pandemic hiatus. For another, the most popular booth looked like it was teleported from the early 1990s — legions of high school students were queuing for time on a virtual reality headset providing the illusion of climbing neon-colored walls in a fantasy space. The difference this time around was branding: It’s now the metaverse.

Japan could gain an edge in this burgeoning field of immersive online worlds given the popularity of anime characters and virtual idols in the nation: Witness the boom in fictional, avatar-style YouTube celebrities such as virtual singers Hatsune Miku or Kizuna AI, each with hundreds of thousands of followers. Metaverse promoters feel this affinity for digital representations augurs well for the future.