April 21, 2019
Yoshimoto Kogyo Co., Ltd.
Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation
Cool Japan Fund Inc.

Yoshimoto Kogyo and the NTT Group Launch a Digital Distribution Platform Business– With Additional Investment by Cool Japan FundYoshimoto Kogyo Co., Ltd. (headquartered in Osaka, Osaka prefecture; Hiroshi Osaki, Chairman &CEO; hereinafter referred to as “Yoshimoto Kogyo”) and Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation(headquartered in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo; Jun Sawada, President & CEO; hereinafter referred to as“NTT”) will jointly launch Laugh & Peace_Mother powered by the NTT Group, a made-in-Japan platformbusiness for distribution of educational content based on the concept “play and learn” both inside andoutside Japan. The business is also receiving investment from Cool Japan Fund Inc. (headquartered inMinato Ward, Tokyo; Naoki Kitagawa, President and CEO; hereinafter referred to as“Cool Japan Fund”),
and the three companies are establishing an operating company in Okinawa. The business is going tomake full use of the latest technology including 5G services which are slated to commence on acommercial basis next spring. It will provide services enabling children to learn about various things whilehaving fun with image content, games, and other features.
The platform will provide content centered on education, the market for which is expanding in Japan andother countries, and link them with the entertainment business of Yoshimoto Kogyo, the information &communications technology (ICT) of the NTT Group, and the know-how of the Cool Japan Fundconcerning support for projects outside Japan. The companies will use it to develop business in quality
made-in-Japan content in the field of education etc. both in Japan and other countries, mainly in Asia. In
addition to investment from the NTT Group and Yoshimoto Kogyo, the new company will receive phased
funding of up to 10 billion yen in total from the Cool Japan Fund. It will also open attraction facilities in
Okinawa to serve as the platform’s base. By siting these facilities, which will offer a realistic experience of
the world of virtual content, in Okinawa, it will also help to revitalize the local industry and attract tourists
from the rest of Japan and other countries.
■Name of the platform
Laugh & Peace_Mother powered by NTT Group＊There is an underbar ( _ )between “Peace” and “Mother.”1

■Business outline of the new company① Production and distribution of new content and applications in the field of education etc.
The platform will provide services enabling children to naturally acquire all sorts of knowledge, i.e.,
wisdom applicable to their daily life, ways of viewing things from perspectives that differ from the usual
ones, and logical thinking required for education in the sciences and programming, while safely andsecurely enjoying themselves with interactive applications and image content. As such, it will widen theworld experienced by children and nurture their growth into people who can think and act forthemselves even in the increasingly diverse and complex age of artificial intelligence (AI).
② Construction of a platform for provision of quality Japanese-made content in the field of education etc.
In line with the concept of “play and learn,” the companies will produce and market original interactive
image content, games, augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) applications, and other items
fusing the most advanced technologies and entertainment. Further in the future, they will deepen
coordination with venture firms and various other players, create multilingual editions including diverse
content produced by these players, and develop business in them in a wide range of other countries aswell as in Japan.
③ Attraction-type facilities
The companies are going to site attraction-type facilities providing a realistic experience of the world of
virtual content and applications in Okinawa, which serves as a bridge from Japan to other countries in
Asia and the rest of the world. This will allow visitors from not only Japan but also other countries toenjoy attractions that are linked with content and applications based on the concept “play and learn,”fuse entertainment and ICT, and deliver a high degrees of reality and immersion.
■Outline of the new company
Trade name:

Laugh & Peace_Mother K.K.

Headquarters:Naha, Okinawa Prefecture (tentative)

Representative Director: Takayuki Oinuma
Business:

Production and distribution of educational and other content/applications based on

the concept “play and learn,”operation of attraction-type facilities, etc.
Date of establishment: April 2019
Time of start of business: upon completion of preparations in October 2019 or later2

【Contact for inquiries】＜Yoshimoto Kogyo＞
Yosuke Kasai, Promotion Center, Yoshimoto Creative Agency Co., Ltd.
MOBILE：090-4167-5754/E-mail：:kasai.yosuke@yoshimoto.co.jp＜NTT＞
Public Relations OfficeE-mail：ntt-cnr-ml@hco.ntt.co.jp＜Cool Japan Fund＞
Public Relations Division
TEL：03-6406-7500 / E-mail：kouhou@cj-fund.co.jp

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