NEWS RELEASE January 13, 2021
[MIRAIT Corporation] Conclusion of Basic Agreement on Investment and Business Partnership with Museum Management & Design, Inc. Providing solutions in the areas of energy and ICT for museum facilities such as aquariums MIRAIT Corporation (head office: Koto-ku, Tokyo; President: Toshiki Nakayama; “MIRAIT””), which is a Group company of MIRAIT Holdings Corporation, concluded an investment and business partnership agreement with Museum Management & Design, Inc. (head office: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo; CEO: Naoyuki Kato; “MMD”), which is engaged in businesses such as aquarium and museum facilities, and planning, design, creation and operation centered on urban development, as part of its initiatives aimed at smart cities. MIRAIT and MMD will partner to commence the provision of solutions promoting digital transformation (DX) in the areas of energy and ICT for customers conducting "aquarium, museum and urban development’’ businesses. Until now, aquariums have mainly been opened in locations near cities and near the coastline throughout Japan as suburban theme parks and leisure tourism resources. In recent years, engineering technologies such as artificial seawater and filtration for creating a comfortable environment for marine life (Life Support System; “LSS”) have led to the establishment of aquariums in urban areas and as leisure content provided by tenants in commercial facilities. Such aquariums provide "consumption of experiences” to o offer “a new way of spending free time” and are being transformed from being visited as a leisure and tourism destination being a part of the community and life. Furthermore, Japan is globally known as being a country with many aquariums, and many projects are being panned, such as new development of aquariums and museums in urban development and commercial facilities, and the renewal of existing aquariums for earthquake-proofing, measures to address salt damage and due to becoming dilapidated. MMD is a start-up company established by Naoyuki Kato, who has been involved in the development of many aquariums and museums in Japan and overseas, and is one of the few companies in Japan able to provide on-stop support spanning from formulation of business plans to design, construction and operation. The company has construction expertise matching the conditions of buildings and facilities, such as artificial seawater technology and LSS, and excellent skills for presenting and designing tanks from spaces in concert with modern artists on the theme of "spend time and feel," and has established a business foundation by already being contracted on multiple projects. Through the investment in MMD and the business partnership, MIRAIT will aim for "aquarium, museum and urban development" businesses, leveraging the extensive knowledge and experience it has developed in the area of communications infrastructure to date to contribute to the realization of a sustainable information society by providing excellent infrastructure solutions through the creation of communications infrastructure in the areas of energy and ICT, in addition to the improvement of the precision of coordination between a variety of information devices and the communications infrastructure contributing to labor saving, energy saving, cable reduction, visualization and energy improvements that support automated control, remote support and preventative maintenance of facilities and equipment using DX, IoT and AI.
[Overview of MMD]
MMD is a start-up company founded with the aim of becoming a "group considering a life with museums” based on the philosophy of “connecting organisms and people, connecting people and people" and is headed by Noriyuki Kato, who has been involved in the development of many aquariums and museums in Japan and overseas.