HITOHATA,INC. (President: Takeaki Higashiyama) has received a capital injection through a third-party allotment of new shares from Aichi Television Broadcasting Co., Ltd. (President: Tatsuro Fujii) on 28 June 2024 (Friday).

As a result, TV Aichi will acquire 26 new ordinary shares newly issued by HITOHATA and will hold 4.9% of the total 526 shares issued.

The two companies will work together in the field of digital art using state-of-the-art digital technology, including the domestic and overseas development of the jointly planned and produced ‘UKIYOE IMMERSIVE ART EXHIBITION’, as well as developing new content.

Background to the private placement

The two companies' past initiatives include the summer 2023 'Spatial Experience! Ukiyo-e in Motion Exhibition NAGOYA" was jointly planned and produced. Based on more than 300 works by world-renowned Ukiyo-e artists, the exhibition was developed as a hands-on digital art museum where visitors could immerse themselves in the world of Ukiyo-e in a three-dimensional visual space using 3DCG animation and projection mapping, attracting more than 80 000 visitors.

In August of the same year, Ichihata created the projection mapping of the Okazaki Castle Keep for the 75th Fireworks Festival held in Okazaki City, and TV Aichi broadcast a live programme of the collaboration between fireworks and projection mapping, which was well received.

Through this investment, the two companies intend to work together to pursue innovative visual expressions and create innovative digital art spaces, thereby creating significant synergies in the future operations of the two companies.

Shareholders and shareholding ratios before and after the private placement

Third party's capital before and after capital increase, etc.

Comments by Tatsuro Fujii, President and Representative Director, Aichi Television Broadcasting Co., Ltd.

We are very pleased to announce that we have acquired shares in and made a capital participation in HITOHATA,INC.. As the company name suggests, HITOHATA is a creative company started by President Higashiyama with the aim of ‘making a difference’ to the world through the creation of digital content. We have successfully completed a number of joint projects with TV Aichi, including the ‘Ukiyo-e in Motion’ exhibition.

The content created by HITOHATA using cutting-edge digital technology not only fascinates the viewer as art, but also creates a cosy space where people can feel comfort and healing, and enrich their hearts and minds.

TV Aichi hopes to open up the future through the power of content, including the broadcasting and distribution of programmes and the development of events. This capital participation has strengthened the ties between the two companies. We are confident that TV Aichi will be able to build a win-win relationship with HITOHATA as a powerful partner in creating extraordinary content that has yet to be seen.

Comments by Takeaki Higashiyama, President and Representative Director, HITOHATA,INC.

Since its establishment in 2019 as a digital creative company providing digital content that fuses art and technology, HITOHATA,INC. has produced and synthesised more than 50 projects in Japan and abroad, including “National Treasure Matsumoto Castle Projection Mapping”, 'UNESCO World Heritage San Marino Historic Centre and Mount Titano Palazzo Pavlico Projection Mapping' and “National Historic Site Saiku Heian Picture Scroll Projection Mapping”, to date, the company has produced and comprehensively directed more than 50 projects in Japan and abroad.

In the summer of 2022, HITOHATA produced the DIGITAL ART FOREST Insect Paradise in the Fabre Insects Exhibition NAGOYA as one of the exhibitions in the Fabre Insects Exhibition NAGOYA, which was held by TV Aichi and other organisations. Using projection mapping, a digital art space was created in which insects glowing like jewels in the forest flew around, and was well received by visitors.

In September 2022, a “new sensation ‘digital art’ bon dance competition” produced by HITOHATA was held within TV Aichi's station event “TV Aichi 10 Chan Enka”, and in August 2023, the “75th Fireworks Display at the Okazaki Castle Summer Festival” was held. In August 2023, the 75th Fireworks Festival will be held and TV Aichi, which celebrated its 40th anniversary, will broadcast the fireworks festival live on terrestrial television for the first time. A collaboration between a fireworks display and projection mapping through live TV coverage was attempted.

In the summer of 2023, TV Aichi and HITOHATA jointly planned and produced the “UKIYOE IMMERSIVE ART” exhibition, which was held for the first time in Nagoya. Based on more than 300 works by world-renowned Ukiyo-e artists such as Katsushika Hokusai, Utagawa Kuniyoshi, Utagawa Hiroshige, Kitagawa Utamaro, Toshusai Sharaku and Utagawa Kunisada, the exhibition uses 3DCG animation and projection mapping to create graphical digital artworks that can be enjoyed by children and adults alike. The exhibition attracted approximately 80,000 visitors during the exhibition period, as a hands-on digital art museum where visitors could immerse themselves in the world of Ukiyo-e in a three-dimensional image space.

The highly successful “UKIYOE IMMERSIVE ART” exhibition was subsequently held in Milan, Italy, in spring 2024 and received a great response overseas. Furthermore, the exhibition will be held in Kagoshima in the summer of 2024.

With this investment, we aim to pioneer a new era in the field of digital art by combining the production and content creation capabilities of HITOHATA, such as projection mapping and immersive museums, with TV Aichi's know-how in large-scale exhibitions and content business, as well as its comprehensive media capabilities. The aim is to pioneer a new era in the field of digital art.

At the same time, we will collaborate in the domestic and overseas development of the UKIYOE IMMERSIVE ART EXHIBITION and the development of new content, with the aim of creating social value and achieving further growth.