Director［ Kibe-log ］

Representative Executive OfficerPresident and CEOKibe Kazunari#10

Challenging corporate culture
Dear Stakeholders, I am Kazunari Kibe, President and CEO of INFRONEER Holdings Inc.
Thank you so much for reading the "Kibe-log" again.

In the previous issue of "Kibe-log" (https://www.infroneer.com/pdf/en/company/topblog/kibelog_en_vol9.pdf), I explained the background of how Whole Earth Foundation ("WEF"), which operates the blockchain-based
game apps “TEKKON," and our company have established a new company together.

Many people wondered about the establishment of the new company, "Why would a general construction
company, whose business is building construction and civil engineering, collaborate with a blockchain startup?
We received a variety of responses from various sectors when we published the press release on the establishmentof the new company.

Surely, not many people feel the image of startups and innovation in the construction industry.

However, MAEDA CORPORATION, one of the companies forming the INFRONEER Group, has a culture ofboldly taking on new challenges. From my perspective as a former MAEDA CORPORATION employee, thecollaboration with WEF was necessary for the future growth of INFRONEER.

A surprise to society? “The Fantasy Marketing Department."
The most notable example of MAEDA 's culture of taking on new challenges is the "Fantasy Marketing
Department," a virtual organization of MAEDA CORPORATION.
The Fantasy Marketing Department is a fictitious department that examines the feasibility, theconstruction schedule, and overall cost of construction based on current technology and materials,
assuming if MAEDA CORPORATION receives an order for constructing structures in an imaginary worldsuch as anime, manga, or video games.

-1-The followings are examples of projects that the Fantasy Marketing Department has worked on.
These include the underground hangar in the sewage treatment facility that appears in the scene where
Mazinger Z goes into battle in the anime "Mazinger Z," the railroad tracks that stretch into space in theanime "Galaxy Express 999," the circuit used in the popular driving simulation software "Gran Turismo 4"
on the PlayStation 2, and the base of the Earth Federation Forces built underground in the Amazon
Jungle in the anime "Mobile Suit Gundam."
These structures in fantasy world are widely known among fans of virtual world as representing of theirrespective productions.
The Fantasy Marketing Department, full of engineers' playful spirit and pride, has been highly
appreciated and has been adapted into a book in Japan in November 2004 and in Korea in 2005, followed
by a stage adaptation and then a film in January 2020. We are told that this is the first publicly released
film in Japan with the name of an actual existing company.
The Fantasy Marketing Department is one of the reasons why WEF decided to work with INFRONEER.
Many companies want to work with or invest in WEF, but when CEO Takashi Kato saw our Fantasy
Marketing Department, he said, "I want to work with a company like this," and the discussion ofestablishing a new joint venture company proceeded very smoothly.
The series of articles on the Fantasy Marketing Department began on our website in February 2003 as aproject of the Corporate Planning Department. Nowadays, it is not unusual to find content onengineering realizations of buildings in imaginary world, but 20 years ago, no one would have thoughtthat a conservative general construction company would start such a project.

Dad's company is going out of business, isn't it?"
In fact, at that time I was the general manager of the Corporate Planning Department of Maeda Corporationand partly involved in the launch of the Fantasy Marketing Department.

When the Fantasy Marketing Department was established in 2003, there was a heavy atmosphere in theconstruction industry in Japan due to the downsizing of public works projects and criticism against bidrigging. Of course, it was the same for Maeda Corporation. As the general manager of the Corporate-2-Planning Department, I had been thinking that the company's reputation needed to be restored.

Then something shocking happened. One night, at the dinner table with my family at home, my daughter
suddenly asked me, " Dad's company is going out of business, isn't it? " I was surprised and asked, " Why
do you think so?" She told me that everyone at her grade school was talking about it.

Indeed, at that time big scandals in the construction industry about bid rigging were making the social pagesof the newspapers every day. It was no wonder that my daughter felt that the company was in trouble byreading such articles. (We were living in company housing at the time, so her concern seemed to be in more
about her moving to a new school.)

I was sure that the employees' families must be equally anxious. So, on the last day of work in 2002, I told
the members of the Corporate Planning Department to do their homework during the year-end and New
Year's holidays. I asked them to come up with an idea that would restore trust of the public in MAEDACORPORATION and the overall construction industry.

Then, at the beginning of the new year, a member (the role of this member was played by Japanese
comedian Hiroaki Ogi in the film) came to me and proposed the project to build an underground hangar
for "Mazinger Z" in the anime and post it on the company's website. The proposal was to show the researchand study process leading up to construction and convey to children and students that "building and civilengineering technology is amazing" and "the construction industry is interesting.

At the time, I didn't get what was so interesting about it, and I rejected his proposal. However, he came up
with the same project three times in two weeks and said repeatedly "I really want to do this.”This is how the "Fantasy Marketing Department" was born.

-3-When he told me that much, I was even willing to give it some thought.

I asked him, "How much does the whole project to serialize on our website cost?" and he said it would
only cost 150,000 yen for the server (which I later found it was not quite right number. lol), so I gave him
the green light with three conditions.

The three conditions were: 1) no license fee would be paid to Mr. Go Nagai, the original creator of theanime; 2) no other departments of MAEDA CORPORATION would be involved in the planning andproduction; and 3) this project would be done after work hours.

By common sense, secondary use of manga and anime characters incurs a high licensing fee. Thecompany cannot afford such fee at the time when its business is in trouble. Similarly, when the company
is working to restore public trust, we cannot involve other departments in a project that might beperceived as playful. This is the same reason why we do this outside of work hours.

Honestly, I thought that the initial licensing would fail, but the following week, he reported me that thepermission for free use had been obtained from Mr. Go Nagai. I was very surprised, because I had
thought, "There is no way we can get it."After that, I had completely forgotten about the project, but a few months later, an unexpected event
reminded me of its existence. Out of the blue, I heard an internal announcement in our company building
saying that the company's server was down due to a concentration of access to MAEDACORPORATION's website.

"What’s happening?" I asked my staff, and he said, "It's the Fantasy Marketing Department."
I asked, "What's the Fantasy Marketing Department?" He said, "It's a series of articles on our websitethat started in February. Haven't you seen it?"-4-

" I haven't seen it. Why didn't you tell me?" "Didn't you tell me not to do it during work hours, Mr. Kibe?""Oh, sure. ......"An article about the Fantasy Marketing Department was featured in Yahoo! Topics, and access to thecompany's website was flooded as a result.

Twenty years later, the Fantasy Marketing Department's content has expanded to include books, stageproductions, and films.

At the time, I had just entered my 40s and still considered myself a young man, but when I knew the successof the Fantasy Marketing Department it was the moment I realized that I was not so young anymore.

The "Give it a try" spirit that runs at the bottom of our corporate
culture.
After the Fantasy Marketing Department went around, I was asked by a planning manager of a super
general construction company, "How could you take such a risk?” The risk he was referring to waswhether it was safe to disclose the calculations and estimates for Mazinger Z's underground hangar to thepublic.

I did not understand what the risk was to the company.

Certainly, we have estimated the underground hangar of Mazinger Z with the knowledge and expertise ofvarious experts, but it is only about a structure in an imaginary world.

Even if the final figures were out of line, I don't think it would affect the company's reputation. On thecontrary, I believe that MAEDA's "playful" spirit will be appreciated.

-5-In fact, after passing the Fantasy Marketing Department's proposal, I went to report it to management
and the board of directors, and no objections were raised.
This means that none of MAEDA's management thought it was a risk to the company.

There are other similar cases.

For example, JM (Japan Management) handles small-lot repair services for buildings, stores, andresidences.
JM, a member of the INFRONEER Group, is known for its comprehensive services that include routine
inspection, diagnosis, and repair of stores and other facilities, including 7-Eleven stores (approximately
22,000 stores in Japan), in an integrated manner with management.

This company was launched as an in-house venture in 1999 on the initiative of MAEDACORPORATION's Corporate Planning Department. It became spun off as an independent company in2007. Its business model was the opposite of conventional building construction and civil engineering
contracting. It was a low-margin business model averaging about 100,000 yen per job, but management
had no objections. Instead they responded, "That's interesting, why don't you try it?”.

I have never really been aware of it because I am "inside this company," but I think we have a culture ofchallenge, or in other words, “a culture that pushes us toward challenging something new if there is nogreat risk”.

The reason why we push toward challenging is because INFRONEER is the second runner.

The spirit of innovation because of a second runner
There are five super general construction companies in the construction industry in Japan, Obayashi
Corporation, Kajima Corporation, Shimizu Corporation, Taisei Corporation, and Takenaka Corporation,-6-

under which INFRONEER is positioned. While not inferior technologically, there is a difference in the sizeof the company.
To make a difference in this context, we have no choice but to do what the super general construction
companies do not. Professor Clayton Christensen explained in "The Innovator’s Dilemma" why innovation
comes not from the top runners but from start-ups.
I feel it is the same story.
The fact that we have taken the lead in pioneering projects in the industry is not unrelated to the fact thatthe company is a second runner.
At MAEDA CORPORATION, we have taken a "de-construction" path, moving from a traditional focus on
construction to becoming an integrated infrastructure service company, and introduced a "cost disclosure
method" to disclose the cost of construction. MAEDA CORPORATION is also the first in the constructionindustry to have its president attend financial results briefings and to initiate overseas IR activities.
We have also become a holding structure under INFRONEER, a company with a nominating committee,
and adopted International Financial Reporting Standards.
Recently, while working on infrastructure concessions, we have also begun experimenting infrastructure
management with citizens’ participation using virtual currency and blockchain together with the WEF.
I admit we have been moving forward slower if compared to other industries, but we have been always agile
to work on new opportunities in the conservative construction industry.
Not a few managers see the use of virtual currency and blockchain as a risk. Many managers think that they
can work on it after seeing the state of other companies.
But our approach is different. If we are going to do it anyway, we would like to start before anyone else as
we have always been dealing with new things.
INFRONEER aims to be the number one company in the field of infrastructure services, but we will never
aim to compete on a scale with the super general construction companies in the traditional field centeredon conventional construction business.
Going forward, I believe INFRONEER will continue to lead the way as the "strongest second runner" in theindustry.

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